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Microsoft, with 70,000 employees spread out across the world, is deep into a corporatewide evaluation of how it can become a more environmentally friendly corporation.
Slideshow: Take a closer look at how Microsoft is weaving green into corporate DNA
Microsoft's early results include a PVC-product-packaging purge begun in 2005 that has resulted in the elimination of 1.5 million pounds of the environmentally unfriendly plastic, as well as a soon-to-open Microsoft data center near Chicago that is a state-of-the-art monument to energy efficiency.
As part of its green revolution, Microsoft also is partnering with such movers and shakers as former President Bill Clinton and his Clinton Foundation to discover how the world's largest cities can reduce carbon output and greenhouse gases. Microsoft also is part of The Green Grid consortium and Climate Savers, two industrywide power-efficiency initiatives.
In July, Microsoft put $500,000 into university grants to stimulate research on environmentally sensitive computing, and is turning a green light on its sixth-annual Imagine Cup software development challenge; the theme for 2008 is environmental sustainability.
The company's effort is not all self-motivation and altruism, however.
Microsoft was jabbed in November by the pointedly critical watchdog group Greenpeace, which berated the company for its 2011 time frame for eliminating toxic chemicals from its electronic products. Competitors Apple, Dell and others are targeting 2008 and 2009. After the criticism, however, Greenpeace lauded Microsoft for contacting the organization, updating its Web site with a list of banned substances and making immediate changes where possible.
In addition, green proselytizers have attacked Vista recently for its energy appetite and for the fact that many users upgrading to the operating system need to acquire new PCs and dispose of old ones.
To coordinate the proactive and the reactive, Microsoft last November appointed Rob Bernard to the newly minted position of chief environmental strategist, and told him to look at all aspects of the company and initiate improvements.
and there is always a but... firebug doesnt work :(- Anonymous
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Comments (6)
How to build a green data centreBy Tom Raftery on January 24, 2008, 11:57 amMicrosoft may not want to give away the details of how it achieved power savings in its data centres but data centre startup Cork Internet eXchange (CIX) has no...
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VarnishBy Anonymous on January 21, 2008, 4:08 pmThis all sounds like a little varnish to do some PR because this is all lost in an ocean of corporate travel.
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I'm sorry, but how isBy just thinking on January 18, 2008, 11:17 amI'm sorry, but how is putting a data center in the middle of a desert climate green? Microsoft is building data centers in Quincy, WA because power is cheap due...
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And yet...By skeptical on January 17, 2008, 11:23 am...for all this, Microsoft isn't making any real attempt to cut down on corporate travel, the corporate culture (contrary to policy) makes working remotely a career-limiting...
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Good Microsoft SummaryBy greenm3 on January 10, 2008, 10:12 amGreat Article. I read your article and it does a good job of summarizing Microsoft's Green activities. I've added a link to this article in my Green Data Center...
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