Power Hour! March 10, 2008

Hey!
We’re back and better than ever!
So, we have tons of things planned for Computers Need Sleep Too!, but we’ll update the blog as we do.
Right now, we are currently planning an event called Power Hour, similar to Earth Hour… you might have heard of that before!
Earth Hour is basically a day where everyone around the world turns off their lights for just an hour. It is way to show the impact one can make and to make everyone more aware!
So this is why we want to create a POWER HOUR, where everyone doesn’t use their computer for just ONE hour. Don’t worry, it’ll be on a weekend, so you might not even use your computer that time.
Plus… you should be doing things OTHER than going on your computer 24/7!

 Help us make this event a success!

Our Impact in Denton Ave. Elementary School December 10, 2007

On 12/6, one of our team members went to Denton Avenue Elementary School to set up a stand to spread the knowledge. She went during Parents Teacher Conference Day, so many parents visited the stand. It was calculated that 156 people visited the stands, and 148 handouts were distributed.

<- Our group member explaining our cause to the students at Denton Ave. Elementary.

<- Our group member informing a parent about our project.

Overall, this visit to Denton Avenue Elementary School was a great success. Many parents were willing to distribute our informative handout to the people at their workplace. One parent was a faculty member in another school, so he was willing to spread this knowledge to his school. Remember…

…you CAN make a difference!

Be Informed and Help Inform Others December 7, 2007

Below is an informational handout. If you are interested in more information, you can download this handout and learn more cool facts/benefits of putting your computer on sleep. Also, if you do not know how to set your computer on sleep mode, this flyer has the step-by-step instruction to help.

Also, if you support our cause, feel free to help by informing your friends, family and others by showing this flyer to them, or you can tell them about this blog and have them download it themselves! Thanks for all your support!

Press Here for the Flyer!

Remember….

…. you CAN make a difference!

Does turning on and off the computer too much shorten the computer’s life? December 5, 2007

Does turning on and off the computer too much shorten the computer’s life?
Even though this issue is debatable, most experts say no. Many people believe that this statement is true, so they just leave the computer on. Don’t do this! This is not beneficial for the life of the computer. In fact, turning off the computer will make the life of the computer longer since it reduces heat stress and other mechanic issues. If you happen to be turning on and off your computer 24/7 for some reason, then yes it will have an affect on your computer’s life. I believe that most of us here don’t, so it will not make a difference on the computer’s life, especially with the modern computers we have. Remember…

…you CAN make a difference!

Computer Usage in Herricks High School December 2, 2007

So, right after school one day, we went around the school to count the computers.
We catergorized the computers into 3 different catergories- off; In use; On, not in use

In the end, we went through 40 classrooms (the ones that were still opened) with a total of 92 computers.
There were:
22 computers off- 24%
19 computers in use- 21%
55 computers on, not in use- 55%

More than half the computers were on, with no one using them!
Maybe you can talk to your teacher about this because…

…you CAN make a difference!

Let’s put it this way! November 30, 2007

So, many of you could be wondering, how much money would I save by switching to sleep mode?
We can put it this way:
If you have a computer that uses 330 watts, and you leave it on 24/7, 365 days a year, what will the price to power the computer come out to be?

Using the  formula that can be found here, and knowing that the price per kilowatt in New York is currently 14.4 cents per kilo-watt hour, we can figure this problem out.
We will come up with this equation: 330watts x 24 hours x 365 days/yr = 2,890,800 watt hours, or 2891 kilo-watt hours. You multiply that by 14.4, with the final cost to be $416.30!
If you use automatic sleep mode, you save 60%-70% of energy, which can save you $249.78 to $291.41.

Yes, this is only considering 24/7, 365 computers, but you can see how much of an impact it can actually make!

Then remember, this is only ONE computer, so if you have more, there is more to save!
Finally, if you can imagine how many computers your school has…  100? 200?

Now you can see…

… you CAN make a difference!

Whats the Impact? November 29, 2007

 So, let’s just say that everyone in the United States sets their computer to automatically switch to sleep mode when the computer is not in use.
What is will the impact be?
Well, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, that have calculated that:
+ Computers will use 60%-70% less energy
+ We could save enough energy each year to power Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine
+ We can cut bills by $2 billion
+ We can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 5 million cars.

Yes, it’s true. Those are BIG numbers!  So remember, everything YOU do counts to because….

…you CAN make a difference!

Do Screen Savers Really Save?

Do Screen Savers Really Save?
The answer is no, screen savers do not save any energy at all. Even if it’s those plain, black ones with the microsoft symbol bouncing around. The screen saver’s job was originally to prevent older computers from having screen burns, or where the word “imprinted” on the screen. (more info) Now, it basically has no function except to sit there and entertain you. Think about it, is it really worth it to have little designs floating around your screen for your entertainment? I’m sure you can easily turn off the monitor and do something more worthwhile! It doesn’t take that much energy for you to push a button… use it to save your computers energy because…

…you CAN make a difference! 🙂

Please Comment, we would really appreciate it!

Project “Computers Need Sleep Too!”

What is “Computers Need Sleep Too!”? “Computers Need Sleep Too!” is a project aimed to raise awareness about the ozone depletion and it’s relation with to the computer. When not in use, your computer should either be in sleep mode or completely turned off, in order to save energy.

Why the computer? It is modern technology and almost everyone uses it. We are not saying to just give up the computer completely, but rather to be more aware of when we keep the computer on. Since so many people use computers today, it is an easy way for us to make a change in the environment. Most of us are not aware by the effects of the computer.

Well, since I’m only one person… I wouldn’t make a difference, right? Wrong! This is the attitude that prevents the problem in the environment from being in its optimum stage. The number of people eventually add up so that a change can really be made!