• Think twice –or thrice—before printing, especially
before printing rough drafts. Printing uses up paper
and ink, as well as printer energy. Nearly all word
processing programs offer Print Preview, so it is easy
to see on your monitor what the document will look
like. A Word doc can be saved as a PDF and then
brought up as a Print Preview, so that, too, can be
checked out before printing. Whenever possible try
to print double-sided, to save paper. And about those
draft copies – don’t just throw them away: cut them
into quarters and use the other side for notes or
messages. The less you throw away the greener you
are.
• When it comes time to replace or buy a new printer
be sure to get one that supports duplex printing and it
can be part of your office’s network. Many small
offices find there is less of a need for a printer on
every desk, when each worker may often be able to
share a printer.
• Power Management Features are all but standard on
modern computer equipment. Put them to use! This,
again, is Energy Star compliant. You can set your
computers to hibernate or to sleep, thus reducing
power demand, at specific times or after the
computer has experienced a certain duration of
inactivity. You can set that duration. Energy Star
computers are required to use 4 Watts less electricity
when they go into lower power sleep or hibernation
mode. That represents less than 5% of the average
peak electrical demand of most computers. Again, a
savings of power and a savings of expenditure on
your electric bill.
• Recycle!!!!! When it comes time to replace or
upgrade your equipment, don’t just toss it. There are
proper ways to dispose of those machines. Many
cities have drop off points. Better yet, there are
schools and charities that can make use of the
equipment to upgrade and rebuild and train students
in technology and constructing computer equipment.
Don’t just throw computer equipment in the garbage.
There is much more to be learned by visiting the US government’s Energy Star website.
Quick facts: using a screen saver does not save energy. It saves your monitor from screen burn and other troubles, but not energy. According to Columbia University’s Guide to Green Computing, if the paper used every year for personal computing were laid end to end, it would circle the planet more than 800 times. Think of what that means in terms of trees!
Go green, and make that your planet-wise and wallet-wise digital strategy.