The problem

Servers, laptops and phones are replaced when new software makes them feel slow, not when they fail. Each replacement carries the carbon of manufacture, and the world generated 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022.

The fix you can use today

• Set performance targets on your oldest supported hardware, not the newest.
• Question refresh cycles: is replacement needed, or just recommended?
• Make efficiency work part of extending hardware life.

The Green Software Foundation suggests keeping hardware in use for longer, because making it has a carbon cost. GreenCode treats the hardware your software needs as a quality measure.

Tools that help

• Blue Angel for software (DE-UZ 215): Germany's ecolabel criteria for resource and energy-efficient software products

How GreenCode helps

GreenCode helps tackle this by finding the code that drives processor, memory and network demand and rewriting it, so the same functions keep running on the hardware already installed. More on this.

Tags

#hardware-lifetime#procurement#devices

Sources

• Increased device lifetimes and reduced e-waste (Global E-waste Monitor 2024)
• What policy makers can do: keep devices in service longer
• Green Software Foundation, Principles of Green Software: embodied carbon and extending hardware lifespan
• The Shift Project, Lean ICT report (2019), levers 1-2: laptops 3 to 5 years (-37%), smartphones 2.5 to 3.5 years (-26%) annual emissions
• W3C, Web Sustainability Guidelines: reuse and refurbish hardware before buying new
• W3C, Web Sustainability Guidelines: extend the lifespan of hosting hardware

All GreenCode Tech Tips