Sign in / up

back to article Greenies give IT industry a black eye

Greenpeace told the computer industry to try harder today, as its latest report into the electronics industry showed just three products reaching the half-way mark in reducing their environmental impact. The report, unveiled at CeBIT this morning, said there had been some progress towards making Green IT more than a marketing …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Matt

    Greenpeace

    Seeing their inaccurate reports over PS3 standby usage and other such nonsense I can't really take them seriously any more.

    On the other hand perhaps they have a point about product life. Should we continue to charge down the path of chucking PCs away every few years to get the latest, or should we give up the "latest" for a greener life? As an observation I've seen lots of users who try to hang on to their PCs because they don't need the latest (one client I worked for provided me with a laptop I used to run putty on and read e-mail I didn't need anything else) but are forced to throw them away because they can't get parts or parts start failing.

    Could someone please make sure that Labour don't see this as they'll just start taxing it. Thanks :-)

    0 0
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Does anybody give a s#it...

    ...what Greenpeace think ?

    Since they have no legal or other status.

    Well done Apple, Acer, Nintendo and Creative for ignoring this useless bunch of self appointed whingers,

    and 0/10 for Sony, HP, Fujitsu Siemens, Dell, Lenovo, LG, Motorola and Samsung for encouraging them.

    How about an industry wide policy of ignoring Greenpeace and their irrelevant surveys and reports.

    0 0
  3. James

    Good points Matt

    I agree with Matt on this one. Also harking back to an article yesterday - surely all manufacturers should be trying to produce systems that use LESS power than their equivalents of 20 years ago. I have been building PC systems since 1985 and seen power requirements leapfrog from less than 100W to over 600W per computer (that's the box alone).

    Manufacturers should start designing for low power, for recycling / reuse of system components.

    Perhaps manufacturers could also have a "take back" scheme where they take back used systems and pass them on to other users.

    Also - no Standby modes. Should instead have systems that have only full on-off switches. When they are switched off they save the exact configuration the user had when switched off. When Switched on then they should (within 10 seconds) have restored entire system to pre-switch off state. None of this pathetic 2-3 minutes start-up time that bloatware requires.

    Get all systems slim, fast and very efficient. This is the job of both hardware and Operating system designers.

    /end rant

    0 0
  4. Waderider
    Thumb Up

    Greenpeace isn't the issue

    It's a pity some folk don't appear to have the wisdom to see that it's not about how one environmental organisation conduct themselves. It's about making a commitment towards a more sustainable consumer culture. If Greenpeace isn't a mover in this sphere are you going to take on the role yourself and force electronic good manufacturers to produce more environmentally friendly goods? For example by making environmental criteria part of what you consider when making a purchase?

    Or are you so out of touch that you can't see such things are worth considering?

    0 0
  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Time for Greenpeace to show how it's done

    When the back-to-the-13th-Century eco-hippies produce a useful computer built from knitted lentils and powered by recycled Guardian social worker job supplements maybe THEN we'll pay attention to their press releases.

    In the meantime, mine's the dolphin skin coat with mahogany toggles.

    0 0
  6. 4a$$Monkey
    Joke

    To quote the BOFH

    "A REAL computer has ONE speed and the only powersaving it permits is when you pull the power leads out of the back!" I blurt. "In fact, a REAL computer would have a hole in the front to push trees into and an exhaust pipe out the back for the black smoke to come out of."

    BOFH 2008 - Episode4

    0 0
  7. Aidan Cook

    Efficiency equals elegance

    Manufacturers need to be reminded that inefficient products are effectively poorly-designed ones. Efficiency should be something that is considered across the whole design, from interface to software to hardware. Unfortunately there's a tendency towards "a pretty interface, some adequate software, and consumers are only confused by hardware anyway so let's just stick it in a slinky case".

    Those consumers who are a little more sophisticated (the ones who don't worry about big cars, personalised number plates, and a shiny new phone every month), ought to put pressure on manufacturers directly. Don't wait for Greenpeace to publish something, change your company's purchasing policies to include more environmental assessment.

    Oh, and Mike Richards? The most successful business people in history (Rockefeller, Ford, Gates, Buffet) have left their mark with corporate/social responsibility almost beyond measure - successful people tend to want to improve things. I'm not quite sure what the intention of your post was.

    0 0
  8. Britt Johnston
    Alien

    Clean up at whose expense?

    Discussion in Switzerland, which adds a disposal charge at sale to every electronic product, is picking up on the re-use of donated machines in developing countries. Shouldn't the charge be passed on to the 3rd world country, they ask.

    Here, greenies are attacking the other end, suggesting that recycling could be improved - since disposal is pre-charged, not taxed, it should then become possible to lower the fee.

    0 0
  9. Bruno Girin
    Go

    Beyond the major brands

    I agree with Matt: difficult to completely take Greenpeace's advice at face value based on past experience but they do have a point about extending the life of the electronic equipment we own.

    Otherwise, we as consumers can also make a difference and look for alternatives to the major brands. If you want a low power PC, I suggest you have a look at http://www.tranquilpc.co.uk/. I have one of their T2e boxes that I use as DHCP-DNS-Subversion-File server and its average power consumption is between 25 and 30W (compare that to the 100 to 600W stated by James above) and it is really, really silent. Their green credentials also go beyond the PC itself: the packaging in which they send you the machine is all recyclable cardboard, no polystyrene or plastic. Oh and refreshingly they have great customer service!

    0 0
  10. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    All stick, no carrot.

    The big problem Greenpeace, and other environmental organisations, have to face is a growing public scepticism about all things "green".

    Actually, its not Greenpeace' fault, but the fault of our money-grabbing politicians (of both national and local persuasions) who seem to view the green agenda as an excuse for slapping us with more taxes.

    Personally I'm getting rather tired of more and more of my hard-earned cash being hoovered out of my pockets on the pretence of saving the planet when it is obviously nothing more than a tax-grab.

    The constant beating with the green-tax-stick without any noticeable green-benefit-carrot to balance it it just turning people off the whole green agenda.

    0 0
  11. Britt Johnston
    Happy

    Green PC gets award

    Around CEBIT time the german PC mag makes its annual awards.

    http://www.chip.de/artikel/CHIP-AWARDS-08_31030672.html

    They gave an award for green hardware to Fujitsu-Siemens for its "green PC". You might care to review it and see if it matches up to El Reg standards.

    0 0
  12. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    the story of stuff

    check www.thestoryofstuff.com

    0 0
This topic is closed for new posts.