Everyone knows that shutting down your PC before leaving work is just as good for the company's bottom line as it is for the planet. As it turns out, this green no-brainer is often preached, but rarely practiced. The environmental damage caused by continuously idle computers is nothing new. However, even in these dire economic straits nearly half of US workers who use a PC do not shut it down at night.
This is according to the 2009 PC Energy Report -- an international study released today by a UK software company 1E and the Alliance to Save Energy, which also finds that these constantly powered, unused computers waste $2.8 billion a year. How many machines did it take to wreak such eco havoc? In the United States alone that number came to a staggering 108 million, according to the report.
To avert the emission of 20 million tons of carbon dioxide (the equivalent impact of 4 million cars) projected over the remainder of 2009 1E and the Alliance to Save Energy recommend simple, non-intrusive green IT practices.
"Employers today have a golden opportunity to demonstrate their environmental and financial leadership by taking a few simple, energy-saving measures, like setting up processes to power down PCs," said Sumir Karayi, chief executive officer, 1E. "Shutting down PCs when not in use will help businesses to significantly reduce costs while preventing tons of CO2 from being emitted into our atmosphere."
A copy of the full 2009 PC Energy Report, which includes real-world PC energy savings from Dell, AT&T and the U.K. government, can be downloaded here
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