I am passionate about carbon footprint reduction and believe a combination of centralised servers, green hosting, carbon offsets and efficient data-centres all have a role to play. But the most important and all too often overlooked factor is the ability for hosted collaboration and document management software to provide an alternative to commuting for at least 50% of all employees 50% of the time. I strongly believe that the use of hosted ECM will do more for your carbon footprint than practically any other measure you might care to implement.

One other quick thing I'll mention - iPhones really seem to help us work remotely no matter where that is - home or meetings. We've deployed them throughout much of the company, and it helps keep things more paperless and allows for more telecommuting as well.

Yes iPhones (and other 3G phones) work nicely with our system. It is pretty compelling to show a customer his scanned pdf contract or our latest pricing spreadsheet from our Webrecs system in a coffee shop or bar. Or even better to send him the link to his iPhone for him to pull down the document himself .

Agreed. I love it when things are both good for the environment (like going paperless) and also just plain cool!

Wonderful thread. Yay! Green!

Offer highly efficient vehicles as company take home cars in lieu of a pay raise.

Offer highly efficient vehicles as company take home cars in lieu of a pay raise.

Oh wow good one. I didn't even think about that!

Yes working remotely definitely is one of the best things to do, to make your company green and especially in web business it is so simple to do. But I hear many people struggling with all the distracts at home, they see their workers work less and not as emphasized as before.

Green technology is not only the wave of the future, but it will also shape and mold who we are and how we live our world for future generations to come. I personally applaud any business or person that is attempting to go green and become more environmentally friendly.

When I was originally planning the 'go green' move for us, I didn't actually realise how many little and big things you can do. I got a list together of a few things we could do in the short term and some we can do long term and started concentrating on goal setting per quarter.

Short term examples: 100% recycled high grade paper, just as good as 1st run paper. Switching to low emission units. Using eco-friendly data centers.

Long term (1st year onwards) examples: Looking at lease for Smart Cars (the small ones) as our 100% decal branded vehicles for client site visits, plant a tree scheme.

Getting rid of the motor car would be a big step in the right direction. Working from home could at least cut a 2 car family into a 1 car family and might eliminate the need for a car. We use a scooter which has a 3 litre gas tank! It cost $5 to fill it up and takes over 1 month to use :D.

I must agree that working from home is one of the best ways to to green. My car has one of these big W12 engines, and I work from home sometimes. However, it's very hard for me to work from home all the time. I just need to "change the walls" sometimes :) Then I come to our main office.

it good to see that people are starting to take this on board. even america is finally starting to think green, which is important given it's size and the massive percentage of damage it does. obviously hosting can never be 100% green but every initiative will make a difference in the long run.

great!!! for a better future

Guys, but don't you think that some people are (or at least would like to be) "too much green". They are ready to throw away their money for any crap which has green logo on it.

Look into clean diesels, their foot print is less than most of the hybrids when you start really looking. CPFs and wind energy for your providers are 2 of the biggest things you can do and dump all those old tower servers. :)

I believe petrol cars are more green than diesels...

One other quick thing I'll mention - iPhones really seem to help us work remotely no matter where that is - home or meetings. We've deployed them throughout much of the company, and it helps keep things more paperless and allows for more telecommuting as well.

yeah smart ;)

I believe petrol cars are more green than diesels...

Yes, I agree with you

I'm also surprised that some people still believe hybrid cars are more green. Probably they didn't read that making a hybrid car causes huge damage to nature

We work from home. It's amazing actually how little paper you need in the office. We dont print much and if we do it gets recycled.

Good point from Hosting24 though... it has to be a 'genuine' idea.

Tree planting as a company event or planting a number of trees per year contingent on revenue are pretty good ideas too.

Even my company has an office, i usually stay and work at home if I dont have to go .. Save gas , save money:) hybrid cars ??? I have same idea with you hosting24.. Good point!

Working from home is definatly much greener. I personally think that alot of company's now a days put Green on the label just to try and sell more not because it really makes any kind of impact on our world.

If you can't work from home there are still other alternatives such as biking(great exercise) or as mentioned hybrid cars (Conserve gas and money:D)

As someone mentioned before, forget a car, and get a scooter/motorbike. Although it's only really convenient for 1 person, it's a lot more cheaper and greener. With a car you're using (and paying for) the gas to drag a 2 tonne machine wherever you go.

Well, I live 5 blocks from the office yet I still drive (its a big park in those 4 blocks though. I should probably take your suggestion, coduk.

With home internet connections getting faster and faster, I can see a new wave of "Cloud Companies" starting. Not only is it green (As staff don't have to travel to work everyday), but companies can save office space ($$$).

Of course, some may call my idea of a "Cloud Company" as "Being Lazy", but hey, we are what we are :)

A client focused business will always need a premises of some sort though to meet and greet potential customers. I don't think the world is quite ready to sign a £50,000 contract with my staff in their Pyjamas! (yet)

Cheers

Jonny
Evorack

its hot topic now, it is our responsibility to take action now to save future.

hopefully within the next 10 years we will reduce our carbon foot print and not the other way around

But the most important and all too often overlooked factor is the ability for hosted collaboration and document management software to provide an alternative to commuting for at least 50% of all employees 50% of the time. I strongly believe that the use of hosted ECM will do more for your carbon footprint than practically any other measure you might care to implement.

That depends on several factors actually.

If most of your employees take clean mass transit and have a short commute then that'd produce less emission than heating/cooling/lighting each employees individual home all day (where it would otherwise be vacant) instead of heating/cooling/lighting a shared office space, no?

There are exceptions to every rule and in major cities the above scenario is probably quite common - parents go to work on subway/bus/monorail/lightrail/walk/bike/etc, kids go to school, and all utilities at home get shut off for the day.

go green!i totally agree!!

Are iPhones "Green"?
The only way to go green is to use recycled paper and stuffs.
But i don't really get it when hosting companies claim "Green Hosting"

Biodiesel is the greenest common fuel IMO, if not considering hydrogen and uranium :)

working remotely or just get a job close to your home -if there aren't any then relocate. i mean people are so "I need this. I need that". I'm 26, work from home and still don't have a car...