Companies Urged Donate, Don’t Recycle For Green Britain Day

Companies are being urged to do their bit to help others as well as the environment on the eve of Green Britain Day.

Tomorrow’s initiative is designed to raise environmental awareness and promote ways to be more sustainable across five themes – home and garden, food, lifestyle, travel and money – has been organised by EDF Energy, as part of its role as London 2012 Sustainability partner for the next Olympic Games.

But the charity, Computer Aid International is urging companies to consider the re-use of their old PCs and laptops as part of their green initiatives. The charity professionally refurbishes PCs and laptops for re-use in schools, hospitals and community organisations in the developing world.

Re-using old PCs is significantly better for the environment than recycling them, said Tony Roberts, Computer Aid founder and chief executive and Green Britain Day will provide the ideal opportunity for companies to consider the environmental impact in conjunction with other green and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

“Research has shown it is 20 times better for the environment to re-use a PC rather then recycle it, as 75 percent of the fossil fuels used over its entire lifecycle have already been consumed before the computer is even switched on for the very first time,” he explained.

“When professionally refurbished by an organisation such as Computer Aid, an unwanted PC could go on to have a further productive life of three to four years in a school or hospital in Africa, significantly reducing the impact on the environment.”

The non-profit provider has used various initiatives, including its recent Twitterthon, to supply almost 150,000 PCs and laptops to support e-learning, health, inclusion and agriculture projects in more than 100 countries such as Rwanda, Ecuador and Zambia.