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By Gemma Simpson, 21 November 2007 16:16

NEWS

Going green is one of the broadest trends to hit business in recent years.

And it's not all down to creating a warm and fuzzy feeling - governments are putting increasing pressure on businesses to bring down carbon emissions and up the environmental ante with both legislation and financial incentives.

Green IT from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more...

A is for Abroad
B is for Blades
C is for Carbon footprint
D is for Data centres
E is for Energy sources
F is for Freecycle
G is for Government
H is for Homeworking
I is for Ice caps
J is for Jobs (Steve)
K is for Kilowatts
L is for Landfill
M is for Mercury
N is for Nanogeneration
O is for Offsetting
P is for Paperless office
Q is for Queen
R is for Recycling
S is for SmartPlanet.com
T is for Travel
U is for Upgrade
V is for Virtualisation
W is for WEEE
X is for Xmas
Y is for You
Z is for Zero emissions

Two such examples are the recently introduced European WEEE directive and the drafted UK Climate Change Bill - which respectively force companies to dispose of waste responsibly and will set individual businesses carbon targets, with those using less than their allocated share able to sell carbon credits to companies struggling to meet their target.

And perhaps more than many other parts of the business, IT has its own part to play in the move to a leaner and greener future. There is a duty on IT to cut back its environmental impact - more recycling of old hardware and using less energy to run new equipment. But at the same time, the IT department can help the rest of the business - through improving opportunities for working remotely for example - to become leaner - and greener.

For more information on the opportunities - and pitfalls - of green IT follow the links in the panel on the right...