Green Computing

It was estimated that over 500 million computers became obsolete last year, with many of them ending up in our landfills. These old computers contain hazardous materials which can leach into the ground and find their way into our water supplies. A better way begins with your decision to discard your aging computer.
Do you really need a new computer? Have you considered updating your current system? It is a myth that older computers consume more energy. It all depends on the configuration. Besides, updating is often less expensive than purchasing a new system.
The best advice I found while researching this article is to turn your computer off at night. You would be surprised how much electricity this saves.
If you have decided on getting a new computer, what will you do with the old one? Your first option to consider might be to donate your old computer. Jim Lynch of Tech Soup (www.techsoup.org) lists a number of tips for donating a computer.
First determine if your old computer can be reused. An older computer can be set up to entertain visiting grandchildren. This computer doesn’t need to be connected to the internet so you don’t have to worry about privacy issues. There are also software packages that will let you turn your old computer into a network storage system or file server. A Google search will locate many ‘how to’ articles on configuring a file server or network attached storage (NAS) system.
You could also use your old computer to learn a new operating system. There are many distributions of Linux that are free. Download one and install it on your old computer. There are tons of free ‘Open Source’ programs that you can add. Have fun.
If you have decided to recycle your old computer, look for a reliable recycler. RCT (Renewed Computer Technology), has 5 locations throughout Ontario that will take your old computer, refurbish it if possible and make it available to Non Profit organizations and students. Check them out at: http://www.rcto.ca/Default.aspx. For those of you in B.C., check out Free Geek (http://freegeekvancouver.org/). Both of these organizations will give you advice and instructions on donating. There are recyclers in most communities now. Check out their policies and procedures before committing to using their services.
There are some MUGs (Mac User Groups) that will take your old Mac computers and refurbish them. When you purchase a new Mac at a dealer, they will transfer your old files onto the new Mac and give you the opportunity to recycle your old system, no matter what brand. (http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/ program/index.html).
There are many things to consider when donating your old computer for refurbishing or recycling. The most important thing is to make sure that ALL of your personal information and files are erased or cleaned from your hard drive. Most refurbishers have a policy printed on their web pages concerning this issue. It is important to check this out.
You may want to do some hard drive cleaning yourself. You can use a commercial cleaner such as WipeDrive selling for $40.00 US. There are also some free drive cleaning solutions such as Active@ Kill Disk HD Eraser, found at: (http://www.killdisk.com/). For the Mac, there is a built in utility found under “Security Options”, or you can use a program such as WipeDrive for Mac which also sells for $40.00 US. Check them out at http://www.whitecanyon.com/erase-hard-drive-mac.php.
It is important to mention that just reformatting your hard drive does not erase the information on that drive. You need to perform a disk cleaning action to make it difficult to access information on the drive. You can also go to a local professional to perform a hard drive cleaning for you. Please also remember to run a thorough virus scan.
When you donate or recycle your old system, remember to include any accessories that came with the computer. Gather up that extra keyboard and mouse, along with the original documentation and set up disks that were originally installed. Don’t forget the operating system. If you are donating your computer, you might also take the opportunity to clean out any older office suites, utilities or other programs that could be used with your donated computer. Non Profit agencies often need and appreciate all the help you can give them.