Strategies for “Green Computing” at NMU

ETRPC

The TLC Initiative has had a tremendously positive effect on NMU in many respects, however, the 10,000+ computers on our campus also consume a considerable amount of energy.  The following suggestions can help to minimize the environmental and financial impact of technology use on the NMU campus. 

  1. Turn your computer off at night and on the weekends.  Contrary to popular belief, this will not have a negative impact on the useful life of your hardware, and the overall energy and cost savings are substantial.
  2. Leave your computer off in the morning until you are ready to begin working.
  3. Enable Power Management Features.  Set your computer to Standby or Hibernate when not in use during the day.  This is much better than simply using a screen saver - screen savers do not save energy.
  4. Turn off all peripheral devices (scanners, personal printers, speakers, etc.) when not in use.
  5. Use email instead of faxes and/or campus mail whenever possible.
  6. Review draft copies of documents on your screen instead of printing a hard copy.
  7. Print on recycled paper (100% post consumer recycled content is best).
  8. Take advantage of double-sided printing when possible.
  9. Recycle computer supplies (discs, paper, computer components, printer cartridges, etc.).

For additional suggestions, please visit the following “green computing” web sites: