1

What is Green IT and why should businesses care?

Green IT, sometimes also known as green computing is the study of making use of all computer
resources in a productive and effective way. Green IT begins by producers making products that
are friendly to the environment. Greening IT products is a social responsibility. Today many IT
businesses are striving towards green IT and thus helping our economy. IT is broad, from a
hand-held device such as a BlackBerry to a data centre; from office printers to building
management. Each aspect allows the opportunity to cut down on environmental harm. Green IT
creates opportunities for organizations to cut back on costs through increased energy efficiency.

Carbon dioxide and its substitutes, example nitrous oxides are the primary focus for government
and business organizations. Some IT activities cause the planet injury. Manufacturers are making
progress by designing less energy consuming products. They are even offering environmental
education that can be used when you are making choices before buying. You are bound to find
an idle computer or printer in an office. These machines are using more power being idle than
when they are working flat out unless they have a sleep mode or have an environmental label on
it. With regard to printers many companies have found that using a large printer instead of
individual small printer’s works much better and cuts down costs. Monitor screens that are
cathode ray tubes use more power. Flat screens use less energy and some even automatically
change to standby mode if idle after a certain period of time.

When people are not in the office they often make use of a laptop or PDA. If you leave the
charger for one of these devices plugged in to the power supply even though nothing is being
charged, it is using up energy. Recycle your old mobile phones instead of leaving them at home
to do nothing. Datacenters use plenty of electricity. Reducing and recycling all material are
priorities. Upgrade rather than just replace and if you have to replace then pass the old one to
someone else to use. IT devices do use energy, and can also be used to control electricity
consumption. A challenge with regard to reducing electricity consumption is making sure that
the users are aware of their own consumption.
 2

Going green gives us the chance to lower energy consumption as well as CO2 emissions. This is
a priority in our economic climate. Energy efficient central processing units as well as reduced
resource consumption and correct disposal of electronic waste are all ways in which we help the
environment. All this adds to green computing.Computer users and business habits can be
changed in order to lower the impact on the global environment. Information technology is used
more often in this day and age. This is increasing the use of servers to support the applications
which are used daily by all of us. Due to this, energy use has increased and will probably keep
increasing. If businesses use energy effectively, it will not only cut the costs but also save
energy. This is very good for our planet as well as for all businesses.

Green computing is an important worldwide issue. Trying to better energy management is a

never ending process. Even with the world economic situation at present, companies are still
going green. This is due to the fact that businesses depend on IT to operate effectively. When IT
is improved costs and energy use are reduced. Going green has always been about saving and
environmental benefits are a bonus. Due to our economic situation energy cost saving is still the
top reason to go green. Global warming, pollution and so on affect everyone. Green computing
now even has some regulations with penalties when ignored. Complying with these regulations is
the correct step to take. If hardware is not disposed of properly it could cause harm to our
environment.

One of the first results of green computing was the sleep mode function of computer monitors.
Computing technology has a negative impact on the environment and scientists are continually
researching ways in which to reduce this. Reducing the user’s carbon footprint is one of the ideas
that can work. Greenhouse gases are responsible for the earth’s increasing temperature. This is a
serious issue and could lead to environmental effects which affect life and the world’s economy.
When a business lowers its energy consumption through efficient components they save on air-
conditioning cost because cooler running systems do not heat up the office as much. The life of
hardware also gets increased due to cooler components. Green computing even extends out of
data centers, for example by encouraging video conferencing. This discourages travel and in turn
this reduces cost.
 3

Information systems include data, software, hardware, people and so on. Computer based
information systems are complementary networks. Information systems are not only the
technology a business would use but also the way the technology would work with the business.
Information systems include four parts, hardware, software, data and procedures. There are many
different types of information systems namely, office information systems, database management
systems, decision support systems and so on. Quality data management can lower costs of
information systems by removing the need for excess databases, for example.

Greenology is a board game which allows you to know about opportunities within an
organization. Atos consulting developed it. The game is very interesting for data center mangers
and IT managers. It is based on Monopoly. The games have many obvious solutions as well as
many solutions that IT managers are probably not even aware off. Green washing is the practice
of misleading claims about benefits or company practices. Green washing sometimes occurs.
Sometimes it becomes difficult to tell the difference between things that are really green IT and
things that are “green washed”. Some vendor’s could use old products that have not been used
for a while and claim that it is a new green tool. Others can develop one green product and then
say that the whole product line is green. Dell has many adverts which advertise the greenness of
their servers and pc’s.

IT suppliers are developing products to help cut power consumption. Lenovo introduced a Think
Centre A61e small desktop. It uses recyclable materials and packaging. Neoware says that it is
the green alternative. IT components should be looked at. Components should be purchased only
if they are least hazardous. Nokia has removed all PVC’s in some of its mobile phone products.
Choose producers that take back the products when they become a waste.

Green IT has also created jobs for people. There are companies that teach you about green IT and
how to make your business apart of it. There are many present green computing initiatives,
example Green Electronics Council, Green Grid, and so on. Many governments have created
energy-management programmes. Anyone who is replacing an old computer model should look
to purchase a green computer. Latest models are manufactured using plastic, metal or have been
made from recycled material. You can even purchase a refurbished computer rather than a new
 4

model in order to go green. Save paper when printing by using print preview. Turn off any
peripherals when you are not using them. Computer virtualization is when you run two or more
logical systems on one set of physical hardware. This can reduce power because you would
combine several systems into one machine. Carbon hotspots are items such as your printers,
computers, and servers so on. Turn off these devices when they are not in use and do not just
switch to standby mode. IT departments can also configure all computers to shut down after a
period of time.

Cloud computing is a computing system which tasks are assigned through networks. The
connections are known as the cloud. Cloud computing is more environmentally friendly. Are
laptops greener than pc’s? They do not have separate monitors like pc’s. The truth is that laptops
use less power. You can change your laptop to battery mode to save energy. EPECT (Electronic
Product Environmental Assessment Tool) is an environmental tool that can help the public to
compare and buy the right computers that are good for our environment. It looks at different
computers on the market and rates them.

Computers you used a couple of years ago are very different from what you use now and in the
future computers will be different from what you are using today. Even the materials that
computers are made of will be less hazardous. In years to come we will have a computer that not
only connects us to the world but will also not hurt us or the future generations.
 5

References:

1. Wikipedia. (2010). Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_IT

[Accessed 2010, 19 March]

2. Webopedia. (No date). http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/G/Green_IT.html.

[Accessed 2010, 12 March]

3. Globalcitezenship. (No date).

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/productdesign/GreenITforDu
mmiesSpecialEdition.pdf
[Accessed 2010, 12 March]

4. Atos Consulting. (April 2009). Green-IT Awareness. [Online]. Available:

http://www.atosorigin.com/NR/rdonlyres/8AA3C914-C2B5-44DA-B075-
09F1381D9F20/0/GreenAwarenesswksp.pdf
[Accessed 2010, 12 March]

5. Anisman- Reiner, V. (March 2010) Green PC Computer Technology: Latest Models Offer
Lower Power. [Online]. Available: http://www.techhotspot.co.cc/green-pc-computer-
technology-latest-models-offer-lower-power
[Accessed 2010, 14 March]