Keeping it ‘green’
Today is Blog Action Day, a day on which I’m going to write about the Environment. But rather than stray too far from the sort of topics I normally deal with, I’ll discuss some of the options open to web designers and developers that will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint.
The good news is that if you’re working in web development you already engage in activities that produce less greenhouse gases than some industries. That’s not to say that working in design and development doesn’t produce any greenhouse emmissions: far from it.
- We still use electricity which is usually produced by coal-powered stations,
- we still use paper which comes from trees which have to be cut down, and
- we still have to attend meetings with clients which usually involves using motorised transport.
But working in a media that is intended to be viewed on a screen, rather than as a hard copy, and by the virtual nature of the Internet means we’re in a good position to cut down on the last two.
Cutting the car
Working as a web designer/developer it’s quite possible to conduct business without ever having to meet a client fact to face and it also enables you to break down borders and work for people all around the world. So, of the three areas mentioned above, attending meetings/transport will probably represent the smallest contribution to your business-related carbon footprint. It will, however, probably also be the hardest area in which to achieve even further savings because on those occasions when you do need to use transport to visit a client, it won’t always be possible to use public transport. It may also adversely affect your client’s first impression of you if you don’t turn up in your own car; some might see it as a sign of someone not doing very well in business, rather than someone making a conscious effort to reduce greenhouse emmissions. Hopefully, those sort of attitudes will be in the minority.
The easiest two areas in which we can achieve ’savings’ related to greenhouse emmissions will be in the usage of paper and power as there are a number of relatively painless steps that can be taken. I’m just going to be using my own experience here even though I know I could probably do a lot more than I do.
Punting the paper
For me, point 2, usage of paper, is almost non-existant. All my correspondence is carried out via email or messenger which includes sending proposals, quotes, wireframes, design concepts and invoices to clients. (Of course, there’s no guarantee that the person you’re sending electronic files to won’t print them out at your end.)
Also, rather than printing receipts etc. you could just keep a store of all electronic files that are sent to you, although you’d have to make sure you back up everything up carefully, and when it comes to dealing with the tax man, it may be better not to risk having a hard copy around.
Other ways to reduce paper are to use whatever online facilities are available for certain activities. For instance, I take care of my Business Activity Statements (BAS) using the Australian Tax Office’s Business Portal which lets you lodge your statement and pay your account online. Likewise, your tax return can be lodged online using e-tax.
Of course, inevitably there will be times when you have to print things out and when you do be sure to use recycled paper. (Unfortunately from an Australian perspective, it appears that our locally-made recycled paper products don’t meet the same standards as those made overseas.) When you’ve done with any paper copies, make sure they go in the recycle bin.
Reclaiming the computer
On the subject of recycling, the environmental effect of IT waste in landfill has become a serious issue due to computer monitors containing more than 10 times more lead than a car. Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors are the worst which is why the problem has escalated in recent years as many people switch over to flat panel monitors. CRT monitors are now considered hazardous waste with dumping of redundant IT equipment no longer seen as acceptable.
Many companies such as Dell have begun their own recycling programs and there exist in every state organisations who will take your old computer hardware and recycle it before distributing it to those who aren’t able to afford a computer of their own. The Total Environment Centre has a list of computer recyclers around Australia (as well as information on other types of recycling).
Replacing the power
As far as power/electricity usage goes, there are two main ways to help: use cleaner, renewable alternatives such as hydro energy, wind power and solar energy, and just use less of it!
Currently in Australia, and particularly in Queensland, water conservation has become a major issue recently with everyone having to think about the water they use and how to cut down on that amount. Shorter showers (four minutes or less), less loads of clothes washing per week, using grey water on the garden and less watering of gardens with sprinklers and hoses are just some of the things that have become the realities of everyday life in Queensland.
And the same sort of processes need to be applied to energy usage. For me, that involves turning lights off in rooms that are unoccupied, turning my computer monitor off when I’m away from the desk and turning appliances off at the switch when they’re not being used. The latter does result in some initial inconvenience if the appliance has a digital clock like a VCR/DVD player or microwave, but you learn to live without it.
Probably the easiest way to reduce carbon emissions from your power usage is get your power company to supply you with ‘green’ power or switch to a company that does. In fact, if you do what we’ve done recently you can start using renewable energy for no more than what you’re currently paying (depending on what state you live in)! We’ve switched to Jackgreen who offer the same tariffs as our previous provider with no transfer charges but who provide us with a minimum 10% accredited GreenPower. And for as little as $4.40 a week we can have 100% GreenPower.
That goes some way towards offsetting the energy usage of your home or business, but what about the energy usage associated with your website or the websites you maintain? A lot of people rely on external hosting providers and currently, there are none in Australia that offer hosting on servers run by renewable power.
So what are your options? You could host your site overseas with a company that does offer renewable-energy powered servers, but there’s a lot of reasons why Australian webmasters would want to host in Australia. Another alternative is to offset your web server’s carbon usage by purchasing certified abatement credits from greenhouse friendly activities.
That is what I’ve just done with the Tyssen Design site: I’ve purchased an abatement certificate organised by Energy Today, a resource about energy and its usage in Australia.
Some people doubt the value of carbon offsetting schemes, believing that by buying carbon credits you’re merely throwing money at a problem without really addressing it. But as Tony Vassallo of Energy Today points out:
Carbon offsetting is supposed to be used when you want to reduce your emissions but cant.
In our case, we wanted a hosting provider that used renewable energy to power its servers and offices. When we couldn’t find it we decided the next best thing was to offset our emissions. The end result is the same, providing the offsets are verified and arise from activities that genuinely do result in carbon abatement. This meant only buying abatement certificates that were created from demand side abatement, ie activities that actually reduce energy consumption and that can be measured, audited and verified.
The criticisms of voluntary offsets arose because some abatement activities were derived from tree plantings which can’t be guaranteed to keep carbon sequestered for at least 100 years. However there are many other abatement activities that do. Some of the most effective involve energy efficiency, such as replacing incandescent lights with high efficiency bulbs, and providing water saving shower heads (that reduce energy needed to produce hot water as well as reduce water consumption).
These activities directly result in lower emissions, and the certificates they create can be bought and retired, or traded. These activities promote the uptake of more efficient technologies and practices, and the revenue they provide to the organisations that generate them allows them to introduce new practices, technologies and programs. Having a market mechanism to price the abatement ensures a lower cost.
The tide is definitely turning and the message is getting out there – just recently there’s been an advertisement on Queensland TV featuring four rugby league stars promoting a scheme whereby a car insurance company will offset one tonne of your car’s emmissions for free if you switch to them – but it’s not enough that reducing greenhouse emmissions be talked about, we all need to do our bit, even if it’s just starting off small and doing something as simple as turning off a light whenever you leave a room.
5 responses to Keeping it ‘green’. Add your own.
I’m all for “green” energy but just be wary of Jack Green sales people up in Queensland. They will offer you “sweetners” for switching over and then deny such “sweetners” were offered once you’ve signed up, e.g. offered $200 worth of energy efficient light bulbs - then tell you after you signed “Sorry, that offer is not available, and has never been available, in Queensland”. So, I asked for a discount on my first bill or switch me back to my previous provider - they switched me bank.
Personally, I don’t think JG will be around long (they remind me of OneTel).
I’m all for green
Seriously, though, my company sells good bugs so people don’t have to use pesticides and I grow my garden organically so it’s always been something I’ve been able to get behind.
Welcome back, John. I haven’t seen any new posts from you in a while.
@Glen - JackGreen didn’t have to sell to me; I sought them out. Hopefully they don’t turn out to be like OneTel. Only time will tell.
@Mike - I guess that’s due to a combination of becoming a dad and not having many good ideas about what to write lately (the latter’s probably related to the former
).
Hehe, kids will fry the mind.
My comparison between Jack Green and OneTel was just a dig at JG … for a company in it’s early stages of establishment (in Queensland anyways) I was surprised how quick they were to a) deny any introductory offer was promised and b) lose me as a customer. Not particularly good customer relations if you ask me.