Understanding green computing

The rise of sustainable efforts in various industries calls for a shift to environmentally responsible methods in business operations and every aspect of our lives. Recycling, using clean and renewable energy, green building, biodegradable packaging, eco-friendly vehicles are constant terms used in promoting greenery or saving the planet. Green computing is the "green term" growing in the IT industry. 

Green computing is the use of computers and technological resources in an eco-friendly and environmentally responsible way. According to Salama, it is the study of designing, engineering, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computing devices in a way that reduces their environmental impact.

From a business perspective, Green Computing makes "budget-sense," Environmentally responsible computing can reduce energy consumption and operation costs by more than 30%. For small to medium-scale businesses, reducing your carbon footprint usually starts from the computing departments or choice of technologies. Choosing energy-efficient systems can improve power management, server utilisation, and protect your devices from malware. 

With cloud computing, there is no need to incur high costs on maintaining server rooms. Also, the company benefits from flexibility in designing solutions. Telecommuting is an added benefit of green computing. Employees are likely to have a more satisfactory work experience, reducing employee turnover. Video conferencing and messaging tools make it easier for employees to collaborate from a distance. This directly reduces carbon emissions and allows employees to benefit from a reduced cost of living (i.e., expensive accommodation and transportation fees).

As an IT company, it is even easier to have a positive impact on the environment. At Bewsys, we have successfully operated for more than ten years and contributed zero waste to landfills through our operations. We are a paperless organisation and invest in carbon-neutral computing to fight climate change. Due to the OOP technique we use, we use less storage space than other programming techniques that might have unnecessary repetitions equaling more space. We sometimes advocate for shared hosting and virtualisation. We want to be efficient with our resources rather than having a dedicated server, which creates carbon emissions.

Adopting green computing practices will positively improve your business operations in the long term. The use of computers plays a significant role in carbon emissions. It is estimated that out of $250 billion per year spent on powering computers worldwide, only about 15% of that power is spent computing. For a greener and sustainable earth, we need to make the right choices now. In conclusion, energy-saving saves money, so as a business, why else haven't you considered green computing? The future generations depend on green computing, make that sustainable decision today.