Monthly Archives: April 2007

Dream Gone Green

This carbon neutral thing is really taking off with online companies. DreamHost, who hosts some of my websites, including this one, has gone carbon neutral.

They started this as of April 20, and they took a lot into consideration. In figuring their carbon production, they considered a great deal:

It means we’ve calculated our carbon footprint. Our footprint represents the impact of everything that DreamHost uses and leaves behind in the course of our daily work. All of the resources that we use – paper in the office, electricity for our 1300+ servers, even the gas in our cars that bring us to the office

Pretty good thinking. I like that they didn’t skip that employees have to get there.

So how are they as a website host? Continue reading →

Are You Ready for Earth Day?

April 22 is coming up. There are all kinds of activities in most areas to celebrate. You can do a search on Google to find events in your area, or use the search on EarthDay.net.

When I searched the San Diego area, where I live, there were two pages of results on the Earth Day site. I don’t get to attend any, though – company’s in town and we have a family get together.

But that doesn’t mean I have to miss out on the idea of Earth Day. I can talk to my children about conservation or find something special to do with them.

Of course, having only one car in the family limits my ability to take my kids anywhere anyhow. It’s good and bad – we miss out on some great educational opportunities, but my children are learning that you don’t have to have two cars in a family to get along.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Global Warming and National Security

It doesn’t surprise me much to read that global warming could cause national security concerns. The more trouble countries have at home, the more they’re going to look for ways out of trouble.

You can download the report if you don’t mind pages and pages of governement talk, and get some good information on what some of the concerns are. I think it’s pretty realistic, although some may not appreciate the military perspective.

You know already what a strain a natural disaster can be on a country. Many countries face far more potential for natural diasters as global warming becomes more and more a reality to be dealt with. Longer droughts. Land lost to the ocean. Harsher winters. And don’t forget this point:

“Weakened and failing governments, with an already thin margin for survival, foster the conditions for internal conflicts, extremism and movement toward increased authoritarianism and radical ideologies,” the report says. “The U.S. will be drawn more frequently into these situations.”

Continue reading →

Yahoo Going Carbon Neutral Too

I posted earlier about an Australian website hosting company going carbon neutral. I just read that Yahoo intends to do so as well this year.

That’s one thing I love about various online companies; that they think in ways so different from older companies. Yahoo has been working on being environmentally conscious for a long time. Just take a look at some of the things they have done already:

Our commute alternatives program has been recognized annually by the EPA since 2001 for incentives like Wi-Fi enabled biodiesel shuttles, bike lockers, carpool matching, and sizeable public transit subsidies. Our recycling program keeps about 180,000 pounds of materials out of landfills each year. We use renewable power, hydroelectric energy, and passive cooling at our various facilities and data centers. And green-minded Yahoos have launched sustainability-focused products like the Yahoo! Autos Green Center and 18Seconds.org to show people how they can make a difference in their own lives.

Continue reading →