business

Reusable tote bag? Check. Prius? Check. Rooftop solar panels? Check.

In a bid to secure your green bragging rights, you have the usual suspects covered, but what about your personal computer?

Consider: A standard PC and monitor left on all the time (which is not uncommon) consumes 1,109 kilowatt-hours a year, according to estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency. By comparison, refrigerators that meet federal energy-use regulations average about 514 kilowatt-hours a year. Surely there are things a user can do to reduce a computer's carbon footprint.

Here are ways to run your PC more efficiently, make ecologically intelligent purchasing decisions and dispose of an old computer properly.

Power corrupts

The first piece of advice is the simplest: Don't leave your computer on all the time. Shutting it down after an 8-hour workday provides 16 hours of savings each day. In addition, your computer should be set to go to sleep after periods of inactivity. Different parts of your system can be set to sleep at different times: Setting your energy-saving preferences to put your hard drive to sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity is a good benchmark; your entire computer (which takes more time to wake up) should be set to go to sleep after 30 minutes.

And ditch your screensaver. Screensavers can use your hard drive to power up, and photo screensavers may require the extra use of a graphics card, which means you'll have the hard drive, graphics card and monitor all in use.

There's also the issue of "phantom" or "vampire" power. Many electronic devices use power even when they are "turned off." For example, most TVs turn on instantly because they are always a little bit on. To combat the vampires, use a device like the Smart Strip power strip, made by Bits Limited, that senses which devices have been turned off and then cuts power to them.

Finally, download a free power-management tool. Those applications will show how much energy you can save by adjusting various settings and will make those adjustments for you in a few clicks.

Google's Energy Saver (desktop.google.com/plugins/i/energysaver.html) will, in addition, show you the collective energy savings of everyone using the product; it also integrates into Google's own Desktop application. Verdiem's Edison software (www.verdiem.com/edison/), released in August, shows users estimated annual savings in terms of money, energy and carbon dioxide emissions.

Out with the old?

If you do decide to buy a new computer, look for the Energy Star label. Energy Star compliance requires that equipment meet guidelines established by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (www.epeat.net) is another grading system that evaluates products according to 51 criteria.

In general, laptops are greener than desktops because they have been designed with power sensitivity in mind. But desktops are easier to upgrade and may last longer. Newer computers tend to be more energy-efficient than older models.

Some manufacturers are removing hazardous or toxic chemicals from their computers. Apple, for example, has said it will eliminate polyvinyl chloride and brominated flame retardants in its products, and arsenic in all glass of flat-panel displays, by the end of the year.

Reduce, reuse, recycle

When it comes to recycling your computer, picking the right recycling company is critical. If done right, recyclers should reuse the parts they can and manage waste responsibly, which means making sure parts don't go to countries with poor ecological track records, such as China, and that items that do get exported (such as circuit boards and leaded glass) go to green-friendly sites in developed nations.

It's hard to be sure if the recycler is not dumping your PC behind your back. "There's no such certification program," said Barbara Kyle of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, which helps promote responsible recycling and green design in the electronics industry. "At least our partner, Basel Action Network, puts the recyclers through initial screenings. Will people know 100 percent? No, but it's the best thing right now." TakeBack's list of recyclers can be found at tinyurl.com/5yrb9k.

Computer manufacturers such as Apple, Hewlett Packard and Sony offer recycling programs, but Dell goes furthest: The company will recycle free, including pickup, any Dell brand product -- no matter when it was bought. Dell will also pick up other product brands free if the consumer purchases a new Dell.