How much can a computer contaminate?

Ecological issues around computing. This is an experimental forum.

Moderators: Ralf Hutter, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
Paul Weinstock
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:42 am
Location: United States

How much can a computer contaminate?

Post by Paul Weinstock » Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:45 am

Why is there green pc. Does the pc make contamination?
Paul Weinstock

Olle P
Posts: 711
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:03 am
Location: Sweden

Post by Olle P » Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:15 am

Yes they do contaminate if you look at the total life cycle.

First we have production.
- Raw materials must be collected and refined. Quite a heavy burden on environment in many ways.
- Electronics manufacturing then use loads of clean water and energy.

Transport from manufacturer to consumer. (Energy consumption and particle pollution.)

Usage: Energy consumption.

Disposal: Transports (as above) plus toxic waste.

Cheers
Olle

xan_user
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2269
Joined: Sun May 21, 2006 9:09 am
Location: Northern California.

Post by xan_user » Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:20 am

don't forget packaging of the computer components and the impact of software discs manufacture and distribution.

scdr
Posts: 336
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 4:49 pm
Location: Upper left hand corner, USA

Post by scdr » Sun Nov 23, 2008 12:15 pm

Also consider toxic/hazardous chemicals.

PCs contain lead (e.g. solder, CRT, stabilizer in PVC insulation (power cords, etc.))
Small amounts of mercury (CFL backlights, coin cell batteries)
etc.
Chemicals and residues from manufacturing processes. (Silicon valley has quite a collection of Superfund sites.)

For the user, computers outgass various chemicals (especially when new). Sniff a new computer item, especially in the warm outflow from the power supply. That smell of electronics is some kind of a combination of
plasticizers, manufacturing residues, resin, etc.

(I have a friend with multiple chemical sensitivity - trying to help her get a computer has been an education.)


As I recall the Silicon Valley Toxics coalition web site has some information on this type of thing. Also the Wikipedia entries on electronic waste or computer recycling.

frostedflakes
Posts: 1608
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:02 pm
Location: United States

Post by frostedflakes » Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:30 pm

"Green PC" is kind of disingenuous -- PCs manufactured today are far from environmentally friendly. Steps have been taken to reduce power consumption and the amount of toxic materials in them, but the manufacturing is still very resource intensive and much of the product is not easily recyclable.

Your best bet for a low impact PC would be to salvage a used PC that's in danger of ending up in a land fill. A light Linux distro like Puppy or DSL can breathe new life into older systems, especially P2 and P3 computers.

If you need more modern performance, you just have to suck it up and buy new. About all you can really do is pick lower power parts to try and reduce power consumption. As far as manufacturing goes, I doubt there's any significant difference between different brands. Maybe stick with smaller parts (i.e. microATX board and case, 2.5" drive, etc.) if you don't need the extra space, as they use fewer raw materials than larger ones.

NyteOwl
Posts: 536
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Post by NyteOwl » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:12 pm

Doesn't have to be a light distro either - especially on P3 systems. I have Slackware and Debian running on K6-2 and K6-III+ machines without any problems.

Most people, even those that promote recycling forget the "Reuse" part of the three R mantra especially when it comes to computers and other electronics.
Last edited by NyteOwl on Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

AZBrandon
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 867
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2004 5:47 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Post by AZBrandon » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:24 pm

For years, Apple computer was on Greenpeace's hit list as the worst company in the world for environmental practices. They highlighted the fact that not all PC's are made alike, and some are much more toxic than others. There's various guides online to list how good or bad various companies are in their environmental practices.

NyteOwl
Posts: 536
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Post by NyteOwl » Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:26 pm

While I laud and agree with the ideals that founded Greenpeace their actions have voided any credibility they may have had as far as I'm concerned.

Post Reply