PC Power Consumption
According to Industry estimates booting up requires upto 100W (Watts) when relatively idle, but with the screen on a PC consumes around 50W. in sleep mode a PC will use between 5W and 15W. A PC running flat out using electricity costing 5p per kilowatt hour, would cost an organisation £43 a year (I think electricity prices have gone up since these estimates were made). There are also overheads running the CRT and LCD Screens. LCD screens use less electricity, typically between 30-60W. However, both will use electricity over night if not properly turned off. Whilst the costs for individual machines are relatively low, the potential for cost savings over an entire PC estate is significant.
The best short term advice is to turn off your screensaver and configure the power saving features. This will turn your monitor into "sleep" mode when not in use and power down your hard-disks - thus using less power. Turning your PC off before you go home at night.
Good Printing
The costs, to both the environment and the business, of unnecessary printing are well known, but can be tackled using some relatively easy procedures.Ensuring printers are turned off over night this cuts electricity costs.
Ensuring duplexing (double sided printing) options are turned on can reduce the amount of paper used.
There may also be benefits to switching to laser rather than inkjet printers, by reducing the consumables required.
Xerox's solid-ink technology and Kyocera Mita's separate drum technology offer more environmentally friendly - and cheaper - alternatives to standard laser toner cartridges. Xerox claims that printers that use solid ink can print 30,000 pages before they need attention, compared to 1,200 pages with laser printers. Furthermore for every 100,000 pages printer, solid-ink printers will generate 4.4 pounds of landfill waste, compared to 198.4 pounds for a typical colour laser printer. I think it is fair to say that both Kyoceria Mita and Xerox have the best track record for producing equipment which is environmentally friendlier than the competition. Kyocera Mita's main marketing thrust is on the cost per page and the reduced waste produced by it's printers. There seems to have been a trend in recent years for "disposable" printers, very cheap printers which cost less than a full set of replacement toner/ink neither Kyocera Mita nor Xerox have bought into this trend. These two specific manufacturers seem to build equipment to last.