It's taking time to 'grow' green PCs

Ways to green up what you've got
If you plan on keeping your computer for awhile, there are several ways to green it up. Heather Clancy, co-host of ZDNet's GreenTech Pastures blog, points to energy use as one area to curb.

“The simple act of turning a desktop computer off overnight could save $40 a year in electricity costs,” she said. “The EPA estimates that about 60 percent of all computers are left on at night.

“The best way for a person to improve the profile of their existing PC is to adopt some power management software,” she said. She recommends products from Faronics, 1E, BigFix and Verdiem.

Another energy drain is a PC's power supply. Much of the electricity wasted by PCs and servers occurs when AC electricity is converted to DC, which is what runs in electronics circuitry, Clancy said.

80 Plus, an electric utility-funded organization pushing for increased efficiency in computer power supplies, offers a directory of PC and power supply vendors with certified products on its Web site.

A simple and accurate method for measuring computer power usage yourself is the $20 Kill A Watt monitor, made by P3 International. The device goes into an electrical outlet and displays the killowatt/hour use of any appliance plugged into it.

For those who prefer a hands-off approach, iYogi, a remote computer support service based in India, can help green your PC from afar. For $10, an iYogi representative will conduct an energy audit of your PC, develop an energy-saving plan based on your usage and remotely configure your PC to maximize energy efficiency.

“Each year consumers and businesses purchase more computers and put to them to use,” said Vishal Dhar, president of iYogi. “But it’s not just the sheer number of computers that is driving energy consumption upward. The way that we use computers also adds to the increasing energy burden.”

Taking simple steps like shutting down your PC, or putting it to sleep when it’s not in use, are easy to implement. Getting the PC manufacturers to uniformly adopt a new, greener outlook will prove more difficult.

Harrell of Greenpeace sees it likes this: “Green products should not be a niche market — they should be the market, replacing the outdated way of making electronics.”

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