Welcome to The Digital Environment! The Internet has changed our world dramatically, and not always for the better. Here you can learn about environmental issues related to computers and the Internet and what you can do to minimize your environmental impact.
Trey
Cyber Defender &
Message Center Supervisor
As an environmental activist, Trey believes that technology has the potential to improve our world, but only if it is used and created responsibly. He encourages people to become aware of their actions and to make simple changes in their lives that will have a big impact on the environment.
A recent graduate of the Academy (class of '07), Trey runs the Message Center in Cyberspace. He loves communicating via email because it is quick, easy, and reduces paper waste.
Favorite Quote:
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
- John Muir
Vegetable Curry
Interests:Ultimate frisbee, Gardening, Recycling trash into treasure
July 14 2009
Being Green: Keeping CDs or DVDs Clean - Continued
OK! So here's what I found. On the very first site I checked, the writer warned against brushing the dust off a CD or DVD with your clothes. Uh oh. She suggested running it under warm water or, if you have it, using rubbing alcohol. She also wrote that if you can't wait for the disc to air dry, the best type of cloth to use is something soft and lint-free, sort of like the cloth you would use to clean off your eyeglass lenses. Now I was getting somewhere!
I popped the disc out of my laptop, grabbed my little bottle of rubbing alcohol, and went to borrow a lens cleaning cloth from Betty. Betty seemed hesitant to give me the cloth, but after I promised her I wouldn't ruin it, she consented. If you're reading this Betty, thanks again! Anyway, I poured a little of the alcohol on the cloth, and, starting from the center of the disc, wiped straight out towards the edge. The dust came off so easily! Of course, the cloth looked a little worse for wear. Unfortunately, after the dust was gone I saw the real problem - a massive scratch. The good news is that my Internet research showed me a great, green way to handle this situation - with toothpaste! There are also commercially available chemicals that do remove scratches, but why deal with harmful chemicals if you don't have to?
I went back to my room and squeezed a little toothpaste on the cleanest corner of the cloth (I'll totally wash it before I give it back, don't worry) and began to polish the scratch. The Web site said it was important to use a non-gel toothpaste with baking soda, which is exactly what I happened to have on hand! After my CD was minty fresh, I rinsed it under some warm water. I have to admit I was skeptical, but I figured what the heck, it can't hurt to try. After letting my disc dry (not in the sun!), I popped it into my computer, crossed my fingers and.success! Up came all my old pics, which I immediately copied to a folder on my desktop.
And that about covers it for my green CD fixing experience! I think I'll go outside and see if Trey needs any help with the garden.
posted by Dana
topic: Green Computing
July 13 2009
Being Green: Keeping CDs or DVDs Clean
Hi everyone! Dana here. I know Trey usually does this blog, but this month he asked me to help him out! In exchange, Trey is out in the garden getting his hands dirty pulling weeds. How is it that they grow so much faster than the plants I want? It hardly seems fair. Anyway!
So the other day I was digging under my bed for a book on vermiculture composting when I came across an old CD. After I wiped off some of the dust I realized it was a CD full of family pictures my mom sent to me during my first year at the Academy! I cleaned it off on my shirt as best as I could, rushed over to my laptop, popped it in and.nothing. Just some whirring noises and a few clicks. What a bummer! I didn't want to lose the pictures of my grandma dancing at her 70th birthday or of my dad getting stuck in the chimney dressed as Santa! Determined to get my pics back, I decided to scour the Internet for help.