Green file formats

by Paolo Ghiga

In addition to good intentions (which must not be only a chimera at new year) and as sustainable habits must apply in every situation, some recent eco-friendly initiatives come to our rescue within the day-to-day use of the PC. On how many occasions we printed documents consisting of hundreds of pages, just for attending meetings, or to update archives to produce information for anyway, in short, to be a subject of containers of paper recycled? Some days you can, thanks to computer technology, producing a new type of file format .PDF (famous swap file multiplatform, born in 1993, which matches the ductility to the possibility of sharing, globally, each type of information).

One of the cornerstones of the PDF is precisely its possible use as a digital archive, were it not that many tend to be frustrated by this aspect of printing the paper version. A team of WWF has developed a variant of this file, much like the original .PDF format. The peculiarity of this new format with the filename extension. wwf and an unmistakable icon colour of green, depicting a shaft and bearing the initials WWF, is that of not being able to access the printing of the document itself as permanently locked. A simple idea, if you like, that e.g. You can achieve in the popular Adobe Acrobat suite, with various applicable adjustments, but which for the first time your tints of green and invites us to reflect on what we can concretely do in daily life, both at the Office or at home, when in leisure or for reasons of study that we need to produce documentation of any kind. Let us not forget that this software, distributed at first only for the Mac platform and now also present in one version for Windows has the merit, certainly to be sustainable, totally free. After you download the software from a link dedicated WWF site and run the installation, we could share documents without falling into the temptation to resort to print at any cost. For further information you can visit a dedicated page on Facebook with over 6 thousand fans who are using it with enthusiasm.

But support for the computer world with low environmental impact shall not be exhausted here: a new USB pen is born for data storage. Nothing is new under the Sun, it seems. In fact this is the first USB key resulting from the fermentation of corn starch. The new eco-friendly memory stick is available in sizes 4, 8, 16 and 32 gigabytes and it is compatible with all major operating systems. It is completely biodegradable, and as stated by the Italian QuiBio manufacturer, based in Cagliari "glucose molecules present in vegetable fibres or within lactic acid becoming fermented starch, who later, after a process of polymerization turns into PLA (polymer that has the dual advantage of being biodegradable but durable as the plastic). After use, the PLA is synthesized by the microorganisms present in nature and are then transformed into carbon dioxide and water". This means zero impact on the environment but also has professional features: read speed reaches up to 15 Mbps, while that in writing up to 8 Mbps; is ensured compatibility with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0. Even the packaging is recyclable materials at 100 percent, and even the paints used for serigraphs are based on soy ink design winks to nature (the pen is stylizing a COB), and is nice and stylish and environmentally friendly, fundamental elements for the success of a product as it is so innovative eco-friendly. The stated aim of Quibio is to raise awareness of the use of environmentally friendly products in disposable key, even in the technology industry. Think how with a few clicks you can save a document that is not printable on a support completely biodegradable: let it go down this road of eco-sustainability without further delay. Series: how to make more green your office every day!