10 Resolutions to Green Your Technology

1. Set a green goal for the year & encourage everyone in your office to do the same. This year, our chief operating officer, Manning Sutton, asked each staff member to set a green goal for themselves and each manager to set a green goal for their department. These could be something as small as remembering to turn of their monitor each night to something as large as cutting the department’s printing in half. We have found that providing incentives or making it a competition between departments resonates with our staff members. Check out our forums for other green goals that we have suggested to our staff.

2. Set your sleep settings (power management) on your computer & ask your organization to set a policy on it. This is a small, easy and free thing to do that has significant impact. Climate Savers Computing Initiative maintains that "The average desktop PC wastes nearly half the power it pulls from the wall as heat, and  90% of desktops do not utilize power management settings." Whether you are using a Mac or PC, a laptop or a desktop, your computer has power-management features that can help you save money, reduce your impact on the environment, and extend the life of your hardware. On its Web site, Climate Savers Computing, one of the leading power-management advocacy organizations in the United States, has information about and recommendations for power-management settings.

3. Use less paper! Print double sided, or narrow your margins or use print-management software. Simply printing or copying on both sides can save a lot of wasted paper, and so can making your margins smaller. Tools like GreenPrint can prevent you from printing just a footer or one line on a shhet of paper. For other tips on saving paper and money, please check out our Reduce Paper Use campaign.

4. Use rechargeable batteries. Find a good comparison of rechargeable vs. conventional consumer batteries at Z Battery. Their finding is that using one NiMH battery saves $100 compared to a regular non-rechargeable alkaline battery. A good solid NiMH charger and battery package is the Sony BCG-34HRMF4 Battery Charger and 4 AA NiMH Rechargeable Batteries.

5. Choose refurbished computers or EPEAT-rated new computers. Buying refurbished means that you can get a more powerful computer for your money and reduce your environmental impact at the same time. By using a refurbished computer, you are roughly doubling the life of the equipment, which turns out to be 20 times more environmentally beneficial than buying a new one every 3 to 4 years, according to the U.S. EPA. Many refurbished computers now come with warranties and nonprofits can get them with authentic Windows XP and Microsoft Office at little extra cost, thanks to the Community Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher Program.

6. Use remanufactured toner cartridges or get personal ink cartridges refilled. From Conservatree: "Offices all over the country are successfully using remanufactured laser toner cartridges, saving up to 40 percent over the price of new cartridges." If your vendor can’t refill it, they will often recycle it properly for no cost.

7. Buy or lease remanufactured copiers, printers and all-in-one machines (e.g., copier, printer, scanner, fax) (IKON). The environmental case and cost savings for going with remanufactured copiers is similar to refurbished computers.

8. Use smart power strips. These wonderful new power strips will turn off your accessories when you turn off your main device. Great for computer set-ups and entertainment systems.

9. Adopt electronic fax solutions. These solutions make receiving and sometimes sending faxes paperless. You receive your fax as either an email or you can log on to a secure website to retrieve them. It means you can send and receive faxes from any internet connection. MyFax is now offering discounts for nonprofits. eFax let’s you receive personal faxes for free, but you have to purchase an account if you are an organization or want to send them too. Check out some shocking statistics on how much paper conventional faxing wastes.

10. Recycle your old electronics (anything with a plug), cell phones, batteries, CFLs, and ink cartridges. A great place to find out where to recycle nearly anything near you is Earth 911. Most hardware stores will take batteries and CFLs. Walgreens will recycle your old ink cartridges.

From Yahoo! Green: "Give cell phones back to their manufacturers or donate them to charity. Return iPods to Apple for recycling or sell them for parts. Keep old TVs out of landfills by taking them to a safe e-cycling facility. Take e-waste to stores like Best Buy and Staples that have recycling programs. Search Earth 911's database of recycling locations across the U.S."