Tech Industry

Gallery: 10 tech companies that have gone green

By // April 22, 2017, 5:00 AM PST // bviglia

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  • Who is going the extra mile?

    Mining rare earth metals and minerals, producing consumer electronics, operating huge datacenters, and keeping the office lights on eats up a lot of energy. Big tech companies know this--they're the ones who get the bills for all the power they suck in.

    The monetary cost of powering a big tech company, and sometimes the environmental cost as well, have driven a lot of tech companies to go green. Impetus aside, environmental sustainability is a noble cause not only on Earth Day, but all year round.

    Here are 10 tech companies that have decided to go the extra mile toward being sustainable.

    Image: iStock/PhonlamaiPhoto

  • ​Apple

    Apple gets a lot of heat for its business practices, but one thing that's hard to criticize is the company's commitment to lessening its impact on the environment.

    100% of the power used by Apple's datacenters comes from renewable sources like solar, hydroelectric, and wind, and worldwide 96% of their facilities can say the same.

    The Cupertino giant also recently committed to stop mining and transition entirely to using recycled materials. When that change will occur is unknown, but Apple would be going a long way toward being ethically and environmentally responsible by making even a bit of change in that direction.

    Image: ZDNet

  • ​Microsoft

    Bill Gates is big on sustainability, so you can bet the company he created will be too. Microsoft does a lot for the environment and has even been carbon neutral since 2012.

    Microsoft has also been 100% powered by renewable sources since 2015, and it promotes cloud services as an environmental move. The average business, Microsoft says, can reduce energy costs by around 30% by migrating to its cloud services.

    Image: CNET

  • ​Google

    Google has been a giant in the climate research and data world--as it should be with so much data on hand. It's done things like using street view cars to monitor air quality, using GPS data to monitor illegal fishing, turning Google Earth into a deforestation tracker, and turning its machine learning expertise toward saving energy in datacenters.

    That's not all--Google has been carbon neutral since 2007 and will reach 100% renewable energy status this year.

    Image: CNET

  • ​Salesforce

    Like many other tech companies, Salesforce is working toward 100% renewable energy consumption. That may still be a work in progress, but those who host data with Salesforce will be glad to know that they're operating in a carbon-neutral cloud.

    Image: Salesforce

  • ​Adobe

    Adobe makes quite the commitment to environmental sustainability--over 70% of Adobe offices are LEED certified, several offices have onsite farmer's markets and edible gardens, and the San Jose office even has 20 wind turbines to help reduce the need for externally generated electricity.

    Image: John G. Mabanglo/epa/Corbis

  • ​Intel

    Once named the greenest company in America, Intel continues to take strides toward being environmentally sustainable. It purchased 100% renewable energy starting in 2015, has reduced water waste by returning 80% to treatment plants, and even tied employee salaries to recycling metrics.

    Next time you toss a paper cup in the trash think about what would happen to you if you worked at Intel.

    Image: Intel

  • ​Cisco

    Cisco is another company striving to go green. It used 77% renewable energy in 2016, reduced greenhouse emissions by 34% in the past decade, and has strived to ensure recycling of old products.

    Image: ZDNet

  • ​NVIDIA

    The graphics card manufacturer actually ranked higher than any other tech company in Newsweek's 2016 Top Green Companies in the US list. Not only does NVIDIA do a lot to be green at its offices, it also awards a yearly Global Impact Award for breakthroughs in fields like biomedicine and environmental sustainability.

    Image: CNET

  • ​Oracle

    Oracle does all it can to go 100% sustainable at its datacenters and offices as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste. It also does a lot to "green the commute" for its employees, offering services like last mile shuttles, carpooling incentives, and electric vehicle infrastructure on campus.

    Image: ZDNet

  • ​Xerox

    When you think of office waste there's no more prominent image than copiers. Xerox seems to know this, which is why it does a lot for the environment.

    Paper suppliers have to meet and maintain rigorous standards, Xerox factories are committed to recycling as much non-hazardous waste (currently reported at 93%) as possible, and Xerox factories and products are designed to waste less energy.

    Image: Xerox

​Apple

Apple gets a lot of heat for its business practices, but one thing that's hard to criticize is the company's commitment to lessening its impact on the environment.

100% of the power used by Apple's datacenters comes from renewable sources like solar, hydroelectric, and wind, and worldwide 96% of their facilities can say the same.

The Cupertino giant also recently committed to stop mining and transition entirely to using recycled materials. When that change will occur is unknown, but Apple would be going a long way toward being ethically and environmentally responsible by making even a bit of change in that direction.

Image: ZDNet

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By Brandon Vigliarolo

Brandon writes about apps and software for TechRepublic. He's an award-winning feature writer who previously worked as an IT professional and served as an MP in the US Army.