Most people have heard the popular saying “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. It basically serves as an environmental slogan for all the people in the world who are attempting to “go green”. Despite the growing awareness around green practices and environmental impacts, the unfortunate truth is that the majority of individuals and many businesses have a tendency to skip the first two and jump right to the recycling portion. The reason they do so is often because it’s the part that is most visible and easy to measure. But is this the most responsible and sensible way to consider the environmental impact of your electronics? Actually, it isn’t. The 3 Rs are listed in order of importance and environmental impact – try to reduce first, reuse where possible, and only then recycle.

Reduce

If you think about sustainability as the practice of conserving resources, it’s obvious that the most effective way to do so is simply to “Reduce”. Make less, use less, and be more responsible and mindful of what you do use. This is certainly the most effective method, but we also recognize that it’s not always the most practical option with IT assets.

There are examples, however. Some companies are moving to centralized, managed printing so that they have fewer printers in each building and can make sure utilization is high, or deciding that a particular worker should have either a laptop or a PC – but not both. For most businesses, making sure workers have up-to-date technology to run applications and do their job efficiently is the priority, so “Reduce” is often a difficult goal.

Reuse

Reuse, on the other hand, is something businesses can more easily achieve. When the time does come to dispose of your current assets, the best choice is to reuse. Reusing is important because it means that there are no new materials required, nor is any new energy expended and waste/emissions created in the manufacturing of a new product. Sometimes assets can be redeployed within your organization or repurposed for resale or donation after secure data destruction and proper testing of the equipment. The energy required to construct the average PC is actually more than that PC will ever use during its lifetime. Therefore, by ensuring that the asset will be used for a second generation, you can help reduce some of its overall environmental impact as well as help to recover some of the lifetime cost of said asset.

Recycle

If reusing or redeploying an asset is not an option, then it must be recycled properly. The recycling of electronics includes the handling and disposition of some hazardous wastes, so you won’t want to just send it off to anyone. An e-Stewards certified ITAD vendor can help you manage the recycling of your assets safely and in full compliance with all local, national and international regulations and best practices.

To learn more about environmental risk, compliance, and the value of e-Stewards certification, download our free white paper: Guide to Environmental Compliance in IT Asset Disposition.