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STOP
using a screensaver! |
START
saving energy! |
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SLEEP IS GOOD.
What is the Sleep is Good Pledge Drive, and why is Smith participating?
The Sleep is Good pledge drive (formerly known as the Million Monitor pledge drive)
is our response to the EPA's Million
Monitor challenge to colleges
and universities
across the country.
The EPA is urging everyone to voluntarily reduce
their energy consumption by setting their computer monitors to
a power-saving "sleep mode".
The Smith pledge drive is sponsored by the Smith College Green Team
and supported by ITS. Our
goal is to get as many Smith students as possible between now and November
25, 2008, to
pledge to stop using
a screensaver and start putting
their computers to sleep.
But wait...The Smith
pledge drive is also
a competition. The three houses with the highest percentage of students pledging will each receive a pizza party!
Smith Faculty & Staff: This pledge drive is for students only, but we encourage you to follow the directions below to set your own computer
monitor to sleep mode.
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Is it true that screen savers actually waste energy?
YES! A CRT (cathode ray tube, TV-style) monitor
uses 73
watts when
active (even with a blank screen saver) and a typical LCD (liquid crystal
display) screen uses 40
watts when active. Both
types use only 0-3 watts when asleep.
Setting your monitor to go into sleep mode when you're not using it could save from 100
to 600 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year depending
on your computer usage habits. This equals a monetary
saving of
$8.50 to $51.00 per year per computer (at 8.5 cents per kWh).
But money isn't all you're saving. Even more important, the more computers
set to sleep mode, the greater the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from the power
plants that generate our electricity. And
it doesn't take much to make a real impact:
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Just 19 computers set to sleep mode
is equivalent to planting one acre of trees.
Just 30 computers set to sleep mode
is equivalent
to taking one car
(and all its emissions) off the road.
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If 75% of the Smith student population takes the Sleep Is Good pledge, the equivalent of 28,571 gallons of gas can be saved over a three-year period. At three dollars a gallon, that's a total savings of $86,000 and a decrease of 500,000 pounds of CO2 emissions.
For more information about calculating your carbon footprint and CO2 emissions, visit these websites:
http://www.epa.gov/OMS/climate/420f05004.htm
http://www.greenstudentu.com/carbon_footprint.aspx
http://www.carbonfootprint.com
http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/
Sounds really good, but what's the catch?
 There
isn't any. Putting your monitor to sleep will not close applications
you have running, not interfere with your network settings, and not log
you out of your computer. It will simply turn off your monitor when it's not in use. It's
a great way to help the environment without reducing your computer's performance.
To wake your monitor up, all you have to do is
move your mouse or hit any key on your keyboard. No pain, lots
of gain!
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I'm convinced! How do I put my monitor to sleep?
The instructions below explain how to set your monitor to automatically
go into sleep
mode after a period of inactivity. Whenever your monitor is in sleep mode, simply touching
the mouse or keyboard "wakes
it up" in seconds.
Click on the appropriate link for your operating
system:
Windows 2000/XP/Vista: We recommend using the EZ Wizard program
to quickly enable sleep mode on all versions of Windows (except NT):
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Click here to
download the EZ
Wizard program*:
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When prompted to run or save the file, choose Save and
save the file to your desktop.
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If you see a security warning, click to continue.
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When the download is complete, close the
download window.
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Double-click on the new EZ Wizard icon on
your desktop.
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The program will ask how long you want your system to sit idle before it goes to sleep. For
maximum benefit, we recommend choosing 10 minutes.
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The program will ask if you want to be able to see your screen saver before the monitor goes
to sleep. The choice is yours.
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When you click OK, the program will turn on the Energy Star
features that work with your monitor. That's all there is to
it!
* If you have any trouble downloading or running the
Wizard:
- Right-click anywhere on your desktop and select Properties from
the pop-up menu.
- Click on the Screen Saver tab, then
on the Power button to access Energy Star features.
- From the Turn
off monitor drop-down list, select "after
10 mins" (recommended)
or "after 15 mins."
- Click OK.
Macintosh OS 10.x
- Go
to the dock and click on System Preferences.
- In the System Preferences
window, click
on the Energy Saver icon, then on the Sleep tab.
- Put
a check in the box next to "Separate
timing for display sleep", then move
the slider to 10 minutes.
Note: You may also wish to
put your system unit to sleep after it has been inactive for a period of
time, such as 30 minutes. Put a check in the box next to that option, then
move the slider accordingly.
- Close the Energy
Saver window. That's all there is to it!
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BE sure to SIGN
THE PLEDGE when
you're done!
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What else
can I do to decrease my computer's impact on the environment?
- Turn your computer completely
off whenever you go to class, go to dinner, go to sleep, or do anything
else for an hour or more that doesn't involve your computer. An average
PC will waste 130 watts (the energy required to
ride a bike at 17 mph) if it's not turned off overnight.
- If you are buying a
new computer,
consider a laptop. A typical laptop uses only one-quarter the energy of a desktop system.
- If you are buying a new
monitor,
consider an LCD, also called a flat screen or flat panel display.
LCDs use only one-third the energy of a CRT. They
also generate less heat that CRTs, meaning lower air-conditioning bills in the summer.
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Where can I get more
information about sustainability and clean energy?
Visit the following websites for more information about:
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Did you remember to SIGN THE PLEDGE?
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