DP Tool Club 8/CDASC08.ISO/VRAC/PCL60B.ZIP/PART5.EXE/ENVIRON.TUT

Text File | 1993-07-13 | 17KB | 292 lines

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                        ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE COMPUTING

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       Computing has impacts on the earth and I would like to share a
       few constructive suggestions and tips about saving resources and
       protecting the environment.

       Computing uses paper. Keep two wastebaskets by your desk and
       recycle. Same for cardboard packing boxes and packing materials
       which arrive with computing equipment.

       But let's go a little deeper with the paper issue: Do you really
       need to print on multiple part carbonless forms and heavyweight
       computer paper? I use a lightweight 18# paper in my little dot
       matrix printer. How about carbonless and two part forms? The
       chemicals used in the manufacture of carbonless paper are toxic.
       Do you really need a two part form (or 6 part form in the case of
       some corporations which go wild with multipart forms?) Why not
       see if a single part form can be made with a tear off stub or
       perhaps a file saving feature in the software that traps the data
       and saves it to disk for "your copy" of the form? Just like
       banks: ask the customer if they want their checks back: meaning
       does your customer need seven copies of a form or will your monthly
       invoice statement cover the bill?

       Environmentally responsible computing also means ONLY upgrading
       machines when you really need to or buying a used computer. Here's
       why: the manufacture of integrated circuits used in computers uses
       large amounts of concentrated acids, gasses and caustic chemicals.
       These are stored, recycled or (hopefully) dumped into approved waste
       sites in normal practice, but the point is do you really need
       the latest machine and its impact on our planet given the toxic
       nature of computer manufacturing processes? PC-LEARN is programmed
       on an XT class machine. I don't need anything better, and when
       I do, I hope to find a USED "recycled" computer of higher quality
       rather than buying a new one. Same with printers, modems and so
       forth! Here in Seattle, several computer brokers specialize in
       reselling used computers on consignment. Head that direction for
       your next purchase! It's less expensive and helps the planet!

       As a commercial photographer by training, I use a Seattle film
       lab for some of my photo processing. The lab uses an 8 1/2 by
       11 inch TWO part carbonless form to log in each order, they
       later mail me a THREE part carbonless invoice for EACH order
       within a few days by mail, then a final billing statement at
       the end of the month AND they have 4 computer terminals in the
       order processing customer counter area of the lab! I am sure
       their accounting is extraordinarily well documented, but there
       may not be enough trees on this earth to support this kind of
       "information flow" if every business operated this way. I could
       do with a small claim stub when I drop off my film, a little
       itemization printed on the paper envelope which contains the
       finished order and perhaps a monthly statement printed on
       recycled paper to summarize the account activity. The ironic
       footnote is that the same lab has a sign prominently posted in
       the lobby as to willingness to accept cardboard and plastic
       (from things like film containers) for the benefit of the
       environment! Clearly the right hand doesn't know what the left
       hand is doing and sadly computers are pushing the waste factor
       in this real life example.

       If you suspect I am beating the environmental drum too loudly,
       back up and consider the financial COST to an operation like the
       film lab mentioned above. Unwise from the financial end and
       equally unwise from the environmental end.

       Computing uses electricity. If you are just stepping out of the
       office for a half hour or so, it is probably best for the machine
       to leave it on and the hard drive spinning to prevent the wear and
       tear of machine startup which eventually wears out a hard drive.

       However, turn off the monitor if you are away for even short
       periods using its own separate power switch (leaving the PC on)
       even if you use screen blanker software since the monitor is
       still drawing power! When should you turn off the machine
       completely? Use the two hour rule: if you are away from the PC
       NO MORE than two hours, leave the machine on. If away MORE than
       two hours, shut it off. Also factor in the dust argument which
       follows:

       Don't leave a PC on all night or LONG periods of time. The dust
       sucked through your machine by constant fan use will more than
       offset the savings in wear and tear you may gain by leaving the
       hard drive spinning! The dust impacts the power supply which is
       the heart of the system. If the power supply goes bad due to
       overheating (because of a thick blanket of internal dust) it
       can destroy your entire PC! For the curious or mechanically adept,
       open the power supply WITH ALL APPROPRIATE PRECAUTIONS IN AN
       UNPLUGGED AND COMPLETELY DISCHARGED MACHINE. You will be stunned
       by the dust you see! I regularly take my pc and power supply cover
       off and give the internals a LIGHT blast of compressed air (not
       ozone-destroying freon) to free the dust and help the machine run
       cooler. I do this every six months.

       Do a calculation for your office on your PC: how much wattage
       does an average PC in your office draw per hour? How many PC's
       in your office? What is the TOTAL economic cost leaving them ALL
       on during the night (12 hours?) versus turning them off? Now how
       much a month, then how much a year. Finally, multiply by the cost
       per killowatt hour for cost per year. This doesn't even consider
       maintenance savings or waste - just electricity!

       Plastics and computing are everywhere. Talk to a recycler and
       see if they can accept polyethelene packing bags, stryrofoam
       packing, printer cartridges and so forth.

       If you are involved in large corporate purchases, ask the
       vendor to supply a one page sheet describing how they use
       LESS in an environmentally safe way in providing your computing
       equipment needs (e.g., do they use popcorn from a growing
       plant (which is now common) rather than styrofoam chips for
       packing, do they recycle paper in their organization, etc.)?
       Vendors just might take notice if large organizations asked
       for a one page "computing impact statement" from each
       computing supplies vendor. If your vendor doesn't know what
       you mean by a "computing impact statement," send THIS
       printout as an example and ask them again for their statement.

       Try to recharge printer ink cartridges if possible. Same with
       laser printers. A nutty but workable method of recharging
       a FABRIC printer cartridge is to take it outside, lay it
       on a piece of newspaper, pry off the plastic cartridge lid
       and lightly spray the ribbon with the lubricant WD-40. Replace
       the lid of the printer cartridge and allow a few hours for the
       WD-40 oil to redistribute ink from the edges of the ribbon
       (where the printhead does NOT strike the ribbon) to the center
       strip of the ribbon. Recharged cartridges at the cost of a few
       pennies of WD-40! This method works best with cloth fabric
       ribbons not mylar ribbons, but I am told a few people have even
       tried this with the mylar ribbons too. Professional ink and
       ribbon recharge companies exist, investigate this option!

       Consider using shareware rather than commercial software. How
       does this positively affect the environment? Simple. Shareware
       uses simple packaging or NONE AT ALL since it frequently
       travels electronically by BBS/modem methods, isn't returned to
       the wholesaler to be sent to the garbage dump if too many
       packages are manufactured, supports a small software programmer
       who has less impact on the earth as a single human being rather
       than a large corporation and provides you with high quality at
       a fair price which goes well with the environmental features.
       This isn't just a sales pitch, shareware DOES have less negative
       impact on the environment than commercial software!

       Speaking of laser printers, the environmental cost and economic
       cost is NOT favorable. Toner, paper, electricity, everything
       about lasers is less favorable to the earth. Use a humble dot
       matrix printer unless you are ready for the final draft. Lasers
       need more maintenance, too. Finally people are forever buying
       MORE plastic font cartridges and upgrades for lasers.

       In this respect, a good compromise if you need laser quality and
       sharpness in printing, is to consider using BUBBLEJET printers
       which produce crisp "near laser" quality, but use far less ink,
       plastic cartridge material and electricity than a conventional
       laser printer. Most software packages now support bubblejet
       printers.

       Back to the paper issue. Do you really need to send a memo or
       submit a rough draft on paper? Can you get the boss to accept
       the memo on disk and teach the boss how to use a simple file
       browser to read the file? Pick up the phone and call with the
       information, it is a faster, more human in scale and saves
       resources.

       Let's talk about envelopes: if your office uses window style
       envelopes for billings or mailings, try to design or use
       window envelopes WITH EMPTY WINDOW OPENINGS RATHER THAN
       CLEAR PLASTIC WINDOW OPENINGS. The billing address peeks out the
       front just the same and becomes recyclable! Plastic containing
       envelopes cannot be recycled. Otherwise try to pre-print the
       address on the return envelope - anything but plastic windows.

       FAX processes are wonderful. Investigate FAXing onto disk (using
       a FAX board installed in your computer) rather than paper
       printouts of FAXES. This produces an electronic FAX file which
       is saved on disk rather than printing on paper.

       Do you program or sell software? Why not recycle disks? Simply
       slap your new label over that old disk no longer needed and add
       a line that "this is a recycled disk" on the bottom of your disk
       label or jacket. Most folks approve of greeting cards printed on
       recycled paper. Do you really need to use a fresh new disk to
       impress your client when a recycled one with a new label will do?

       Keep your keyboard, computer and printer clean. Once in a while
       vacuum or dust out the power supply which collects loads of dust.
       Reason: you prevent breakdowns which require repairs or scrapping
       of the computer. End result: more earth resources used which
       could have been prevented in the first place with a little
       preventative maintenance.

       Look at your software and documentation shelf. Stacks of old
       computer magazines and documentation pile up! Have a once a
       month PC recycling party where you rip out pages from
       documentation and magazines you really need and recycle the
       remains. Same goes for old disks, binders, the works.

       Donations. If computers help you make money, and they do, set
       aside a small contribution to the non-profit group of your choice
       which is involved in conservation and recycling.

       Submit suggestions for this little part of the PC-LEARN tutorial
       on "how your office saves the earth using computers WISELY." I'll
       try to insert it if valuable and of course, it will float all
       over the world on BBS systems and shareware distribution points
       so your small or large suggestion WILL possibly make a difference
       to somebody in Brazil or China. PC-LEARN is a shareware
       package which lives electronically on the Compuserve network
       which is accessed by people all over the world! If possible, send
       your suggestion on disk in ASCII using your word processor so
       I can electronically merge it. Then I will put the LATEST copy
       of PC-LEARN on the disk you sent and return it in your own
       recycled disk mailer if you also enclose a couple of stamps!

       Don't compute when you don't need to! Sometimes it is too easy to
       turn on the machine and bang out a spreadsheet or draft a memo.
       Can you solve the problem with your BRAIN or grab your rolodex to
       find that phone number? Our brains our much more capable than
       the most modern computer. What can you do better by leaving the
       machine OFF and not using electricity, paper, plastic, ink and
       toner? Finally, turning off the computer means we spend a few
       minutes with each other, rather than our (let's face it)
       addictive computers. You just may come up with a solution to
       that budget problem by visiting with a colleague at the next desk
       rather than recalculating that monster spreadsheet for the millionth
       time trying to find an optimum budget solution for the office.
       The vast majority of business problems are solved by CREATIVITY
       which organic brains do best!

       Print (on paper, unfortunately) this little section of the
       PC-LEARN computer tutorial and place it on the company bulletin
       board. This is a win/win situation: your co-workers will start to
       think about earth conscious computing and if more beginners will
       use PC-LEARN they will learn how to use a computer more
       efficiently SOONER and thus WASTE LESS paper, electricity and
       natural resources, does that make sense? Computer beginners can
       waste a lot of paper, money, time and electricity learning how
       to use a computer. If PC-LEARN helps them learn faster, then
       they should waste less and become proficient more quickly!

       Consider renting computer equipment for short term and special
       projects. Obviously you can save money in most cases, but the
       larger issue is that you don't impact the environment by using
       resources for something you can share that computer equipment with
       many other people via a rental arrangement.

       When you print lengthy documents from a disk to paper,
       investigate clever software products (many of them shareware)
       which allow you to print FOUR pages in tiny but readable
       typeface and on BOTH SIDES of the paper.

       Add your suggestion here or mail it to me. You do not need to
       be a registered user of PC-LEARN to submit a suggestion to this
       chapter.

       Suggestion from Mr. Bo Stiff, Charmichael, California. His letter
       has been edited and shortened:

       "A company I used to work for had a mainframe computer in
       Connecticut with office hubs in Houston and LA. Approximately 40
       reports were printed from a spooler set up to do this routine in
       over 200 offices in the U.S. EVERY NIGHT! The company had a
       guilty feeling about the environment so asked each office to
       submit ideas."

       "I suggested that they take the reports off line. Make them
       available on demand only, put them on a screen with a 48 hour
       hold on daily reports. 10 day hold on weekly reports and 40 day
       hold on monthly reports. I also suggested that when reports were
       printed, that operator NOT send a blank page to set line space
       or formfeed. This could be performed by the local office if needed.
       Obviously the computers in the company were turned over to the
       Controllers who decided who got to see which reports and screens."

       "Our initial calculations were staggering, then we found out
       that we were one of the frugal offices! By our accountant's
       calculations we cut back over 4000 cases of paper nationwide per
       MONTH! Latest calculation is closer to 5000 cases."

       Tutorial finished. Have you registered PC-Learn to receive your
       bonus disks? Registration is encouraged. Shareware works on the
       honor system! Send $25 to Seattle Scientific Photography,
       Department PCL6, PO Box 1506, Mercer Island, WA 98040. Latest
       version of PC-Learn and two bonus disks shipped promptly!