Sustainable Technology
Amarillo College is committed to sustainability. Information Technology Services (ITS) has employed many practices to meet that mission of providing a sustainable campus environment.
To begin, let’s play a game to test your energy smarts:
TRUE OR FALSE? Office equipment like computers, printers, copiers and fax machines account for the majority of the electricity used on our campus.
FALSE. Lighting accounts for the largest portion more than 35% generally of a commercial building’s electricity bill, making it one of the best targets for energy savings.
TRUE OR FALSE? Computers, monitors, and other office equipment will use less energy and last longer if they’re left running all the time.
FALSE. The small surge of power that occurs when some devices are turned on is much smaller than the energy used by running the equipment when it’s not needed. This fact used not to be true, but energy-management technology has advanced significantly in the past few years. Turn off equipment when not in use or make sure that power-management features are enabled so that computers will go into sleep or hibernation mode after a specific period.
Toner Cartridge Recycling Program
ITS has a program to recycle printer toner cartridges. To recycle toner cartridges for a printer, send your cartridge to the Technology Information Center (TIC) Russell Hall, room 121. This recycling program is NOT limited to college owned cartridges. Please feel free to bring personal spent toner cartridges in for recycle.
Energy Smart Equipment
Each year, AC purchases new technology equipment based on the computer replacement cycle. All desktop and laptop computer systems purchased from Dell and Apple are Energy Smart certified. Energy Smart technology reduces energy consumption by as much as 78%. Laptops featured in Dell's Latitude line, the line AC exclusively uses from Dell, were the first business notebooks to obtain Energy Star 4.0 and EPEAT Gold standards. Apple's iMac and MAC mini computers, consumes less than 13w of energy when idle, less than half the power consumed by a typical light bulb.
Computer Recycling Program
Each year, AC purchases new technology equipment based on the computer replacement cycle. All computers replaced by new computers are collected by ITS. Any other electronic equipment owned by Amarillo College that is no longer being used should also be returned to ITS. This equipment is collected and either reused within Amarillo College or sold in public auction. In all cases, ITS makes sure that all data is securely erased from hard drives and other storage media.
Additionally, the new equipment purchased each year generates large volumes of cardboard and styrofoam. All cardboard is recycled through Facilities and the best effort is made to recycle all styrofoam components.
Employees and students are encouraged to bring any unused electronic equipment (with the exception of CRT monitors) to the TIC on the Washington Street Campus. ITS representatives will take these electronics and reuse or recycle them.
Battery Recycling Program
ITS offers battery recycling for "small" batteries. A small battery consists of your everyday batteries, such as AAA, AA, C, D, and 9-volt, as well as laptop batteries or camera batteries. Once a battery has been used, please bring to the TIC located in Russell Hall, room 121 on the Washington Street Campus and they will be properly disposed of. If you have questions to which batteries should be disposed of, please contact the TIC.
For "large" batteries, please contact Facilities at (806) 345-5560 for proper instructions to dispose of those batteries.
Campus Printers
ITS will be installing print stations located throughout campus for easy use for all students, faculty, and staff. These print stations all offer high quality laser printing with duplex capabilities. These printers are designed to cut down on paper waste by encouraging duplexing. You have the ability to print to any campus print station from your personal computer. Instructions on how to configure your personal computer to print to these stations will be available soon. The first installation of print stations will be in the Allied Health building on West Campus beginning fall semester 2011.
Things to consider...
- Have you or your organization become more interested in green and sustainable technology in the past year?
- Are you using Energy Star or Energy Smart certified technology wherever possible?
- Have you replaced old CRT (large box) monitors with LCD monitors to reduce consumption?
- Are you printing on both sides of paper whenever possible?
- Do you work in an environment that is supportive of green practices?
- Have green efforts within your organization been publicized, either internally or externally?
- Are you more likely to frequent organizations that practice green and sustainable practices?