In essence, Green IT is about efficient use of resources. The less waste, the less energy consumption. Reducing an old, energy inefficient server to a newer model can save significant costs in maintenance, floor space, and energy consumption. Last year's spike in energy prices can recur, and it is an example of how efficiency is good: for the environment, budgets, and in the end, profitability.

Leaving aside the "Green IT" buzzword, I would expect a survey to show that the economy has shortened the window on which projects are allowed to go forward. If a project pays back immediately, it will always go forward. In tight budget times, the "time to cost recovery" shortens.

Benjamin Franklin's comment that "a penny saved is a penny earned" may be centuries old, but even with inflation, it is still absolutely accurate.

I think the worlds obsession with word Green, is a bit much at this point. From an IT perspective, what is now called green, is nothing more than smart business practice. If you can recoup real estate by creating a smaller footprint for your data center, obviously, there are economic advantages. If you can do more with less, you are more efficient than you once were. If we analyze the solutions around Green IT, they really are not about the environment as much as they are a way of promoting newer and better technology. Virtualization allows us to distribute more powerful applications to a thin client. Storage reduction is smart business, cloud computing is virtualization to the next level. Increased temperatures in the data center is a result of improved technology. We have not promoted anything as a fix to the environment, rather as a selling point to our respective customers, whether internal or external, using buzz words to make the sale. My version of Green IT, especially in this economy, is saving green. Decommissioning of hardware that has out lasted it's useful life and when replacing it, consider the true requirements of the applications running on it to determine their viability on a more cost effective platform. Let's review applications and their value to the organization, do we still need them, and if not let's eliminate them. The green solution providers don't want to hear some of this, because it defeats the agenda of selling IT on Green technology. Whether I buy my soda in a glass bottle, a plastic bottle, or a tin can, I am buying soda. Going green isn't about whether I recycle the shipping container, but whether I need to buy the soda in the first place. All the products in the world aren't going to change my dependancy on the beverage, and frankly if I love the beverage, I am going to buy it no matter how you package it. The trick is in cultural change. Change the dependancies, and you naturally become a leaner, greener machine, and if ever there was a time to do it, this economy is certainly it.

I think that the creative marketing tactics that some vendors have used has slowed down Green initiatives because IT people are leery of what they're getting. And as Robert mentioned, budgets have been cut, so projects that can wait are being put on the back burner. If an initiative is truly something that helps save the environment and some money, things should move forward when the economy starts progressing.

A COUPLE OF BIG FACTORS some find convenient to ignore are some of the uglier aspects of IT and why it's more than "just better business".

IT's carbon footprint is rapidly outstripping that of the airline industry and the demand for power from IT consumption is driving the demand for more power plants which themselves create more carbon...

and

The fact that the EPA can only account for 20% of ewaste. Our perpetual churn is translating into a black market for the illegal disposal of toxic waste. Check out 60 minutes tonight, Sunday, August 30 th...

60 Minutes will re-broadcast “The Wasteland,” the story featuring BAN about the smuggling of electronic waste from the United States to China. BAN assisted CBS in research for the program including tracking the container from Executive Recycling from Colorado to China. In the U.S., 60 Minutes is broadcast Sunday at 7 pm ET/PT and 6 pm CT/MT on CBS television; it also airs in over 100 other countries and territories. And there’s a version of the story available on the web at: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4586903n

Since the story was first broadcast in November of last year the following of note has taken place:

-- The Wasteland has won a George Polk Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, a Gerald R. Loeb Award, a Sigma Delta Chi Award and an Investigative Reporters & Editors Award. It is currently nominated for two Emmys.

-- PBS Frontline released an similar but longer TV investigation on US e-Waste dumping in Ghana, India and China also featuring BAN.

-- Federal officials raided the premises of Executive Recycling and currently enforcement proceedings (CRT Rule) are underway by EPA.

-- Federal officials have similarly raided Supreme Recycling (SAMR) of Lakewood, New Jersey and fined the company $500,000 for unsafe handling of waste, and $200,000 for illegal exportation of CRTs.

-- Following a BAN investigation into e-Waste collection events in Pittsburgh conducted by EarthECycle, where e-waste was tracked to Hong Kong and South Africa, EPA is currently undertaking enforcement actions against EarthECycle.

-- Dell Computers has announced that they will not export any electronic equipment to developing countries unless it is fully functional.

-- Legislation banning exports of hazardous waste is seriously being considered in Congress.

-- 10 new recyclers have qualified as e-Stewards.

-- BAN has completed its e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment, which is the Standard fo the full ANAB Accredited e-Stewards Certification, and completed the first auditor training as well. This Certification is the Gold Standard for recycler and will provide the public assurances against illegal exportation of electronic waste. First Certifications will be issued early in 2010. See e-Stewards.org.