The world’s growing dependence on the digital world poses a great challenge for the physical world, and it’s not just how we perceive it but also how we treat it.
Digital activities of recent times require a high energy level to keep running. These energy demands directly or indirectly affect the environment by burning fossil fuels. Even when digital waste is being disposed of, it still affects the environment if not disposed of properly.
There is no doubt about the importance of information technology to the global economy and daily life, and because IT accounts for more than 20% of electronic waste and computing is responsible for 3% of global emissions that destroy the ozone layer and cause global warming, there is a need to adopt Green IT.
Green IT is a form of conducting digital activities in a way that its processes help improve sustainability and help reduce the impact of IT on the environment.
Digital organizations can perform green IT processes by using less dangerous materials in production, improving IT systems that are more energy efficient, using renewable energy, and also using the 3 R’s of environmental sustainability (reuse, recycle, and refurbish).
It will interest you to know that once these green processes are put into action, they not only make the planet more convenient but also help organizations reduce loss.
For example, most of the parts used to make a cellphone are non-biodegradable and will not decompose when buried; however, if a company decides to reuse good parts of the phone to create another generation of phones, it will save money that would have been spent on raw materials for the phone.
Another example of green IT processes is the use of solar-enabled cooling systems. Often, servers used to run heavy programs overheat and require a lot of energy due to the load they put on them. Companies should adopt the use of cooling systems that work on solar power. This way, the energy that is used by the servers will be natural, and it will drastically reduce the burning of fossil fuels to create energy.
Suppose the entire IT industry embraces green IT solutions, it will take out a lot of environmental issues.It will pave the way for other industries, e.g., manufacturing, to do so, as IT is becoming the backbone of enterprises. These actions will, in turn, create a more conducive and green world.
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Photo by Tyler Casey
