A collection of Earth Day-inspired tech links from around the Web
To mark the 41st passing of Earth Day today, I decided to sit down and write a post ruminating on all the ways the technology channel and the environmental movement overlap, and the opportunities that still exist to do a great deal more as we move forward.
Then I found myself taken by the spirit of the day, and had a “Eureka!” moment courtesy of the environmentalist slogan: “Reduce, reuse, recycle.”
There are many in the technology media and the broader industry who are spilling ink electrons about green issues this Earth Day, most of whom will do a much better job than I. Surely, it’s a much more sustainable practice for ChannelBuzz.ca to offer a collection of links to and commentary on those sources, than it is to reinvent the green wheel.
Some might say that this is nothing but a transparent attempt by your humble blogger to get out of Dodge early on a holiday Friday here in Canada. Those people are what I like to call “cynics.” But it’s important to note that those who are cynical are not necessarily incorrect.
Enjoy the links, and the long weekend. We’ll see you back here on Monday, or Tuesday for those fortunate few who get a four-day break.
The VAR Guy’s Dave Courbanou reports on a report from the government-focused division of CDW on the subject of energy efficiency. The long and the short of it? A lot more talk than action.
IT managers have indeed placed importance on energy-efficient technology, but the percentage of IT managers buying new equipment that meets energy efficiency standards was only 39 percent in 2010. That figure is up from 26 percent in 2009, but it is still low.
The report does note that “green IT” can include more than green for green’s sake, and that in many cases, server consolidation and virtualization efforts alone can slow down the electrical meter.
A counterpoint to CDW’s study: a new CompTIA study says that there’s a “fertile ground” for green IT products and services, and that almost three quarters of companies asked considered energy conservation a top priority in choosing what IT companies with which to work.
Apple and HP frequently discuss the progress they’ve made in making their computers and other products more environmentally sustainable. But a new Greenpeace study gives both computer makers a rap on the knuckles for running dirty clouds. According to the environmental watchdog’s report on major data centres, Apple comes in dead last, with a 6.7 per cent “clean energy” rating, and 54.5 of its data centre power coming from coal. HP doesn’t fare much better, coming in at 9.9 per cent clean power and 49.4 per cent coal dependency. And Big Blue isn’t exactly “big green” in this department at 10.9 per cent clean and 51.6 per cent goal, respectively. Yahoo! Ranks among the clearnest of the data centre giants, using almost 56 per cent clean energy, with coal accounting for just over 18 per cent of its electricity, while rival Google also fares well, coming in at 36.4 clean and 34.7 per cent coal.
Cnet News offers a timely analysis of all the ways technology can help fight the green fight, but tempers it with some thoughts on the big question behind that – how soon can the cavalry arrive?
With apologies to Elizabeth May, there isn’t a more important figure in the Canadian green movement than Dr. David Suzuki, and over at ITBusiness.ca, they’ve repurposed a 2009 video with Suzuki talking about tackling the ever-growing e-waste problem. Hey… we’re reusing their reused content. It doesn’t get much more Earth Day than that!
A blatant and obvious plug: on the most recent edition of the ChannelBuzz.ca Podcast, D&H Canada’s Greg Tobin joins us to discuss the distributor’s Earth Day-related initiatives. Give it a listen.
And a second bit of self-promotion: Check out Lawrence Cummer’s excellent report on Compugen’s Green4Good program, launched last fall, for details on how one Canadian solution provider is making a difference.
If you’re interested in bolstering your own green efforts, take a look at Technoplanet’s My Green IT Day program.
And finally, Avnet has released a video with CFO Ray Sadowski detailing the distributor’s own green strategy, and the progress it’s making on a number of fronts. Thanks to the wonder of embedding, we don’t even need to spend a link to recycle this one!
Got another Earth Day-related link or green technology story to share? Let us know in the comments below. And have a great Easter weekend!
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About Robert Dutt
Robert Dutt is the founder and head blogger at ChannelBuzz.ca. He has been covering the Canadian solution provider channel community for a variety of publications and Web sites since 1997.
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