Woollyeyes.com

The primary factor when upgrading your computer is to consider whether it’s really necessary to buy a new one at all. Manufacturers source parts from all over the world at the lowest cost (and often from factories with poor working conditions), resulting in a high environmental and ethical price on each new unit. It is well worth considering upgrading your existing machine as an alternative to scrapping it and starting again – but if you’ve got to have a new one here are some pointers regarding manufacturers’ ethical ratings. The second table gives a guide to the environmental performance of different manufacturers’ current computer products, which can be used in combination with the ethical guide when considering a purchase.

With the cost of changing a computer falling all the time and hardware going out-of-date so quickly, it is easy to see why there is a growing trend to replace computers with increasing regularity. However we generally fail to realise the environmental impact that this has: a United Nations University study calculated that the average desktop PC and monitor requires about 1.8 tons of raw material in the manufacturing process – roughly the same weight as a large saloon car. The report conclusion is that it is significantly preferable to upgrade the hardware within a computer system, such as the RAM and hard disk drive, than to buy an entire new machine to a similar spec.

By doing this – or if the machine has to be replaced, by donating the old computer so that it may continue to be used – we can create potential energy savings of between 5 and 20 times those gained by recycling, according to the study’s authors. Whilst Dell has in place a procedure to recover machines supplied under service contracts at the end of their term to donate them or sell the parts, fewer than half of their commercial customers participate in the scheme.

It is easy to overlook the environmental impact of discarding out-of-date equipment, but the repercussions are enormous – so think carefully before going ahead with that new computer purchase, or at least work out what you will do with your existing machine first.