Making computers more environmentally friendly
Cutting emissions through greener software.
Its probably not front of mind when you think of what is polluting the world the most, but Canada based Userful Corporation says it has helped its customers cut global CO2 emissions by more than 29,000 tonnes over the last 12 months (the environmental equivalent of taking 5,000 cars off the road). The claim is that it has achieved this through making its computer software more environmentally friendly.
The company, based in Calgary, has no intention of sitting on its green laurels, and is now using the fact that it has the environmental high ground as a marketing tool to ramp up sales of it’s ecologically-friendly.
Aparently, 30,000 public and private desktops worldwide use its sotware already, says Tim Griffin, president of Userful Corporation which has just received CAN$1million investment to green the world’s computer industry further.
Userful is a web-service that lets users multiply and manage their desktop computers. They can multiply their hardware investment, creating up to 10 independent workstations from a single computer by attaching multiple monitors, mice and keyboards. This reduces demand for electricity and cuts hardware waste by up to 80%.
Organizations typically save over 50% on their desktop computing costs, says Griffin.
“Userful software programs are becoming recognized as the new global standard in ‘green’ computing on Linux and represent a significant growth opportunity,” says Jacques LaPointe, senior investment manager, AVAC Ltd.
Loyalty comment
The moral of this story is that if you do something that has a positive environmental impact, even if it is as simply as deciding to turn out the office lights at night (not a terribly widespread practice in Canada) then shout about it.
The average consumer would love to do more to save the planet but is often thwarted by companies who over-package, have un-green production practices or who fail to offer green alternatives. Those who do amend their businesses to be more environmentally friendly, and who are positively thinking about ways to save energy and resources should be perfectly justified in using this as a competitive differentiator.
It’s a tough world out there and no-one is going to applaud those companies who are hiding their environmental lights under a proverbial bushel.