16.09.10
Going green
Acting in a more environmental way will be key to the future sustainability of the NHS and while technology can hold the key to reducing carbon emissions and increasing efficiency, the way in which that technology is used will also be crucial. With this in mind, National Health Executive spoke to environmental IT expert,Oliver Skertchlyto find out how IT professionals in the NHS can get the most out of their hardware whilst reducing their carbon footprint
It is widely recognised that using ICT to reduce the size of an organisation’s carbon footprint is both good for its bank balance and the environment.
NHS organisations can draw on best practice from other organisations to ensure that they are maximising the savings which are available to them by simply changing a few key behaviours.
“It’s pretty obvious that green use of ICT is something which my organisation takes very seriously,” says Oliver Skertchly, IT support and infrastructure team leader at Friends of the Earth.
“Our main focus is on protecting the environment but as a charity we also share the need to be extremely careful with our spending with the NHS, especially at the moment given the current economic situation. Luckily, there are many things which you can do both as an organisation and in terms of your procurement of your IT solutions.
“As far as sourcing IT solutions is concerned, one should begin by sourcing a responsible manufacturer which has itself a good environmental policy. Now this can be a rather tricky process because, in environmental terms, the IT trade is an inherently dirty business.
“Manufacturers are falling over themselves to draw attention to their green credentials. Whether or not they are valid is another matter. However, a good example of this is that all of our computers at Friends of the Earth are Energy Star compliant which is an American government backed standard for energy efficiency.
“The amount of time which your organisation plans to use equipment for will also have a big impact. For example, if an organisation has a policy to replace its computers every few years, then it should try to wait as long as possible to do this, say every four years instead of three. This simple act can make a massive difference to the environmental impact which your organisation is having.
“In terms of actual behaviour around ICT use, at Friends of the Earth there is a policy of turning off our monitors whenever we are away from our desks and always making sure that computers are fully switched off at the end of the day which, along with other equipment such as printers, can make a big difference when you consider that we are operating a few hundred computers.
“Another good practice to get into is to not print out emails unless you really have to. It is amazing how many organisations still print out emails. For other kinds of printing, people should try to print on both sides of the paper wherever possible.
“Finally, one area where you can make the biggest impact is in how you dispose of your computers after they have reached the end of their service life.
“A good example is that we use a company which promises to reuse around 95 per cent of everything which we give them. This can have an enormous impact, given the amount of toxic materials which go into making ICT hardware, and reusing the equipment lessens the risk of those materials contaminating the environment when the equipment is no longer being used. If these computers can be reused rather than going into landfill, then the positive impacts of that are huge.”
Because of its size, the NHS has the potential to put pressure on its suppliers to act in more environmentally friendly way.
“We will always ask suppliers about their green credentials and then only choose suppliers who satisfy our criteria. Given that the NHS is a huge organisation, it could use that size to positively influence manufacturers to take sustainability more seriously.”
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