Someone once said “It takes money to make money,” and that is mostly true. Today, we might add, “It takes energy to make money,” with reference to all the wondrous digital electronics we use every day to conduct business and create things. Problem is that it can take quite a lot of energy to run all the computers, peripherals, big screen display and multimedia installations in our homes and offices. And a bunch more to keep all those cell phones, digital cameras, GPS systems, iPods and handheld gaming systems charged and ready to go. So while the cost of energy keeps rising, and more and more people realize that climate changes, pollution and diminishing oil reserves demand a move towards renewable energy sources, we consume more and more with all of our beloved electronics.
Does that mean that the very progress that brought us the wonderful world of digital electronics is also digging us into a deeper and deeper hole of energy dependence and spiraling monetary and environmental costs? It doesn’t have to be that way. Business and the environment do not have to be at odds. There is, in fact, a green electronics movement that seeks to make our...