Green information technology gains importance

Green Information Technology, Green IT or Green IT are terms used to designate the use of Information Technology resources with the concern of reducing energy consumption and the environmental impacts generated by the production and disposal of electronic equipment.
The topic began to be discussed in 1972 during the Conference on the Human Environment, promoted by the UN and held in Sweden. The focus of the event was the discussion of human interactions with the environment; it can be said that in this event came the current concept of sustainability, an idea linked to strategies of conscious use of natural resources, in order to ensure its conservation for future generations.
In 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched Energy Star, a program to which electronics companies voluntarily adhered to and was intended to promote and recognize the energy efficiency of computer terminals, television sets, air conditioners and other equipment. A remarkable result of this program was the creation of sleep mode, adopted in household and office equipment; the program expanded, becoming an international standard.
At the same time, the Swedish organisation TCO launched a certification programme to promote the reduction of electromagnetic emissions from computer terminals; later, the program was expanded to also cover energy consumption, ergonomic aspects and the use of hazardous materials in the construction of computing equipment.
Nowadays, Green IT has been gaining importance, focusing on data centers: about 1% of all electricity produced in the world goes to these facilities, being used not only to make machines work, but also to cool them; computers generate a lot of heat and have trouble working in heated environments.
In addition, data centers are concentrated in the northern hemisphere, where a considerable part of the electricity is produced from the burning of coal and oil, large generators of greenhouse gases.
In this area, the idea is to make hardware and refrigeration systems more efficient, as well as accelerate the use of renewable energies, such as solar and wind.
Improper disposal of electronic equipment causes damage to the environment. These products are composed of highly toxic substances such as beryllium, mercury and lead, for example, which can contaminate soil and water. In addition to these, other materials such as glass and plastic take a long time to decompose and their improper disposal generates garbage that will remain in the environment for centuries.
Without due care, the disposal of these materials can generate serious public health problems; on the other hand, recycling them can produce very interesting financial results. The subject is important to the point of having been treated explicitly in the National Solid Waste Plan, prepared by the Federal Government.
Companies, in addition to being concerned about these aspects, should develop awareness actions to inform and motivate their employees and the external public to adopt sustainability practices in everyday life, such as reduction of impressions, shutdown of equipment that are not in use, among others.
There is a point to note: some companies are practicing greenwashing, neologism derived from the words green, and whitewash, which is a term used to indicate the use of marketing and public relations techniques to express a false concern for the environment; where possible, cases such as these should be reported in such a way as to discourage their practice
A genuine concern for the environment and seeking to keep the issue on everyone's agenda will certainly contribute to making IT greener and the environment healthier.
- Vivaldo Breternitz