Carbon Offset Program

Why participate in our carbon offset program?

Help bridge the digital divide, click here to view slides

Do your part to reduce global warming and choose Reuse over Recycle

Organizations are joining the trend to ‘Go Green’ and finding new ways to reduce their carbon footprint.   The Ontario Ministry of Environment considers 'Reduce', 'Reuse' and 'Recycle' to be the three pillars towards a less hazardous environment. What has largely been ignored, however, is the power of ‘REUSE’ towards environmental sustainability.  Laptops are a major contributor to electronic waste, posing a major disposal issue because they consist of numerous components which are toxic to the atmosphere. Eric D. Williams of the United Nations University stated that reselling or upgrading computers saves 5 to 20 times more energy than recycling.

Within product lifecycle management stages (Procure, Operate, Decommission), steps can be taken in global greenhouse gas reductions within the decommission stage.  Energy usage should be part of deciding what to buy, how to operate it, and when/how to decommission it.  “Computer Aid suggests that the IT equipment manufacturers can reduce waste and pollution through the design re-use in their products, that is, making it easy to disassemble products in order to allow for repair and recycling.”[1]

Organizations need to start thinking about reuse when considering reducing the environmental impact of their IT systems.  This will not only reduce the need for new computers and in effect avoid resource-intensive manufacturing processes; it will save 20 times the energy required for recycling.  Most importantly, it can place technology in the hands of those who otherwise would not have access to it.[2]

Within the U.S. alone, raising reuse rates of desktop and laptop business computers to the level of the rest of the world would:[3]

• Save enough energy to power every home in Phoenix, AZ, America's fifth largest city, for a year (653,000 households).
• Reduce carbon emissions by the equivalent of that produced by 462,000 passenger cars in a year.
• Reduce solid waste equal to the weight of 2,490,000 bricks.

By donating laptops with CompuCorps, companies will receive a Carbon Offset Certificate, which demonstrates their concrete action to reduce global warming by utilizing green IT practices.  Certificates will recognize companies starting the 10 year program and ‘carbon offsets’ can be obtained with every ten laptop donations that are refurbished and then reused by someone in the community.  By Reusing with CompuCorps, a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher, companies are assured that the equipment has been property refurbished and all previous stored data has been removed. CompuCorps.org uses the most recommended data wiping method (DoD 5220.22-M) and is fully liable for any ramifications from the use of donated laptops.  Free hard drive wiping is provided along with tax receipts.

[1] “Computer: reuse, not recycling old computers”.  PR Log Press Release.  <http://www.prlog.org/10903298-computer-reuse-not-recycling-old-computers.html>

[2] “Computer Reuse Is Key to Reducing Carbon Footprint”.  July 8, 2008.  imaginginfo.com

[3] “Computer Reuse Is Key to Reducing Carbon Footprint”.  July 8, 2008.  imaginginfo.com