Little Green Genie software monitors the time your computer is turned on and slowly deducts credit based on combining the manufacture's data regarding power usage and the country in which you live. The credit will be deducted differently based on where you live because different countries have different types of energy. In short, some countries are cleaner than others therefor the carbon emissions created through the use of your computer differs depending on where you live. Little Green Genie uses data collected from www.carma.org. CARMA is produced and financed by the Confronting Climate Change Initiative at the Center for Global Development, an independent and non-partisan think tank located in Washington, DC.
All other calculations are based on best practice studies from around the world. The emission assumptions are based on accepted figures from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol the International Panel on Climate Change, Defra (Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, UK), and the Australian Greenhouse Office.
Can I download Little Green Genie for both PC and MAC.
Yes, Little Green Genie software works on both PC and MAC.
If I decide to offset the manufacture of my computer on what basis does the software calculate the amount of emissions that were created? What parts of the process are inculded in that calculation?
This is a great question and one that deserves a detailed answer. We will go into some detail here because we know that our most vocal supporters or critics will base their view of us on issues such as this. We also know that when you publicly state that you have offset your computer’s emissions (which we hope you will do by adding our Zero Carbon email signature to your outbound emails) you need to be secure in the knowledge that there is some underlying substance to your actions.
We based much of our research and programming on numbers found through a non-profit foundation out of Norway called GRID-Arendal. GRID-Arendal is a collaborating centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Established in 1989 by the Government of Norway as a Norwegian Foundation, their mission is to communicate environmental information to policy-makers and facilitate environmental decision-making for change.
On their site they have a detailed diagram that shows the emissions created throughout the entire life-cycle of a computer.
We liked their numbers because they take into account the emissions from; primary materials extraction, primary materials processing, component manufacturing, assembly, packaging, distribution. They also cover the entire composition of a computer including: Silica, Plastics, Iron, Aluminium, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Nickel, Tin, Mercury, Silver, Cobalt, Gold, Selenium, Manganese, Arsenic and Cadmium.
Data in the area of emissions related to the manufacture of computers is surprisingly very difficult to find. Dell is probably the industry leader in regard to their sustainability efforts with a relatively long history of producing detailed studies and then policies designed to reduce or even totally offset the emissions created through their primary business of making computers. If you are really keen on digging into it, you can jump over to this section of their site and download their CSR reports for the last few years.
In 2007 Dell announced their goal of becoming ‘carbon neutral’ by 2008 as part of their overall aim of becoming “the greenest technology company in the world”. Despite their strong leadership in the area, even Dell came under heavy fire from some sectors of the green community because Dell did not count the total emissions of a computer, only the emissions related to their part of the process. For example, they buy chips to run their machines but they did not include the emissions from the manufacture of those chips because they are not part of Dell’s process. This is just one of dozens of examples of where they were criticized, perhaps unfairly. A very insightful post can be found here that really shows the complexity of trying to do the right thing.
It is important to keep in mind that at the end of the day, even if the numbers we based our programming on (which are numbers published by an official United Nations partner) are slightly out, the financial ramifications on a per user basis in respect to the one time offset cost is minimal. Buying high quality offsets through our software to offset your manufacture costs about USD $12 depending on currency fluctuations and the market price. Even a 20% error either way for this one-time offset would only be about USD $2.40.
What am I actually buying, and who gets the money?
Burning of fossil fuels is a major source of industrial Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, especially for power, cement, steel, textile, fertilizer and many other industries which rely on fossil fuels (coal, electricity derived from coal, natural gas and oil). The major greenhouse gases emitted by these industries are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), etc, all of which increase the atmosphere's ability to trap infrared energy and thus affect the climate.
As a computer user there's two ways you contribute to carbon emissions. The first is through the manufacture of your actual machine. To make the average desktop computer 1727 KW of energy, 20 KG of chemicals and 1035 liters of water were used.
The second way you contribute to carbon emissions is through the energy you use to operate the machine. From country to country the amount of GHG emissions created through the power you consume to run your computer (or any other device) varies greatly depending on that particular country's use of coal, gas, hydro or nuclear energy. In Australia for example, 1 KW hour of electricty creates 1.08 KG of GHG while in the US it creates 0.7 KGs and in Europe it creates 0.5 KGs. Little Green Genie software will automatically adjust your draw down rate dependning on which country you register it in.
By becoming a Little Green Genie customer and buying carbon credit through our software, you are basically saying - "Hey, I can't do anything about the emissions created to manufacture my computer and I can't do anything about the emissions that will be created by the power I consumer to run the machine, but I can offer to pay someone to find a way to stop carbon emissions elsewhere".
Your money, together with all the other Little Green Genie users worldwide goes to buying carbon credits from operators of independently audited renewable energy projects that are reducing Green House Gas emissions. In other words, we are creating a group of environmentally conscious computer users who are paying to create cleaner solutions for the future. In theory, if we invest enough money we could find cleaner ways to make computers and create cleaner energy sources to run them. It would be great if Little Green genie went out of business on this basis!
That's great but how do I know these projects are real and doing any good at all?
Little Green Genie buy their carbon credits through Climate Friendly. As supplier to Little Green Genie, Climate Friendly’s project principles are to fund projects that:
A detailed guide to how Climate Friendly selects projects for the Little Green Genie can be found here.
Little Green Genie does not buy credits that have been earned through bio-sequestration projects (trees) not because we are not tree lovers but because there are a number of questions still hanging over that type of credit.
Will Little Green Genie really make any difference to the world? It's only computers after all.
The reason we chose to focus solely on the computer niche is because they are the primary means of communication in today's world. Although it only cost's a few dollars per year to be a zero carbon computer user, if every user adds the email signature letting their friends, family and business associates know that they (or their business) has offset their computer's carbon emissions, it starts the thinking process about the effects of CO2 on our planet. Global Warming is no longer a debate, its a global challenge. We are hoping that some of the trillions of emails flying around the world everyday start bring that awareness into the global consciousness.
What if I am already buying "Green Power"?
In some countries you can actually buy "Green Power" which is usually 10%-20% less damaging to our environment in regard to the carbon emissions created to deliver it. At this stage there is no provision within the software to adjust the draw down rate to accomodate this however we are working on having this feature added for version 2. For now you will just be investing 'slightly' more annually than you need. Remember, we are talking about USD$6 per year here so the difference is cents!
What if I have already offset my computer's manufacturing emissions at the point-of-sale?
It is great to see that some manufacturers are actually offering consumers the option to offset their manufacturing emissions at the point-of-sale, usually for a few dollars extra. If that's the case and you did offset when you purchased the machine, that's fine. It is an optional step in the setup process which you can simply skip.
What if I have a businesses and I want to offset several computers through the same account?
That's easy too! The first thing you do is setup a Little Green Genie account and then you download the software to each machine you want to offset. You can offset and monitor as many machines as you like through a single account.
What's the best way for me to spread the word about Little Green Genie?
Once you have signed up make sure you install your Little Green Genie email signature. Most people send lots of email so it's a great way to spread the word and show your support for the environment. You an also; join our Facebook page , follow us on Twitter , or subscribe to the official Little Green Genie blog.
I can't see the Sign Up screen - it's just a big blank page.
Our DAP technology uses the Adobe Flash engine. You will need flash installed and cookies enabled. Go to www.adobe.com and grab the player now!
I signed up but nothing happened? What went wrong?
Perhaps the email address you supplied was typed incorrectly or maybe your SPAM filters trapped our email. Check your SPAM/TRASH folders for an email from Little Green Genie, and if it's not there, then go to the sign up page again, and if you type in the same email address, you should be prompted to have the confirmation email sent again. If nothing is said at sign up when you enter your email, then just complete the form again and re-submit.
