Are Computers Green?
Mark Weller
Considering the contempt in which many environmentalist groups hold private sector growth and technology, it is interesting that on the subject of computers, ecological forces in our country are strangely silent. Despite the growing realization that computer technologies such as the Internet are bound to play an increasingly important role in our lives, it is difficult to determine what the environmentalist view really is.
Why is this? In the early years of the contemporary environmental movement, the "suits" at companies such as IBM were once among those most scorned by the "greenies." For these early radicals, computers represented the very epitome of heartless capitalism—the worship of the machine at the expense of the worker. Along with overpopulation and pollution, computerization was considered one of the key threats to nature; the big fear was that it would result in the rapid dehumanization of society.
Today, however, environmentalists have come to embrace technology. The World Wide Web is populated by myriad environmental groups, and their sites are some of the most complex and technologically advanced of all. Native communities, often counted among the ranks of the environmentally concerned, are using computers for many functions, not the least of which is the preservation of language and culture. Even the Rainbow Warrior II and other Greenpeace vessels sport an exotic array of high-tech equipment. So what changed?
Environmentalists offer a couple of responses. One of them is that the environmental movement must be pragmatic and use available media and technologies to advance its ideals, even though the actual thought of promoting a technology through its use may be somewhat unpleasant. Another is that computer technology is not as "bad" as some other technologies because the environmental problems caused by computers are slight. So computers are not as much a part of the problem as other technologies; some environmentalists will admit that computers may be part of the solution.
Indeed, computers are a large part of the solution to environmental problems. For instance, by using the Internet to send documents, one reduces the need to send files by other means such as mail, courier, or fax. This results in a corresponding reduction of related activities, including the use of delivery vans, fax paper, stamps, sorting machines and airplanes. Telecommuting reduces the requirement for people to work in offices, which has a corresponding effect on space usage and motor-vehicle traffic. And ideally, as the office and the library move more and more to electronic documentation, the demand for and use of paper products will be reduced.
But computers provide another solution to environmental problems. As technology has advanced, new and better ways have been found to do things. Improvements in computer technology have allowed for better use of existing resources, and for the emergence of alternatives to existing processes. This is what is meant by the classic notion of progress—that by pursuing growth and technological advancement, we can improve the world in which we live.
Computers are a good example of the market providing a better solution than could have been arrived at through government intervention. Perhaps it is the tacit understanding of this that has resulted in environmentalists holding their punches (and their noses) when it comes to the computer industry.
This article originally appeared in the April 1997 issue of Fraser Forum.
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