Steps for a Green Online Habit
As computers become more and more regularly used, the potential to help save the environment multiplies as well.
Here are some ideas that you and your students can do on computers to save paper, gas and energy:
Pay bills online.
Paper bills no longer bode well with consumers, prompting many
forward-thinking companies to offer online bill payments. These days,
schools, electric utility companies, water distribution companies give
consumers’ the choice to pay bills online, saving not only paper but
time and transportation costs too.
E-bills are simply sent through email, and consumers can already
view their bill, access details and payment history, and make secure
payments using credit cards.
In the US, companies like PayTrust and XPress Bill Pay
line out all your bills in your desktop so you can pay them
efficiently, using different bank accounts, credit or debit cards or
even electronic funds transfer.
Telephony, a trade magazine for communications service
providers pegs the number of checks written annually at 63 billion, 80
percent of which is in payment of bills. With the advent of paperless
billings, companies now get their payments faster and decrease billing
costs and effort.
Watch movies online. In a survey publicized by
CinemaNow, it was found out that 94% of Americans “believed that they
make a bigger contribution to the environment by downloading a movie
online versus renting or buying at a video store.”
Legal, online movie services are available these days, so why not
make the most of it? You can just stay at home and burn less fossil
fuels, thus saving the environment while watching a movie at the same
time.
Shop online. Similarly, shopping online lessens
carbon footprints caused by transportation. Books can be bought online,
as well as clothes and food of manufacturers in the community. What’s
more, it lessens the need for thousands of flyers in the streets. Once
you know what you want, you just go to their website.
Watch TV and listen to music on the computer. Television
sets consume electricity just by being plugged in. Why not synergize
your entertainment needs and just focus on the computer as its main
medium? Various broadcast companies allow users to access shows,
movies, music files without the need of CDs or whatnot. You just need
to click the mouse.
Gather information online. From recipes, tips,
how-to pieces of advice, to reading the morning paper or finding out
the best route to get to X place (to minimize need to drive around
lost), the Internet is the best and environmentally safe bet.
Click ads to donate money to environmental groups. Online ads are not always a distraction. Clicking on ads for The Rainforest Site for example means a small amount of money goes to protecting the rainforest. The Ecology Fund and Charity Navigator are also good examples of intelligent giving.
Maximize email and word-processing programs. Instead
of an old-fashioned journal, use the computer notepad or create a blog.
When it comes to work, email whatever you can so as not to waste a lot
of paper on correspondence. If possible work from your home. The 4-Hour Workweek;)
has some good tips on how to do so.
Turn off and unplug. After all the extensive
computer use, do not forget to turn it off (or set in hibernate mode)
or unplug. Turn off the lights in the room when you leave as well. You
can even turn it off when surfing the Internet. Wasting electricity
contributes to a lot to your carbon footprint, so don’t forget.
Hopefully, these small, practical tips can help you contribute in your own way to saving the environment.
Sources:
Begun, Daniel. “Watch Movies Online: Save the Environment.” Retrieved March 9, 2009 from
http://hothardware.com/News/Watch-Movies-Online-Save-the-Environment/
Edberg, Henrik. “20 Simple Ways to Help the Environment by Using Your Computer.” Retrieved March 9, 2009 from
http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2007/10/15/20-simple-ways-to-help-the-environment-by-using-your-computer/
West, Larry. “Why Online Bill Paying is Good for the Environment.” Retrieved March 9, 2009 from
http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/online_bill_pay.htm
(Published 23 March 2009, Smart Communications, Inc.)
