Enter our contest! Read this post, take two simple actions, and complete a quick survey!

This is the final post in a four-part series. Part 1 of this series listed the five actions we recommend that you take to reduce the power use of your computer. Part 2 and Part 3 explained in more detail how you could easily complete four cost-saving actions. This post explains the fifth and final action in this campaign — how you can multiply the positive impact you have had on the environment by getting others involved.

Softchoice found that 93% of PCs are still running Windows XP, which did not default to having power management turned on.

In Can Windows 7 make PCs Green? Todd Bishop writes, "With hundreds of millions of PCs draining batteries and tapping into power outlets around the world, even a small tweak in Microsoft Windows can influence global energy consumption."

With numbers like these, it is imperative that we convince as many people as possible to reduce their IT power use.

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One of our forum hosts, Dave Welp, suggested these quick, power-saving tips:

1. Look for abandoned telecom equipment like old modems and PBX; search for un-utilized or under-utilitized servers or computers used by former staff and volunteers.

2. Clean up your power strip: Look for plugs to those old calculators or speakers.

3. Electronics continue to consume electricity even when in an off state, so either turn them off at a power strip, or unplug them entirely. 

More tips like these can be found on our energy reduction mini-tips page.

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Enter our contest! Read this post, take two simple actions and complete a quick survey! Read on for more info.

Part 1 of this series listed the five actions we recommend that you take to reduce the power use of your computer. Part 2 explained in more detail, two cost-saving actions and tells you how to complete those two actions. This post, fills in the details about two more recommendations.

Upfront Cost, but Should Save You Money Within the Year

3.    Order a smart power strip.

Light green: easy individual actions

These types of power strips automatically turn off your peripherals (monitor, speakers, desk lights) when you shut down your computer and generally consume only 1 watt while on. Plug your computer into the main (switching outlet) and then plug your monitor, speakers, printer or other accessories into the other outlets. When you shut down your computer, the peripherals will shut off automatically. These strips also have always on ports for items like a fax machine that would need to remain on after the computer is off.

Enter our contest! Read this post, take two simple actions, and complete a quick survey! Read on for more info.

Part 1 of this series listed the 5 actions we recommend that you take to reduce the power use of your computer. This post (part 2) explains two of those actions in more detail and tells you how to complete these two actions. Parts 3 and 4 will offer more detail about how you can make the other three changes.

Reduce Your Energy Use at No Cost and Save Money Instantly

1.    Set power management on your computer(s)

Light green: Easy Individual Actions

All major operating systems released in the past ten years come with power management built in, but not necessarily turned on. What is power management? It's the ability to set your computer and monitor to automatically go to sleep or shut down after a period of inactivity. Climate Savers Computing are the experts at this and have all the information you should need to accomplish this task. They even have step-by-step guides. We urge you to sign up for CSCI membership either as an individual or affiliate: it's free and it's a way to build momentum for IT energy conservation. They can keep you informed about the latest ways to reduce your IT footprint. They even have a wonderful, searchable list of energy-efficient hardware and software products that help with IT energy reduction.

Welcome to TechSoup GreenTech's Unpower Yourself! campaign. We're having a contest to encourage you to reduce your computer's energy comsumption. Read this post, take two simple actions, complete a quick survey, and you'll be eligible to win!

Global warming is happening because of a buildup of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, most of them produced by power plants that burn fossil fuels to generate electricity. Information and communications technology consumes a good deal of electricity, much of which is wasted as heat, consumed by computers and monitors needlessly left on, or used to cool hardware that is not running efficiently.

More than half the electricity used by IT is outside the data center and it is very easy for you to make small changes that will have a significant positive impact on both the environment and your wallet. It's not always easy to get a significant number of individuals to take these easy actions, but we can reach more people with your help.

Here are five things you can do quickly to decrease your IT energy use:

On Wednesday, November 4 TechSoup Talks! will be conducting two webinars that highlight specific Microsoft programs or services useful to nonprofits and libraries.

This webinar, with environmental experts from Microsoft, will be broken into two 45-minute parts; one for small organizations and one for large organizations. These will help you learn how to reduce the environmental impact of your information technology and how to effectively use IT to improve your organizations' efficiency.

In these tough economic times, there are a few relatively easy steps you can take to reduce waste in your IT systems. These measures will not only make your systems more efficient; they'll also save money and reduce your impact on the environment.

Why is it important to reduce your computer power use? Power plants are the largest source of CO2 emissions in the US, creating approximately 40% of emissions. Of course computers get their power from the power grid, but did you know that computers waste nearly half the energy they pull from the wall as heat?

Starting this month, most new PCs will have Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system on them. Windows 7 is much more advanced in power conservation than its predecessors, both for end users and for IT administrators. The new operating system makes it easier both to reduce power consumption and to minimize hardware obsolescence.

For those who want to try the software, TechSoup already carries Windows 7 upgrades for nonprofits and libraries; even those that have already made a Microsoft request this year can order.

TechSoup has been a long-time advocate for refurbished PCs. They're low-cost, they work well for most purposes, and there's a brilliant environmental case for electronics reuse. We offer a whole host of them to nonprofits and libraries through the Refurbished Computer Initiative (to which we just added 16 new products!) and have found it to be a really successful offering for our users.

One major area of controversy about reburbished computers is the question on whether or not the used PC market can last given the diminishing prices of new equipment. Kevin Lo wrote about new, lower-cost netbooks a while back on this blog, posing the question of whether they're ready for the spotlight in nonprofits or not. I think the jury is still out, particularly since many can't run enterprise-class programs and networks, but they may be a good solution for smaller nonprofits.

Jim Lynch, regular blogger and our director of computer recycling and reuse decided to see what research is out there on the subject of whether or not the used computer market is going away any time soon, and has come up with some interesting results in his new article, Is the Used Computer Market Going Away?

There are dozens if not hundreds of affordable, reliable, high-quality, green web hosts in the market today. Choose one to host your website. Here are some third-party lists of green web hosts:

• b2evolution
• TreeHugger
• WebHostingReport.com
• There is even a Twitter account that simply lists green web hosts.

When selecting a provider, consider these items:

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that in the U.S. in 2007, only 18% of electronic waste was collected for recycling and a full 82%, or 1.84 million tons, was disposed of, primarily in landfills.

With these types of statistics, we feel an obligation to do our part to help curb e-waste while at the same time promoting the efficient use of technology to help social benefit organizations most effectively meet their missions.