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Computer Aid International is recommending the Asus Eee PC as the best low power computing solution for developing countries, ahead of the Intel Classmate, OLPC XO, Inveneo Computing Station and Ncomputing X300.

The shortlist of five devices (whittled down from eight by ZDNet Labs) was field tested at Kenyatta University (Kenya), Jos University (Nigeria) and the National University of Science and Technology (Zimbabwe) in order to establish which was best suited to the demands of developing nations.

The Asus Eee PC was the unanimous choice of all testing teams for its balance of power consumption, performance and portability.

www.computeraid.org/lowpowerpcs

Sealed with a click

Customers with mailings of any size can reduce the cost of producing and sending mail, as well as its carbon footprint, by taking advantage of hybrid mail solutions offered by the likes of ViaPost, Unity and iMail.

These services let you send mail from your PC across the internet to a central processing facility where it is printed according to your specifications (e.g. in colour, two-sided, with a scanned signature etc.), inserted into an envelope and posted for next day delivery – in some cases for less than the cost of a first class stamp. Hybrid mail advocates claim that e-delivery to the processing centre, the use of high volume devices and, in some cases, the automatic routing of mail to the processing centre closest to the delivery address can reduce the carbon footprint of a letter by up to 80%.

www.unityhybridmail.com www.viapost.com www.ukmail.biz/imail

Brother has teamed up with the Cool Earth charity to prevent the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, claimed to account for six billion tonnes of CO 2 emissions each year.

The printer company is sponsoring Cool Earth to safeguard four square kilometres of Peruvian rainforest, containing 44,000 mature trees, 190,000 saplings, six endangered species of mammal, 322 types of plant and more than 11,000 species of insect and worm.

Brother’s sponsorship will help Cool Earth protect an irreplaceable eco-system and enable the local Ashininka tribe to live sustainably from the land.

www.coolearth.org/brother

Deforestation is everybody’s business

The Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) Project is aiming to make the notion of forest footprints as familiar as carbon footprints – and to make investors more aware of the financial risks that agricultural commodities from deforested land pose to their investment portfolios.

The FFD is calling on leading businesses to disclose their ‘forest footprint’ – the direct and indirect impact that an organisation has on the world’s forests through the use of unsustainable agricultural commodities such as beef, soy, palm oil, timber and biofuels. Speaking at June’s official launch of the Forest Footprint Disclosure Project, Andrew Mitchell, chair of the FFD Project steering committee, said: “Deforestation is a global emergency, the importance of which the business world needs to wake up to….Calls are being heard from world leaders, major businesses and influential NGOs to halt deforestation now and this is going to have a material impact on the way business can act in the future.” He added: “The launch of the Forest Footprint Disclosure Project creates a simple starting point for businesses to assess their impact on the world’s forests, which could be reflected in their future value, and for investors to pick potential winners and losers.”

One of FFD’s first acts has been to send a questionnaire to 200 leading businesses asking them to disclose how and where deforestation can be reduced and driven out of their operations. The results will form the basis of a report to be produced in January 2010, in which businesses will be ranked as ‘best in class’; as having identified strategies for managing their risk; or as having declined the request to disclose their forest footprint.

The questionnaire has been endorsed by 16 investors, with collective funds under management of US$2.2 trillion, concerned that unsustainable commodities are causing a valuation risk to their investments.

The Forest Footprint Disclosure Project is the brainchild of the Global Canopy Programme. Its steering committee includes representatives from the Carbon Disclosure Project, Fauna & Flora International, The FTSE Company, The Prince’s Rainforests Project, Strategic Environmental Consulting, UNEP Finance Initiative and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

www.forestdisclosure.com

Eee PC best for developing world

IT recycling a step too far for UK consumers

UK consumers have the lowest technology recycling rate in Europe, according to a Dell sponsored survey of 5,000 consumers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, but are among the best at recycling paper, plastics and glass.

Research Now found that only one in two consumers in the UK recycles old electronics, compared to four out of five in Germany, and that UK consumers have the lowest awareness of theWEEE Directive and producer recycling initiatives.

In response to these findings, Dell is urging government bodies to do more to publicise the free recycling initiatives available in the UK and advising consumers to find out more by looking for recycling information on manufacturers’ websites, calling their local council or visiting recycling websites such as www.regeneration.org.

Brother acts to preserve rainforest