Greening Your Machines…

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Every little bit that we can do to conserve helps the environment and saves money too. Here are some tips for Greening your machines.

Power Management: he power consumption from leaving our computers on all the time, is staggering. If your in the habit of turning off the computer when you go home from the office that’s great, but we forget about the energy that is still being used when the computer is not being used, while you go to lunch, or are doing something else. “the biggest savings come from enabling Monitor Power Management (MPM) and Computer Power Management (CPM) to put monitors and PCs into low power states when not in use. This saves between $20 and $100 per PC per year, and requires little staff time and capital expenditure.” Read More
- Tips for reducing power consumption in computers and peripherals: from EDTECH.com
- Check your computer manual to find out how to turn on your energy-conservation settings.
- Screen savers do not reduce energy use for monitors. Instead of screen savers, automatically switch to sleep mode or manually turn off monitors to save power.
- Energy Star computers and monitors only save energy when power management is activated on the computer.
- To maximize power savings with notebook PCs, put the AC adapter on a power strip that can be turned off because the transformer in an AC adapter draws power even when the notebook PC is not plugged in.
- Don’t forget peripherals and components — printers, copiers, scanners, processors, motherboards and power supplies all have potential energy-saving features
Bamboo, Crank and Solar Powered cell Phones: With all the millions of cell phones out there only about 10% get recycled.
- How about a phone made out of sustainable Bamboo with a cranking charger
  - The case of the phone is totally degradable, after removing the battery, antenna and the print board it can be thrown in the compost bin. The “Bamboo” is made out of bio-plastics of renewable raw materials such as corn, and bamboo which is also a renewable resource.
  - The battery can be recharged with muscle power. It comes equipped with a cranking charger and a monochrome display for maximum efficiency. Read More
  - Check out this great Solar Powered Charger
Energy Star Appliances: When you need to replace appliances, of course go with the Energy Star Label, it will save you about a third on your energy bill. That’s a significant savings.
How good is your HDTV at saving Energy: Before you buy your new HDTV, consult the following chart to see how energy efficient the new TV will be. HDTV power consumption compared
Get Paid to Recycle Electronics: There are companies out there that will pay you for mailing in old electronic devices and others have buy back program. Here is a list of a few.
- BuyMyTronics
- SecondRotation
- CellforCash
- SimplySellular
- SellYourCell
Mail-In Program Free of Charge: The Post Office has come out with a pilot program that allows customers to recycle small electronics and inkjet cartridges by mailing them free of charge. Check it out: USPS
Find a Responsible Recycler: Recycle your old electronics with an Environmentally Responsible Recycler:
- Electronics Take Back Coalition