Phone: 616-331-2101
Fax: 616-331-2860
Computing and Technology Support
Helpdesk@gvsu.edu

207 Mackinac Hall
Allendale, MI 49401

Green IT Initiatives: Reducing Information Technology's Ecological Footprint

The information technology Department at GVSU has worked hard to reduce their footprint. Over the last 15 years I.T. has diligently worked to recycle and reuse all possible components.

Life cycle of computer
Maximizing the I.T. budget has always been a priority.   When an office machine is replaced the retired computer comes back to the helpdesk area.  The hard drive is wiped  clean and a new image is placed on the machine.  The machine is then deployed back out to campus community replacing machines that are older, or it may go into the Kiosk stations, or a used for special purpose machine.

Machines that do not get recycled back out the campus may be used for parts to keep repair costs down and reuse as many components as possible.

Once a machine is at the end of its life cycle at GVSU it is donated to charities.  We have computers in many Elementary schools in the area, local charity organizations and as far away as the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

The parts of the machines that can no longer be used are stored and then sent to a vender that recycles all possible components.

Other initiatives

Five years ago  I.T. replaced over 1,200 CRT’s (the big old monitors) in all labs with flat screen monitors reducing the electrical draw by approximately 70%.  All of the CRT’s were donated to charities.  

 Recycling computers

 

 This Spring/Summer semester I.T. will be replacing all lab computers. The new 1400 computers will use 17% less electricity than the machines they are replacing.  As always, We are working to recycle all old machines. Most will be donated to Charities

Classroom video projectors are now programmed to automatically turn off at Midnight if they were left on.  Please note:  It is helpful when instructors turn the projectors off when not in use.

Starting Summer/Fall semesters duplex printing will be the default in most computer labs.
  Last Modified Date: August 25, 2009
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