- -->One desktop computer can contain 4-8 pounds of lead--enough to hurt an entire community.
- -->Some 25 percent of the electricity used to power home electronics--computers, DVD players, stereos, TVs--is consumed while the products are turned off.
- -->One computer left on 24 hours a day costs about between $115 and $160 in electricity costs annually while dumping 1,500 pounds of CO2 into the atomosphere. That means that up to 500 trees are needed to offset the annual emissions of one computer left on all the time.
- -->Each year 130 million cell phones are retired. Only 14% are recycled.
- -->According to the EPA, we generated 2.6 million tons of e-waste in the U.S. in 2005. Of this amount only 12.6 percent was recycled.
- -->139 pounds of waste are generated in the process of creating one monitor.
- -->About 40% of the heavy metals in landfills, including leader, mercury, cadminum, and other toxic materials, come from electronic equipment discards. Just 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury can contaminate 20 acres of a lake, making the fish unfit to eat.
- -->68% of consumers stockpile used or unwanted computer equipment in their homes.
- -->A ton of paper made from recycled paper saves 17 trees.
Green Computing
Computers and other electronic devices are a necessary and useful part of academic life. Green computing is about using computers, and other electronics, more effectivel and efficiently.
Purchasing Green
Going Green: What You Can Do
Recycling E-Waste
Links to Help You
Together we can keep our ecological footprints small...
