Trevor Treharne: Being Green, who really cares about IT?

Being green-conscious seems to be something most A-brand vendors seem keen to support, or at least publicise the concept of being green. However the IT industry big boys didn’t get where they are today by concentrating on and investing in a do-good image. So how important is being green in the IT industry and does the end-user really sit up and notice if you make the effort?

Well according to a survey covered online (www.techpartner.news/?91483), pretty damn important. A survey released online by Ipsos Insight showed that green factors are now “emerging as a critical-mass consumer consideration”.

More than half the consumers (57 percent) who were asked to rate the importance of six green practices that influence their tech purchase references said the Energy Star label is influential. Forty-eight percent said that manufacturer commitment to environmentally friendly disposal practices influenced their purchasing preferences, while 45 percent said that meeting EPA standards for product disposal influenced their preference.

Respondents also ranked a long list of brands for environmentally friendly business practices. Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Apple ranked in the first tier. Kodak, Sony, Gateway, IBM, and Motorola ranked in the second tier.

“As these green issues emerge as more mainstream considerations, what’s striking is their overall consistency regardless of age, gender, income, or where people live,” said Todd Board, senior vice-president of Ipsos, Insight’s Media, Entertainment, and Technology practice.

“To some extent, the rank order of these brand mentions seems to mirror their prominence in the tech landscape, if you factor in Apple’s increased exposure in recent years,” said Board. “At the same time, it’s something of a ‘halo index,’ in that there’s precious little information available to consumers.”

Keeping Australia clean and tidy, details of a new computer disposal initiative in Victoria have also been released (www.techpartner.news/? 91542). The program is being launched by Sustainability Victoria in partnership with AIIA and other computer and printer manufacturers such as Apple, Canon, Dell, Epson, Fujitsu, Fuji-Xerox, HP, IBM, Lenovo, and Lexmark.

If the past couple of week’s online stories are anything to go by, being green will remain a key focus for the IT industry, and it seems consumers are sitting up and taking notice of who is making the effort to be green.