GreenGab

A lot of the time when people think about “going green” they associate it with disheveled-looking people with dreadlocks wearing all-hemp clothes.  These days, green tech (and green living in general) is becoming so mainstream that you can still wear that fancy suit and tie, drive that fancy (hybrid) SUV, and go to your fancy home, yet still live an environmentally-conscious life.  CNET has a great article today on building green homes.

Many energy-consumption problems can be addressed with simple tweaks to conventional house design, according to the founder of eco-friendly home design company Michelle Kaufmann Designs. Windows and sliding glass doors placed on opposite walls, for instance, allow the sun to more evenly wash a room with light and eliminate contrast, which reduces the need for electrical light during the day. Windows also allow for natural air circulation, which reduces demand for heating and air conditioning.

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Source: CNET

The headline almost doesn’t make sense, does it?  If a company is doing all its publishing online, well, that sounds great - paperfree is better than paperfull, right?  The problem is all this wonderful tech providing this wonderful content on the wonderful Internet is using a bunch of high-powered servers in heavily air-conditioned rooms.  The bigger the pub, the more servers, and worse yet, the more redundant servers and mirroring servers needed around the world.  Yahoo! announced last week they were taking a first step at reducing their environmental impact by going carbon neutral, which is definitely one way to help this rapidly growing problem.

When I read the headline at the New York Times (online) today that “As Environmentalism Grows, Online Publishers Go Green” I was excited to read on.  The first paragraph alone was enough to disappoint:

Buoyed by the breakaway success of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the film documentary of Al Gore’s environmental lecture, publishers like The Washington Post, National Geographic and others are increasing their offerings of “green” content, hoping to attract readers and advertising revenues from manufacturers and retailers who are suddenly walking the earth-friendly path.

The entire article is basically about these companies having new columns and subsites about green products.  More stuff we can all go out and buy and feel a little better about ourselves because we bought it.  On one hand I’m encouraged, seeing big players pay some attention to this space is great.  On the other, I’m discouraged, as I’m growing increasingly concerned that everyone’s looking for the “quick fix” to environmental issues, of which there are many, most of which aren’t quickly fixable.

Source: The New York Times

I was browsing Amazon today and noticed a big splashy graphic on Earth Day specials.  Here are some cool Amazon “green” links:

• Amazon’s blog with “green life” tags
• How to be an Environmentally Responsible Driver article
• Earth Day discussion forums
• 10 Ways You Can Help the Environment list

For more, here’s Amazon’s Earth Day homepage. 

Just wanted to let anyone who might stumble upon this site that this is all placeholder right now.  I am bringing on a few writers, getting a designer to “fix” the look and feel, etc.  I wish I had the time myself to make this a constant activity, but it’s not realistic just yet.  In the meantime, content, links, coverage, etc will all be sporadic.

Thanks for understanding!

Tara Hunt of HorsePigCow and Citizen Agency fame posted her three steps to getting a little greener in life (paraphrased here, go read the whole article):

1. More support for ZipCar.  I like ZipCar as a concept myself, but I can’t make it work for my lifestyle right now - hopefully in the future!  At least I drive a Civic to make up for it.
2. Switch hosting provider to SustainableWebsites. I’ll have to go look into them myself, hadn’t even heard of them and I *just* signed this deal with Godaddy…
3. Compost.  We compost at home and it’s one of those things that I find very rewarding.  For those out there who think “composting, ick!” we have a simple ick-free solution: we have a big tupperware container, and throw stuff into it, keeping the lid closed. We throw its contents out every night.  Easy stuff.

You really should read her post as she has 9 other tips in there for greener living. Good moves Tara! 

I’m a big believer that our future is heavily dependent on us adopting more clean/green technology.  Experts around the world predict quite a bit of potential doom and gloom, ranging from global warming to water shortages to tainted food supplies. 

I try to do my little part to contribute, such as reusing grocery store bags, composting and recycling, and leaving my TV off when not in use (sure, that sounds obvious, but with the average US household leaving it on for 8+ hours per day, any little bit I can do to counter that must help!).  I decided I wanted to try to do a little more to help, and thought one thing I can do, short of working for an eco-oriented non-profit, was to start a new blog focusing on green tech news.

Welcome to GreenGab.

I’m looking for a little help, so if you’d like to contribute, please let me know! Send an email to anything at greengab.com, I’ll get it!