makeITfair is a European project focusing on the electronics industry, especially on consumer electronics like mobile phones, laptops and MP3 players. They want to let young people across Europe know about the labor abuses and environmental problems that are going on right now around the world – just to satisfy our demand for all the latest electronic gadgets. 

Fair IT – a key factor for competitive advantage
It’s a very urgent issue that makeITfair is raising. But this is an issue that are relevant to all purchasers of IT products – not only young consumers. At TCO Development we daily discuss this issue with IT purchasers from private as well as public sector. Many organizations have understand that one of the key factors for their competitive advantage  is to have ambitious goals on social responsibility which also includes good working conditions for the labor in the manufacturing process. The company’s policy on CSR is often reflected in their purchase specifications also for IT equipment, hence Fair IT is on the agenda for professional purchasers!

Certifications a way to  influence the industry towards sustainabile IT
TCO Certified – a certification for ICT products designed for both usability and the environment, introduced in 2009 a criteria on proven commitment in social responsibility in the manufacturing process. The criteria was a first step and wasn’t particularly strict, but 1 in 4 IT brands didn’t work with these issues before and they had to start working on improving the working conditions in the manufacturing process in order to qualify for the TCO Certified certification. So by asking for TCO Certified products you can influence the industry towards sustainable IT. Next time the criteria document will be updated the  SR criteria will be stricter.  On TCO Development’s website you can read more about the criteria on social responsibility.

These environmental requirements will result in significant environmental benefits. By the end of 2014, the County Council expects to have lessened the climate impact of its personal computers by 40%, reduced the weight of hazardous substances by 8 tonnes and cut the County Council’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2,000 tonnes.

The County Council has about 40,000 PCs in total. It will be one of the first major Swedish enterprises to have mercury-free displays in both laptops and desktop computers. By following Stockholm County Council’s example and having the courage to impose strict environmental requirements for purchasing, all companies and organisations can do a lot to minimise their environmental impact. Read more about Stockholm County Council’s program for sustainable procurement (in Swedish).

Do you know any other inspiring ICT procurer or purhaser that really push the boundaries towards greener and more sustainable IT?
If so, please let me know!

People have begun asking me – “is the iPad green?”. My answer – “Compared to what ?”

Here is a product that seems to create a middle category between smart phone and Notebook PC. So, the green question can be seen in a couple of ways:

• what green attributes does the device itself feature ? In itself, energy efficiency and recyclable materials can make for an environmentally preferable product.
• Will people buy the iPad in addition to  a smart phone and Notebook PC?  If we are adding more products to our already extensive electronics portfolios, how sustainable is that ?

Scheduled for an April 3 launch in the US, it will be interesting to see how the iPad takes off in the market – and whether it can be part of a green ICT solution.

Second, the Green Touch project was announced this week in a cross-industry effort to reduce PC processory energy use 1000-fold. In real terms, this would mean being able to run the world’s communications networks, including the internet, for nearly three years using the same amount of energy it currently uses in one day. The Green Touch project kicks off in February. More details here

Each year, World Usability Day is an opportunity to highlight achievements in user-centric design. On November 12 usability thought leaders, consumers , industry and researchers gathered at events in over 43 countries to discuss the latest innovations in usability design. Basically, the mission of the event  is to “Make Life Easier”.

 This year’s theme was “Designing for a Sustainable World”, and reflected the growing demand for “green” design in combination with highly functional products. In the United States, TCO Certified  showcased a selection of TCO Certified notebook PCs  at the event hosted by Sabre Holdings in Southlake, Texas.  The event featured product exhibits, usability testing demos and a keynote presentation by renown design professor and author, Nathan Shedroff.  You can view a copy of Nathan’s presentation below  -a useful source for why usability and sustainability in design must go together.

Nathan’s message in short: “Don’t design things today that make tomorrow worse”

http://www.worldusabilityday.org/sites/worldusabilityday.org/themes/wud/resources/nathanshedroff.pdf

1. The power used turning my PC on negates any benefits of turning it off.                                                   

2.  I use a screen saver – that saves me energy.

3. Turning my PC on and off will reduce its performance and useful life.

4. I need to run updates and patches – I can’t do that in lower-power states.

5. My PC users will not tolerate any downtime for power management.

Of course, none of these myths are true (except possibly no.5, but that problem is possible to overcome). I found this great blog where these five myths are debunked (based on the Forrester report), have a look at  http://www.infoworld.com/d/green-it/five-pc-power-myths-debunked-888 

Help us to spread the word!

The buzz word within the ICT industry has during the last 18^th month been Green IT and now it seems the trend it moving to include another buzz word; Sustainable IT. This trend is of course very positive.

In the discussions of Green IT so far there has been a lot talk about lower energy consumption. Low energy consumption is an important factor to reduce the CO2 emissions, but focusing only on lower energy consumption for a computer display can mean lower image quality.

It’s simple – a product with high performance and good usability has a longer life span and is less likely to enter the waste stream prematurely. This is another important environmental aspect that we unfortunately not see too much of in the discussion of Green IT or Sustainable IT.

No trade off between usability and environment
My point is that truly sustainable ICT products also must include the aspect of usability. A product that performs well and has low energy consumptions as well as low levels of hazardous substances is the best choice for the environment. Therefore there should not be any trade off between usability and environment aspects for ICT products!

What about products that don’t work if yoy try to be climate smart?
Last week I had a personal experience of usability vs. environmental aspects when I tried to be climate smart by switching off the printer at home. The printer is in standby mode 24 hours a day. Standby means less energy consumption but still it consumes energy, therefore I switched it off. The pleasure of a silent office and a good environmental conscience was on top when the printer was off. However there were no feelings of pleasure the next day when I was going to print a document. I had switched the printer on again, the control panel showed that the document was in the line for getting printed and that the printer was connected – but I did not get the document printed!  This doubly frustrating – firstly for not being able to get my documents printed and sceondly,  that I unnecessarily cause CO2 emissions because the printer doesn’t work if I switch it off properly.

Do you have similar experience of technology that makes it impossible to combine usability and environmental aspects? Let me know.

Make your comment here, or e-mail: birgitta.halvarsson@tco.se