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Buy only essential IT equipment
Using one (larger) screen instead of two will avoid GHG emissions equivalent to 650kg CO2. That's the same as avoiding driving 4,000km in a mid-size diesel car! Similar savings arise from having just a desktop or just a laptop, rather than both.
Desktop PCs will usually last around 7 years, laptop may need more care to last this long. Computer screens should last around 10 years.
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Shutdown your PC at the end of the day
Shutdown your PC (or Apple Mac) when it's not in use overnight / at weekends. Laptop users should unplug the charger or switch off the power to the docking station.
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Return or re-use surplus IT kit
Any old or unused IT kit should be returned to your IT team so it can be re-used elsewhere or recycled if it's too old.
The Oxford WARP-IT scheme can help find new homes for old equipment across the University.
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Use built-in power saving features
On a staff PC managed by IT Services select Start , type "power plan", select Choose a power plan, and select the Oxford Power Configuration.
On other computers, check with your local IT team or follow online guides for Windows power settings or macOS energy saving settings.
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Refresh, don't replace
If your computer feels like it’s running more slowly than it used to but is under 7 years old, reinstalling it or increasing the RAM could give it a new lease of life. Contact your IT team for advice.
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Reduce printing
Avoid printing entirely by sharing documents online instead of printing them for meetings. You can also annotate most electronic documents using comments.
Check that your printer is set to double-sided (duplex), black and white (not grayscale) unless you specifically require other settings. In Windows choose Start > Settings > Devices > Printers & Scanners, select your printer and press Manage > Printing Preferences and set the double-sided and black-and-white options if present.
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Search intelligently
Choose appropriate, targeted terms in internet searching to find information with fewer searches. You could also consider using a search engine such as https://ecosia.org which provides environmental benefits.
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Avoid unnecessary emails and attachments
The carbon footprint of a regular email is around 4gCO2e, and adding a substantial attachment can increase this to around 50gCO2e. So sending a for-sale photo to 100 colleagues via a department maillist could create 5kgCO2e emissions; That's more than growing, transporting, storing and consuming 70 bananas!
Some simple environment-saving steps for email:
→ Only include recipients (To:, CC: or BCC: fields) who actually need to action or note your message;
→ Share large attachments via OneDrive instead of attaching them (this is good for security and privacy too as you can easily un-share if necessary);
→ Consider using Teams chat for short messages and more conversational items
