Welcome to The Digital Environment! The Internet has changed our world dramatically, and not always for the better. Here you can learn about environmental issues related to computers and the Internet and what you can do to minimize your environmental impact.
Trey
Cyber Defender &
Message Center Supervisor
As an environmental activist, Trey believes that technology has the potential to improve our world, but only if it is used and created responsibly. He encourages people to become aware of their actions and to make simple changes in their lives that will have a big impact on the environment.
A recent graduate of the Academy (class of '07), Trey runs the Message Center in Cyberspace. He loves communicating via email because it is quick, easy, and reduces paper waste.
Favorite Quote:
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
- John Muir
Vegetable Curry
Interests:Ultimate frisbee, Gardening, Recycling trash into treasure
July 13 2009
Being Green: Keeping CDs or DVDs Clean
Hi everyone! Dana here. I know Trey usually does this blog, but this month he asked me to help him out! In exchange, Trey is out in the garden getting his hands dirty pulling weeds. How is it that they grow so much faster than the plants I want? It hardly seems fair. Anyway!
So the other day I was digging under my bed for a book on vermiculture composting when I came across an old CD. After I wiped off some of the dust I realized it was a CD full of family pictures my mom sent to me during my first year at the Academy! I cleaned it off on my shirt as best as I could, rushed over to my laptop, popped it in and…nothing. Just some whirring noises and a few clicks. What a bummer! I didn’t want to lose the pictures of my grandma dancing at her 70th birthday or of my dad getting stuck in the chimney dressed as Santa! Determined to get my pics back, I decided to scour the Internet for help.
posted by Dana
topic: Green Computing
October 8 2008
Green Computing: Buying Green
Since the goal of green computing is to reduce the environmental impact of computers, one thing you can do is to choose more energy efficient and environmentally friendly options when buying a computer and accessories. This is good for you because it saves you money, and it’s good for the environment because it uses up less resources.
- Laptop computers use 75% less power than desktop machines.
- Monitors account for about half of the energy used by a computer, and the larger the monitor, the more power it uses.
- LCD, or liquid crystal display monitors (the newer, flat monitors) use only about 10-20% as much energy as CRT, or cathode ray tube monitors (the big box-shaped older monitors), and they cost less.
- Ink jet printers use about 90% less energy than laser jet printers and you can hardly tell the difference in print quality with some of the newer models.
Green computing is about making smart, responsible choices to help make your world a better place. Every choice you make towards green computing benefits both you and the planet.
posted by Trey
topic: Green Computing, Trey's Green Tips
August 29 2008
What is Green Computing?
Let me start this blog off by explaining a few things. You may have heard people talking about "environmental impact" or "green computing," but what do these terms really mean?
Environmental impact refers to anything that changes our environment. The changes can happen with the use of non-renewable resources that the earth cannot replace (such as oil and coal) or by producing harmful products (such as waste and pollution).
Computers impact the environment in a number of ways. Making computers requires non-renewable resources and creates manufacturing waste and pollution. Using computers requires electricity and generates heat, which is also a form of pollution. Disposing of computers creates even more trash and is potentially hazardous because of the materials in the computer. In fact, most European countries have banned computers and other types of electronic waste from landfills because of the toxic materials in them.
With green computing, the goal is to reduce the environmental impact of computers for both the user (you) and the manufacturer. This means reducing the amount of hazardous materials, making computers as energy efficient as possible, and using materials that can be recycled or are biodegradable. One very simple thing you can do to promote green computing is to donate your old electronics to a charity instead of disposing of them.