Environmental Impact of Computer Usage
Monitors
Standby
Power-Down settings
Enable any energy-saving modes
Use energy-efficient monitors, usually marked with the energy star sticker
Reduce the Brightness of the monitor as much as possible
Operating systems offer settings used to alter the energy consumption of a system
Power down the desktop or laptop after a set period of inactivity
Use similar settings on individual components to further reduce energy consumption
Power down monitors after a set period of inactivity
Set minimum and maximum power usage settings for the processor
Change wireless adapter power usage
Turn hard drive off after a period of inactivity
Higher settings use more energy
Lower settings result in a less powerful processor
Most smartphones and tablets go into a standby mode after a period of inactivity. Computers go into one of two modes;
Standby
Hibernate
Data for software still running is temporarily saved for later use
Power to all other components is severely or entirely reduced
RAM is still powered
The hard drive saves a permanent copy of all data used by running software
Hibernate mode can turn most components to a lower level of energy use than Standby
RAM is shutdown after it's contents are copied to the hard drive
Standby / Hibernate or Shutdown?
Because a surge in power is required to restart the components, it often saves more energy to instead run on a small amount of energy than to use a large amount all at once
These also have extra energy saving modes