COMP 2923 A2 Impact of IT Consumables Danny Silver JSOCS, Acadia University

Sales of computers is Staggering

Computer Manufacturing Average 24 kg desktop computer with display Requires 10 times its weight in fossil fuels and chemicals to manufacture Automobile or refrigerator, requires 1-2 times their weight in fossil fuels One desktop and 17-inch CRT monitor uses: – 240 kg of fossil fuels, 22 kg of chemicals and 1,500 kg of water – a total of 1.8 tonnes of materials.

Computer Manufacturing The combination of – high-energy manufacturing process – short lifespan of computer use Raises computer lifetime environment-related energy impacts to about the same level as a refrigerator

Carbon Footprint of Computers comm/environment_carbon_footprint_products comm/environment_carbon_footprint_products

Packaging Green Packaging: Waste Not, Want Not – en-packaging-waste-not-want-not/ en-packaging-waste-not-want-not/

EPEAT Managed by the Green Electronics Council, Portlans, Oregon EPEAT is a comprehensive global environmental rating system that helps purchasers identify greener computers and other electronics

Recycling End-of-Life Electronic Equipment Natural Resurces Canada - Recycling End-of- Life Electronic Equipment – materials/markets/recycling/ materials/markets/recycling/8422 Dell -Legal & Regulatory Compliance – comm/canada-recycling-laws comm/canada-recycling-laws

Workshop Who makes the most environmentally friendly IT: Samsung Apple Dell Others ??

The Impact of Printers Printers (like most PC components) have three stages in the product life cycle – each with different environmental impacts: – Creation – extraction of raw materials and manufacture of the printer – Use – the use of consumables – Disposal – recyle, reuse Source: my-many-new.htmlhttp://businesslatitude.blogspot.com/2008/01/its-new-year-and-among- my-many-new.html

Printer Creation Many printer companies (Xerox, Canon, HP, Epson, Bother and Lexmark) have environmental policies and management plans that deal with sourcing raw materials and the manufacturing process (meet ISO environmental practices) : – Make energy efficient printers – Use recycled plastics and parts – Have a program for end-of-life disposal of cartridges and printer bodies

Paper Consumption Paper is the biggest cause of printer-related carbon emissions – 500 pack of paper responsible for 30.5 lbs of released CO2 – Carbon Rally.com - Buy recycled - for drafts, recycled paper works great Use both sides of the paper before putting it into the recycle bin – Collect paper with print on one side for use in dedicated ‘drafts’ printer (refilled/recycled cartridges, draft ink setting) Recycle your paper in the blue bins / bags

Methods of Reducing Paper and other PC Consumables Add a standard footer asking people not to print unnecessarily *THINK GREEN – READ IT ON THE SCREEN* Change default printer settings to be double sided printing Replace older printers with more efficient devices such as Multi-Functions Printers (MFPs) Replace faxes with paperless solutions such as fax-to- Replace copiers with scanners (scan and ) Replace paper memos with Switch customer and supplier communications to and extranet systems such as e-billing, e-purchasing Source:

Paper Consumption Paper over-consumption: An Intervention How to Reduce Your Paper Waste

Reduce Printer Use Ask your self “Do I need to print at all?” Replace hardcopies with appropriate archive and backup systems Print to PDF/JPG/XPS files to check the layout of your doc - often much quicker than printing Become friends with the draft function of the printer settings.

Printer Consumable Ink Consumables: Most businesses recycle laser toner cartridges Ink jet cartridges can be recycled too Refilled for costs savings or the components recycled Set up a draft printer for non-critical prints Don't use colour unless you really need it Buy a printer that enables the colour cartridges to be separated

Printer Disposal Printers are not made for the landfill Most of the major manufactures / stores will accept your printer – Recondition the printer for second hand use or separate the printer components for recycling Avoid “recyclers” who ship to other countries

Do you have any of this at home?

Computer Disposal Monitors and PCs contain significant quantities of heavy metals such as: – lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium Pose potential health risks to production workers and environmental risks to water supplies near landfills where they are eventually dumped

Printer Consumable Ink Consumables Planet Ark will take any cartridge you have - toner or ink jet - in their “Cartridges 4 Planet Ark” program ( 50% of cartridges receive are sent back to the major manufactures and the cartridge and ink recycled 50% get separated into components and made into products like e-wood (ink used to colour the “wood”)

Recycling IT Hardware How to safely dispose of IT equipment – green/video/ /businessgreen-com-top-tips green/video/ /businessgreen-com-top-tips Electronic Recycling Problems / Solutions – – Secure Destruction of IT Components –

Prior Studies Environmental Impact of Computer Information Technology in an Institutional Setting: A Case Study at the University of Guelph – _000.pdf _000.pdf Managing the environmental impact of information and communications technology (ICT) – checklists/docs/Environment_Checklist.pdf checklists/docs/Environment_Checklist.pdf