How to Build a Green Business : Comments
February 19, 2008
Comments
In Australia, you can offset the energy usage of your server by purchasing abatement certificates through Energy Today .
Has anyone reading this post checked out www.openeco.org yet? They have a lot of solutions for calculating your carbon footprint and ways to reduce them. Just thought I’d spread the word to those who took the time to read this insightful article.
great article, I am always excited to see info on this subject. Our company values many of the points you made if the article.
I feel this is a very important issue that many people try to ignore. So much paper is wasted due to printing everything from e-mails to online documents. They feel more comfortable with hand held documents because their easy to read and understand verses virtual documents. We need to stop and think about our environment before clicking print.
Julie
An interesting angle at going green. Your kids bday? As Julie points out…so much waste is created in ways we don’t even realize… When you think about it how much waste is generated by running around to buy some unappreciated gift for a kid you hardly know? How much wrapping, and packaging, and cards, envelopes gets generated in a couple hours?
www.echoage.com — you give a virtual gift…well sort of…its a real gift but no paper…its an electronic transaction. Part goes to the kid where he can pool money to get one cool gift…and the rest goes to a cause. Sweet.
This Christmas just gone several companies I work with decided to donate the money they would have spent on Corporate Xmas cards to their favourite charity. I’m not sure where our obsession with giving cards for birthdays, xmas, valentines and just about any other holiday the retail industry tries to make us buy for comes from, but the vaste amount of waste this causes is just not worth the empty sentiment. Donate the money to charity and help a worthwhile cause, much better for the soul!
in my country,,wrapping material still by plastic…
I think it’s because a tradition….
An interesting idea which I have read this week (and goes against intuitive green thinking) is to encourage and build more satellite communications. It sounds barmy but the advantages are:
1) Once a satellite is launched it is fully solar powered (the potential savings compared to say mobile phone masts is enormous)
2) It is possible to launch a satellite using no more energy than a single transatlantic flight
The point is that sometimes we have to be prepared to expend a large amount of energy to get an even greater return and we shouldn’t be afraid of thinking big.
Of course the ultimate extension of this is to explore and inhabit other planets, I know that is just shifting the problem but it has to be better than current trend.
We also offset the emissions from our web hosting using www.TickGreen.com
Apparently the internet is responsible for as many carbon emissions as the global aviation industry. Scary to think.
Hi there – this is a great article with a lot of first steps to becoming more sustainable (something I’m very passionate about in both my personal and professional life).
One aspect that’s not covered, though, is the fact that as designers a lot of our work, what we actually produce, promotes unsustainable lifestyles. So while we might take personal steps to reduce our footprint, the result of our work is making things worse.
Marketing and design have a tremendous impact on peoples choices, and that’s a big responsibility that we should all take seriously.
I am uk based but I know USA is a much much bigger place
good article but I think any work done is negated by the people that drive to work in cars (I know you suggest not)
surely the best way to be green is:
not drive a car across states
not go around in planes for work
get a composter in the yard to put you coffee grinds and shredded paper into
make sure to buy cooler water (if needed) from local sustainable suppliers rather than chains
insulate buildings and ask people to wear jumpers at times
not invest in banks or organisations which support arms firms
could also go a bit further and say:
campaign against neo con governments on their policy of pre-emptive attack and massive overspend on petrol based products
but i may start sounding a bit crazy
My “dream green” is to abandon the freeways to/from an office building and hop on the internet infrastructure to “get to work”. With intranets, webcams, online files, VOIP, and high bandwidth, why not stay at home to work? Many professions, secretaries, paralegals, real estate support teams, accountants, etc. – many thousands could simply stay home and be at work! I am a technology consultant for business, support the “virtual assistant” community. I also use remote support software to “fix” computer problems, help clients backup, teach them how to use their software applications (the list of virtual services is too long).
I’d like to know why employers don’t take the opportunity to save gas, save parking, save office space, save coffee… working from home is a GREEN solution to the energy crisis. ramtech.com
Good article. This has been a topic of much discussion in New Orleans over the last few years. Since we got to see the effects of poor environmental practices up close and personal. One positive from it all though is the renewed/revitalized/reinvented nature of life here.
A site called startup neworleans launched recently that tells the story of some of the new entrepreneurship happening in New Orleans, much of it focused on the “greening” of our world.
The hot air that was expelled in this article and these comments IS GOING TO HEAT THE GLOBE AND KILL US ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How silly the green the folks are.
The point is that sometimes we have to be prepared to expend a large amount of energy to get an even greater return and we shouldn’t be afraid of thinking big and also we should think Green.
Besides the environmental advantage, I’ve noticed that some companies have the competitive edge over me because they advertise their “green” solutions. I’ve been thinking a lot about greening up lately. When i went to a chamber meeting, the booth that was receiving a majority of interest was a printing company that was emphasizing their green solutions. Your article was very practical and will help me in my endeavor to be greener. thanks.
Excelent and great article, I am always excited to see info on this subject. Our company values many of the points you made if the article.
Thanks :)
very interesting article, Has anyone reading this post checked out www.openeco.org yet? They have a lot of solutions for calculating your carbon footprint and ways to reduce them.
great article, I am always excited to see info on this subject. Our company values many of the points you made if the article.
The point is that sometimes we have to be prepared to expend a large amount of energy to get an even greater return and we shouldn’t be afraid of thinking big and also we should think Green.
thnaks so mutch :)
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