material cycles « IT goes Green

Posts Tagged ‘material cycles’

EcoMo09

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

ecomo09.eventbrite.com

www.betavine.net/bvportal/community/sustainability

EcoMo09 is an event which took place in London the past September, 11th at 6:00 PM to 12th at 6:00 PM. It was open to all software developers who wanted to have a positive impact on society and the environment. Wi-Fi and power on location were provided, while laptops, software development kits and any other tools were to be brought by the participants.
Vodafone and Betavine organized the event, a 24-hour dev camp competition. Workshops on environmental data sources took place during the event, and developers used their “green” coding skills to create prototype software tools to help people reduce their impact on the environment. EcoMo09 was also intended to offer opportunities to socialise, collaborate and network with code peers.

(more…)

Tags: accessibility and knowledge, energy cycles, material cycles
Posted in research | 2 Comments »

COP15 conclusions by Greenpeace

Monday, January 4th, 2010

A few days ago I got an email from Greenpeace “Cool IT” campaign’s team; the mail reported some thoughts about COP15, the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference which took place in Copenhagen from the 7th to the 18th of December, 2009. Such thoughts are presented from the IT point of view, saying how it could help cutting CO2 emissions. Beyond the bitter conclusions about the poor outcomes, the “Cool IT” team invites ICT companies to plan new policies, to be presented at the next summit, Mexico 1010.
I thought it would be nice to share.

(more…)

Tags: energy cycles, material cycles, health and safety
Posted in activism | No Comments »

BAD09: climate change

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Today is the third Blog Action Day.
Though I joined the initiative since the first edition, I would catch this year’s BAD as an opportunity to bring some novelties on IT goes Green.
The themes chosen by BAD, today and in the past years, all intersect in a wider, urgent, critical topic which is sustainable development. ITgG always dealt with IT from that global point of view; this is why every BAD theme always fitted perfectly with this blog’s philosophy; this is why, also, boundaries among topics such as “Environment”, “Poverty”, “Climate Change” seem to be that blurred in ITgG’s posts; and this is why, finally, so many different solutions and theories are presented over this blog, as equally urgent and important.

(more…)

Tags: accessibility and knowledge, energy cycles, material cycles, health and safety
Posted in activism | No Comments »

from Gahna to India, by China

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/ghana804/video/video_index.html

On the outskirts of Ghana’s biggest city sits a smoldering wasteland, a slum carved into the banks of the Korle Lagoon, one of the most polluted bodies of water on earth. The locals call it Sodom and Gomorrah. Peter Klein and a group of graduate journalism students from the University of British Columbia went there as part of a global investigation, to track a shadowy industry that’s causing big problems there and around the world.

(more…)

Tags: material cycles, health and safety
Posted in activism | No Comments »

less mobile chargers

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Guardian: Mobile manufacturers agree to universal charger; June 30th, 2009

The days of drawers full of chargers for mobile phones you no longer use could soon be over after manufacturers agreed to use a universal model. Companies including Nokia, Apple, LG, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Texas Instruments, NEC, Qualcomm and Research In Motion have signed up to offer the charger, which will be based on a Micro-USB connector.

(more…)

Tags: accessibility and knowledge, energy cycles, material cycles
Posted in products | No Comments »

Zii

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

www.zii.com

www.ziilabs.com

engadget: Creative unveils Zii; January 8th, 2009

Zii is a system-on-a-chip architecture for high-demand media applications, featuring numerous discrete processing elements, officially presented on January the 8th, 2009. Creative Technology Ltd. announced the formation of ZiiLABS, with the combination of 3DLABS and resources drawn from the largest product group in Creative, the “Personal Digital Entertainment” group. Engadget reports: “If, despite our warning, you were still hoping that the Zii was some sort of new form factor media player or maybe even a futuristic computer that could morph and change shape as needed, prepare to be a bit disappointed”. That being said, the concept itself is still intriguing.

(more…)

Tags: energy cycles, material cycles
Posted in products | No Comments »

how e-waste works?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

www.howstuffworks.com/e-waste.htm

computer.howstuffworks.com/discarded-old-computer.htm

electronics.howstuffworks.com/electronics-recycling.htm

A growing number of groups are working to educate the public on what happens to their discarded, old computers and why they may want to take more precautions when disposing them. What many of us don’t realize is that our electronics and other household electrical gadgets are potentially harmful, being a mix of heavy metals and toxic chemicals. A bunch of webpages about e-waste with simple (yet useful) practical informations, was found on HowStuffWorks.