I just read an article about new software, made available for free through Microsoft, the nonprofit Climate Savers Computing Initiative, and Verdiem, a startup.  It sounds great, especially when you look at some of the statistics they provide.

This type of application is extremely valuable to someone trying to improve his envirohuman impact, because the product is free, it saves you electricity (meaning less carbon spewed into our atmosphere), and it saves you money in the process.  Did you know that you could even extend the life of your PC?

The program is called Edison and installation is simple by downloading the program at: Verdiem, Microsoft, or Climate Savers.

If a user sets the software to put the machine in a “deep sleep” mode after a few minutes of not hitting a keystroke, the hard drive powers down and the PC sips just 5 percent of its normal energy consumption.

Even though most would probably give themselves ten or fifteen minutes, this program will let you decide how long, and putting your computer into a deep sleep more quickly or less so is up to you (yes, sleep modes are already available and I’m not sure if standard sleep mode takes the PC down to the same 5 percent).

Also,

Half of all electricity consumed by a standard PC is wasted, according to environmental and industry studies.

And because the software is being provided for free, any of the power savings are, well, free as well.  The article estimates that users could save $20 to $95 per PC per year, and any money in your pocket in a down economy is of course welcome.

Especially for this case, it’s just another simple way that you can improve your envirohuman impact and actually save some money at the same time.  Doing well by doing good, nothing to argue with there!

Read the entire story here.

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