Friday Feb 02, 2007
Did anyone notice the new eco theme for roller that was quietly launched yesterday? It's really cool and compliments of the eco marketing team. Anyone can use it. I just changed mine over. It's for anyone to use to spread awareness of the importance of being eco responsible.
More on what went into the design of it later, but lots of new functionality including eco facts and eco action, cool comments widget, tagging, etc.
All about raising awareness in innovative ways.
Back to work...
Tuesday Jan 09, 2007
OK, so you care about saving money and care about the environment, but you still need that one "proofpoint" to convince your boss to go green and turn to a great company like Sun for your eco-responsible computing needs, while saving big money in the process.
Here's what you need - drum roll please: PROOFPOINTS.
Here's one:
Look no further than this article in Computerweekly about how important it is even the largest global banking groups in the world, like HSBC.
According to CTO Ken Harvey (shown below) HSBC says 6-7% of cost of running datacenters (sorry, datacentres) is going to power now where in previous years it was about 1%.
(Ken Harvey, CTO, HSBC)
According to the article:
Any savings on power
consumption will have an immediate financial gain for the bank. HSBC is
rolling out Sun T2000 servers, which are said to deliver up to three
times the throughput at 30% less power and cooling costs compared to
alternative server hardware.
Thanks for spotting, BM Seer.
Buy now here.
Oh, still hesitant? Why don't you try before you buy, risk free for 60 days?
Monday Jan 08, 2007
Happy Monday!
Check out the special Forbes issue on Building a Healthier Climate.
Sun Microsystems is prominently featured. Click on picture below.
Friday Jan 05, 2007
Non-bloggers wonder sometimes why read other people's blogs when you can just read the news. Well, case in point. I completely missed an important story over the holiday had I not read ddnotes today.
CNET has a story on December 26 that is quite interesting, since Sun is a leader in this space when it comes to energy-efficient servers and has been working with the EPA.
<snip from C|NET>
In a letter to computing-industry representatives Thursday, the federal
agency said it "is initiating its process to develop an Energy Star
specification for enterprise computer servers." Energy Star certification is a voluntary program identifying products that meet EPA-set efficiency requirements.
Sunday Dec 31, 2006
An interesting site and service from Better World Club, an eco-friendly travel club catering to eco-friendly
conscious travelers. The club is offering carbon offset options (certified by Climate Neutral Network) when flying. I'm still investigating this type of service as offsetting is a hot topic and there have been mixed reviews. Definitely worth tracking.
Thursday Dec 21, 2006
Today President Bush signed an important bill for the tech industry - HR5646 - today.
Big pat on the back to Sun as I know we certainly helped inspire/propose this bill to legislators, working
with others in the tech industry to make sure it was a single voice. Now the EPA has been directed to
study and promote energy efficiency in servers.
HR 5646 was one of about 20 bills the President signed yesterday.
Under the bill the EPA study and recommendations are due 180 days from
enactment, so mid/late June.
There is also a WSJ Story that is subscription only here
Today, large companies spend 15% to 20%
of their data center's operating budget on power and cooling, and by
2009 businesses in the U.S. will spend twice as much for power and
cooling as they did to buy the data centers' server hardware in the
first place. This trend makes it more apparent now than ever that
energy efficient and environmentally responsible computing will no
longer be just an option, but rather an imperative needed for companies
to remain competitive.
This measure offers an opportunity for the Environmental Protection
Agency to examine the environmental impact of data centers, explore
ways to reduce energy demand, and encourage the adoption of more energy
efficient server technology. The mandate will serve as an important
step toward promoting not only more environmentally responsible
computing for government and industry, but also better fiscal health as
a result of the tremendous savings possible through more energy
efficient technologies. It is important that we take action now to
promote these goals to help keep both our energy use and costs under
better control. This, in turn, will help drive U.S. competitiveness and
economic growth.
Sun is a leader in energy efficient computing technologies and is
committed to reducing global climate change through innovation. Our
Eco-Responsibility initiative is focused on reducing environmental
impact by designing products that require less power, manufacturing
products with less harmful materials, and encouraging reuse and
recycling in our industry. We look forward to working with leaders in
the 110th Congress to develop other legislative initiatives that will
encourage government and industry to adopt more energy efficient and
environmentally responsible policies and best practices for information
technology.
Tuesday Dec 19, 2006
Airplanes continue to come under fire for being anything but eco-responsible, perhaps spurred by this new report.
The U.S. airline
industry discards enough aluminum cans each year to build 58 Boeing 747
airplanes, along with thousands of tons o plastics, magazines and
newspapers. All of this waste represents unrealized potential for
airlines and airports to save money, reduce global warming pollution
and improve efficiency. -- NRDC via Makower blog
My sister just sent me an SMS that USA Today this morning that has a big story about jet polution. And Joel Makower has a related story.
source: NRDC via Joel Makower blog.
From USA Today:
- The FAA projects that the number of U.S. airline passengers will nearly double from 739 million last year to 1.4 billion in 2025
- On a New York-to-Denver flight, a commercial jet would generate 840 to
1,660 pounds of carbon dioxide per passenger. That's about what an SUV
generates in a month.
- Aircraft emissions pollute the air and threaten by 2050 to become one
of the largest contributors to global warming, British scientists have
concluded.
PHOTO SOURCE: USA TODAY
My two cents: Sun employees do fly to meetings if we have shown ample justification. For every flight we are required to get our manager, sometimes even VP-level, approval. If it is a strategic meeting with a customer or partner and are not under strict travel restrictions we get approved. But not all of the time. I have been denied travel before if the trip is not considered strategic. I think this is important to show your managers reports like these so they can further shape their own decisions on when flying is 'strategic'.
Think about what can be done via email, phone, video conferencing, WebEx, etc. Perhaps a New Years Resolution for myself: Fly Less in 2007 and instead of flying overseas or across country for vacation find interesting things to do right around my own town.
One note from USA Today story: The biggest contributor of pollution is not airlines. The biggest contributors are "vehicular traffic and power plants." Even still, "its emissions are considerable."
Wednesday Nov 22, 2006
Hi Mom,
Here is the green wishlist I promised you. I don't really expect you to get me the solar-powered messenger bag as the Timbuktu bag Sun gave away at JavaOne during Bike to Work week is working just fine.
I understand your anxiety now with such steep eco requirements for Hanukah this year (and every year). I am glad I took the time to create a shopping list for you.
Froogle was pretty buggy and so I don't recommend anyone use it unless they have a lot of patience and time (I was sick in bed). It also doesn't find every gift out there very easily. Neither did Amazon. In fact, I have found the green-wishlist-making chore a big pain. There really is not a good site out there yet to find green gifts. I looked at all the top results in Google, including NRDC, Sierra Club, and an old Wired article. Not much there really.
Then I went to my old standbys - WorldChanging, Treehugger.com, and a few others I am sure. But lo, nothing was satisfactory. I had to do it the hard way, one website at a time, with very specific search criteria such as 'recycled rubber briefcase'. I guess nothing really ever changes. If your mother is like mine and just wants you to tell her what to get you, there's no better way than picking out the gift yourself and making her job that much easier.
There was a good comment though that I did not think of on my previous post that another gift idea are music gift certficates.
Oh, and as for wrapping paper, how about this year use grocery bags or material from packaging that is currently sitting in your recycling bin.
OK, I'll give you a call now, as I don't think you ever read this blog, not yet anyway:)
Love,
Aaron
Friday Nov 17, 2006
Ed Begley Jr. has a new eco reality TV show coming soon to HGTV called Living with Ed.
Thanks Hugg.
This is not the first time a celebrity has committed to do an eco show. In fact I've blogged on this exactly a month ago.
I will not reserve my opinion: because the world idolizes moviestars we are likely to see even more green awareness in 2007 in the coming year. I speak about this lightly because it is Friday. Speaking of which, my wife, who owns a vintage store and sells some new and old things (think reuse), and I have been talking about opportunities within her store and with her 'supply chain' to get more eco-responsible. She has decided to write a letter to all of her vendors about her New Years Resolution to become much more eco-conscious in 2007 -- and stress the importance of packing things in a much more eco-friendly way -- no more Styrofoam peanuts, please.
OK, enough.
Have a green weekend, Universe.
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