There’s no way to get through modern life without the basics any more: namely a computer, a mobile, etc. But most people want to be environmentally friendly these days and that’s where the conflicts begin.
Most modern electronic equipment either contains poisonous substances or uses enough energy that there’s no choice to brand it as anything but environmentally unfriendly. Basically, most electronics are neither green, nor environmentally friendly.
“The greenest IT is the one that hasn’t been created yet,” says Bernd Gruendel, a hardware expert.
Still, by taking a little time, it’s possible to save both the environment and your wallet.
When faced with the option to buy or upgrade to new technology, customers need to ask themselves: “Do I really need this smartphone, if I already have a mobile and a PC?”
After all, a purchase is both the beginning and end of the purchasing cycle. “Every purchase generates new demand and ramps up production.”
Manufacturing electronics consumes the most resources: energy, water, raw materials and rare elements. “When you buy something, you have to balance the hazardous components, the energy consumption, the manufacture and transport,” says Christof Windeck, an editor with the German computer magazine c’t.
An even bigger problem, from an environmental viewpoint, is disposal of used electronics. “They can’t be thrown out with regular household garbage, but have to be taken to special waste depots,” says Isabel Richter, who focuses on environmental and sustainability for Bitkom, a German IT industry association.
Some manufacturers take back old devices when they sell new ones. Ideally, those are then disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.
“Nonetheless, a lot of these devices find their way illegally to Africa,” says Gruendel. There they are taken apart, usually in a very non-environmentally-friendly way, with workers and the environment both exposed to dangers.
That’s a big difference from day-to-day use, where computers…