CEIVA view point FRAMED

Digital cameras and digital frames have made the world a greener place. When you think about it, film is not an ecologically responsible media at all. Film is plastic coated with chemicals. Once manufactured, film is then encased in a plastic or metal cartridge, which then is either put directly into a box or into another plastic container and then boxed for retail sales. The production and packaging of film uses tons of plastic, paper, chemicals and inks… and that is before it is loaded into a camera and a single shot is taken.

Then, once shot, the film needs to be processed. Before processing the film is removed from the cartridge which is then disposed of. Once the film is processed and made into a negative, the image can finally be transferred on to photo print paper. All this film and print “processing” requires additional energy, chemicals (which by the way come in plastic containers), paper and water.

Once printed and taken home, photographs are typically stored in some sort of container. Be it paper box, plastic bin, photo album, traditional frame or even a drawer, photos eventually are stored somewhere. We don’t often think about it, but storage space is typically some sort of container that is made up of material(s)… paper, plastic, wood, glass or metal. However, digital frames can act as storage space too. Unlike traditional frames, digital frames have a dual purpose. Not only do they display photos, but they also can act as storage for hundreds and sometimes thousands of photos ultimately saving space and resources.

Now it is true digital frames do require plastic and chemicals to manufacture, and the paper for packaging to initially market. Plus they will require energy to operate, but in the long run they are much greener solution.  First of all, unlike cell phones, consumers do not upgrade digital frames often. These simple devices can last for years and years. I personally have been using the same digital frame now for nearly 9 years… and have no plans of changing it out. One frame will last a long time.

As I mentioned before, digital frames require energy. But the amount of energy a typical 7” digital frame requires is only about the same amount of energy to light up a 40 watt light bulb. Since most frames can be programmed to “sleep” their energy consumption can be reduced to a trickle.  Energy consumption is further reduced in digital frames that build in other functions such as clocks, radios and phones. These multipurpose frames collapse energy consumed by many devices into one and in turn reduce overall energy consumption.

Finally, there is one other type of green a digital frame can save… that is the green we call “CA$H.”  Using the formula for estimating energy consumption posted on US Department of Energy’s website, a typical 7” frame will consume only $20.47 worth of energy per year based on the frame being turned “on” for 14 hours a day and “sleeping” for the remaining 10.  Considering the hundreds and hundreds of photos a frame holds and the sheer cost that would be associated with processing an equivalent amount of pictures, $20.47 a year seems like a bargain to me.

So until the next post… that’s the green CeivaJoe knows.

POST NOTE: This post was inspired by blog I read last week entitled Green Tip Of The Week – Go Digital With Your Camera authored by Tracy over on Planet Forward’s blog. Thanks Tracy for the inspiration… you motivated me to look a little deeper and know a little more.