The hard disk in my four-year old computer recently failed so I purchased a replacement hard disk that was advertised as green. For years I had naively assumed that the hard disk in my computer wasn't such a major power hog ... but come to think of it when it spins hard during an airplane ride my batteries do get worn out quite quickly. The marketing campaign for the disk claims that the savings in energy gained are equivalent to "taking your car off the road for 14 days each year." It's hard to believe that a little hard disk has that much impact on the environment.

One service that I installed at my work place is GreenDisk. There is so much technowaste around us like unused CD-ROMs, cables, and etc. GreenDisk has a convenient cardboard packaging in the shape of a trash can that when filled, you just close up, tape, and ship the box directly back to them with shipping fees prepaid.

There's an artist named Chris Jordan on the theme of trash and other questionable human practices using the once popular photomosaic techniques in the 90s. Jordan does a good job of contextualizing the trash and how it can communicate differently as a visual system of millions that appeals to many. The impact of the message of course being more significant than the actual work.

I guess the most green thing I could do today is simply turn off my computer. Hmmm. Okay. Will do.

Back to Top