Via the ever-resourceful Lifehacker comes a list of the top ten things you can do to save energy related to your computer, which is a huge power hog, and therefore also not environmentally friendly because of the pollution from the electricity to run it. But you knew that. On to the tips!
• Shut it down: when you're not using it, turn it off so it uses the least amount of energy of any possible setting, other than unplugged.
• Spin down your hard drive: let it sleep when it's not in use, which also prolongs its life.
• Unplug energy vampires: unplug any chargers, e.g. your cell phone or iPod chargers, when charging is done.
• Enable energy savers: use your computers settings to optimize energy savings
• Get a smart power switch Treehugger recommends the one we've pictured here, the Mini Power Minder.
I like the idea of a smart power switch for electronic devices -- but not for computers. IMHO computers should be plugged into Interruptible Power Supplies. A smart power switch or even surge protectors are not going to protect your data from being lost during a sudden black out or a brown out.
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