[IAEP] Which is better for the environment recycling computers or LTSP?

[Tomeu Vizoso]

On Sun, Jun 7, 2009 at 22:19, Caroline Meeks<caroline at solutiongrove.com> wrote:
> Answer - Our vision of Sugar on a Stick!  :)
>
> First off, I think on this list we probably agree that whats most important
> for our planets health is educated kids that grow into adults that can
> develop and implement and make good polical decisions around future
> environmentally friendly technology and find peaceful solutions to the
> worlds problems because war does incredible environmental damage.  On this
> list, our means to achieve this goal is ubiquous access to Sugar, not just
> for an hour in the computer lab, but access that allows hours of time to
> explore individual interests and to create artifacts you can be proud of.
>
> But we can still think about environmental efficiency.  I think Sugar on a
> Stick, especially the way we are going technically where you can use either
> LTSP or a stand alone computer with the same stick is a very green solution.
>
> LTSP saves electricity.
> Extending the life of old computers keeps them out of landfills and saves
> the power and resources used to make a new computer.
>
> At the Gardner School the computer lab is used pretty much all day and all
> afternoon. Call it conservatively 8 hours a day, the school is actually open
> 7am to 5pm at least.  There is 180 school days plus 30 days of 8am-5pm.  So
> lets say 210 days x 8 hours = 1680 hours/year.
>
> If a kid has a computer at home they will use it less then 8hours a day
> because they are mostly out of the house. Does anyone have any data on how
> many hours per day kids use their XOs outside of school? I'm going to make a
> guess at an average of 10 hours per week x 52 weeks per year.  So that is
> 520 hours/year.
>
> Thus energy effieciecy is 3 times more important in the school computers
> then for the computers the kids use at home.  If a school is in a warm
> climate and is air conditioned it becomes even more important.
>
> Thus as a school gets money for new computers, first it should goto LTSP for
> high usage computer labs and move older computers in kids homes and low
> usage areas.

No idea what is better from the environmental POV, but from the
organizational one may be great to associate with some of those NGOs
that recycle computers in urban centres for redistribution in their
area. It may not be easy for them to explain to some parents why
having a computer at home is good for their kids, but if it was
included in a bigger initiative involving also schools and SLs, that
may give an extra push to their vision.

Regards,

Tomeu