Green living computers help put a plug in excessive energy loss

Computers are no longer something of a luxury but more like an assumed necessity around the world, yet a part of green living is always aiming to find a device or appliance that is going to be the most eco-friendly. Laptops, notebooks, desktops and the like are a common point of phantom energy loss because they are plugged in virtually 24/7; as a society we are plugged in about the same amount too. There are some people for which their cell phone is merely an extension of their being. The verdict on if this is good or bad is up to you, but in terms of finding the greenest computer you can get a little help from the EPEAT rating that is currently established among about 40 different countries.

Much like an Energy Star guide the EPEAT rating is geared towards distinguishing the best laptops and computers in terms of sustainability from those that are eco-flops. There are three levels: bronze, silver, and gold, and in order to earn a medal of approval a particular device has to reach 23 different environmental performance tests. This scale has made those in the market for a new computer a means to get one that is greener, and for a full list of possible models you can go to the main EPEAT site. It may seem like the obvious conclusion that a greener computer would be a smaller one, like a notebook instead of a desktop, but that is not always the case being that notebooks are known to have a shorter life span which would cause you to seek out a replacement more often. That is why there are so many factors taken into consideration for these ratings.

Taken into account for green living computers are not only their energy consumption on and off but even the materials they are made out of. For instance the EPEAT Gold rated HP rp5700 is not only energy efficient but made out of 95% recyclable products. In fact it has established itself as the first on the market to be the greenest and sort of set the bar so to speak. HP has thus followed up with successors as have other brands, but just being the first does give it extra bragging rights.

There is Zonbu that runs off of Linux, and thus has a lower processing power, and opts for flash memory in place of a hard drive so that it runs off of under 10% of the energy consumed by a standard PC with Windows. That in itself is green living but because broken computers will create plenty of waste should you have to continually be replacing them, if your Zonbu comes crashing you can get a replacement but the old one is still returned to the company where they gut it out and then use the parts that still work for another model. This is because they only have one computer schematic to work off of.

If your green living is more up the Apple alley you could go with the iMac that received an EPEAT silver medal. So if you are aiming to get connected via a new computer or laptop you will do well to find one that comes out an EPEAT winner.

Photo credit: Nic