14 SUSTAINABILITY 01732 759725 Simon Townsend, Field CTO of IGEL, offers tips on how to consume IT in a more responsible way consumption by 4.2 billion users. This emits a whopping 556 million tons of CO2 that would require a forest the size of Argentina to remove from Earth’s atmosphere annually. The other 1% is attributed to the pollution associated with people commuting to access IT in the workplace. One of the reasons EUC has such a large impact on emissions (and the growing problem of e-waste) is the technology refresh hamster wheel of upgrades that has become commonplace in the public and private sectors. Most PCs or laptops are updated every 3 to 4 years as they break or as OS vendors introduce new releases requiring updated hardware to run. It is estimated that 1 in 3 laptops won’t support Windows 11, forcing organisations to buy new endpoints before Windows 10 goes end-of life by October 2025. The UK’s Climate Change Act 2008 is an added incentive for organisations to break the cycle. It includes an amendment to the Companies Act 2006 requiring all London Stock Exchange listed companies, large unquoted firms and limited liability partnerships to report their greenhouse gas emissions. Public sector organisations are required to do the same. Sadly, inertia exists. Research by Dr. Justin Sutton-Parker, CEO of PX3 and a Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, shows that more than one third of IT departments do nothing either because they don’t know enough about sustainable ICT purchasing or because they think it requires more money. This is a significant missed opportunity for organisations to play a more effective role in addressing the climate emergency. So, what should IT departments be doing instead? Next steps Here are just a few steps they can take to reduce IT consumption and e-waste: q Shift away from Windows installed on individual devices and migrate to the cloud for VDI or Desktop as a Service solutions. This is ‘greener’ than running ‘on-prem’ datacentres. Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Citrix and VMware are all providers. For example, Citrix Cloud Services operate in 100% renewable energy data centres, such that an organisation using its latest Azure service benefits from zero Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. w Adopt a displacement strategy for endpoint hardware. Running applications, storage and compute in the cloud, with only a lightweight local OS like IGEL’s for connection, removes the requirement to have the latest desktop and enables customers to double the lifespan of endpoints from 3 or 4 years to 6 and, in some cases, 8 years. As 83% of a device’s carbon footprint is created during manufacture, extending an existing device’s useful lifespan significantly reduces emissions related to manufacturing and shipping. In addition, a lighter endpoint OS draws between 22% and 49% less power than Windows equivalents (depending on the solution) as less CPU, memory and battery power is used. This tried and tested approach can also deliver considerable financial returns. The sixth largest car insurer in the UK, Markerstudy, saved £1 million by using a displacement strategy to avoid buying new desktop computers to David Beckham wears them. So, does Lionel Messi and Taylor Swift. But it has to be New York hip hop pioneers Run DMC who take the celebrity prize for loving their (unlaced) Adidas trainers the most. Why? They sang about them in their 1986 hit My Adidas, which reached no.5 in Billboard’s R&B/ Hip-Hop chart. Celebrities wearing cool trainers might not be much of a surprise. What’s more interesting is Adidas’ position on sustainability and how its products are made. Through a partnership with environmental organisation Parley for the Oceans, Adidas now uses plastic collected from the sea in some of its footwear, clothing and accessories ranges. In 2022, close to 27 million shoes were made from the stuff, with Adidas also announcing that it will only use recycled polyester across the board from 2024. The idea of creatively recycling and reusing – rather than making everything brand new – should be copied by the IT industry. Take end user computing (EUC). It has become a major contributor to environmental pollution and climate change, directly and indirectly causing around 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Half of this is due to the yearly manufacture of 460 million devices and associated energy A step in the right direction Simon Townsend Run DMC (source: Shutterstock)
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