AIIA - Australian Information Industry Association - Media release: Unplug in support of Earth Hour

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Media release 28 March 2008

Unplug your IT equipment in support of Earth Hour

The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) today announced its support for the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour campaign and emphasised the importance of switching off technology equipment to conserve electricity.

Earth Hour 2008 begins at 8pm on Saturday 29 March, 2008. It was established in 2007 in Sydney by promoting the positive environmental impact of turning lights out for one hour in homes and businesses.

Since then support for Earth Hour has grown exponentially, and this year more than 30 million people worldwide will be switching off lights and appliances in support of the event.

‘Unlike switching off a light, however, most IT equipment must be unplugged or switched off at the wall before it stops consuming electricity,’ said AIIA CEO Sheryle Moon.

‘AIIA encourages all technology users to switch off at the wall in support of Earth Hour this year. It is estimated that unused devices in standby mode account for up to 40 percent of the average energy bill,’ Ms Moon continued.

For example, even a PC that has been shut down continues to draw power – it must be switched off at the wall before it stops using electricity. Additionally, many monitors must be powered off independently of the computer before they can truly be considered ‘off.’

In general, all computer peripherals will use power when they remain plugged into a live outlet. The main offenders are modems, printers and photocopiers. However anything that requires power to operate usually counts, such as laptop docking stations.

‘While technologically driven solutions will be a major enabler of environmental management solutions in the future, technology itself can be a large consumer of electricity and needs to be carefully managed today,’ Ms Moon said.

‘Earth Hour is a great opportunity for individuals and businesses to think about the local management practices they can adopt to address climate change issues. Up to 40 per cent of the solutions to global warming and climate change will be delivered by improved environmental practices at the local level.’

AIIA is a strong advocate of a green credentials for the ICT industry. In conjunction with Multimedia Victoria, the association runs Byteback, a successful partnership between government and industry that offers responsible electronic waste recycling free of charge to small business and the community.

AIIA is also compiling a green scorecard, which will give a state by state comparison of government green initiatives, for release mid year.

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For more information, contact:

Sheryle Moon
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Information Industry Association
Mobile: 0419 708 675
s.moon@aiia.com.au

Professor Joe Chicharo

Dean, Faculty of Informatics

Professor of Telecommunications Engineering

University of Wollongong

Telephone: 02 4221 3843

chicharo@uow.edu.au