Going Green In Your Office The Easy Way
Many of us want to be responsible citizens of the Earth. We think about the effects our lifestyles have on the environment. We are concerned about global warming. We want to ensure our children’s future on this planet is one that still has clean air to breathe, an abundance of trees and wildlife, and clean water to drink. However, many of us also think that the sacrifices might be too great to “go green” in our own office. Good news. It’s not as difficult as you think.
There are 3 areas where you can make a significant impact without significant expense or inconvenience: paper, lights, and electronics.
The average American office worker throws out about 150 pounds of paper per year. Paper manufacturing contributes to the deforestation of the planet and in America is responsible for 35 million tons of CO2 a year. So what can you do? Buy recycled paper. Make full use of that paper by printing on both sides and/or using paper that is only printed on one side for scratch paper. Do your proofreading and edits on your computer before printing to reduce the number of prints you make. Re-use file folders by placing new labels over the old ones. All of these changes are easy to make but have a big impact. Pretty painless, right?
Another way you can go green in your office is as easy as changing a light bulb. In fact, it is changing a light bulb. Incandescent bulbs use 4 times more energy than is necessary to produce light. Halogen lights can get as hot as 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s hot enough to cook an egg! Alternately, Energy Star certified compact fluorescent lights (CFL’s) use 75% less energy to produce the same amount of light, last 10 times longer and produce less heat. If you feel like you need even more reason to switch to CFL’s, consider that you will also save money over the lifetime of the bulb. Once you have made the switch to energy efficient bulbs, make sure lights are turned off when they are not needed. A great way to ensure that this happens is with motion sensors that will turn the lights off when everyone has left the room.
38% of all of the carbon dioxide emissions come from the electricity we generate. That electricity is used to power all sorts of things. A major drain on our electricity is all of our office equipment such as computers, copiers, printers, and fax machines. When going green with your electronics, you need to look at 3 factors. You need to consider the waste that is created in the manufacturing of the products, the effects on the environment when you use the products, and the waste that is created when you are done with the products. That may seem like a lot to think about but if you follow these simple guidelines, you will be able to minimize the negative impact your office equipment has on the environment.
The manufacturing of electronics uses a lot of resources including electricity, raw materials, and water. Electronics also account for billions of pounds of municipal waste each year. Just a few of the contaminants that electronics create are toxic heavy metals, lead, PCB’s, mercury, and various acids. To lessen your office’s affect on the number of new pieces of equipment that are manufactured, as well as end up in land fills, buy all-in-one machines that combine multiple functions into one. Whenever possible, get rid of machines completely by using services such as Internet fax. With an Internet fax service you get rid of the fax machine completely, as well as reduce the amount of paper and ink that gets consumed. Another way to decrease waste is to recycle machines that are no longer working and donate those that do to charities where they will stay in use.
25% of the total electricity used by all commercial buildings in the US is consumed by office buildings. When buying any new office equipment, look for Energy Star certified machines. This will make a huge difference in the amount of electricity that is used to run your office. For example, an Energy Star certified computer is going to be 52% more efficient than a standard one. Laptops also use a lot less energy than desktops, so consider whether this is a viable option for your office. Energy efficient machines are also going to have stand by options that will power down or go into sleep mode to conserve energy when not in use. Once the office is closing for the day, make sure that all equipment is powered off.
Taking these steps will get you on your way to going green in your office. And as I promised, they will help you make a significant impact without significant cost or inconvenience to you and your employees. And you thought going green was going to be hard.
Brandi Cummings
http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/going-green-in-your-office-the-easy-way-197420.html
March 8th, 2010 at 7:03 am
k, im a gamer and im going to school soon so im getting a computer are these specs good 4 gaming?
a lot of stuff i read said things about the graphics card but its the best dell offers with this cmputer is it good?
SYSTEM COLOR Spring Green edit
PROCESSOR AMD Phenom™ II X4 945 (3.0GHz, 8MB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
Dell Recommends
Transfer your data, music and photos to your new PC with the Belkin Easy Transfer cable.
Upgrade to Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium,64bit + Belkin Easy Transfer Cable [add $30 or $1/month1]
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis- Important Information edit
Dell Recommends
Keep your warranty working longer.
Upgrade to 2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis [add $79 or $2/month1]
In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis: for issues covered by Limited Hardware Warranty, technician and/or part will be dispatched, if necessary, usually in 1 or 2 business days following Remote Diagnosis. During Remote Diagnosis, you may be asked to access the inside of your system (where safe to do so) or to participate in troubleshooting until a cause can be isolated.
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months edit
MONITOR 23" Dell S2309W Full HD Widescreen Monitor edit
MEMORY 8GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz – 4 DIMMs edit
HARD DRIVE 1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD+/-RW Drive edit
VIDEO CARD nVidia GeForce GT 220, 1024MB edit
SPEAKERS Dell AX510PA 10 Watt Flat Panel Attached Speaker for Flat Panel Monitors edit
Dell Recommends
Multimedia Speaker System delivers an ideal combination of performance and value
Upgrade to Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System [add $80 or $2/month1]
SOUND Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio edit
KEYBOARD & MOUSE Microsoft Wireless Desktop 1000 Keyboard and Mouse – Black edit
MODEM No Modem Option edit
WIRELESS Dell 1525 Wireless-N PCIe Card edit
ON CALL PLAN On Call Services 30 days edit
In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis: for issues covered by Limited Hardware Warranty, technician and/or part will be dispatched, if necessary, usually in 1 or 2 business days following Remote Diagnosis. During Remote Diagnosis, you may be asked to access the inside of your system (where safe to do so) or to participate in troubleshooting until a cause can be isolated.
My Accessories
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 edit
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year edit
WIRELESS ROUTERS & NETWORKING Netgear WNR2000 Wireless-N Broadband Router edit
PRINTER Dell V313 All-In-One Inkjet Printer edit
SERVICE & SUPPORT 1 Year Limited Warranty and 1 Year Advanced Exchange Service edit
In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis: for issues covered by Limited Hardware Warranty, technician and/or part will be dispatched, if necessary, usually in 1 or 2 business days following Remote Diagnosis. During Remote Diagnosis, you may be asked to access the inside of your system (where safe to do so) or to participate in troubleshooting until a cause can be isolated.
DELL PRINTER Dell V313 Printer – Print, Copy, Scan edit
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader
Additional Software Napster Link
Inspiron 546 MT Inspiron 546 Minitower,No Bezel
Mouse Mouse included with Keyboard purchase
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Adobe Software Adobe® Reader 9.0
March 8th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
It’s good, but not the best. I would rate this an 7.5/10. When gaming you have to look at 3 things:
1. CPU AMD II X4 945 is fairly good for it’s cheap price
2. GPU GT 220 is good although I’d rather get a GT 280
3. RAM 8Gb is more than enough
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Overall pretty good specs. You should seriously conider building your own computer. It only takes a few hours and can save possibly 1000 dollars to build your own. If you don’t kow where to start, try the website listed in my sources. (They sell all the parts you need to make your own computer)
Hoever, if you don’t want to go that route, then yes, those specs are very good.
Have a great day! =)
References :
newegg.com
March 8th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
First thing you don’t need 8gb of ram (more isn’t always better), downgrade to just four and go with a 32 bit OS(saves trouble with compatibility issues in the long run). And as for a graphics card what kind of games do you intend on playing? If your answers include COD or Crysis then you should reconsider the GT220 even the 4610 is better. Unless you plan on playing 1024*768 res with all the settings down. Because of the larger monitor you should look in to a 9800gtx or 9600GSO, ATI 4670, or
Nvidia: 9600GT, 8800GT/9800GT, 8800GTS, 9800GTX/GTX+/GTS250, GTX260, GTX275, etc
ATI: 4830, 4770, 4850, 4870, 4850×2, 4890, etc
Try looking into places like frys.com newegg.com tigerdirect.com if your tech savy you could build your own system to better customize it to suit your needs
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
It seems ok though i do question the GT220…not really a gaming card…would suggest not getting that and getting a 5850 instead or maybe a 5770 [5770 is almost as good as the 4850] or if u prefer nvidia, get a 9800GT or GTX 275 though i would rather get a DX11 card also…64-bit is fine…wat chris said is false…more technology are using 64-bit technology now a days. oh and building your own computer is cheaper and u can choose a nicer cooler looking case with better ventilation
References :