By Zachary Shahan •
January 19, 2010
Yeah, that’s what I said — What?!
Apparently, Bell Labs has launched a global effort to overhaul the internet and other communication networks to make them 1,000 times greener by the year 2015!
Bell Labs is the research arm of telecom giant Alcatel-Lucent. In this effort they are coordinating with 15 other initial members from industry, academia, science labs, and NGOs, including AT&T, China Mobile, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, and MIT’s Research Laboratory for Electronics. “Green Touch” is the name being given to the consortium.
How much energy do the internet and other communication networks use? They emit about the same amount of greenhouse gas pollution as 50 million cars — 300 million tons each year.
This consortium, along with anyone else who joins it (more on this below), is looking to make yearly emissions in 2015 a few times less than what the current daily emissions are.
The system for producing this green internet and communications revolution is quite unique.
As our good friend Max Gladwell has pointed out repeatedly, the social web provides a wealth of opportunities to change the world through social media. Finnish start-up One Did It is shooting for a spot on Max’s list: this small company, which shared its story with us on the Finnfacts Clean Tech Bloggers Tour, aims to promote European approaches to thinking about sustainability through a decidedly Silicon Valley model. Their platform, which combines lifestyle assessment, action tips, and opportunities for friendly competition among its community, provides users with the means to measure the impact of their lifestyle choices, and to see the effects of behavioral changes on their environmental footprints.
What gets measured gets managed: the Ecological Backpack
It turns out that my use of the term “footprint” illustrates my American perspective on environmental impact; One Did It relies on the metaphor of the “ecological backpack,” which originated in Europe, and has really taken off in Germany. While similar to the footprint concept, the backpack approach provides a bit more comprehensive evaluation of the burden your choices place on natural systems.
Have trouble getting up early on Saturday morning to get to the farmers market? Yeah, me too. And while more supermarkets are featuring more selections of local food on their shelves and in their stalls, there’s nothing quite like that straight-from-the-farm produce. What’s a late sleeper to do?
A new web service, Local Dirt, is out to make the connection between the local farmer and buyer more convenient. Say you’re looking for local peaches during the season. Local Dirt’s interface allows you to set search criteria based on location, product, and even venue (if you choose), and find a farmer from whom you can buy online. Sleep in on Saturday, get to the market late, and your peaches are still there… the service provides you with a purchase order to take to the vendor. Some of the farmers may even deliver…
By Zachary Shahan •
September 25, 2009
A new tool in Google Earth shows you the “effect” of climate change in your area.
Using Google Earth, you can look at climate effects under three different scenarios — 1) Confronting Climate Change — “with Al Gore”, 2) IPCC High Emissions Scenario, and 3) IPCC Low Emissions Scenario. Other new tools let you examine other aspects of climate change and how to adapt to climate change.
By Govind Singh •
September 9, 2009
Last week, the Internet celebrated its 40th birthday! Forty glorious years that saw not just the transition from ARPANet to the now popular Internet but also Web 2.0 and what not! The Internet has been a revolution–in the making! The Internet that we know of today has been around for a little over a decade. That is also the time period when awareness and action on the “global” climate crisis has been phenomenal. And the link, evident!
According to the Internet Governance Forum, Internet consumes up to one trillion kilowatt hours of electricity per year, amounting to around 5% of the world’s total electricity consumption. The ‘tools’ of the IT sector are also manufactured using metals of various kinds. So the question remains, can Internet really help solve the climate crisis? The answer, on behalf of a generation grown up with the Internet, a firm Yes!
Here are five ways how Internet is helping fight climate change:
By Julie Finn •
August 20, 2009
It’s a brilliant marketing idea.
Although I have long been stalking Spoonflower (a fabric-on-demand printing service), checking out their Fabric of the Week, even subscribing to their promotional emails, I have never bought their services.
I have ideas, of course–fabric printed with the comic strip that my husband and I write, fabric printed with the rainbow patchwork pattern that I painstakingly piece together from a number of fabrics to make my crayon rolls, fabric printed with my pattern design for my dinosaur stuffies, etc. But these ideas have, so far, all remained in my head.
Until today, at least. Today I’m making at two of my design dreams reality. For free.
By Sean Daily •
July 23, 2009
GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks with green blogger Paul Smith from TriplePundit.com and Ecopreneurist.com Triple Pundit is the new conversation place all about integrating people, planet, and profits into today’s businesses. Ecopreneurist covers the latest trends in [...]
By Paul Smith •
April 29, 2009
In today’s rapidly changing sustainable business landscape, it’s becoming increasingly important to be aware of what’s happening, emerging, and yet to be created where you could fill a need. How best to do that?
By Timothy B. Hurst •
March 19, 2009
Although politicians themselves may be relative newcomers in the world of communicating in 140-character or less, those who write about and study politics aren’t. And that goes for those who favor environmental politics, too.
