Green Blog

Happy Earth Day

Since 1970, millions of people around the world have used this day as a springboard for taking steps to better our planet. There are events and activities planned across the globe and hopefully you're taking part.

If Earth day has never been a blip on your radar - then why not make this year your first. You might not change the planet in one day, but you might make a change in your own habits that will last a lifetime.

One of the best Earth Day websites I've seen for everything going on is Earth Day Network. Take a peek and maybe you'll find something that sparks your interest into taking your first step.

Earth Day Network

Plastic Bags - Just Say No

Although I try my best, I know I am by no means the perfect advocate of sustainability. I think like most people, I'm slowly but surely trying to adopt lifestyle changes at both work and home - all in hopes of being a more responsible member of the global community.

But it seems the more information I come across on sustainability issues, the more I kick myself in the pants for not doing something sooner. Using reusable bags instead of plastic bags is a perfect example.

Quick facts on plastic bags:

(from reusablebags.com)

• Over 500,000,000,000 (that's 500 billion) plastic bags are consumed each year worldwide.
• It's takes over 60 billion barrels of oil to produce 500 billion plastic bags.
• The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store.
• Plastic bags are not biodegradable.

Hewlett Packard's Green IT for Dummies

The crew over at Hewlett Packard is making available a free version of their "Green IT for Dummies" guide. It's an informative and entertaining guide showing you where to start greening your organization, giving you a practical steps ranked according to expense and difficulty of implementation.

Click on the link below to download a copy for your IT department and yourself.

HP's Green IT for Dummies Guide

It's Time To Stop Junk Mail

Annual greenhouse gases created by junk mail equates to:

9,372,000 passenger cars

11 coal-fired power plants

85,000 international flights

Can you believe the greenhouse gases created annually by each item is equivalent to the greenhouse gases created each year by junk mail?

It's senseless and unconscionable. Just take a look at these facts:

• Junk mail in the U.S. accounts for one-third of the world's mail.
• 44% of junk mail goes to the landfill unopened.
• It takes more than 100 million trees to produce the total yearly volume of U.S. junk mail.

Mid-Sized Companies Are Investing in Green IT

A recent article on GreenBiz.com shows good indications that mid-sized organizations are taking proactive steps to become more environmentally responsible.

The article reports that IBM and Info-Tech surveyed 1000 medium-sized companies (100 - 1000 employees) to track adoption rates of different IT strategies. The survey found that organizations are saving money while reducing environmental impact.

Four of the strategies with high adoption rates:

•  52% - Remote Conferencing
•  57% - Printer Consolidation
•  53% - PC Power Management
•  56% - IT Equipment Recycling

25 Facts you should know about green IT

It's time to save energy and money.

I found a great article from Ted Samson over at Sustainable IT that you should read - and then forward to your IT department.

Mr. Samson has compiled a laundry list of facts that will enlighten you on a variety of issues, as well as go a long way towards reducing your organization's energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Some highlights include:

#9

The feds could save around $960 million over five years by adopting green technologies like virtualization, server consolidation, and dynamic smart cooling.

Tell your boss that you’re staying home…

to work more.

While I might not put it that bluntly, I do think your employer needs to know you could be more productive working from home.

35 million and growing.

It is estimated that in 2007, 35 million workers in the U.S. telecommuted 8 or more hours per month, and 12 million telecommuted 8 or more hours per week. (©2008 Greener World Media, Inc.’s State of Green Business 2008)

Organizations across the globe are realizing the advantages of a workforce that telecommutes part or full time. That number continues to grow as more and more employers begin to appreciate the benefits:

•  Reducing their carbon footprint
•  Reducing overhead costs
•  Increasing production from employees
•  Reducing employee time and money spent commuting
•  Increasing employee well-being (as they say - a happy employee is a more productive employee)

 

5 Easy Ways to Go Green in Your Office

We all know conferencing is one of the easiest ways to go green. But don't stop there - going green is a lot easier than you think - and your office is a perfect place to start.

1. Turn off your computer.

This is a no brainer. If you don't already turn off your monitor and computer (or put it in standby/sleep mode) when you're not in the office, START!

2. Use mugs rather than Styrofoam cups.

1984 called - and they want their Styrofoam cups back! Seriously, bring in your favorite cup or mug instead and stop wasting Styrofoam, paper, and plastic cups.

Going Green with ConferencePlus and g-meetings.com

Thanks for joining us for the launch of our Green Blog here at g-meetings.com.

In this blog, we’ll try to inform, enlighten and entertain you with as many tips, tricks, links, resources, and stories as we can. Hopefully we’ll all learn a few things in the process and become more environmentally and socially responsible both at work and at home.

Stay tuned for more entries and thanks for dropping by.