Sustainable IT, what is it?
Sustainable IT, more commonly called Green IT, is the whole technique aiming to reduce the digital carbon footprint.
In the field of information and communication technologies, (ICT) it uses eco-responsible techniques to decrease the impacts that the ICT have on the environment during their cycle life.
Sustainable IT also participates in sustainable development thanks to the eco-conception of products and digital services.
Sustainable IT, why is it important?
In 2016, the ADEME published a white book on the energetic consumption of IT equipment in the professional sector. This study shows that 80% of participating organizations are not conscious of digital energetic consumption.
Most companies don’t have tools or norms to measure the environmental impact of their IT park. Only 29% use tools to evaluate the carbon emissions and 34% declare that sustainable IT is part of their future objectives. We also note that only 23% of companies measure their carbon emissions by using indicators. Overall, only 1% of them have reached their objectives.
Sustainable IT needs to be taken into account in all cycle life of digital products:
- During the manufacturing: Is the product or the service has been developed in an eco-responsible way?
- During the use: the use of product or digital service allows it to adopt an eco-responsible behavior? For example, with Greenoco, you can reduce the carbon footprint of your website.
- At its end of life: the product or service is updated regularly? Can it be recyclable? Can it be reused?
What benefits for your company?
Apply an approach Green IT in company that corresponds to the evolution of our society of consumption and more and more turned to respect for the environment, can bring you some real benefits.
But then what are the benefits of sustainable IT?
- Economy of costs and energy
Thanks to sustainable IT, you can realize costs and energy economies. Indeed, you can reduce your energy and global electric consumption bills by increasing your IT park.
How?
By determining the number of electronic devices (computers, printers, phones, etc. …) of which you have inside your company. Then, characterize their use, and the quantity of energy they consume. Thanks to these information, you will be able to assign the good material to the good persons, and know their energetic consumption. You will be able to separate from non-essential devices and not renew them.
You can also use solutions to keep the control on your IT park and optimize the use of equipment thanks to Rzilient. This start-up accompanies you in the management of your IT park.
- Increasing of the competitivity
Opt for a sustainable IT approach, increase the competitivity of your company.
These days, the Social and Environmental Responsibility policy has become obligatory for some companies, sustainable IT has become the way to meet real needs and expectations. Both for employees and clients and companies’ partnerships.
- Reputation of the brand
Putting in place green and sustainable practices, without going through the IT department, can contribute to your company’s reputation. The consumers are more and more conscious and pay more attention to the environment and their footprint.
- Loyalty
Indeed, consumers pay more attention to the values of sustainable development of a company. Potential prospects rather choose you than a competitor if your image and your values correspond to his.
This also helps build loyalty to your current clients, who will appreciate the new actions put in place within your company. According to a study realized in 2018, 80% of consumers will be more loyal to a brand putting in place an engaged responsible digital approach.
Good practices to adopt to contribute at the reduction of carbon emissions
Companies play a key role in the evolution of production and consumption modes. Here’s many recommendations to help companies to reduce the digital carbon footprint and thus participate in the acceleration of the transition.
- Sort the box mail:
You can sort your box mail regularly. You don’t have the time? A tool to help CleanFox
- Expand the lifespan of your devices
- Recycle your electronic devices
- Reuse your work tools
- Add the websites that you usually go to in your favorite bar. Research on search engines makes the servers work, which consumes a lot more energy.
Finally, you can opt for digital sobriety. Indeed, with the digital pollution that can’t stop growing, it’s necessary to put the digital sobriety at the heart of the formation and the digital sector evolution.
In order to limit the environmental impact, must be strengthened the developer formations and web integrators at an issue of a digital more responsible.
Conclusion:
The implementation of a sustainable IF strategy helps to reduce the environmental impact of our activity, while realizing energy economies and on the IT park renewal. The activation of different axes of increasing allows to adopt more sober uses, and to reduce the extraction of natural resources (with the consequences on natural areas).
An axis is also to realize applications and eco-designed software. For this, with Greenoco, you can calculate the carbon footprint of a website, and find the optimizations to reduce 25% on average the carbon footprint of websites, and up to 70% depending on sites and their degree of initial optimization. By optimizing oversized resources, servers of data centers are less used and consume less energy and reject less CO2.
You want to know more on our solution of reduction of carbon emissions of websites? Contact-us!
