A big buzzword in any industry to do with electronics right now is “green”. Green, green, green. What does it mean, old bean? [/end corny rhyming here.]

It means anything that is less destructive to Mother Earth.

However there’s two parts to this. The first part is that the whatever-it-is must be less destructive now and less destructive as waste – which it will inevitably become.

Let’s take a look at how green a laptop can be.

Power Consumption

Green? Somewhat.

Whenever you’re running on batteries you’re not using power from the wall. This means you’re not needlessly using electricity from your utilities company and therefore is better for the environment.

When you are plugged in to the wall, a laptop’s power brick uses significantly less power compared to a standard PC’s power supply.

Most people would agree the bare minimum for an adequately powered computer requires a 300-watt PSU.

A laptop power brick ordinarily requires 65 watts or less. So even if you’re plugged in the wall you’re not using nearly as much juice as a standard PSU does.

The reason I label this as a “somewhat” green is because “gamer” laptops aren’t green. Some even require 120-watt power bricks just to power up and the battery life isn’t as good as standard laptops. Granted, it’s still far below 300 watt consumption, but if the goal is to be friendly to the environment, a 120-watt brick is wasteful.

If you want a better idea of what the watts means compared to other common household items, see this table.

Processor

Green? Yes.

Mobile processors are designed from the start to consume less power to extend battery life as much as possible. In addition they’re usually smaller which means less waste in the future.

Chassis/Case

Green? No.

If you own a laptop, there a high probability the chassis is plastic, and that plastic was made out of petroleum.

With standard PC cases you have the choice of the material its made out of, including steel which can be recycled later.

With laptops the most valuable thing in it to recyclers are its precious metals – but this obviously doesn’t include the chassis.

There are some rare instances where laptops have a chassis made from something other than plastic, but they are few and far between. One rare example is the current-generation Macbook which has an aluminum unibody.

Lifespan

Green? No.

This is the biggest knock against laptops in the green department. Full-sized PCs do last longer than laptops do (mostly because they’re not moved around). So even though you’ve got a much smaller footprint in power consumption and later e-waste, this may be all for naught if the thing dies too early.

Said in simpler terms: If you have to throw out 2 laptops in 5 years compared to only 1 standard PC in five years, the e-waste between each gets a little too close to a wash at that point. You’re still throwing out less overall bulk with the laptops but are needlessly using twice as much precious metals.

And yes I know there will be those that will say “My laptop has last x years just as long as a standard PC!” Good for you. But that still doesn’t eradicate the fact laptops bust quicker than full-sized computer boxes do.

End result – Is it green?

At the present state of the way most laptops are made, the short answer is yes. The long answer is “short term gain, long term loss”.

Short-term gain: Less power is used even when plugged in. Lower-powered CPUs are used. Laptop has far less of a footprint overall compared to a standard PC box.

Long-term loss: Plastic, plastic and more plastic. When the unit gets thrown out, the plastic and all its badness will go with it. And more laptops get thrown out than PCs do.

Hope for the future?

While most laptops still use too much plastic, they are being built thinner, lighter and more durable. The processors are also running cooler and faster at the same time. This makes the long-term result for Mother Earth not so bleak.

More information can be read here on e-waste and what it means to the Earth.

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