Sustainable Computing Green IT Best Practices
Sustainable Computing Green IT Best Practices Green computing is about using less energy, reducing waste, and making IT work more efficiently for people and the planet. It is not a distant goal; you can start today with simple choices. By selecting efficient hardware, tuning power settings, and planning for end-of-life care, you can save money and lower your footprint. Adopt energy-aware policies Set power plans to balanced or energy-saving where possible. This reduces idle energy on PCs, laptops, and servers without harming essential tasks. Enable sleep states for desktops and servers during long idle periods. Automated transitions cut waste while keeping services ready. Use wake-on-LAN and wake-on-RTC thoughtfully to avoid keeping devices powered. Schedule wake events only when needed. Track energy use with simple dashboards to reveal waste and measure progress. Start with monthly checks and share results with teams. Choose efficient hardware Look for ENERGY STAR or other efficiency labels on new devices. Certification helps you compare models for real power use. Choose CPUs, memory, and storage that deliver strong performance per watt. Modern components reduce heat and cooling needs. Plan for virtualization and server consolidation to reduce active hardware. Consolidation lowers power, cooling, and maintenance costs. Prefer suppliers who offer extended product support to extend life. Longer warranties and spare parts reduce early replacement. Optimize software and workloads Profile apps to remove wasteful operations and unnecessary loops. Efficient code saves CPU time and energy. Schedule heavy processing for cooler times or when electricity is cheaper. This reduces peak demand and can save costs. Use containerization and virtualization to pack workloads efficiently. Better utilization means fewer idle machines. Leverage caching, data locality, and streaming to lower compute needs. Smarter data handling reduces repeated work. End-of-life and recycling Choose recyclers with certified handling and data destruction. Ask for certificates and traceability. Reuse usable equipment in offices, schools, or nonprofits. This extends life and reduces e-waste. Donate still-capable devices before they fail. Donations support learning while reducing disposal. Recycle responsibly to recover materials and prevent toxic waste. Partner with local programs to learn what is recoverable. Sustainable IT brings steady savings and a smaller footprint for organizations of any size. ...