Wired News: Short-Lived PCs Have Hidden Costs
It turns out your computer is a much bigger material and energy hog than previously believed. The most effective way to reduce its oversized environmental footprint is to increase its useful lifespan, according to a new book released Monday, Computers and the Environment, by the United Nations University in Tokyo.
The average desktop PC and 17-inch CRT monitor takes an SUV-sized 1.8 tons of water, fossil fuels and chemicals to make, the book reports.
As for energy use, a computer's lifetime energy impact is about the same as a refrigerator, they report. While a computer doesn't use much energy while it's running, its short lifespan and the large amounts of energy needed to construct it make it one of the more energy-intensive appliances.
With a billion machines already sold and annual sales topping 130 million computers worldwide, computers pose serious environmental problems because of their resource and energy use, and the growing mountains of toxic computer waste, said co-editor Eric Williams.