Greening the office space

1. A few small steps… Greening the office space …to reduce your footprint

2. Downsizing your printer dependence • Read your emails on screen • Use email over hard-copy whenever possible • Save documents instead of printing them • Back-up your email with a thumb drive • Avoid using coversheets • Use as small a font as is legible • Try printing on both sides

3. Recycling your paper waste • Try to remember to recycle at all times • Remember to recycle your cardboard • Reuse single-sided paper for non-official printing • Give recycled content paper a chance

4. Class Reduction • Upload assignments to LATTE • Use the student Upload feature on LATTE for assignments • Use the word tracking feature in Microsoft Word

5. Computer Usage • Familiarize yourself with your computer’s power-save options • Use the sleep function over screen savers • Turn off Computer components whenever possible and keep power cords unplugged • Use Energy-Star products when fiscally plausible • Turn off all computer peripherals (eg speakers, printers..) Place all computer items on a single switch

6. Lighting Reduction • Turn out lights when they are unnecessary • Use fluorescent bulbs whenever possible • Day-lighting is conducive to good working habits

7. Energy Myths • Myth: Screen Savers are your best energy bet • Fact: Screen savers were originally developed to prevent the permanent etching of a pattern on older monochrome monitors. The same protection occurs when you place the monitor in a low power "sleep" mode. Avoiding the use of screensavers on LCD and CRT displays can reduce power usage while away from your computer by 30-75 watts • Myth: Frequent turning on and off of your computer will lower its life expectancy • Fact: Hard disks in PCs older than 10 years did not automatically park their heads when shut off, leading to disk damage from frequent on/off power cycling. Newer PCs are designed to handle over 40,000 on/off cycles, a number unlikely to be reached during an MIT computer's typical four-to-six-year life span. • Myth: Turning off your computer uses more energy than leaving it in hibernate • Fact: The surge of power when a computer is turned off lasts a few seconds and is insignificant compared to the sustained energy used in keeping it on during periods of inactivity

8. On Campus Sustainability • Please Direct further Questions towards our on-campus Sustainability Coordinator Janna Cohen-Rosenthal. • Ext. 64194 • Your Faculty Administrator can also help with any paper allotment needs that you may have (i.e. switching to recycled paper content. • Thanks for your time

9. Works Cited • Simpson, Walter. “Guide to Green Computing.” The State University of New York atBuffalo: UB Green. 2000. 22 October 2008 <http://wings.buffalo.edu/ubgreen/ content/programs/energyconservation/guide_computing.html>. • “Take Action.” Harvard University Office for Sustainability. 2008. 22 October 2008 <http://www.greencampus.harvard.edu/takeaction/>. • “Guidelines for Personal Computer Energy Savings.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Information Services and Technology. August 2007. 22 October 2008 <http://web.mit.edu/ist/initiatives/it-energy/guidelines.html>. • “‘Green’ Computing Guide.” Ohio University. 2008. 22 October 2008 <http:// www.facilities.ohiou.edu/greenpc/index.html>. • “University of Oregon Green Computing Guide.” University of Oregon. 22 October 2008 <http://www.uoregon.edu/~recycle/Conservation_computing_text.htm>.