The concept of sustainability has been around for some time now. Sustainable practices enhance the quality of our lives, preserve natural resources, and protect our ecosystem. It is a holistic approach that includes everything from production to customer services to logistics.
Information Technology has been the latest addition to this list. You see our natural resources for finite and are depleting at an alarmingly fast rate. You would be surprised to know that the global material footprint increased by over 70% in 2017.
Sustainable IT or Green IT includes manufacturing, management, use, and disposal of IT such that it has minimum impact on the environment. Stay with us as we shed light on how sustainable IT revolutionizes the environment and social approach.
How Does IT Affect Resources?
Corporate offices, desktops, servers, and laptops rely on constant energy sources. Besides resource consumption, these devices are also responsible for harmful GHG emissions. It is particularly true when a new IT device is built.
Studies say that around 81% of the energy a computer system needs in its lifetime is spent only during its formation phase. Energy consumption continues even after the technology enters your office. The majority of technology devices generate heat, especially servers. Therefore, additional energy is needed to cool these computing machines.
How Sustainable is IT Making a Difference?
Sustainability has become a way of life that the world needs to adopt to combat climate change. The IT industry is presently the highest used office hardware, having a massive impact on the planet.
Work-from-home has become the new normal, boosting the demand for portable IT equipment and laptops. Besides this, remote learning also creates an extra burden on fast-depleting natural resources.
The concept of sustainable IT recommends using functional second-hand laptops and reprogramming them to be as good as new. These refurbished laptops reduce the negative impact that the new devices bring.
Tips to Make an Impact Towards Sustainable IT
Here are some thoughtful ways in which companies can make an impact with sustainable IT:
- Collocate and relocate Servers to maximize the data center space and minimize the energy and cooling costs.
- They should follow best data center practices like automating light, outdoor cooling, and security. Apart from this using outside air cooling and unplugging devices when, not in use are also effective ways to save energy.
- Migrate to Cloud energy and use state-of-the-art IT tools. However, they should also know the best cloud security practices to protect their confidential data.
- Purchase and promote devices that are renowned for energy efficiency.
- Offer rewards and rebates to teams that promote sustainability in the office.
- Employees should be free to identify the most efficient, sustainable IT practice for their teams.
- Management should also know the top enterprise technology trends to watch in 2023 and identify ways to incorporate them sustainably.
Bottomline
So, this was all about how sustainable IT is revolutionizing the entire world. Companies should take this approach seriously and make every possible effort to preserve as much energy as possible for future generations.
