“Modern Technology owes Ecology an Apology”

  • Alan M. Eddison

There are many imprudent practices associated with computer usage like, leaving computers on without usage, purchasing low quality hardware, unnecessary printing, improper disposal of obsolete computers and so on. All this results in gratuitous energy consumption, wastage of resources, emission of pollutants and depletion of precious resources thus putting tremendous pressure on Environment and Ecological balance. And it would be senseless to blame technology for environmental degradation.

Green computing refers to adaptation of practices for eco-friendly computing. Green Computing is about using computers or electronic items responsibly. The responsibility is not limited to just efficiently using the gadgets but includes social responsibility of nature-loving fabrication and disposal also. Major contributing practices towards Green Computing Campaign are Eco-friendly manufacturing, Energy-efficient computing, E-waste management.

The Beginning

Energy Star is a voluntary labeling program designed to promote and recognise energy-efficiency in monitors and electronic equipments. It was started in 1992 by Environment Protection Agency (EPA), an organisation with a mission to protect human health and environment, as preliminary step towards environment friendly use of computers. This resulted in widespread adoption of sleep mode among systems including electronic equipments. Green Computing was conceived once Energy Star program was well accepted and initially addressed power consumption-related issues only. Letter it propagated to wider concept of judicious use of computers.

Green Computing Charter (GC)

Green Computing campaign aims to raise awareness of environmental issues in IT departments and also reduce business costs and improve efficiency. Green Computing is based on seven point charter designed to provide IT managers with environmental goals.

Green Computing Charter

  • Find out how much energy your IT systems use and monitor ongoing consumption levels.
  • Ensure unused equipment is turned off when not in use.
  • Educate staff about the benefits/concept of saving energy and recycling.
  • Establish a code of practice to minimise unnecessary printing.
  • Identify IT management practices that reduce power consumption.
  • When purchasing new IT equipment, choose energy-saving devices.
  • Dispose old hardware responsibly; send old PCs to be reconditioned/ recycled

GC campaign is not limited with Government, Vendors and recyclers but also extends to all individual users. Individual can contribute to the GC campaign by practicing “Energy Efficient Computing”, which involves adopting energy conservation techniques.

E-Waste

A major concern of GC is electronic waste or e-waste which has been emanated by irresponsible disposal of obsolete systems as junk. As per Greenpeace India, a non-profit organisation focusing on most critical worldwide environmental issues, the amount of e-waste is going to increase 300 times in the next five years. As per rough estimate based on a 2003 study by International Resource Group Systems South Asia Private Limited - IRGSSA, approximately 1, 50,000 tones of e-waste is generated in India annually. These estimates indicate the severity of the problem because e-waste contains substances and chemicals and if not disposed properly these can create serious problems for the environment and human health. As the life of electronic gadgets grows shorter; dealing with problem of e-waste is also getting difficult. Lack of stringent environmental regulations, weak enforcement mechanisms, use of cheap raw material, ill-informed users etc., all contribute to the mounting problem of e-waste.

Initiatives in Green Computing Campaign

In this grave scenario, the GC Campaign brings a ray of hope and initiatives are being made at different levels. Apart from the Energy Star, some other major initiatives at the International level include:

  • StEP: A global initiative by the UN called Solving the E-waste Problem (StEP) aims at harmonising e-waste recycling and encouraging manufacturers to devise methods to extend the life of electronic products. It focuses on the areas of legislation at national levels, although e-waste laws have been laid down, but there is a need to integrate/ coordinate them. It also stresses developed nations to adopt philanthropic practice of donating their discarded systems to under-developed counterparts to avoid toxic waste and also bridge the digital divide.
  • RoHS: The Restriction of Hazardous Substances was launched in July 2006 and this directive bans electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of listed health/environment hazardous substances.
  • EPEAT: Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool was conceived by Green Electronics Council (GEC) and is developed to evaluate computers, laptops and monitors based on their environmental attributes. EPEAT evaluates electronic products in relation to 51 total environmental criteria, identified in the criteria table contained in IEEE 1680 and the products are ranked according to three tiers of environmental performance.

Globally, the industry has also responded to GC campaign receptively. Some of the initiatives are:

  • Green Grid, founded by several key companies, is a global consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems. It is focusing on developing standards, measurement methods and new technologies to improve data center performance against defined metrics.
  • HCL plans to phase out PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) and BFRs (Brominated Flame Retardants) from all its products by 2009-10 besides supporting RoHS. It has also initiated buying back obsolete systems for proper disposal.
  • Wipro Infotech India has set up Wipro Green Computing, an e-waste management process spanning product lifecycle from designing, manufacturing to final disposal. They plan to launch range of RoHS compliant eco-friendly hardware products namely Wipro GreenWare.
  • VIA is promoting Solar computing, Carbon-free/Lead-free computing, Quiet Computing in the GC campaign.
  • IBM has launched Project Big Green in May 2007, an effort to protect environment, save energy and offer a road map for better environmental IT practices.
  • SUN Microsystems has come up with Green data center by deploying new server technology and smart cooling resulting in dramatic decline in electricity use.
  • Microsoft is expecting Windows Server 2008 systems to use about 20 percent less power than existing Windows Server systems. It is also planning to promote Green Data centres.
  • Dell has introduced AMD Opteron-based servers designed to reduce data center power consumption and deliver performance per watt improvements.

At the government level in India, finally some GC initiatives are being taken now. Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT) is emphasising the need for recycling and re-using electronic equipment to minimise electronic waste. Central Pollution Control Board has also come up with draft guidelines to include electronic waste as a specific category in the hazardous waste and municipal waste rules with the aim to make dumping e-waste an offence, with stricter regulations.

The philosophy of GC stands for life cycle of system abiding many conditions right from the composition of chemicals used in manufacture, energy consumed to operate & cool the equipment, proper disposal after its lifetime. The route towards the protection of nature and other resources may be long but righteous beginning indeed has been made which needs to be complemented by dynamic contribution from each one of us for this noble cause.