Building environmenally friendly PCs would potentially include reducing chemical byproducts, clean manufacturing, lead-free components, use of rapidly renewable materials, biodegradable plastics, rechargeable batteries with good method for disposal, longer lifetime of the complete product, reduce packaging, reuse – when possible recycle – materials, and the PC would need to be energy efficient.
Energy efforts alone range from reducing consumption by individual components, such as display and CPU, to improving software efficiency. Some PC manufacturers now have Energy Calculators available so you can know the amount of energy consumed by certain models. Here’s a list of a few calculators and places to go for information. Please post resources that you use.
- Dell Energy Calculator
- Energy Star Guidelines for Energy Management
- Guide to Greener Electronics by GreenPeace has info on some general corporate policies
- Lenovo Project Big Green for IT
Don’t overlook consumption by specific models too. For example, the Toshiba Portege M700 Tablet PC consumes low power for a powerful mobile PC, and you can save a few trees by using the pen to handwrite quick notes.
So, tell me, are you ready to buy "green" PCs?