This document provides 8 tips to green your library and save money: 1. Use sleep settings on computers to dramatically cut electricity usage and save $60/year per computer. 2. Buy smart power strips to turn off power to computers and peripherals when not in use, saving energy, with strips paying for themselves within months. 3. Print double-sided to significantly reduce paper usage and waste.

1. 8 Easy Tips to Green Your Library and Save $$$
Amigos Going Green at Your Library 2
Nov. 2010

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3. GreenTech: www.techsoup.org/greentech
Mission: GreenTech
promotes technology and
practices that reduce the
environmental impact and
carbon footprint of
nonprofits, NGOs, and
libraries worldwide.

4. Let’s find out a bit about you.

5. 1. Use sleep settings
Flickr user: stuant33
Why it’s green:
dramatically cuts the
amount of electricity your
computers uses
Free and easy: save
$60/year per computer
Monitor/display sleep: Turn off after 15 minutes or less.
Turn off hard drives/hard disk sleep: 15 minutes or less.
System standby/sleep: After 30 minutes or less.

6. 2. Buy smart strips
Why it’s green: turns off
power of computers and
peripherals when not in use
to save energy.
Inexpensive and easy:
$20 to $30 per computer.
They pay for themselves
within a few months.
How to do it: purchase
and plug in
Flickr user: villagelinca

7. 3. Print double-sided
Flickr user: Walter Parenteau
Why it’s green:
significantly reduces the
amount of paper you buy
and also waste.
Free* and easy: it
could mean changing a
setting to duplex OR
*buying* new printer

8. 4. Use an online fax service
MyFax (donation through
TechSoup Global)
GreenFax
efax
Why it’s green: largely
paperless and doesn’t
require any additional
hardware, ink, or toner.
Easy: Sign up, pay, and
start using it.
Cost: $25-$200/year
Flickr user: Jeremy Brooks

9. 5. Buy EPEAT rated equipment
Why it’s green: rated
equipment uses less power,
has reduced toxic materials
(like lead and mercury), and is
more easily recyclable than
conventional equipment.
Free AND easy
How to do it: Visit
www.epeat.net and search for
the highest-rated technology
toxics reduction * recycled content and
recyclability * product longevity
end-of-life management * energy efficiency
packaging * corporate responsibility

10. 6. Buy refurbished computers
Flickr user: lungstruck
Why it’s green:
extends the life of
computers; 75 percent of
PC energy consumption
has already happened
before a new computer is
switched on.
Inexpensive & easy:
refurbished computers
are 50% less expensive
Microsoft Registered Refurbisher
Program Worldwide Directory
TechSoup RCI Program

11. 7. Get in the cloud
Flickr user: Librarian by Day
Why it’s green:
Decreases the amount of
IT infrastructure that an
office needs because
computing power is
shared and concentrated
more in high efficiency
data centers and less in
the millions of office
computer networks.
Mostly free and
easy: many cloud
services have a free
version.Google docs * doodle.com * skype * IM

12. 8. Recycle your old technology
Flickr user: cizauskas
Why it’s green:
Computers contain many
toxic materials that
pollute the environment if
not properly recovered.
Free or inexpensive:
Computer recycling is
free in about half the US
states and costs $10 to
$20 per computer in
states that don’t have e-
recycling systems
How to do it: visit
www.earth911.com

13. Let’s hear from you
Questions?
www.TechSoupForLibraries.org
www.TechSoup.org/GreenTech
Sarah Washburn
Sarah@techsoupglobal.org
Jim Lynch
jlynch@techsoupglobal.org