“It is estimated there are 660 million computers in use worldwide, the majority of which run some iteration of a Microsoft operating system. Generating the electricity needed to power those computers requires hundreds of power plants that produce billions of tons of CO2 emissions. Many of those machines sit idle for 12 to 16 hours per day, burning electricity, but not doing any work, because businesses habitually leave their computers running overnight.”

Interesting…

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/2281

I am writing from Denver and the site of the 2006 Greenbuild Conference.  The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) holds an annual conference that has grown exponentially over the last five years.  Started 13 years ago the USGBC is the leader in promoting sustainable design and construction.  This year there was considerable talk about the catastrophic climate change that is in our near future.  Bill McDonough spoke in the opening plenary and quite honestly motivated me to pursue our offset and sustainable projects with greater ambition.  He posed two questions to close his speech:

1) If not us, who?

2) If not now, when?

This call to action is so clear, it would be impossible to not react.  The One Ton CO2 Project is only the start for us.   Our goal for this first project is to make CO2 offsets something anyone can do, but moreover it is about bringing awareness to everyone of the serious problem we will all be confronted by during our generation, the accumulation of green house gas and the resultant climate change.
“The difference between catastrophe and hope is education.”

We’ve just filed and FedEx’d the necessary paperwork. It’s sort of exciting. We’re going to be in a position to offset thousands of tons of CO2 emissions before December 5th.

“The SEQL (Sustainable Environment for the Quality of Life) has a great list of 100 ways that we can all help save the environment. Before you roll your eyes because your time is too valuable to worry about such trivial issues, the list also could have been titled, “Tons of Ways to Save Money”. So, if you need 2 reasons to implement something good into your life, there you go.” [ Via DumbLittleMan]

This seems to be conference and event month, everyone wants to get in one last event before the holidays. The end of 2006 is near. I have been amazed to see almost every invitation that comes across my desk boldly highlighting that the event’s emissions are to be offset. I am both for and against this and I will explain why.

It is a great thing that our collective social conscious has decided that we should indeed be accountable for the emissions that result from our business activities. At some point early on in the advent of the internet it was thought that the days of face to face contact were numbered. This has obviously proven to be completely incorrect. The “webinar” was to replace the seminar, again that has proven incorrect. It is an inate human need to have interaction with others. Thus the conference, the seminar, the event will always be a vital and necessary component of business. In the name of sustainability we “offset” the emissions from our travel to these meetings, but is this really more than a band-aid? It is a good thing in that it adds liquidity to the offset market and it brings awareness to the issue of Global Warming, but nothing to discuss the larger underlying problems.

We should be talking about how everyone can take little steps today, together, that will add up to a much greater good. It is not enough to say my emissions were offset by some company when I went to the conference and then revert back to our old ways once we return home. This is the concept behind our mission of, “Conserve, reduce, offset”. Offsetting is a good thing but it is only one tool in the toolbox to fight Global Warming. Fighting Global Warming requires more than a quick fix.

Humble beginnings.

How many tons will we offset this year? 1000? I can’t decide exactly how high to set the bar longer term. What’s reasonable for 6 months? What’s ‘the goal’? Is it offsetting 10,000 tons of CO2? How about a million tons? Obviously, every bit helps, and reaching for a huge number is ambitious.

It’s taken almost a year to get to this point, though most of this project didn’t exist before July. I’m excited.