Green IT: good practices

In the current context of global climate crisis, it is essential to question the environmental footprint of digital technology. The facts are clear: digital technology accounts for nearly 4% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions (1), which is twice as much as the footprint of air transport each year (2). And this figure could double by 2025(3)...

Given the growing environmental impact of IT, it is essential to ensure that our use of digital technology is responsible and that it can be an ally in the ecological transition. This is what we call Green IT.

What is Green IT?

In France, the notion of Green IT was born in the 2000s.

Green IT is the use of all information and communication technologies (ICT) while reducing their ecological, economic and social footprint. Thus, companies wishing to be part of a sustainable development approach must take into account this Green IT component in their tools as well as in their daily practices.

To support these practices, the Green IT association created in 2004 by Frédéric Bordage, coined the term "digital sobriety" in 2008. This term refers to an approach that produces more responsible and environmentally friendly digital services.

Digital sobriety translates into changes. As a result, it will be articulated around three perimeters and several good practices that we will present to you in the following article.

Digital responsibility’s perimeters

Green IT* is organized around 3 perimeters:

Green IT 1.0 consists of adopting an eco-design* approach on the entire IT system (computers, software, printers, servers, etc.). *Eco-design consists in integrating environmental protection from the design of goods or services. Its objective is to reduce the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle: extraction of raw materials, production, distribution, use and end of life (4).

Green IT 1.5 consists of setting up a Information Systems for Sustainable Development (ISSD) to reduce the company's carbon footprint in terms of IT infrastructures.

Green IT 2.0 consists in optimizing the models implemented within the company to reduce the ecological impact. This is called eco-innovation.

Good practices

Green IT within a company is everyone's responsibility. In order to adopt an ecological use of digital tools, we would like to share with you some good practices we’ve set up at Extia.

The management of computer equipment based on the 5Rs:

• Refuse all single-use products and favor waste-free purchases.
• Reduce the consumption of goods by banning the systematic replacement of computer equipment.
• Reuse everything that can be reused, by buying reconditioned equipment and donating to associations when the equipment is no longer suitable for our uses.
• Repair everything that can be repaired
• Recycle everything that can no longer be reused or repaired, by using a company specialized in computer recycling when the equipment is out of use.

Did you know?

*The impact of the production of a 2kg computer represents 200 kg of fossil energy, 600 kg of minerals and 2,000 L of water. "Recycling: The number of devices (computers, smartphones, connected objects, etc.) in the world ADEME. According to, ADEME, It is estimated that 70-90% of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) does not follow the regulated recycling channels." *

Email management:

• clear identification of recipients to limit the number of emails sent
• limit the use of "reply to all" function
• use of document sharing tools instead of attachments
• unsubscribing from newsletters
• low impact email signature

Printing management :

• limiting printing via digitization
• default printing settings: recto/verso and automatic black and white
• printing triggered by a badge or a code

The eco-designed website :

• generation of static pages
• reduction of the use of videos and images
• reduction of the medias’ weight

Our commitments at Extia

"Training Extians and adopting a responsible digital policy internally is only the first step for Extia. Ultimately, we want to support all the players in our ecosystem in their transformation, to build together a more viable and sustainable world." Lucie Quesnel, CSR Manager at Extia

As a signatory of the Green IT Charter, Extia affirms its commitment.

The Green IT Charter commits signatory companies to :

• optimize digital tools to limit their impact and consumption,
• develop accessible, inclusive and sustainable service offerings for all,
• implement ethical and responsible practices,
• promote the emergence of new behaviors and values.

In addition, we aim to train 10% of our employees in Responsible Digital Business by the end of 2023.

In order to follow these commitments and objectives, we have placed Green IT at the forefront of our IS strategy and a particular effort is made to raise awareness and train all employees.

Conclusion

A topic at the heart of current events, the implementation of a Green IT approach within companies makes it possible to limit environmental impacts. From employee awareness to a more global corporate strategy, everyone has a role to play in making IT a source of sustainable and inclusive development.

Are you interested in this topic and want to learn more about it? Follow the news of our Comet' Green IT and do not miss our future events on the subject via our website. If you want to know more about Extia's CSR commitments, please click HERE.

[1] source : https://label-nr.fr/numerique-responsable/ [2] source : https://label-nr.fr/numerique-responsable/ [3] source : https://www.greenit.fr/ [4] source : https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr