Daily Eco Tips » Technology

Tip #180 – Use Spotify

David — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:00:56 +0000

Have you ever tried Spotify? It is an amazing service where you can stream your favourite music over the net and listen to what you like.

All you have to do is put up with an advert every half hour or so, so the artists get paid for their hard work. This is good for the environment how? It means you really never need to buy a CD again, which is a form of manufacturing that is terrible for the environment.

Anyway – This concludes my second week writing for DailyEcoTips.com. I hope you are all find my tips enlightening and useful, and I look forward to being on the receiving end of a few tips from yourselves. Please don’t destroy my confidence by posting “Here’s a tip – don’t give up your day job”, but I’d love your feedback.

Copyright © 2008 to 2009 Daily Eco Tips. Got a tip to contribute? Find out more on our Get Involved page.

Tip #180 – Use Spotify

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Tip #162 – Try Linux instead of Microsoft Windows

David — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:00:36 +0000

Try to use Linux instead of Windows, since Linux machines don’t become obsolete as quickly.

Linux operating systems require less system resources than Windows, and as a result of this, they can work well on older computers (including extremely old computers), enabling you to upgrade your hardware less frequently. When upgrading Windows, many people face the problem of it’s high demand for system resources (which increases significantly with every Windows release), and they are forced to upgrade their computers in many cases. Try Ubuntu.

This tip is thanks to Nicholas from the alternative energy website.

Copyright © 2008 to 2009 Daily Eco Tips. Got a tip to contribute? Find out more on our Get Involved page.

Tip #162 – Try Linux instead of Microsoft Windows

Tip #141 – Unplug your USB gadgets

David — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:00:36 +0000

Even if you don’t use a USB-device, the fact it’s plugged in to your computer means that it is consuming energy. Even if that energy is used to light a small LED or LCD display. It might be convenient to have all of your USB devices plugged in at once, but it’ll save you energy to unplug the devices you only use on occasion.

Each USB device is potentially capable of drawing up to 500mA from a PC, which is half an amp! So to save energy, just unplug those scanners or cameras, etc that you only use once in a while.

Copyright © 2008 to 2009 Daily Eco Tips. Got a tip to contribute? Find out more on our Get Involved page.

Tip #141 – Unplug your USB gadgets

Tip #139 – Replace office desktop computers with laptops

David — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:00:53 +0000

When buying new computer equipment for the office, consider buying laptop computers rather than desktop PCs. Old desktop computers can seriously waste energy, often consuming up to 400 Watts of power. Laptop computers are much more energy efficient, using up to 70% less heat.

Laptops will also generate less heat than desktop computers, so that means less energy is being wasted as heat. Additionally, since it’s particularly simple to hibernate a laptop, you save energy when you’re not using the laptop. Laptops are surprisingly energy efficient pcs!

Choose among a wide range of notebook AC adapter cables for different brands.

Copyright © 2008 to 2009 Daily Eco Tips. Got a tip to contribute? Find out more on our Get Involved page.

Tip #139 – Replace office desktop computers with laptops

Tip #126 – Save energy with an Eco-friendly Search Engine

David — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:00:14 +0000

Andrew Davey, a 13-year-old who lives in Knaphill, Surrey, UK has created a search engine website that can help people save energy. Andrew got the idea from a Mark Ontkush, who concluded that an all-white web page uses 74 watts of energy compared to 59W from an all-black webpage. Therefore changing from using a white web page to a black one would save up to 15W every time it’s displayed.

Andrew has created EcoSmartSearch, a search engine powered by Google, but displays results pages in black rather than in white. Here are some numbers, as quoted from Andrew’s search engine website:

Take at look at Google, who gets about 200 million queries a day. Let’s assume each query is displayed for about 10 seconds; that means Google is running for about 550,000 hours every day on some desktop. Assuming that users run Google in full screen mode, the shift to a black background will save a total of 15 (74-59) watts. That turns into a global savings of 8.3 Megawatt-hours per day, or about 3000 Megawatt-hours a year. Now take into account that about 25 percent of the are CRTs, and at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, that’s $75,000, a goodly amount of energy and dollars for changing a few colour codes.”

Copyright © 2008 to 2009 Daily Eco Tips. Got a tip to contribute? Find out more on our Get Involved page.

Tip #126 – Save energy with an Eco-friendly Search Engine

Tip #121 – Use Ecofont – A Green Alternative

David — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:00:57 +0000

A dutch creative company called SPRANQ has developed a new font that will save you toner and ink with your printer. The Ecofont uses up to 20% less toner or ink compared to the original font Bitstream Vera.

The font uses a number of small circles to reduced the amount of coloured ink needed to render a font, yet still leaving the font completely readable. The larger the font size, the greater the saving in toner and ink. The Ecofont is available to download for use in Windows, Mac OSX and Linux.

Thanks to Elle from Klonje for this tip.

Copyright © 2008 to 2009 Daily Eco Tips. Got a tip to contribute? Find out more on our Get Involved page.

Tip #121 – Use Ecofont – A Green Alternative

Tip #107 – Recycle your Ink Cartridges

David — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:00:05 +0000

Printers have come on a long way in the last 10 years, but ink cartridges are a significant source of waste. Often containing a mixture of chemicals, plastics and metals, cartridges are not eco-friendly. However, there are now many initiatives that allow you to recycle and refill ink cartridges.

Green Source – gives £2 +VAT towards overseas charity projects.
Cash For Cartridges – pay you up to £3 per cartridge.
Christian Aid – donates £1 for every recycled cartridge.

There are many more companies offering this service, so just do a little research to find a programme that appeals to you.

Copyright © 2008 to 2009 Daily Eco Tips. Got a tip to contribute? Find out more on our Get Involved page.

Tip #107 – Recycle your Ink Cartridges

Tip #75 – Use Rechargable Batteries

David — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:00:21 +0000

Switching from conventional batteries to rechargeables is a quick, easy and convenient way to reduce one’s carbon footprint. Take a second to think about what battery operated devices you have at home and work. Your remote controls, wireless computer mice, cordless telephone, MP3 players, torches, clocks, electronic scales, and most kids toys too!

The list of battery-using gadgets is surprisingly long. Switching to rechargeable energy sources reduces the materials needed to produce disposable batteries. Plus, it prevents harmful landfill waste.

If you do use disposable batteries, you can recycle them! Check your workplace local council. There are battery recycling programmes everywhere, and most of them are free for domestic recyclers.

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Tip #57 – Energy Saving with your Computer

David — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:00:29 +0000

If you want to save some energy with your PC, there are a number of very simple tips you can use without buying a new computer or buying some energy saving gadget.

Unplug the computer when not in use. The computer actually uses energy when in it’s “off” state, just like a TV “standby” state.
Enable the sleep function on your hard drives and monitor. This is just an option in most operating systems, including Windows and Mac OS X.
Switch off your accessories. Some computer accessories have electrical (rather than always-on electronic) switches, meaning you can save energy by switching them off.

You can find some much more detailed advice in the Pays to Live Green article Computer Energy Saving.

Tip #54 – Switch off Bluetooth and WiFi

David — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:00:21 +0000

Here’s a technology-based eco tip today that saves energy and money too. Bluetooth and WiFi (as in wireless networking) are 2.4GHz radio data communication standards, but are often referred to as features in mobiles phones and personal computers (PCs). Bluetooth and WiFi devices are typically very power-hungry, and therefore use significantly more energy when enabled on a device.

Therefore to save energy, switch off the Bluetooth and WiFi features on your computers and mobile phones when they are not in use. That will boost your usable battery life, as well as save you money on your energy bills when charging your gadgets up again.

Tip #139 – Replace office desktop computers with laptops

Daily Eco Tips » Technology

Tip #180 – Use Spotify

Random Posts

Tip #162 – Try Linux instead of Microsoft Windows

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Tip #141 – Unplug your USB gadgets

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Tip #139 – Replace office desktop computers with laptops

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Tip #126 – Save energy with an Eco-friendly Search Engine

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Tip #121 – Use Ecofont – A Green Alternative

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Tip #107 – Recycle your Ink Cartridges

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Tip #75 – Use Rechargable Batteries

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Tip #57 – Energy Saving with your Computer

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Tip #54 – Switch off Bluetooth and WiFi

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