The next Green Revolution seems to be happening in the field of electronics and IT, with a slew of products ranging from servers, storage solutions and laptop computers to even point -of-sale counters claiming eco- friendliness as their unique selling proposition.
But what really does the ‘greenness’ of a product refer to? Is it merely the quality of being energy efficient and working on a smaller footprint? While energy efficiency is a key aspect of a product’s greenness, a product must adhere to many more factors in order to truly qualify as green
For example, eliminating harmful substances like vinyl plastics such as PVC and Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from products and avoiding the use of other toxic chemicals in the manufacturing process, is an important requirement for eco – friendliness. The amount of floor – space occupied by the product, length of its useful life, ability to discard, reuse or recycle it in an environmental – friendly way at end of its life, etc are other key aspects.
Companies are likely to strengthen their greening exercises with eco- friendliness becoming more of a necessity than a value-add today, thanks to great awareness amongst consumers and a deeper interest shown by activists.
The year 2007and 2008 saw the rise of ‘green’ as a buzzword amongst the electronics and IT industry in India, and the word was thrown about in marketing materials and news reports. Yet, studies by Greenpeace International showed that very few companies in
