As a keen and fairly green listening machine, I try to do my bit for the environment when it comes to obtaining my listening pleasure: I've issued orders to my family to shoot on sight any standby button inadvertently left switched on, and Class A valve beasts are now (sadly) less frequent visitors to my hallowed listening chamber, even though I could have done with the extra heat source during the height of our so-called ‘summer'. While I'm happy to do my bit, and equally happy with a well-designed Class B amp and sources that get switched off at the mains when they're done, the direction in which more mundane hi-fi design is headed does worry the tree-hugger in me.

For an increasing number of people, music seems to mean one of those annoying little devices that cause rage on public transport or in public spaces by playing the world's most inane music or speech clip every time a call comes in. Although mobiles may be a great way of getting clouted by an octogenarian with a handbag full of horse shoes, and although they may have quite a way to go in terms of convergence before they constitute the heart of a hi-fi, at least they're efficient in terms of the amount of power they consume.

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No, what keeps me awake at night (apart from the itching caused by my organic yak-wool night gown) is the emerging behemoth of the computing world; the home-entertainment PC.

PCs are fast closing in on patio heaters at the top of many an environmentalist's hit-list. Often left permanently on, some of these machines can draw up to a kilowatt just sitting there playing a bit of background music off the internet or their hard-drive, emitting a shrill beep every now and then when yet another vital email flops into your inbox to inform you that you've just won $3.7bn on the national lottery of Bhutan.

While a small number of PC makers are putting R&D funds into ‘greening' their machines, a friend of mine relies on a laptop to do his DJing for him; he even trusted the playlist function on his machine to take care of his wedding party. The sound quality that resulted was perfectly acceptable coming through a PA, especially after the guests had each worked their way through half a vineyard and twice their bodyweight in buffet bites.

Home separates, if chosen wisely, can be considerably more energy-efficient than PC-based systems, especially when only the source being listened to is actually powered up. 90dB-efficient speakers have had a cult following for years, especially when partnered with low-power (and usually low-efficiency) valve amps; perhaps now, as awareness of environmental issues continues to grow, we'll see more speakers in this mould, alongside low-power digital amps that sound good.

In fact, they are already here, as anyone who's heard a Flying Mole or a Bel Canto will attest.

Whatever happens, look on the bright side – if we do ever end up lumbered with systems based around mobile phones, they're a lot easier to beat to death with a sledgehammer than either a PC or a separates system…

Jon Marks has been happily addicted to hi-fi for 20 years, especially since becoming a member of the hi-fi press in the mid-1990s.