Environmental Benefits of 2009 EPEAT Purchasing

Information technology has enabled significant improvements in the standard of living of much of the world, and through its contributions to greater transport efficiency, improved design, reduced materials consumption and other shifts in current practices, may offer a key to long term sustainability. However, the production, purchase, use and disposal of electronic products such as personal computers and monitors also can have significant negative environmental impacts.

The EPEAT® (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) system for greener electronics purchasing addresses many of these issues, with a lifecycle environmental standard that spurs improvements in product design and enables purchasers to reduce the lifecycle impacts of their product choices. This is the fourth annual report on the environmental benefits resulting from the purchase of electronic products registered and evaluated under the EPEAT program.