The question about leaving computers on for 24/7 answered in <a href="http://www.climateprediction.net/info/part_faq.php#q3.1">FAQ</a> could be backed up with an article titled "How PC is your PC?" in the IEEE Spectrum*, Jan 2005. In this article, it compares a PC (Pentium III and 17-inch CRT) to a refrigerator with the following statistics quoted:

<img src="http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/terahertzgap/images/2-picture3.gif">

This includes the total energy that goes into a PC from manufacturing to use. It is said that the production cost of 6400 MJ is almost twice that estimated in a 1998 study.

These glorified typewriters are damaging our sustainable environment. At least we can put them to some practical use and obtain maximum "usefulness" out of them by running distributed computing problems like CP.

*IEEE Spectrum reference to Eric William, Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 15 November 2004

If PCs are recycled for use by people who don't need such high-spec machines, the picture isn't quite so bad.

Do you think most PCs collapse after about 3 years, or do users just want better machines? I recently learned of an elderly person who needed help upgrading from Windows 95 to 98! And not afraid to try!

My impression is that there's a lot of education available on how to use the basic computer software, but until recently not much info for the general public on how to keep stored data clean and organised, and even less info on sorting out and mending basic hardware problems. Both aspects can lead users to abandon machines.

Someone I know (an engineer) thought you have to replace a mouse when it becomes jerky. Mostly, IT lecturers don't demonstrate even these simple things because of the insurance aspect, and the result is a lot of users who are afraid of their machines.

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You've hit the nail on the head. I was thinking 3 yrs is a short time for the average lifespan of a PC. But then it got me thinking I've not used as my day to day PC one that is older than 5 yrs. I'm upgrading to a "better" and "faster" system every three years.

Ok, my old PCs don't just get put in the bin, they are often handed down to family and friends who infrequently use computers. Or they end up in my attic, like my 20 yr old <a href="http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&amp;c=500">Apricot Xi</a>, which still works!

Education in reuse and recycle is essential.

This
<a href="http://www.actco.org.au/charitycomputers/"> Charity Computers </a>
is the local (Canberra, Oz) place. Church-based, operates out of a disused high school. It is mostly volunteer-run, gets donations from individuals and gubbument depts upgrading in batches of 1,000; P1-P3s, refurbishes them and provides them to anyone with any sort of Social Security card at $AU 50-250. Incidentally, a P3-500MHz boots 'doze '98 *much* faster than my 3GHz HT P4 boots XP.
Presumably there are similar organisations in other parts of the world.

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I think the EU are trying to make manufacturers be responsible for collecting the waste and disused equipment from their products:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/weee_index.htm

Of course, the EU website is so unclear, that I'm not sure if this is already law, or if it's going to be or what.

Still, I think giving companies an incentive like that might push them to make longer-lasting equipment, and wrap them up in less packaging. Otherwise, the economics of it encourages them to make stuff that needs replacing or upgrading as often as possible.

Incidentally, our local recycling plant accepts old computer bits which, I believe, they pass on to prisons, if they're usable, else pull apart and recycle if they're not. We finally got rid of a huge, broken, monitor recently, which has cleared loads of space from our spare room!

On a related note, one of my pet gripes is the number of plastic carrier bags we use in supermarkets. It seems so wasteful to use a bag once, then put it in a landfill, where it won't bio-degrade. At least the Co-op (being the Co-op) is using bio-degradable carrier bags now. Maybe we in the UK should try charging for carrier bags, like they do in Ireland, just a few pence, but enough that people decide it's worth reusing bags.

Hannah

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&gt; On a related note, one of my pet gripes is the number of plastic carrier bags
&gt; we use in supermarkets. It seems so wasteful to use a bag once, then put it in
&gt; a landfill, where it won't bio-degrade. At least the Co-op (being the Co-op)
&gt; is using bio-degradable carrier bags now. Maybe we in the UK should try
&gt; charging for carrier bags, like they do in Ireland, just a few pence, but
&gt; enough that people decide it's worth reusing bags.
&gt;
&gt; Hannah
&gt;

Hannah,
You are right!! The change in Ireland made a noticeable change to the contryside within 3 months. The snow storm of supermarket carrier bags blown in the hedge rows round Dublin started to disappear.

Andrew

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Andrew

<a href="http://cpdnforum.info">CPDNforum<a>

I'm unsure on these bio-degradable carrier bag schemes. Firstly, what do you think happens when these items "quickly" degrade and disappear? They are releasing methane, one of the most powerful greenhouse gases, refer to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3116318.stm">article</a>. Hence, bio-degradable bags are "good" for inducing climate change.

Just because you can see rubbish everywhere doesn't mean it is changing the environment as much as those substances we can't perceive with human senses i.e. seeing, smelling and feeling.

I say reuse, recycle and introduce penalties on wastefulness; or incentives to be kind to the environment.

For this to occur EDUCATION is the key.

Actually, the wastefulness of disposable carrier bags is only one reason to resuse instead. The other is that it's a huge waste of resouces, namely the oil used to make plastics. Recycling is good, but reusing is even better because it doesn't use up anything to do, except perhaps, a little time and effort!

Hannah

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Agree. I've been doing the weekly "big shop" with reuseable carrier bags now for about year. You just have to remember to take shopping list plus carrier bags with you. Possible some money as well!

&gt; You just have to remember to take shopping list plus carrier
&gt; bags with you. Possible some money as well!
&gt;

In the bad old days ("When I wur a lad!!!!) you used to keep a string bag in a pocket. Compact to store - compared to plastic bags, and had a huge capacity as the net expanded towards the spherical (Smiley emoticon - Bring back phpBB).

Andrew

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Andrew

<a href="http://cpdnforum.info">CPDNforum<a>

Whether plastic takes 2 or 200 years to break down, surely the long-term impact is the same?

There's a lot of kudos in having the most powerful computer. There's also retro-kudos in keeping an old machine serviceable for as long as possible, albeit with a few improvements. Maybe 'alap' should be as desirable as 'asap'.

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On the subject of plastic bags, regulating them can have unintented side-effects.

South Africa had a massive problem with supermarket plastic bags. The Government introduced legislation to make the supermarkets charge for them. The thrown-away
bags disappeared.

But so did the supermarket bag packers - a massive blow in a country with 45% umemployment. On top of that, many unemployed woman used to weave colourful mats from the bags to earn some money. This source of income was lost overnight.

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Need Help? Try the excellent Unofficial BOINC Wiki!
We are the BOINC. Prepare to be assimilated.
'anthrax beats WinXP' - The Register

"5 and 1/2 of 13" - Borg, yes..? ;-)

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<a href="http://www.nmvs.dsl.pipex.com/"><img src="http://boinc.mundayweb.com/cpdn/stats.php?userID=6&amp;team=off&amp;trans=off"></a>

<a href="http://www.nmvs.dsl.pipex.com/">Distributed Mania</a>

&gt; "5 and 1/2 of 13" - Borg, yes..? ;-)
&gt;
&gt;
Bored, actually ;)

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Need Help? Try the excellent Unofficial BOINC Wiki!
We are the BOINC. Prepare to be assimilated.
'anthrax beats WinXP' - The Register