Caroline Harridence of Counting Clouds Cambridgeshire explains how we all can help play a role to improve the impact we are having on the environment both at home and in the workplace.
It does not need to be complicated and anything we do will help. Here are six simple tech tips on how we can make some positive changes.
There are alternatives to buying new IT equipment as you can explore buying refurbished. This is a cost-efficient solution that will be cheaper than buying new. Also buying a refurbished kit is better for the environment too as fewer materials need to be mined plus a refurbished laptop can save up to 300kg of carbon emissions.
If you do decide you need to buy new tech, rather than throwing away your old equipment, recycle it! Look for companies who offer this service and that will mean that it will not end up in landfill sites.
This is a simple way to help improve the environment! Through unsubscribing from an unnecessary email, you save 10g of carbon!
This is because every email in the world is stored on a server in server farms. These data centres have millions of computers that store and transmit information and use massive amounts of energy as well as vast amounts of water because air conditioning is needed to keep them cool.
The more emails we send and receive and store, the more energy we use and this has a huge impact on the environment. By unsubscribing, we reduce this impact so the next time you get emails that you don’t read, hit the unsubscribe button!
Do you consider the carbon footprint of the tech that you use at work? Many of the tech companies are taking positive steps to reduce their carbon footprint. For example, companies such as Microsoft, Xero and Intuit are all carbon neutral and this could be a consideration when you select the supplier you want to use both at home and at work.
Do you really need to print that document?
Unplugging the printer can be a good way to break that printing habit! You not only save paper, but you also save money too as you no longer will buy expensive printer ink cartridges.
If you are printing documents you and/or your client has to sign, look at an e-signature solution such as DocuSign. This not only eliminates the need to print, it also offers a secure online solution for your client to sign and returns the document safely to you along with the full audit history of when the document was opened, signed and returned.
Online energy comparison websites make it easy to look at the options available to you for your energy provider and allow you to switch with relative ease.
Now you can opt for green energy suppliers and these providers are listed on the comparison websites. They use alternative “green” energy sources such as wind and solar power which not only have a positive environmental impact, but it could also help you to save you money too!
Our carbon footprint provides an understanding of our impact on the environment by examining our CO2 emissions. The world is warming up and we need to take action to help fight climate change so it is important to lower our emissions.
We can all take action to reduce our carbon footprint and it is also possible to offset these carbon emissions too. One way is via planting trees. This can be done through online tools such as Ecologi. By signing up as a business or individual, your monthly subscription is used to plant trees and grow your own forest. You can also plant extra trees each month or others can plant more for you as a reward or gift and so reduce your carbon footprint even further!
It doesn’t have to be costly and complicated to reduce the impact we have on the environment. All these small steps soon add up.
Through all making some simple changes at home and work, we can all help to do something positive and, at the same time, we will be doing something to help the environment too.