Like most workplaces in America, coffee service in the breakrooms at Sun is "make it yourself." The coffee machine brews coffee directly into a vacuum-pump urn so that the coffee doesn't sit there in a carafe and burn. When the urn is full, you get a strong flow with each press of the button. When the pot is almost empty, the stream of coffee into your cup is weak. When it's empty, it gurgles loudly and spits coffee remnants into your cup. That gurgle is the audible signal that you're the one selected to make the next pot of coffee. If you don't want to make the next pot, you stop pressing the button so the "make-the-next-pot-of-coffee" gurgle alarm is triggered by the next unsuspecting coffee drinker.

We must have a lot of people in my corner of the building who stop pressing the button as soon as the coffee stream is weak, because I seem to brew about one pot of coffee to every cup I drink. I've put signs out asking people to brew a new pot when the urn is empty. I've tacked up cartoons. I've complained loudly. Nothing seems to change my ratio.

This is a silly example, but an example nonetheless, of the “Tragedy of the Commons.” The concept is this: whenever there's a shared resource that individuals benefit from without sharing the cost, the potential for overuse or abuse grows. Each individual tries to get just a little bit more than their fair share, thinking that no one else will really notice. Eventually, everyone does notice the collective impact of these individuals' decisions--when the shared resource is depleted or gone.

A better example for me is happening closer to home.

I live in a more rural part of the San Francisco Bay Area. I've known since I first moved there that the State of California was going to "improve" the highway that runs near our home. The state has now published its plan, and this two-lane road is going to become six lanes in some places and 4 lanes in others. I don't think any of my neighbors thought that "improvement" meant turning our two-lane highway into a freeway.

In order to stop the state's plans, we need to file a lawsuit and force the state to complete a real environmental impact analysis and report.

I've never participated in a lawsuit before, so maybe I'm naive, but I've been surprised to find myself having difficulty raising money for legal fees from the “neighbors” affected by the state's project, even though our real estate values will be adversely affected. We each have an economic interest to defend, yet not everyone is willing to contribute. Why? I think it's because of the “Tragedy of the Commons” phenomenon. The thinking seems to be, "If my economic interests will be defended by others willing to pick up the costs, then why should I spend my money? I'll benefit from the outcome without have to incur the cost."

But that's a dangerous strategy. We can't depend on others to defend (or pay for) our interests, because one day we'll turn around and find a freeway in our front yard, or worse. Our participation on the Internet, in particular, depletes our natural resources. I've heard estimates that with a billion people participating online today, the network consumes more than 100 billion kilowatts of electricity and costs businesses around $7.2 billion in utility bills annually. And those costs trickle down to every one of us. (Not to mention our massive e-waste problem.)

At Sun, we're trying to mitigate our impact on the planet by reducing our own carbon footprint, using alternative energies, greening our datacenters, among other actions. (You can read about our philosophy of eco-responsibility here.)  One of the most important components of our plan is OpenEco.org, a new global on-line community that provides free, easy-to-use tools to help participants assess, track, and compare business energy performance, share proven best practices to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and encourage sustainable innovation. It takes community-based approach to creatively solving our "commons" problem.  Governments, universities, businesses and nonprofits need to jointly solve for the use and accountability of that natural resources if we are to succeed.

Now if I could just find a way to get my co-workers to fill the gurgling coffee pot.