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In this energy conscious period we now live in, and with the move to a more global perspective and respect for nature, most of us are looking for ways to reduce our footprint on the planet. This can be quite tricky in the computer realm though, with reams of printer paper, everything powered by electricity, and components built with unfriendly and even toxic materials which don’t break down when disposed of. But there are things you can do, and in this issue we’ll touch on a couple of them. Do you have a fax machine at home or at work? What a shame all those faxes are printed out when they are received, regardless of the content, regardless of whether page eleven of twelve didn’t print and the entire lot are resent. What if you could move to a system where all your faxes were received in your email, and save money at the same time? Virtual Fax or Fax to Email does exactly this. By signing up with a virtual fax company, you are given a fax number that you can give out, but rather than you owning a fax machine that receives all your faxes to paper, the company receives the faxes for you and sends them to your email. This means you can receive a huge amount of faxes which none of your phone lines being tied up, no fax machine maintenance costs (ink, toner, paper, repairs) no line rental, and better for the environment as you only print out the faxes you need to and you’re not disposing of empty ink and toner cartridges and broken fax machines. There are many companies offering this service and you can pick a fax number in your geographical area. A couple of them are www.mbox.com.au and www.utbox.com.au. Costs start from as little as $9.95 a month with both the above companies offering free trials. In the PC realm, it’s hard to be environmentally friendly. PC circuit boards are made of materials that include cadmium, mercury, PCBs, plastics, epoxy resins, fibreglass, lead and more. In the nineties many European countries banned this “e-waste” from landfills, and then in February 2003 the European Union adopted the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive. Having Taken effect in 2006 it restricts the use of six hazardous materials commonly used in various electronic equipment (like computers). The Asia/Pacific region, which includes Australia, has stated its intent to establish similar restrictions, however with less stringent terms such as only requiring hazardous materials to be disclosed, falling short of banning them. But just because we are lagging behind Europe in this area doesn’t mean there is nothing you can do. Because manufacturers sell the same products to multiple markets, if they supply a RoHS compliant product to Europe, then the same product is often sold here. When you’re buying a computer you can check whether it is RoHS compliant by asking the sales person, or better still, check the information listed in or on the motherboard box. Big companies like Gigabyte sell RoHS compliant motherboard, video cards and other components in Australia.
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