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Community Newsletter: Q&A: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics
- 1/30/08 12:54 AM
Oh really....
by tubes-n-horns - 1/25/08 8:41 PM In reply to: Green energy by Sparky7772...Jesus would steal music?
Vacuum tubes and cows
by jbelck - 1/25/08 9:20 PM In reply to: Oh really.... by tubes-n-hornsAnybody who posts a shot of 6l6 tubes powering car door speakers knows not of what he speaks. Far better than relying on tube heat for warmth would be to have igniters in front of cows' mouths as they emit major global-warming methane. Wake up! This is the 20th century!
Not Car Speakers....
by tubes-n-horns - 1/25/08 9:39 PM In reply to: Vacuum tubes and cows by jbelck....but they are cheap. It's amazing, though, that this line array has gotten some pretty favorable reviews. FYI, those are not 6L6, but 2A3 direct heated triodes; actually I do know what I am talking about.
Cheers!
Shut down and power down on a powerstrip.
by bjnovack - 1/25/08 8:36 PM In reply to: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Most new computers these days allow you to power manage fairly flexibly. I've got my computer set up to go into hibernation in 15 minutes, if I walk away from it and get caught up in doing something. With the new Dells the hibernation setting uses very little power.
If I know I'm going to be away from my computer for a half hour to an hour, but have too much in progress to shut down, I hibernate it and turn off the monitor. Overnight I shut down and shut everything off at the powerstrip.
Something that few people are aware of is that everything that stays plugged in draws a bit of power. Simply unplugging things when you're not using them (or shutting off via powerstrip, which cuts the connection) will, over the course of time, cut back your CO2 usage.
But the true environmental impact of consumer electronics is the hazardous materials they're made of and how those materials can leach out into groundwater when they're thrown in a landfill. I think local governments in the US are supposed to be providing means by which electronics are recycled, but even when they're "sent to recycling" few are actually going into material recovery plants. Most are being shipped to China, where parts can be scavenged, then the rest dumped, which is just relocating the problem. So if you really want to avoid having a negative impact on the environment, bring all your electronics to a material recovery plant yourself. There are some in my area, maybe you can find one in yours. You have to pay a fee to drop off your electronics, but when you consider the mercury, cadmium and lead that isn't running off into groundwater and contaminating both our water and our aquatic food supply, that's a small price to pay.
environmental concerns
by schmoopee2000 - 1/25/08 8:37 PM In reply to: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
well, I try not to throw any electronics away. by nature I am a pack rat and luckily so because I recycle everything that is allowed in my town. I've just recently discovered ways to recycle electronics and computer equipment (I've been storing it in my basement until this day came!!) I suggest ppl just do a web search for recycling. some companies will allow u to ship for free or drop off if u r within driving distance. unfortunately where I work, not only do we not recycle, but we waste so much energy and paper I am embarrassed to be there. I try to do my part but I dont think it makes much difference considering how many employees there are. So it's our duty, those of us that care, to do what we can and hope others eventually follow. 
consumer electronics and the environment
by jbelck - 1/25/08 8:43 PM In reply to: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The problem,Rebecca,is that restricting your worries to consumer electronics' power consumption skips over the fact that electronics, in its wider applications, helps save power, even as it consumes it. Nuclear power plants, for example, could not function safely and effectively without complex electronic monitoring and control purposes.
The electronic technology powering consumer goods like TV screens wouldn't exist if that same technology hadn't driven out the power-demanding vacuum tube. The electronics industry runs on variations of the transistor, running at around five volts, instead of the tube's 450 plate voltage.
Power efficient lighting and consumer furnaces get that efficiency from the same technology going into A/V equipment, and those concerned with global warming rely on electronics to pinpoint and measure the problem and come up with ways to deal with it.
The same technology used in TVs and Ipods is present in our military equipment, our hospitals and our computer-driven government agencies. And, as other responders to your posting have noted, the amount of power our electronic toys consume is a drop in the bucket compared to what is consumed by essential services.
Think about the obvious point that air conditioning in places line Miami in July uses far more power--and contributes far more to global warming--than all the consumer electronic devices in the state.
Long Live the Vacuum Tube
by tubes-n-horns - 1/25/08 9:03 PM In reply to: consumer electronics and the environment by jbelckAll of these tubes probably consume a lot of kw, but hey, the heat generated eases the demand for natural gas to heat the house.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2412/2219415049_1bcc363390_b.jpg
Information on Global Climate Changes
by cdeany - 1/25/08 8:45 PM In reply to: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Regardless of your belief on Global Climate Change, this teacher's videos are one(s) to watch. There is no debate that a climate change would happen with a snowball affect - to fast to stop once it reaches the point of no return. If you pay for any insurance now (home, health, auto, health), ask yourself why there isn't a reason to insure the World race by taking care of our environment today". The question for you is "how lucky do you feel?"
Click here:
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/ecogeek/244/high-school-teacher-spreads-the-word-on-climate-change.html
Turn off your computer and unplug it when you aren't using it. Each kilowatt used is money from your pocket and a drain on our environmental resources. Better to turn off the TV when you aren't using it. Don't leave cell phone chargers plugged in (even when the phone isn't being charged) as many 'chargers' continue to drain energy.
Or you could plant a tree...
by David Alexnader - 1/25/08 8:49 PM In reply to: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Dear Rebecca:
Speaking as someone who has owned computers of one kind or another since the early 80's, I can tell you that the energy efficiency of today's PCs has improved dramatically over their predecessors. I used to heat my apartment with a poor little 12MHz AT clone. I still leave my 2+ GHz Dual Core Pavilion on at night, but unfortunately it doesn't provide much warmth. Perhaps a smaller apartment is in order.
The reason we used to leave them on was to avoid the constant thermal cycling caused by turning them on and off. Hard drives lasted a long time if they were either never turned on, or turned on and left on. Powering them up and down constantly was a recipe for a disk failure. Same was (and is) true of electronic components. Considering the externalized cost of a PC today, you surely don't want to be throwing one away every year or so.
You are probably already aware of the power-saving options built into the OS/BIOS on most PCs today. You'll still be drawing some standby power, but it's alot less than normal run-time power requirements.
Resource use/abuse is always going to be a problem with no simple cookie-cutter answer. Maybe the best thing, if you can swing it, is to ride your bicycle to work/school regularly. I do, and though it doesn't make me feel a whole lot better about leaving the computer on, it's probably doing significantly more for the environment/energy situation than unplugging stuff. (Not to mention all the personal benefits of bicycling...)
Cheers,
david
Nuclear Power
by Zensphere - 1/25/08 8:52 PM In reply to: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
God bless all your small minds!... We here in California had rolling black-outs in 2001 and now have more people in this state that don't belong here. A lot more people. We have so many people blocking Nuclear Power when France is using one of our more recent Blue-Prints and is generating so much power; they are selling it to neighboring countries. Nuclear is a whole lot safer than when we had a meltdown in Three Mile Island in the 70's. The Countries Electrical Grid needs to be at modern and foreseeable future proof.
Our countries electrical grid is like the bridges that are collapsing. We need to demand this, not save 2.00$ a month thinking this will lower our Carbon Footprint and then one Volcano makes all that worthless. We’re going to Mars folks. Star-Trek is happening and we have some that want to make hemp clothing.
I'm all for nuclear power
by bofahs - 1/25/08 9:45 PM In reply to: Nuclear Power by ZensphereBut you have to remember that the "rolling brownouts" were not caused by any shortage of electricity or energy, but by the government-approved-and-underwritten greed of the resellers of energy. This complicated system of wealth redistribution was written into law specifically to increase the personal wealth of politicians and their friends.
There was no energy problem, there was simply an opportunity, which would have failed had Californians been paying attention, to extort millions of dollars in unwarranted charges for handling, not the energy, but the contracts to include multiple layers of resellers in a kind of upside-down pyramid scheme.
We were duped; you were scammed, and it's the kind of fear generated by the perpetuation of these myths that will allow it to happen again. Go back and read the reports. You'll stop complaining about energy and start complaining about politicians.
There Are Great Answers, but No One Will Allow IT
by wasnot - 1/25/08 9:03 PM In reply to: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Nuclear Power Plants. Lots of them. Talk about technology! We want to be like France SOOO bad (why? I don't know), then why don't we do like they do? Fuel our nation with nuclear power. Tech in this area has advanced way past 3 Mile Island and LIGHT YEARS past Chernobyl. France is doing great in this area. Now if they can just fix their economy!
What better way to save?
by Dashkatt - 1/25/08 9:13 PM In reply to: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Nothing saves energy like a computer. Left on 24/7, it doesn't matter. The amount of power and resources that a computer saves is enormous.
What other item(s) do you own that can keep your car in the garage and off the street? Can keep you out of the malls and shops, out of the over-priced restaurants or junk food palaces. Can even keep the TV off most of the time.
Hey, for that matter, the computer keeps you from doing silly things, like jogging. Imagine the cost savings by not having to purchase artificial knees and hips!
If you're in front of your computer, you are consuming a bare minimum of "global resources", and typically, having a good time doing it.
Enjoy the computer. On or off, it's saving you money.
That's my "convenient truth".
It's up to us
by dlauber - 1/25/08 9:14 PM In reply to: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Good question. Easy answer: It's up to each and every one of us to reduce energy usage, especially unnecessary waste. There is nobody on earth who can't turn off their computers overnight if they're not using it. So it takes 2 minutes to boot on in the morning. Big deal. How incredibly self-centered and selfish can some people get? As an urban planner, I've been well aware of these issues for 30 years and it's refreshing to see that the public is beginning to catch on that our wasteful ways are destroying the environment at an ever accelerating rate. And until the private sector -- which is responsible for just about everything going wrong in America today -- wakes up to what it is destroying in the name of maximum profitability, each of us has to take the reins and do what we can to reduce energy consumption. (And before some rightwing denier tries to suggest that I don't act upon what I right, our cars are a Honda Insight Hybrid that has near zero emissions and gets 60-70 mpg highway (45.5 mpg for the life of the car) and our "big" car is a Honda Fit with very low emissions and 30 mpg for the life of the car. As one GM engineer told me, nobody really needs to drive an SUV.
Environment impact of consumer electronics
by kidgenie - 1/25/08 9:23 PM In reply to: Environmental impact concerns of consumer electronics by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Rebecca, I read your question and was touched by your concern for the Earth. It is a noble concern, but I ask why are we not really concerned about the Earth's inhabitants? It is a noble thing to want to clean up the mess that we have made of the Earth, but first we made a mess of ourselves as human beings and as a result of that, we made a pretty big mess of the Earth which was put in our hands for safekeeping. Our main problem lies deep within us. So long as human beings do not look within themselves to see the great possibilities that lie there, so long they will try to develop more "state of the art" electronic gadgets to do what we can do for ourselves if we but try. If we tried as a human race to develop the qualities we have lying dormant within us, I am sure that we would make better decisions where the Earth is concerned and I am also sure, that even now, when the Earth is in the bad state it is in, if we made even a little effort to go within more and heal our inner selves, the Earth would simultaneously heal itself. What a wonderful world it would be then when we would have no more worries about energy, because the sun is there to provide all the energy we need. If we should have a cataclysmic disaster, the Earth will survive, but what about Humanity? Will humanity survive? I doubt it. So our main concern should be, yes do all we can to save the Earth, but do more to save Humanity and all the other inhabitants of the Earth. Let us as a specie go deep within ourselves and blossom as Souls within the body. Let us connect and converse with our Angels and Archangels and Guardian Angels. They will guide us in the most effective way to heal ourselves and our beautiful planet Earth.
Lucia
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