While sketching ideas for this article, Im using paper produced by a pulp
industry that works only with reforested wood. Im using a blue Bic pen, which
should run out in a few days. The pen as well as the paper have the same
finality: recycling. Their life cycle ends, and soon they will be part of
another productwho knows, maybe a wastebasket or a school notebook.
Its easier to see sustainability in something thats tangible and within our
view. But, what will be the environmental impact of your broadband Internet, of
that investment you made through Internet banking, using your cell phone and
your nice little gnome on Second Life? With regard to the latter, business
writer Nicholas Carr points out in his Rough Type blog that a virtual character
on Second Life consumes 1,752 kWh per year, almost as much as a flesh and blood
Brazilian at an average of 1,884 kWh annually. This virtual reality usage comes
from the energy demand of the servers of the company hosting the virtual
community in San Francisco (USA) and from the Internet users computer.
The above services are possible because there is a technological and
communication infrastructure available 24 hours per day. In thesis, the greater
the demand, the larger the infrastructure tends to be, to supply the greatest
number of clients with the solicited information. However, there is no doubt:
electrical consumption is directly related to the way the infrastructure is
organized.
In this way, the environmental account of an individual is not limited to
the electrical expenditure of a TV, notebook, and computer at home, but also of
the infrastructure of the services that take and bring information. Our
consumption goes beyond what we see close to us.
So, then, how can information technology be green, be sustainable? There are
many initiatives that support this concept: manufacturers are eliminating lead
from their products; LCD monitors have been taking the place of tube ones, some
reducing energy consumption by more than 50%; and companies are adopting more
intelligent approaches to break down the more demand, more infrastructure, more
energy paradigm mentioned above.
The corporative milieu has a fundamental responsibility because every company
is a nucleus that invests heavily in technology and communication and
establishes work-flow processes.
It is not merely a question of environmental responsibility, but also the
search for greater productivity and competitiveness, thereby reducing waste and
increasing efficiency. By identifying that the most relevant aspect of business
are people and the value created by them through following work processes and
using technology such as computer programs, the entrepreneur then looks for
partners that will offer a more adequate infrastructure to serve this less
costly and more flexible new scenario.
This approach makes it possible to attend to more people with the same number
of servers and maintain the same light bill, whether they are navigating through
the virtual community or soliciting a bank statement; to prolong the life cycle
of personal computers from three to six years, cutting in half the production of
this type of digital garbage; to reduce airline travel because training can be
done through long distance teaching; and other advantages. Reflecting on the
subject and practicing a more streamlined paradigm results in a reduction of
everyones environmental account. If not, sustainability is limited merely to
a discussion that's pleasant, but hollow and fragile like a garden gnome. And,
considering recent news about the environment, society needs more concrete, not
virtual, actions.
Souma Das
The author is area vice president of Citrix India
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in