Nov

Sustainability And Green IT

Green IT is a term widely used today. It is the reduction of energy consumption, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, recycling of equipment and products, the proper disposal of waste, including e-waste, the adoption of sustainable architecture techniques, the use of processes that increase the useful life of the equipment and infrastructure of technology and especially the increased environmental awareness of people.

This article will be pointed attitudes practices for your corporation to join the Green IT:

1) Save energy. We suggest to this:

Shutdown of equipment in times of non-use;
use of fluorescent lamps;
optimization of air temperature conditioning of the rooms;
use of alternative energy sources like solar.

2) Prioritize air conditioning system with:

Environmentally friendly gas, which does not damage the ozone layer;
blowers and compressors with frequency inverters, generating a significant energy savings;
water-free system, which saves water and uses anti-corrosion products to combat noxious agents present in the pipes.

3) As for equipment:

Give preference to UPS batteries using dielectrics with low-polluting, require suppliers necessary certifications and a serious process of recycling batteries;
If possible make use of server virtualization, ie, run two or more virtual servers on a single physical server – to increase the rate of resource utilization with reduced physical space and energy consumption;
Making use of cloud computing servers, preferably choose the ones with dynamic balancing, automated and continuous optimization of available resources intelligently reducing energy consumption (for e.g. eNlight Cloud Computing Solutions);
The optimal use of the hardware permits use of only the space that is required and the energy corresponding to its cooling;
The maintenance and periodic updates provide greater durability of the equipment, extending the life span and causes for delaying new acquisitions;
Before buying a product, make sure the sustainability actions undertaken by the manufacturer are listed and explained in the product manual or on their website. Find out more about electricity consumption and how to adjust the equipment to make more efficient use of electricity;
In case of replacement by new equipment, try donating used equipment if it is in good condition, otherwise recycle. Some manufacturers receive equipment for recycling.

4) Awareness:

Conserve supplies such as paper, ink cartridges and toner. Try to reuse the cartridges and do not print unnecessarily;
Block spam and do not send junk email or unsolicited email. E-mails unnecessary overload the internet system and make the recipient spend more time and energy in opening messages that are not relevant;
You need the involvement of the management and all employees so that there is a commitment to this project rational use of resources.

According to UNEP (The United Nations agency responsible for the environment), annually about 50 million different electronics – cell phones and MP3 players to computers and printers – are discarded and turned into electronic waste. In India, about 60% of the waste includes different type of electronic waste and much of this material ends up in landfills without any treatment. By the action of rain, the toxic components that are part of electronic products eventually reach the groundwater. We cannot forget that millions of Indian households that do not have water system. Water contaminated by these substances can cause various diseases that could be avoided if the electronics are recycled.

Information technology revolutionizes communication and access to knowledge, but the responsibility to the Environment and Health should be prioritized over the interests of consumer and market.

These are some tips that can be applied in our homes and businesses: Reduce + Reuse + Recycle

Collaborate posting other suggestions for the practice of Green IT.