How to make your PC green

A standard-issue PC and monitor left on all the time consumes,109 kilowatt-hours a year, according to estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency. A user can do something to reduce the carbon footprint. Read on to learn ways to run your PC more efficiently, make ecologically intelligent purchasing decisions and dispose of an old computer properly.

Don8217;t leave your computer on all the time. Shutting it down after an 8-hour workday provides 16 hours of savings each day. Your computer should be set to go to sleep after periods of inactivity. Different parts of your system can be set to sleep at different times.

Ditch your screensaver. Screensavers can use your hard drive to power up, and photo screensavers may require the extra use of a graphics card.

There8217;s also the issue of 8220;phantom8221; or 8220;vampire8221; power. Many pieces of electronics use power even when they are turned off. To combat the vampires, take your computer and peripherals and plug them into a device like the Smart Strip power strip.

Finally, download a free power-management tool. These applications show how much energy can be saved by adjusting settings and will make those adjustments for you in a few clicks. desktop9.google9.com9/plugins9/i/energysaver9.html_Google8217;s Energy Saverdesktop.google.com/plugins/i/energysaver.html will show you the collective energy savings of everyone using the product; it also integrates into Google8217;s own Desktop application. When it comes to recycling your computer, picking the right recycling company is critical. If done right, recyclers should reuse the parts they can and manage waste responsibly.