Ruchira Shah was just your average young woman with a severe addiction to cute purses and high-end kitchen tools she never used, when one fine day, she decided to quit buying anything new. For a year. After twelve months of personal environmental experiments, Ruchi felt like she wanted to make a larger positive impact, so she decided to back to school, and is currently pursuing a masters degree at...
Can We Have The Best of Both Worlds?
In response to a blog post I had written about trying to eke out extra life in my computer, Fabrice asks why I don't just try to work with computer companies to develop products that have a lesser impact on the environment. Fabrice writes, "I don't think we should feel guilty about wanting the newest laptop."
It's an enticing thought, isn't it? Could we build a laptop so environmentally friendly that it wouldn't matter if we all bought one every two years or so?
My inclination is unfortunately, no. Which is why I personally try and prolong the life of my computers as long as possible. (Also because computers are expensive and I'm a poor student.)
On the bright side, computer technology is slowing down slightly. Whereas in 1999, every year computers were being rolled out with significantly faster processing speeds, etc, at this point we're hitting a wall. Soon it might be possible to keep a laptop for ten years without it becoming obsolete.
But what do you think? How low impact can a laptop be? And how long do you wait before trading one in?
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