Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding is the third. -- Marge Piercy
Though computers can be seen as part of environmental pollution, there are also ways to use computers in a more reasonable manner to help protect the environment. So I have just started to collect some means to do so with Linux.
Some objectives of the howto:
Some of the recommendations in this text are discussed controversial, for instance: powering down a device, when it's not in use. This may save power, but not under all circumstances. Also it may have other additional ecological costs, e.g. the life time of the device can be shortened.
I don't have enough technological knowledge to make a decision between these alternatives. Also some alternatives might be rated differently by different persons. So finally the decision what to choose is up to you. Anyway if you have better alternatives please let me know.
If I didn't provide an URL for a program or a package, you may get it from Debian or as a RPM package, from your favorite RPM server, for instance Rufus.
Some parts are modified chapters from my Laptop-HOWTO and my IR-(InfraRed)-HOWTO.
The document is included in the LINUX DOCUMENTATION PROJECT.
The latest version of this document is available at Ecology and Computers .
Since Wade W. Hampton provided a great amount of information included into this text I consider him as a co-author. Though all responsibility for any mistakes is taken by me.
Jun Morimoto <morimoto@xantia.citroen.org> has written the translation into Japanese.
Please feel free to contact me for comments or questions about the HOWTO. I know this material is not finished or perfect, but I hope you find it useful anyway.
Werner Heuser <wehe@snafu.de>