IBM is creating awareness in a very cool way
“Think” is one of several ways IBM is celebrating its centennial anniversary this year. It is a free exhibit on display at Lincoln Center through October 23, 2011.
Think, focuses on what technology is doing behind the scenes to address various public concerns, like sustainability, health care, conservation, food production and others… Read more
Calling in an Electronic Waste Problem
Most of us know by now that e-waste is a growing problem around the world. I’m not writing this blog post to be redundant, but rather, to illustrate the magnitude of the problem and drive home the necessity to respect the issue and start contributing towards the reversal of the current trend.
I know how popular it is to be “green,” but this problem goes way beyond being fashionable. Going “Green” is nowhere near enough to combat the seriousness of what’s become of our consumption culture. Read more
Unveiling the Copenhagen Wheel
Last week at the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change, MIT researchers unveiled the Copenhagen Wheel. The initial prototypes of the Copenhagen Wheel were developed along with company Ducati Energia and the Italian Ministry of the Environment.
Microsoft Finds Green Economies of Scale for Server Efficiency
Microsoft is trying to keep up with the demand for an additional 10,000 servers a month. The majority of the servers are needed for “search” (approximately 80,000 or so) and the rest are mostly allotted for things like Hotmail, messenger, consumer video, photo services as well as its collection of hosted enterprise services. Read more
Greenpeace Slaps HP in the Headquarters
Today’s blog entry is less informative and more speculative than most of my previous contributions. Throughout this entire week, I have noticed the same story appearing over and over again in most “green” related news channels as well as many mainstream media distributions as well. The story is about HP and their failure to keep promises regarding their environmental policies. Read more
Buying Futures? Recycling is the New Commodity
1. So you want that new laptop, but it’s expensive, and what if a better one comes out next year?
2. I bought a new MP3 player but it’s not exactly what I wanted, what can I do?
3. I have all this technology junk and old gadgets lying around collecting dust. Is there any value in any of it?
4. I am junking my old TV and buying a new one, how can I be certain my old TV won’t contribute to the global e-waste problem when I toss it?
If you find yourself asking any of the above questions than pay careful attention because a solution for you now exists! Read more
Brewing up a Green Revolution: Biofuel for the Masses
Submitted by Green Your Network on Fri, 11/21/08 - 9:51am.Whether a paragon of the overexuberant eco-chic or a bright ray of hope in a failing economy, Amyris stands out from the pack for the sheer ambition and scale of its plan for biofuel production.
60 Minutes Visits the Place Where Old Computers Go to Die
Submitted by Green Your Network on Sun, 11/16/08 - 12:20pm.It is true that we have covered the epidemic of e-waste here before, on more than one occasion. But lacking the resources of a major television network we never gave it the depth of treatment that it received on CBS' 60 Minutes this week. Brace yourself for some very disturbing coverage of the direct impact your old, discarded computer equipment is having on hapless Chinese laborers and their families. Read more
An Inconvenient Truth: Sustainable Energy Not All That Very Sustainable
Submitted by Green Your Network on Wed, 11/12/08 - 9:52am.TThe recent election of Barack Obama and the sweeping if ill-defined change that he is expected to usher into American affairs has had a highly invigorating effect on the apostles of “green” or “renewable” energy.
Most Global IT Companies Could be Doing More for the Environment
Submitted by Green Your Network on Fri, 11/07/08 - 12:10pm.Given the frequent press releases and dramatic declarations by leading technology corporations, it might come as some surprise to learn that a recent study by Gartner and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) found that most could be doing a good deal more in the way of lowering their carbon footprint. Read more
Logistics Companies Announce Green Initiatives
Submitted by Green Your Network on Fri, 10/31/08 - 11:47am.Stop the presses! Literally. Global shipping company DHL has announced its plans to offer paperless billing to customers across Europe. By eliminating monthly paper invoices for millions of customers every year, DHL hopes to save 2400 tree and 600 tonnes of C02 each year. (source) Of course it is reasonable to assume that DHL will reap some benefits from this initiative in cost savings and customer satisfaction. Read more
Personifying the Green Computer- LawnPC
Submitted by Green Your Network on Tue, 10/28/08 - 11:49am.Lest it be thought that the ethical burden upon those who labor to bring you the latest news in green computing is lightly borne, please note that deciding between meaty stories of ecological significance and sexy gadgets is always fraught with the utmost solemnity. Nevertheless, good people- the LawnPC is here. The LawnPC! Or not really quire here, exactly, despite whatever conclusion might be drawn from innumerable breathless reviews and reports which have already preceded ours to the world wide web. Read more
Busted! Government Raids Suspected E-Waste Exporter
Submitted by Green Your Network on Fri, 10/24/08 - 10:38am.This article is a follow up to the piece we ran last month, and it beat out some other very interesting topics because it seems we owe it to some government agencies to let people know when they try to live up to their mandate. Read more
Xerox Developing a Paper that Erases Itself for Reuse
Submitted by Green Your Network on Fri, 10/17/08 - 9:33am.Have you ever stuffed a stack of paper into a n “interoffice mail” envelope that had passed through many hands before? In doing so you are saving your office money on envelopes and reducing the number of trees being cut down to produce the envelopes- but just imagine if you could do the same thing with the paper that fits inside. Read more
Recycle those Keystrokes- and Generate Electricity!
Submitted by Green Your Network on Wed, 10/08/08 - 10:38am.This link was sent to us by an alert co-worker. Hopefully also a co-worker schooled in Physics, because most of the article linked below is all but unintelligible to the layman. Nevertheless, the idea is so cool and so original that we have rolled up our sleeves and dove in to bring this news to you, here, possibly for the first time in the blogosphere. Also, there is a decent Abstract and Introduction which spells it out for anybody who doesn't have a PhD in Physics. Read more
Deconstructing Henry's House: Recycling More than Cans and Bottles
Submitted by Green Your Network on Mon, 10/06/08 - 10:51am.Given the attention paid to disposable diapers plastic soda bottles as contributors to the creeping inundation of our planet under landfill overflow, it may surprise some to learn that well over half of the refuse generated in America is construction debris. And while the junked remains of some 250,000 homes are cast off to create new habitats for seabirds in Staten Island, new construction consumes 60 percent of all materials used in the nation’s economy every year, excluding food and fuel. Read more
US Exporting its E-Waste to the Developing World
Submitted by Green Your Network on Mon, 09/29/08 - 9:57am.For a generation already the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) has been calling attention to the environmental cost of the high-tech production boom. Through a combination of research and activism they have monitored the eco-friendliness of major computer manufacturers and endeavored to track the environmental impact of toxins used in electronics manufacturing. Their computer report card
published in 2005 revealed that few companies worldwide, and proportionately even fewer stateside assume serious responsibility for the massive amounts of toxic chemicals that their products regularly unleash on the world. Of particular concern to the SCTC for some time now is the exploitation of foreign workers who are exposed to toxins in unsafe conditions, particularly those who refurbish damaged parts in India and China.
A recent investigation by the General Accountability Office (GAO ) of the US government has demonstrated, alarmingly that there is good cause for concern. In keeping with the general truculence of the Bush administration regarding international environmental protocols, the US was the only notable holdout among Industrialized nations on a 1989 agreement obligating exporting countries to disclose hazardous waste shipments to the recipient nations. Nevertheless , in an effort to police such abuses internally the EPA is meant to enforce a US law requiring EPA approval of all international shipments of CRTs (cathode ray tubes- which contain copper and lead) . Read more
English schoolboy is saving the environment one pixel at a time
Submitted by Green Your Network on Thu, 09/25/08 - 9:33am.Most of us realize that we do not wield sufficient influence to force green initiatives upon large Chinese manufacturing facilities, to improve the energy efficiency of commercial generating facilities or to improve the fuel economy of shipping fleets and bus companies. Those of us who are conscientious about our environmental impact tend to lean towards more fuel efficient vehicles and appliances, to install compact fluorescent light bulbs in our homes. In this we are aided by market forces that impact upon our buying choices, particularly the increasingly high cost of energy. Another way we can minimize our energy footprint is by turning off our electric devices when they are not in use and unplugging invisible energy leeches. Yet with acrid smoke still rising from factories and tractor trailers and megawatts of energy literally being lost in transmission every day it is sometimes difficult to focus on the impact each and every one of us might have by slightly modifying our most routine behaviors.
Gartner Highlights Key Predictions for IT Organizations and Users in 2008 and Beyond
Submitted by Green Your Network on Wed, 02/27/08 - 11:20am.In a press release earlier this year, Gartner, Inc. highlighted 10 key predictions of events and developments that will affect IT and business decisions in the coming years. Read more
"Selected from across our research areas as the most compelling and critical predictions, the trends and topics they address this year indicate a strong focus on individuals, the environment, and alternative ways of buying and selling IT services and technologies," said Daryl Plummer, managing vice president and Gartner Fellow.
The Largest Carbon-Neutral Event In The World
Submitted by Green Your Network on Wed, 01/16/08 - 9:48am.The Consumer Electronics Association, set a new precedent when they vowed to make the “Consumer Electronics Show” in Las Vegas last week, the largest carbon-neutral event in the world. Read more
The tradeshow typically draws 140,000 attendees from around the world and produces an estimated, twenty thousand metric tons of CO2 in just one week. Most of that is the hotel space: 63 percent is from hotels, 24 percent from freight, 12 percent from the convention center and then the [show space at the] Sands, the Hilton and the Venetian hotels.
- About Green Your Network
Joshua Levitt is e-commerce sales and marketing manager for UsedCisco.com.
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