IT can sometimes have negative connotations when it comes to the environment. But there are ways to make your use of IT more sustainable.
There are several motivations for doing this:
Your business’s green credentials and footprint might be very important to you. Or you simply might be aware that this should be a concern for all of us in the way we live our lives and do business.
But beyond this, some of the simplest things you can do to lower your carbon footprint can actually benefit your business at the same time.
Sustainable IT basics
Here are a few handy things we do at Dial A Geek to get you started on your journey towards making your IT sustainable:
1) Use refurbished laptops
A brand new laptop requires a huge amount of resources. This includes some materials and pieces of technology that we – meaning the human race as a whole – really shouldn’t be wasting.
Refurbished laptops – at least the ones Dial A Geek provides – are basically new. Most were:
- Only set up previously and never used.
- Used a couple of times and then wiped.
Sadly, despite being effectively new, they cannot be sold as “new” items. That’s potentially a huge waste.
A refurbished laptop comes totally clean and secure. Plus, they save around 350 kg of carbon in the production process – not to mention being cheaper. That’s a win-win-win sort of situation.
2) Recycle equipment
Even through lockdown we’ve been storing our clients’ unwanted equipment ready to recycle it later. As you should be able to see from the picture, we’ve assembled a pretty hefty pile!
All of this equipment can be made ready to use again. All it takes is the removal, wiping and secure disposal of the hard drives.
After clearing out your office of all its old and unnecessary tech, you might just be surprised at how much space you suddenly have available. It’s certainly been a pleasant shock for some of our clients.
Our favourite local partner for carefully recycling equipment and making sure all data is professionally disposed of is Byteback. Their expertise is just what you need when you need to know that your old equipment has been safely purged of all information.
3) Go paperless
Even today, the average office generates a truly shocking amount of paperwork. More importantly, most offices still use – and, let’s be honest, waste – paper for all kinds of things that can be done more easily and usually better digitally.
We regularly help clients go paperless, consulting on the best way to create a “green office” set up that meets all of their IT needs.
Worried about your company’s environmental impact?
Let’s chat about how we can help you do your little bit to save the planet. Call us today on 0117 369 4335.
Dial A Geek already helps nearly 1000 businesses in the Bristol area and beyond get the best from their use of IT.
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