It’s never too late to start – and, if it’s about saving the planet, you are right in time to begin going green with your PC!

This is simpler than you think and wouldn’t require you to be a geek to be able to do it. By conserving energy, not only do you take a step forward to go eco-friendly, you also save big bucks on your power bills. So, here’re some of the simplest, yet the most effective ways in which you could go green right away…

Shutdown your computer… every time it’s not in use

Let people say whatever they have to… like, it’s not good to shutdown a computer or that this activity will consume more power than leaving it on. The fact of the matter is that, all this is false. Shutting down a computer will not just stop the continuous power supply; it will also ensure that there is less system heat emitting out of your machine and thereby less wear and tear for you to manage. Also, unplugging the connection completely while the machine is off can be a better practice to follow.

Configure the power saving settings on your computer

Every computer comes along with power saving modes. Configure the settings to let your computer use the least energy when not required. Standby, hibernate, sleep mode… there are different ways to customize the power consumption and limit energy wastage – use them liberally and encourage others to do it too. Screen savers too can be heavy on resource consumption; disable them, unless the one you have turns off the backlight or the screen completely.

Save on battery life by turning off facilities you don’t need

It’s not enough to only turn off your computer when it is not in use or at nighttime. Even during the day, there can be plenty of peripherals and connected devices, which you actually don’t regularly use – your scanner, fax machine, printer. Unplug these devices from the main power source and plug them in when needed. It will take you a minute to do this but it will save you several currency notes. 

Laptops are better energy efficient as compared to desktops. If you are comfortable using a desktop machine, you could use a mouse or an external keyboard or a monitor to give you the feel of a desktop while still going green.

Print like there’s always a tomorrow

This is a significant step that you could take towards going green. Most organizations, public departments and even educational institutions are comfortable dealing with digital documents. So, why waste both power and paper to unnecessarily print documents when you could do with sharing the soft copies? Faxes are pretty obsolete these days. Not only do they waste power, paper, effort and time, they make you repeat the tasks in an annoying manner. Rather than sending a fax, which is unclear and requires both you and the recipient to still save a scanned copy of the document, how about just e-mailing the letter?

Optimize your PC regularly

An optimized device runs faster and longer; it also helps you save power too! Try it today and notice the difference in your power bills!

Recycle your old PC

If you have to get rid of your old computer, try recycling it rather than throwing it away in the trash bin. If you still want to give it some thought before you recycled, try reinstalling the operating system if it is the sluggish performance or other irreparable errors that are prompting you to throw it away. Reinstalling it will make it a clean slate and thereby let you enjoy the faster computer you want it to be.

Invest in a Green PC

If you have made up your mind to recycle it anyways, invest in a Green PC – the new computer that you will buy. Most manufacturers today offer green models that you could buy – these use less power, are built of recycled materials, and have better rechargeable components built in them.

Weren’t these really simple and something you could try out today itself? Share with us the points that you begun with and let us know how many bucks you could save. The pleasure of working towards saving the planet of course remains your added bonus!