[AktiviX] Short-Lived PCs Have Hidden Costs

[Paul Mobbs]

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Short-Lived PCs Have Hidden Costs 

By Stephen Leahy
WIRED: 02:00 AM Mar. 08, 2004 PT


What has the environmental impact of both an SUV and a fridge?

Here's a clue: You're using it right now. 

 It turns out your computer is a much bigger material and energy hog than 
previously believed. The most effective way to reduce its oversized 
environmental footprint is to increase its useful lifespan, according to a 
new book released Monday, Computers and the Environment, by the United 
Nations University in Tokyo.

The average desktop PC and 17-inch CRT monitor takes an SUV-sized 1.8 tons of 
water, fossil fuels and chemicals to make, the book reports.

As for energy use, a computer's lifetime energy impact is about the same as a 
refrigerator, they report. While a computer doesn't use much energy while 
it's running, its short lifespan and the large amounts of energy needed to 
construct it make it one of the more energy-intensive appliances.

With a billion machines already sold and annual sales topping 130 million 
computers worldwide, computers pose serious environmental problems because of 
their resource and energy use, and the growing mountains of toxic computer 
waste, said co-editor Eric Williams.

Today's smaller, faster computers are making the problem worse. The more 
sophisticated the components, the higher the purity requirements for 
manufacturing, resulting in the use of more energy and materials, said 
Williams. "Making a 2-gram memory chip requires 1.3 kilograms (1,300 grams) 
of fossil fuels and materials."

Computer recycling isn't the answer -- only the metals are usually recovered, 
and the high-tech components and plastics that took so much energy to make 
are destroyed. However, reselling or upgrading a computer offers five to 20 
times greater energy savings than recycling.

"Extending the life of a computer is the most effective way to reduce its 
environmental impact," he said.

Computers are becoming less and less reusable, said Sheila Davis of the 
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. Incompatibility of components, the need for 
technical expertise and support, and software-license issues make reuse 
difficult.

"It's cheaper and a lot easier to buy a new machine now."

Governments, institutions and large businesses are trying to buy greener 
computers, said Davis. The Environmental Protection Agency is working to 
create a new "ecolabel" for computers made using less-toxic materials and 
processes. However, manufacturers are resisting any requirements to extend 
the life of a computer. "Longevity is a challenge to their current business 
model," she said.

According to the SVTC, the lifespan of a computer today is just two years.

Mark Newton, Dell Computer's environmental spokesman, said he thinks the 
lifespan is longer but could not offer an alternative number. Like most of 
the leading manufacturers, Dell has been refurbishing and reselling computers 
from its business markets for many years. A recycling program for consumer 
machines is about 18 months old. For a small fee, Dell will pick up old 
machines for recycling.

While the long-life, low-impact computer may be a dream, computer owners can 
do many things to lessen the environmental burden, said Williams. These 
include using a machine as long as possible, then donating or selling it and 
buying a used one. Turn off the machine at night and make sure stand-by modes 
are working -- networked machines are often kept awake by server traffic.

Government incentives are also needed, said Williams. The European Union will 
require the recycling of all computers by 2005. Though it's a step in the 
right direction, more needs to be done to increase the sustainability of 
computers, said Williams. Software license transfers could be made a great 
deal easier. And tax laws could be changed to allow write-offs for new 
computers over a longer period of time than three or four years.

"Tax laws ought to reward you for buying a used computer, rather than being 
penalized." 




==========

"We are not for names, nor men, nor titles of Government, nor are we for
this party nor against the other but we are for justice and mercy and
truth and peace and true freedom, that these may be exalted in our nation,
and that goodness, righteousness, meekness, temperance, peace and unity
with God, and with one another, that these things may abound."
(Edward Burroughs, 1659 - from 'Quaker Faith and Practice')


Paul Mobbs, Mobbs' Environmental Investigations,
3 Grosvenor Road, Banbury OX16 5HN, England
tel./fax (+44/0)1295 261864

email - mobbsey at gn.apc.org
website - http://www.fraw.org.uk/mobbsey/index.html



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