Green Technology

1. Technology :
Costing the Earth?
What effect does technology have on the environment?

2. Learning Intentions
• To understand and reflect on environmental and social
impacts that the development of technology has on society
in Scotland and World Wide.
• To calculate the cost of how much a PC or laptop would cost
to run for a year.
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3. The Facts
• Around 7 billion people on the planet.
• 238 million computers have been sold worldwide.
• 48 millionTV sets sold world wide each day.
• 1 billion mobile phones sold every year.
• United Nations stated there are 6 billion mobile phone
subscriptions world wide.
• ( But only 4.2 billion own a toothbrush.)
• 3.5 billion internet users world wide.
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4. What does technology do to the environment?
Work in table groups and create a mind map:
• What are the negative effects technology has on the
environment. You have 5 minutes

5. • What are the positive effects technology has on the environment.
You have 5 minutes

6. Carbon Footprint
• Computer systems contribute about 2% of global greenhouse
gas emissions.
• It is estimated that spending a minute on the internet and create
1.2 grams of CO2 emissions.
• This is the same amount as driving a Kilometre in a modern, fuel
efficient car.

7. Technology life cycle
Chemicals and
Materials are
mined and
gathered.
Sent to
manufacturers
Technology is
built.
Sent to stores
Consumer
buys
product
(maybe
two)
Within two years
product is obsolete
Products
thrown away
and
consumer
buys new
product

8. Disposal of IT Equipment
• Computers contain substances which are harmful to the environment
and can cause a great deal of pollution if they are not disposed of
correctly.
• Computers contain elements such as Cadmium, lead, mercury,
antimony, arsenic, chromium, cobalt, selenium, BFR (Brominated
Flame Retardants found in plastic) and Beryllium Oxide. This are all
hazardous to health.
• It is vital that hazardous chemicals are deposed of properly in order to
prevent it from polluting the environment.
• EU member states aim to recycle 85% of computing products.
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9. E-Waste
• Most old computer hardware that is supposed to be “recycled” but
are actually shipped off to developing countries and scrapped by
impoverished workers. (This also includes the use of child labour.)
Article 24, 27, 28 and 29 United NationsConventions on the Rights of the Child
• In the UK alone, at least 23,000 metric tonnes of undeclared or
'grey' market electronic waste was illegally shipped in 2003 to the
Far East, India, Africa and China.

10. How do we recycle?
There is a lot of ways to make sure we recycle corrections. Options include:
• Give it to someone who doesn’t have a computer, a friend or to a charity
• Sell it for example on an online auction site
• Part-Exchange it for a new computer
• Give it to the company that you are buying a replacement from for recycling.
However, giving away your computer can be risky!You must make sure that you
are completely wiping your hard drive from any data left on.
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11. Carbon Footprint – Is there a positive?
• On-Board computers in cars help the driver reduce fuel
consumption.
• Smart meters and sensors that are attached to networks and
help turn off electrical appliances and adjusting lighting to
save energy.
• Video conferencing can provide world wide meetings without
anyone having to leave their offices.
• Computer systems and cloud computing helps prevent the
destruction of forest by reducing paper.

12. Energy Use
• Our computers use up a lot of energy!
• An average desktop PC can use around 140 watts.
• A high spec, Alienware, gaming PC can use up to 856 watts!

13. How much does that cost me?
Power the computer uses = _______ Watts
Energy used for a full day = ________ Watts X 24 hours = ________ Watt Hours
Energy used for whole year = ______ Watt Hours x 365 days = ________ Watt Hours
Cost for the year = _________ Watt Hours X 0.01p = £ __________
Forrester energy company charges 0.01p per watt hour for our energy

14. Task 1 – How much does it cost?
Go to the website www.dabs.com
Find three PCs / Laptops (low, medium and high spec) and tell me the
following information:
• Name of the PC / Laptop,
• Picture of the PC / Laptop ,
• Price of the PC / Laptop,
• Hard drive capacity,
• Memory ,
• Power (Watts),
• Amount of energy it will use if it ran continuously for a year,
• Amount it will cost to run for the year if it costs 0.01p perWatt Hour.

15. Task 2 – Research
Choose a research topic and record your findings in a
presentation or a word document:
1. Find out what Apple do to help their environment with the
manufacturing of their products and their packaging.
2. Find out the best ways to protect your personal information
on the computer. List your top 5 pieces advice and state which
product you would buy and why.
3. Find out ways in which computers are recycled in Edinburgh.

16. Success Criteria
• I can discuss the impact that technology has on society and
the environment.
• I can calculate the cost of running a PC for a whole year.
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