Reality— this is perhaps the most widespread myth that most people fail to comprehend. The term ‘paperless office’ was used with the advent of web-centric offices and it was believed that by dumping physical use of paper, businesses and people were actually making a contribution to the cause of the environment. It is generally believed that through this paper-free approach people are saving the trees and hence, assisting in environment conservation. Folks who are harping about the paper-free advantages of the computing environment fail to realize that in the current scenario, the use of computers is actually increasing the demands on the ecosystem.
How? The reason lies in the increasing energy demands that are being created due to computerized environments. To a normal PC user, it isn't very apparent, but the fact is that PCs tend to heat-up the environment in a workplace. As a result, more energy-sapping solutions are being sought in the form of installations such as heaving air-conditioning devices at workplaces. Further, a PC itself isn't the more power-efficient gadget that has been invented. This is also the challenge faced by innovative vendors who are trying to promote greener PCs, i.e. those with reduced power-consumption patterns — such eco-friendly computing technologies aren't cheap to develop and hence, have limited marketability.
Alternatives
There are simple methods of developing a PC environment that actually reduces the consumption of power and is greener:
- Purchase computers that are Energy Star–compliant — this is just one of the many certifications that can differentiate authentic, low power-consuming systems from the rest
- Use flat-screen monitors that use substantially lesser energy than CRTs. Similarly, laptop models are known to use lesser energy than the conventional desktop models
- Use darker backgrounds on the screen as they use slightly lesser power than brighter displays
- Try to read/review documents and e-mails rather than printing them
