Green Options

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:

Online, ecopreneurs should explore partnership models with low barriers. Lowering the barrier, increases the breadth of partnerships that can be experimented with. Relationship can be deepened and customized once traction is proven.

As the auto industry as we know it continues to crumble, a new model is emerging out of the Netherlands, known currently as c,mm,n. Open source design has proven itself successful in a number of arenas from software to restaurants. But a car? Yes, one where the design will be made available to the public, with the provision that their design be likewise made open to the public to do their own revisions and modifications on it.

Biking. For most American adults, it’s just not on the radar as a transportation option for more then casual use. B Cycle hopes to change that. And with the intersection of three powerful allies, an economy in trouble, and a population ready for and open to something different, now may be just the time for such an endeavor.

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.

I’ll admit it: I am a chronic trier of new software. Being on Twitter, I am soaking in shiny new things to try. And I do. Often. And almost as often, they end up collecting virtual dust on the shelf, tried briefly, not proving sticky enough to become part of my work or fun flow, or compelling enough to displace what I already use.

GPS enabled phones such as the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry have made getting around so much easier, and in the case of geocaching, more fun. But what if you’re a green minded individual, in a city you’ve never been to before, or even in your own town, and want to know what businesses have got what you want?

When I say the name Fiat, what comes to mind? If you’re American, the words, “Fix It Again, Tony” may come to mind, recalling the days when Fiats were a more common sight on these shores, and had a less than stellar reputation for reliability. But if you’re in Europe, a very different set of words may come to mind: Efficient. Stylish. Innovative.

Really?

Yes. The latest example of that is EcoDrive. What is it, aside from a catchy name? It’s an application that analyzes how you drive, and tells you how you can improve it. This backseat driver has a motivation: Helping you save gas, money, and reduce emissions, on vehicles whose average CO2 emissions are the lowest in Europe.

How?

I know that Infoworld declared cloud computing “all the rage” back in April, but it now seems to have reached a tipping point. Just last week I came across Michael Dell and Marc Benioff sounding off in Forbes.com, I received an email from The QuestionPro Blog about cloud connectors, read about “Why Private Cloud Computing Is Beginning to Get Traction” in eWeek and learned about a CloudCamp Computing Conference. And, of course, since it was the election week, the talk about cloud computing even turned to politics with techies asking”  “What Does The Obama Revolution Mean to Cloud Computing?”

If I am coming across cloud computing on a daily basis, its clearly become mainstream. But, how exactly is cloud computing green?  Well, Kevin Jackson mused about this on his blog and asserts that The Economist provides the perfect answer:

Spoofing on the James Bond 007 brand of spy thrillers, Greenpeace has just launched a new campaign called “Coalfinger,” aimed at stopping the construction of any new coal-fired power plants.

The mega-trends of social media and sustainability share plenty of the same DNA.

The Arnold Palmer is an exceptional beverage. It takes two individual beverages, iced tea and lemonade, each very good in their own right, and creates an even better one. That’s how we feel about social media and green living i.e. sustainability.

There is nothing inherently green about social media. The Web 2.0 revolution is driven by code and the Internet as a platform. According to Wikipedia, it describes this as a trend in “technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users.” This is largely a virtual world.

The move toward sustainability, on the other hand, is taking place entirely offline in the actual world. It is about balancing our impact and more wisely managing our natural resources. The United Nations describes it as commitment to “the provision of a secure environmental, social, and economic future.”

As different as they are, these two trends share one key quality: they’re changing the world for the better. They are changing politics, business, culture, and society. In the following we explore 10 ways that the trends of social media and sustainability intersect as well as align.

Special Note: Sustainablog and Max Gladwell are supporting Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). By clicking this link and signing up for SocialVibe, once featured in our Ten Ways to Change the World Through Social Media, you’ll effectively donate $1 to the cause. We also encourage you to watch the live telecast on ABC, CBS, and NBC, September 5th, at 8:00pm ET/PT.