How to be a green computer user

Posted on by Xpress Contributor

By Mountain Area Information Network

Increasingly, people hope to eat and shop consciously by being aware of the origins and production of the goods they buy and use. But many people don’t know that we can do the same thing when we use our computers.

Conscious computing is an effort to bring that same awareness to the digital world. At Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN), we’re all about conscious computing. We buy our bits from ERC, a nonprofit fiber network right here in town, and we provide service from our headquarters downtown on Wall Street.

Recycling is part of conscious computing as well. Goodwill can provide you with refurbished computers at a fraction of the cost of new ones, and, for many applications, they’re perfectly useful. The same goes for when your computers have outlived their use to you — be sure you send them back to Goodwill or recycle the old parts.

Software is another place where we can be conscious in our computing. MAIN promotes the use of Linux, because it’s free and community supported. Other open-source software, such as OpenOffice and Audacity, are as powerful as their expensive brand-name counterparts and are available for free downloading.

Local computer vendors, Internet service providers and web hosting firms mean quick and personal service. They also mean your dollars stay in the community you love. Be conscious when you compute – and buy local!

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