Green IT for Dummies®

Chapter 17. Evaluating Green Gadgetry

In This Chapter

• Powering your gadgets the smart way

• Computing green while on the go

• Greening a data center with gadgets

• Grabbing some green tools

Much of Green IT focuses on racks of servers and vast disk storage arrays, and rightly so — these things consume lots of energy. But the computing world is shifting to the small and mobile. Tiny, intelligent devices proliferate along with their chargers; just look at any nearby power strip.

All this gadgetry has an impact on the green story, in several ways:

• The good news: Mobile devices can save energy and reduce IT's environmental effects — if you use them wisely.

• The bad news: The sheer number of devices and their always-plugged-in chargers require significant power.

• The ugly news: Dead batteries pose an environmental hazard, and disposing of them properly takes effort and energy. With a little planning and effort, however, you can make this impact less ugly. Read on....

Powering Gadgets Intelligently

You can reduce the environmental impact of battery-powered electronic gadgets. Find better ways to supply them with power. Try better chargers, better batteries, and off-grid power sources.

Considering green chargers

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that American homes and businesses use some 230 million products that need battery-charging power adapters. The EPA estimates that Americans could save 1 terawatt-hour per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1 million tons by ...