A helping hand for the environment
By M.H. NG
HERE’S a collection of short notes from all over about how computers have been employed to help in the field of conservation and are helping us create a cleaner Earth.
Forget the brown, recycled boxes and even recycled paper that companies use. We are looking at things of direct benefit to computer users, and one of the best of these costs less than RM100.
Environ-account
IF YOU have access to an IBM-compatible PC, you can now do more for the environment than you could previously.
You can now calculate your impact on the environment using Environaccount, a software package developed by Don Lotter, a graduate student in ecology at the University of California at Davis.
A Macintosh version has also been announced.
Here’s how the software works.
First, you fill in a detailed electronic questionnaire with information about household energy usage and water consumption, the amount of trash you throw away, the distance you drive a car or ride a bike and what your possessions are mostly made of — plastic, metal or wood.
Worksheets in the software help with estimates, asking, for example, how many plastic bags you use each week.
The computer then calculates "impact points" for how much you hurt the environment and gives you "action points" for positive contributions.
The questionnaire even addresses what Lotter calls the "controversial" issue of population.
"Having a child increases your impact points, adopting a child is neutral and people with one or two children and who have surgically ended their fertility... . . . get big action points."
But calculating points is just the beginning.
The author suggests that making printouts of computer-generated tally sheets to hang around the house to constantly monitor your actions such as composting garbage or recycling newspapers, and help you modify them.
An accounting program tracks your progress over time.
The software is available on both 5¼-inch or disks for US$29.95 (RM78). The US number to call for enquiries is 1-800-688-9006.
Bulbs not included
AND for Macintosh fans, this is one product that will help you get your green fingers.
Green may be trendy at Apple (no, the next Mac will still be in grey).
But I doubt that you’ll ever see a greener program than Mum’s the Word Plus.
This is a product from Terrace Software in Massachusetts (1-617-396-0392). The US$165 (about RM430) software combines elements of a drawing program and a database program to let you plan landscapes and gardens.
Bulbs not included.
Manufacturing aid
GOOD news for those who are using CFCs to clean printed circuit boards in the various PCB manufacturing facilities here in Malaysia.
A biodegradable extract from melons may prove an effective replacement for trichloroethane, an ozonedepleting solvent used mostly in manufacturing electronics.
A recent statement by AT&T researchers say that n-butyl butyrate, which smells like pineapple and gives some fruits their sweet taste, could do the same job.
Source : The Star, June 1, 1993
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