The industry that helps connect our world is now making it a better place - one gadget at a time.

The Information Technology industry, an integral part of how our world communicates, has recently come under fire about its environmentally unfriendly practices. According to researchers for U.S.-based Gartner Research, the IT sector now accounts for 2 percent of all global carbon emissions, the same amount as the airline industry.

In order to shake the "energy hog" tag, several companies are stepping up to curb power consumption and make the tech world more earth-friendly. Cisco is spearheading this initiative by introducing its EnergyWise technology next month. The new software can monitor the energy use of a wide range of devices. When said devices are idle and not in use, EnergyWise shuts them off.

So how much money can one save with something like EnergyWise? A lot more than you may realize. "A bank branch could save nearly 40,000 Euros (USD $53,020) just by turning off phones and wireless access points outside business hours," said David Frampton, to Reuters. Frampton, Cisco's VP of LAN switching business unit, said the software will be compatible with devices like computers, wireless access points and phones at first, but will expand to heating/air conditioning units, elevators, lights and security systems by 2010.

Cisco isn't the only tech company playing nice with the environment, either. Philips is working on a total solution lighting system that will react to people's movements and the amount of natural sunlight. Also, British software makers 1E say their technology, similar to Cisco's, can reduce pollution equivalent to that produced by cars in a medium sized city like Liverpool. "The [British] government wants a 1 million [ton] reduction in carbon emissions from large companies," said 1E CEO Sumir Karayi. "We can achieve 85 percent of that just from our UK pipeline -- just from turning off computers." 1E's software is already in use by several large banks and branches of the British government.

If tech companies around the world follow suit, who knows how much energy could be saved!