Energy Friendly Computer Searches
October 14, 2008 by Steph
If you are on a computer regularly, consider changing the site you use to perform searches.
Back in January of 2007, Mark Ontkush of ecoIron wondered aloud about the possible energy savings if Google used an all black page instead of an all white page.
The folks at HeapMedia thought this notion was interesting so created Blackle. Others followed and now there are several options, ranging from SearchGreener, a nonprofit that reinvests its advertising profits and invests in carbon offsets, to Blackoogle, which looks just like Google but for the black page. All these sites utilize Google Custom Search.
While there is lots of discussion about exactly how much energy this change could actually save, (see here for a detailed discussion about types of monitors and other technical details) I think the more powerful message behind sites like these is the reminder that we often have choices. Making decisions about our actions and behavior more conscious will be an important part of using energy more efficiently.
Happy searching, everyone!
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!