IT company convinces customers to turn off their computers for the planet

by Shawn Schuster
Aug 25th 2008 @ 8:32AM

Filed under: Gadgets and Tech, Activism

Energy conservation and carbon reduction is certainly a job for us all, but I'm always amazed at just how much of an impact we can have by doing small things collectively. Such is the case with IT company Cobweb Solutions, who just recently persuaded 58 of their customers to turn off approximately 700 computers as part of their PC Switching Off Evening. During this one night, on August 14th, this endeavor was able to produce a total energy savings equivalent to a ton of carbon.

This project is the first step in the launch of a new national green business community by this UK company. "The manufacture, distribution and use of IT equipment is responsible for around 2% of total global carbon emissions – that's on a par with the airline industry. However, there are some real opportunities to limit the environmental impact of IT. For example, industry sources show that up to 60% of PCs are left on overnight. If we all turned off our PCs overnight we could slash IT's carbon emissions in a single stroke," says Sarah Hildyard of Cobweb Solutions. As more businesses join together to initiate projects like this, it just goes to show the power in numbers, and how much of a positive effect they can have on our planet's future.

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