The 10 arguments to defend green iT
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Ah the end of year celebrations! Sitting around Christmas dinner or a glass of champagne in hand while waiting to pass the fateful hour on the 31st, the discussions around environmental issues quickly become sterile when arguments are lacking.
So What do we answer when faced with speeches of inaction and denigration of green iT?
Here it is 10 preconceived ideas to disprove so that the table becomes a little more aware of the challenges of responsible digital technology.
1. “It's not going to change much on my scale.”
If there is one discourse of inaction that predominates, it is this one! You point your finger at others before looking at what you can do on your own scale.
It is important to understand that Everyone can take action in their daily lives that can have an impact.
Why?
Simply because there are 3 levels of action to take action:
- At the level individual : it is the first step to raise awareness and reach a greater number of people;
- At the level of venture ;
- At the level of collective.
Climate inaction should not be the result of a Certain defeatism. We must not forget that our purchases and our choices have consequences on the environment and on other people.
Between theextraction of rare materials, theassembling devices or the end of life management Computer tools are people who are exploited behind all these difficult tasks.
When you know that every French person has an average 8 digital cameras, we realize that individual actions can have a significant weight.
2. “My boss? It's not his priority because it's going to cost too much.”
We often mistakenly imagine that buying refurbished devices will cost more than buying new ones. However, the opposite is true, since a refurbished device can cost up to 70% less.
Si green IT is becoming more and more popular in business, it is because it embodies the ecological commitments of the company, but also because it allows reduce some costs.
Fears about refurbished devices mainly affect the cost of some repairs and The slowness that may appear with devices that are not from the current year. These are false preconceived ideas.
As an Easypanel study explains, the important thing is to take care of your computer equipment to keep it performing. It is especially this factor that should not be overlooked since 109 hours, on average, are lost per year and per employee due to computer slowness.
And if you hesitate to buy refurbished equipment, Rzilient also offers the solution of rent its iT fleet. The renewal cost is therefore lower, even taking into account the cost of breakdowns and repairs.
3. “I've had my phone for 3 years already.”
It's good, but the important thing is to keep it as long as possible. 3 years, even if today it seems like a lot to us, it's actually still very little. The lifespan of the devices has been divided by 3 in 30 years.
With all the components getting smaller and more numerous, it is more difficult to repair, upgrade, recondition, and recycle computer devices.
When we know that the simple manufacture of the telephone represents approximately 80% of its total carbon footprint, we understand the importance of avoiding changing it every year for a new, newer device.
Between Planned obsolescence and psychological obsolescence which both lead to overconsumption, it is necessary to get out of certain patterns to realize that digital resources are not unlimited.
4. “Who knows what condition I'm going to find the computer in.”
This is undoubtedly the argument that comes up the most among people who do not dare to buy refurbished devices. However, it is time to take the plunge to reduce its impact.
To ease this fear about the condition of the refurbished device, you can Watch the different grades that explain the condition. Close to new, with some scratches that are almost invisible or visible to the naked eye, these are The ranks which will mention the condition to expect if you buy this device.
It is also important to watch suppliers and partners who reconditioned the aircraft. This is where the main guarantee of trust is found.
At rzilient we have several partners whom Refurbish computer devices which are therefore perfectly functional.
5. “Oh no but I'm already emptying my inbox.”
In recent years, numerous applications that help empty your email inbox on a regular basis have emerged. While this is very useful for reducing your footprint, it is not Not the data storage that pollutes The most but good Their transport.
He is more useful to unsubscribe from newsletters that you never read or transfer your heavy files with tools like FileVert than deleting only your emails.
To reduce your footprint, it is important toAct early as a priority.
6. “Already working from home and having reduced my car trips, I am not going to reduce my number of digital devices either.”
Saying that is clearly a false belief. We must not forget that The increase in teleworking has caused other significant ecological impacts. That's what we call the rebound effect.
The transport footprint is reduced but other emission factors have increased:
- Electricity consumption and heating resources;
- Increase in the transport of used data to work 8 hours on his computer devices;
- Over-equipment employees at home.
The savings made elsewhere are counterbalanced by new behaviors induced by these new changes.
It is The rebound effect of teleworking : the reduced ecological footprint of less use of the car is offset by The increase in consumption linked to digital technology.
7. “I saw that they were going to build eco-responsible data centers.”
Attention should be paid to these kinds of initiatives that are more about greenwashing than anything else. Because a Data center that does not exist Will always have a lower impact than an eco-responsible data center.
It is important to question These green speeches because often they are simply compensation solutions that are put in place to reduce the footprint, except that these are often ineffective and fuel greenwashing and the disempowerment of businesses.
In addition, if electricity is said to be “green”, it is because pollution is found elsewhere in the production chain.
The one and only solution to reduce the digital footprint is to tend towards sobriety.
8. “Oh, but they just passed the REEN law.”
Yes, it is a good thing that this law was passed on November 15, 2021 with the ambition of reducing the environmental footprint of digital technology in France (NOTHING). But it is not enough because it has no legal obligation.
It is a first step for Raise awareness of the impact of digital technology on a national scale, but there is still a long way to go. It exists other levers of awareness and accountability for businesses, like Corporate Digital Responsibility (RNE).
9. “We don't know what to do with our equipment anymore.”
And that's exactly why you should try to reduce your consumption of new digital devices.
But when his devices are unusable, there are several solutions depending on whether you are an individual or a company.
In the first case, if you have computer devices that you want to recycle, you have 3 situations:
- if your device is still working and can be repaired : repair it if possible or donate it to charitable fundraising associations.
- if the device cannot be repaired and you want to buy a new one : electrical appliance distributors are required to take back your used devices in stores when they purchase new equipment.
- if the device is not repairable and you are not planning to buy another one : open-access recycling bins exist in some stores or waste disposal centers for electronic devices that are less than 25 cm diagonally.
Si You are a business, it's a bit different because the quantity and frequency of recycling are higher.
- You can contact a service provider specialized in recycling so thatHe comes to remove the trash electrical and electronic directly on your site.
- It is possible to bring your WEEE directly to a collection point if it represents less than 2 tonnes of waste.
In both situations, it is important to Recycle used electronic devices to allow them to have a second life when possible.
10. “Even though we're making an effort every day, it's not this 4% that's going to change anything.”
Every percentage of greenhouse gas emissions counts, all the more so in view of the trajectory that global warming is taking over the coming years.
All actions are important, small or large, and digital technology is an issue to be taken into account urgently given the Exponential Development What does the sector know.
Remaining defeatist or pointing fingers at others won't get things done. It is important to understand that we have a role, at the individual level, to play, even if everything cannot be based on us alone.
We hope we have given you the ammunition you need to answer these 10 sentences that put climate inaction and disempowerment at the center of the arguments. rzilient wishes you happy holidays and a year 2022 under the sign of green iT.
Do you want to Reduce your company's digital footprint And start 2022 with responsible and tangible commitments? What if we talked about your project?
