6. Take a greener approach to hardware

Hardware has very significant ‘embodied’ environmental impacts coming from the sourcing of raw materials, processing, manufacture, distribution and disposal of equipment at the end of it’s life. These go beyond carbon to include things like:

• freshwater use
• resource depletion
• human and ecosystem toxicity
• land use change (including deforestation)
• biodiversity loss

Applying the principles of the ‘circular economy’ to hardware itself (by sharing, leasing, re-using, repairing and refurbishing) helps reduce the need for the manufacture of new equipment and saves on the associated environmental impacts.

Cloud services, AI and software all need hardware to run. Doing less of these things can indirectly reduce the need for more hardware.

Actions

6a. Minimise the lifecycle impacts of equipment used by the service
6b. Support older user devices
6c. Minimise the lifecycle impacts of equipment used by teams

---

Environmental benefits

Hardware