How much of the energy your business consumes ends up classified as waste?
It’s a question worth examining as your organization searches for ways to reduce its environmental footprint. Origina’s top environmental partner This Spaceship Earth discusses this and other eco-friendly topics in their latest Quartermaster’s Report.
At a high level, rejected energy occurs when fuel being used or transformed to power a machine or device ends up wasted in the transfer process, like exhaust coming from a vehicle’s tailpipe.
If you apply that definition to the devices powering businesses, the waste heat that generates when we power electronics is also “rejected.” When your phone gets hot while charging, it’s the byproduct of some of the energy you are pulling being wasted. And when your company has to spend extra utility dollars cooling down a data center, you start to see the real-world impact.
In certain circumstances, waste heat from server farms and other high-heat business environments can be redirected and reused, but it’s not an affordable or viable option for a lot of organizations.
While waste heat will always be a thing – no one can circumvent the laws of thermodynamics, after all – and computers are becoming increasingly energy efficient, it will be exciting to see how companies choose to combat this environmental challenge as they look for new ways to reduce their footprints.
Reducing e-waste is a fight that can create immediate positive results for almost any business, and the stats behind the amount businesses and individual users generate generation might surprise you. According to This Spaceship Earth:
Increased dependence on digital technology indicates e-waste will be an even larger problem in the future. The report states that in 2020, humans created nearly 58M tons of e-waste. By 2050, that number will more than double to over 120M tons.
Concerning as they are, these figures also mean every business has an opportunity to reduce its contribution to the world’s fastest-growing waste stream. Ideas include:
Every computer, desk phone, server, and tablet you spare from the landfill is another net win for the environment. Considering the pace at which B2B tech vendors try to force their customers to upgrade, paying attention to e-waste reduction can also turn into a significant financial win.
The latest Quartermaster’s Report contains a lot more than we can share in one blog, including a recurring look at our shared impact on the environment and ways individuals and businesses can reduce it. Visit the This Spaceship Earth website to get your own complimentary copy and sign up for new publication alerts.
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