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We’re clear-cutting forests at a breathtaking rate, largely so we can hold that fourth
quarter report in our hands. This chapter shows how you can transition your office
into a paperless environment.
• Chapter 7: Recycling We’re not talking about sorting your different types of glass
before pickup. In this chapter, we discuss how you can responsibly get rid of old
computers and toner cartridges. It’s a huge problem in China and Africa, and by
making some extra efforts, you can ensure your computers are disposed of ethically.
We feel that legislation will catch up soon to where many of us are ethically, so
recycling will not only be the right choice, it’ll be the law. You may also consider
repurposing old equipment for your organization or donating it to charity. This
chapter will show you how to do that.
• Chapter 8: Hardware Considerations You have two options when it comes time to
equip for your company’s IT needs. You can do it cheaply, initially, or you can do it
responsibly (and less expensively in the long run). This chapter will show you how
to equip your organization while making as little environmental impact as possible.

Part IV: Case Studies

• Chapter 9: Technology Businesses Think you can’t possibly revamp your IT
department with eco-friendliness in mind? This chapter discusses two companies—
Dell and Hewlett-Packard—that are not only being environmentally responsible,
but are also getting their customers involved.
• Chapter 10: Other Organizations Others are making efforts to be environmentally
responsible, and we talk about them in Chapter 10. First, the University of Wisconsin–
River Falls is going green, and for altruistic reasons. Naturally, the university is saving
money from its efforts, but its impetus for going green stemmed from a desire to be
responsible. The world’s largest retailer—Wal-Mart—is also making huge strides to be
green. It is thought that other retailers will follow Wal-Mart’s example. This chapter
talks about both these organizations and what they’re doing to be green.

Part V: The Greening Process
• Chapter 11: Datacenter Design and Redesign The bulk of your power consumption
will be in your datacenter. There are steps you can take to ensure you use the best
equipment and use the least amount of power. This chapter shows you how to design
your datacenter—whether you’re totally redesigning it or just replacing old equipment.
• Chapter 12: Virtualization A huge trend in green computing is virtualizing your
servers and storage. In other words, it is now possible to put multiple logical servers
onto a handful of physical servers. This obviously saves money in hardware
acquisition, as well as in the power used to run them. The case is the same for storage.
You needn’t spend thousands of dollars on data storage—through the use of
intelligent SANs, you can save money. This chapter shows you how to do both things.
• Chapter 13: Greening Your Information Systems This chapter brings everything
we’ve talked about together. It shows how the changes discussed in preceding
chapters can be applied to your company. We’ll talk about not only swapping over
your hardware, but also the sorts of initiatives you can make in your organization.