9 Easy Ways to Make Your Computer Usage Greener
There are lots of reasons to make your computer usage greener. However, the need to reduce our carbon footprint and soaring energy costs are the most compelling for many of us.
There are plenty of tricks and tips that can help you achieve greener computer usage. Let’s look at some ways you can reduce your computer’s power usage, save on energy bills, and make your computer usage more sustainable.
Why Green Computing Is Important
Computers and their peripherals might not seem like “energy-hungry” devices, and in many instances, this is true. However, they do run a lot of the time, and we tend to have many of them.
So, just how big an impact do they have on our energy usage?
Surprisingly, it is as much as 5% of household energy bills. For people that work from home, this figure can be higher. In essence, this means that it’s possible to make substantial savings on energy bills, help the environment, and prolong the life of your computer just by taking a few simple steps.
Here are nine ways to make your computer usage greener.
1. Adjust Your Computer’s Power Settings
Let’s start with an obvious one. Adjusting your computer’s power settings is the easiest way to reduce the power usage of your computer. For example, yourlaptop will usually draw about 10-12 wattsof power when running. Whereas in sleep mode, this reduces to 3-4 watts.
Power configuration settings on Linux will vary depending on the distribution. However, it will be similar to the steps listed below, which used Linux Mint.
Simply adjusting a few settings can make a massive difference to how much power your computer uses.
2. Unplug Your Computer When It Is Not in Use
Even though your computer is powered down, it still draws a small amount of power whenever it is plugged in. In fact, many electronicdevices should be unplugged when not in use.
Not only will this step save you money on energy bills, but it alsoprotects your device from small power surges. These can damage your computer, and in the case of severe surges or blackouts, they can easily destroy a computer.
One useful tip is to plug your computer and its peripherals into a powerstrip. This enables you to switch off all your devices at once.
3. Use Energy-Efficient Hardware
When shopping for a new laptop or computer, we primarily consider the hardware specs. Does it have the right processor, storage requirements, RAM, etc.?
But consider adding energy efficiency to this list. According to the US Department of Energy, designated Energy Star computers can use up to 65% less energy than those without the designation.
Over the lifetime of the device, this can result in massive energy and financial savings.
4. Software Considerations
Not all software is created equal! Badly coded software can consume energy unnecessarily. There are energy-saving standards like ISO 50001 that apply to software. However, these are rarely listed in software descriptions, so determining the energy efficiency of the software is difficult.
But there is a way to reduce the impact of software on your computer’s energy usage. Many apps run as continuous background processes. Much of the time, this is unnecessary, and too manybackground processes not only use energybut they also affect the performance of your computer.
To check the processes running on your computer, press theCtrl, Shift, and Esckeys simultaneously and select theStartuptab. From here, you can disable unnecessary apps running each time you switch your computer on. A word of caution, if you are unsure whether a process is required, play it safe and leave it running.
But there are plenty ofWindows processes that can be safely stopped.
There are lots of ways todisable unnecessary settings to optimize your Mac. For example, to stop unwanted startup apps, navigate toSystem Preferences > Users & Groupsand select your account from the left. Now, clickLogin Itemsand use theMinusbutton to disable unnecessary items.
5. Opt for a Laptop Over a Desktop
Laptops are far more energy efficient than their desktop brethren. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to be precise with figures as this largely depends on the equipment.
However, laptops typically draw from 20 watts of power up to about 50 watts in extreme cases. By comparison, even an energy-efficient desktop will use 60 watts, and this can rise to 250 watts in more power-hungry computers.
6. Go Paperless
Printing requires both energy and other resources like ink and paper. Instead of printing documents, you can use digital alternatives, including email, cloud storage, or digital documents. Digital documents can be easily accessed and shared, and they are more environmentally friendly than printed ones.
Thankfully, there isn’t the same need to print every document these days as we have digital access to most of our documents.
7. Recycle Your Old Equipment
There is a lot of talk about transitioning to a “circular economy,” maximizing the use of resources, and recycling to reduce waste. One way you can help achieve this is by making sure your old computer equipment is recycled properly.
Electronic devices contain toxic materials such as lead, mercury, and cadmium that can pollute the air and water if disposed of improperly. Recycling old computer equipment helps prevent these toxic materials from entering the environment and allows valuable materials to be reused.
Many retailers and organizations have programs that allow you to recycle your computers properly and safely. In addition, theEnvironmental Protection Agencyhas an online resource that can help locate a nearby recycling resource.
8. Use Hibernate Instead of Sleep Mode
Sleep mode is often the default setting a computer enters when it is not in use. While this does save energy, it requires some power to keep the documents and settings in RAM.
Hibernating your computer is more efficient as the files, documents, and settings are stored on the hard drive, consuming no energy. One proviso here is the time the computer is likely to be idle. It takes more energy to wake a computer from hibernation. So, if you are likely to be frequently wakening your computer, sleep mode could be more efficient.
9. Reduce the Screen Brightness
Finally, reducing the brightness of your screen is an effective way of reducing your computer’s power consumption. For instance, when running on battery reducing screen brightness by 10% can save as much as 5% of battery usage.
Enabling battery-saving mode will automatically dim your screen when your computer uses its battery. You can manually adjust the brightness by navigating toSettings > System > Display > Brightness and color.
Adjusting the screen brightness for Mac computers can be done using theF1andF2keys on the keyboard. There is also aquick and easy trick to help you fine-tune the brightness settings.
For most Linux distributions, you will need to navigate toSettings > Hardware > Power Management,then click on the brightness tabs. Here you will be able to adjust various brightness parameters.
Every Little Helps
A few simple steps to reduce the power consumption of your computer usage might not seem like a big deal. But all these steps add up and can have a noticeable effect on energy bills and prolong the life of your computer. And let’s not forget the environmental benefits.
This is good for the environment and your pocket. Implementing many of these steps only takes a few moments, and the savings are immediate.
Is it possible for computing to move to more sustainable manufacturing? How about just turning the screen off when the office is empty?
Obsidian finally feels complete.
You’re not getting the most out of what you pay for iCloud+.
The key is not to spook your friends with over-the-top shenanigans.
Make sure you don’t miss these movies and shows before Netflix removes them.
My foolproof plan is to use Windows 10 until 2030, with the latest security updates.
