Shut Down Your PC on Earth Day

Systems-management firm 1E is urging U.S. desk workers to shut down their PCs completely before leaving work on Earth Day, April 22. If every American worker remembers to turn off their computers on that single day alone, 1E says, the nation's companies would prevent the release of 39,452 tons of carbon-dioxide emissions, save $4.7 million in utility costs, and reduce energy consumption by 54.3 million kilowatt-hours.

A Harris poll commissioned by 1E and the Alliance to Save Energy in 2007 found that nearly half of all corporate computers in the United States don't get turned off at night, costing U.S. businesses $1.72 billion in annual energy costs and spewing 14.4 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per year.

To give those numbers a more manageable context, a midsize company with around 10,000 PCs wastes more than $165,000 per year in electricity costs for computers left on overnight, while contributing 1,381 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Giving those same computers a breather every night would have roughly the same effect as taking 2.58 million cars off the road, which is more than the number of autos zipping around the entire state of Maryland. ::1E

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