Black Is the New Green: The Benefit of Eco-Friendly Computing

Black Friday: We all know that this refers to the day after Thanksgiving when shopping is at an annual peak. But have you ever heard of Black Google? Blackle can actually protect the environment and save you money! Now, if you're wondering how on earth the use of a certain software or website can save energy, check this out.

The Basics

Running software on computers requires energy. So, the more intense a computer program is, the more energy it will consume to run that particular program. The same is true with websites - the more energy it takes to display a site or run content from a site, the more energy your computer will draw.

Heap Media came up with the concept of a black version of Google. Why? Well, did you know that a bright computer screen takes more energy for a computer to display than a black screen does? It may seem like a trivial difference - a black screen versus a white screen. But, the point here is that every little bit of energy conservation counts. Think along the lines of voting. If you say, "My one vote won't make a difference," you're also probably going to think that using a black-screen version of Google in lieu of a white-screen one won't make a difference. Guess what? It does! Granted, it may be a small difference, but it still helps.

It's recommended that computer users all over the world make the tiniest change of setting their home page to Blackle.com. Not only will all Google searches now stem from a black screen rather than a white one, but it will also remind us that every little bit of effort does count. It's a conscious way we can remind ourselves that we need to make these kinds of small efforts in order to see big changes.

Green Measures

Think Host provides you with alternative means of hosting your website - their services are powered by the wind and sun. It's just another simple change we can all make to help the environment.

Concerned about wasted energy, but have trouble remembering to turn your computer off at the end of the day? Auto Shut Down is a nifty little utility that takes about 20 seconds to download for free and allows you to simply create an auto-shutdown schedule for your computer. That's one less thing you have to think about and one more good thing for the environment. Download it at Konrad Papala Software.

Printing hard copies of anything is so Y2K! Additionally, a big concern we should all share is unnecessary webpage-content printing. Green Print World helps you make a conscious effort to monitor every piece of paper you print. You'll have a chance to review exactly what is printed from a website before it's sent to the printer. That way, unwanted pages can be removed before the ink hits the shaved tree. This free software will also keep track of just how much you're saving in money and in paper.

If you still don't believe your single, little computer or laptop could be sucking that much energy and leaving that much of a carbon footprint behind, try to use an energy-saving application such as Edison, which is available from Verdiem. They call it "a small change with big benefits for earth," and I have to agree. This simple and free installation will give you a tiny application that allows you to track power settings for work time, free time, and more. Also, companies will love these monitors, as estimated annual savings are approximated in real-time according to your PC power settings. Dollars and cents get everyone's attention!

Joining the Cause

We all share the responsibility of making conscious efforts and taking small steps to conserve energy at any level, including our computers. Give a few of these suggestions a try and help out the future generations by going green...and black!