| Action |
Description |
Difficulty |
| Disable screen savers |
Stop the use of screen savers, which consume additional computer processing power and energy. Turn power management functions on. |
Low |
| Auto shut-down computers |
Schedule computers to shut down when not required and automatically start up for maintenance purposes. Educate staff to turn off equipment that cannot be turned off automatically. |
Low |
| Adjust procurement guidelines |
Mandate the purchase of Energy Star compliant computers and monitors. Phase out CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors at refresh time. Require providers to demonstrate their environmental actions, including lifecycle management, and require full identification of recycling and recovery operations to end-point disposal. |
Low |
| Switch off old equipment |
Turn off unused equipment, which in many cases (especially servers) is left on ‘just in case’. |
Low |
| Virtualise servers |
Consolidate many physical servers into fewer virtual servers, running on efficient hardware. |
Medium |
| Virtualise desktops |
Use low-power, thin-client solutions to reduce the energy consumption per end user. |
High |
| Print less |
Educate staff and students to reduce the amount of printing. Accept electronic copies of documents. Provide high-quality monitors for assessment or proofreading on screen. |
Low |
| Print duplex and/or multi-page by default |
Set all printers to duplex (double-sided printing) by default. Most modern printers can print multiple pages to a sheet. Use this format for proofreading and discussion documents. |
Low |
| Charge-back for printing |
Pass the cost of printing back to the user or cost centre, reducing printing activity. |
High |
| Consolidate printing |
Replace multiple small stand-alone devices with fewer, larger, networked units. |
Low |
Check the amount of energy required to run different types of computers; this can vary from 20 watts to 200 watts. In a school with many computers, this can be a significant and growing cost.
A desktop computer left on continuously for one year consumes around 870 kilowatt hours of electricity—enough to release 340 kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and costing around $130 for electricity ('
Switching it Off', Choice Magazine no. 69, Computers Off Australia).
Information on energy efficiency in school buildings can be found at the website of the 
Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Green ICT procurement includes consideration of such factors as:
- the materials used and discarded during manufacturing
- power usage and environmental impacts from use
- disposal of devices at the end of their lifecycles.
Jurisdictions include green procurement on their lists of criteria for establishing procurement arrangements. For more information on the performance of individual companies in green manufacturing, see EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool), an independent service with no affiliation to government.
| Action |
Description |
Difficulty |
| Safe end-of-lease disposal |
If leasing computer equipment, check whether the leasing company has a policy for careful disposal of end-of-lease items. |
Low |
| Energy Star function on ICT equipment |
Make sure all the school’s desktops, laptops, printers and other electronic equipment have the Energy Star function, and that it is enabled. |
Low |
| Choose computers with low energy consumption |
Check the amount of energy it takes to run different types and brands of computers that are appropriate for the task. Select those with the lowest energy consumption. |
Low |
| Choose printers that meet high standards |
Consider printers that offer high environmental performance (such as those that print using vegetable-based inks, or those that use less solvent). |
Low |
Reuse includes using a device or consumable for longer and putting it to another use. Schools should:
- use consumables to their fullest (for example, double-sided printing)
- use recycled paper
- before disposing of equipment, consider ways it can be reused or have its life extended
- extend the usable life of computers—for example, by adding more memory, installing new hard disks or using them as thin clients.
When considering the disposal of ICT equipment, schools should:
- try to find ways to reuse it
- follow disposal directions from the jurisdiction or sector
- choose a responsible method of disposing of components, such as batteries, printers and mobile phones, that contain hazardous materials.
Schools should remove or overwrite all sensitive data and licensed software, prior to ICT equipment being used for another purpose or its disposal.
Disposal exchanges