The refreshing period of linux software is 6-8 years as opposed to microsoft's 3-4 years. This shorter period of time means that more people are throwing out their computers that use microsoft for only small upgrades in their technology. This being said, if everyone used linux, computer waste going into landfills would be halved as well as 240kg of fossil fuels would be saved because of the uneeded computers. The reason why I chose this article is because it says in the end that using Linux is "the most green way to run your home computer system."

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/v iew/459/index.html