data-green at the Green Earth Expo

The Green Earth Expo is coming to Orlando this week, and Data-Green will be there in booth 711 – just off the main stage near the Expo entry hall.

This is a great event for businesses and consumers alike – lots of great information on green initiatives of today and tomorrow, including green building methods, power conservation, and automotive technologies.

At the moment, it looks like Data-Green will be one of the few (if not the only) that offers green technology analysis as a major service, but we’re happy to be the trendsetters!

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Tags: Environment, green tech

BP and Shell blow away profit forecasts

Sitting in the Dayton Airport waiting for my flight to Atlanta, I was paging through USA Today (free at my hotel, grabbed it as I wandered out this morning at 5 AM) and couldn’t help noticing that BP and Shell are reporting higher than expected profits. 

Does anyone else find this offensive in the face of an impending recession (some report we’re in one, others say we’re not) and declining consumer confidence?  Fuel prices are off the chart in the US, and these two companies had a combined profit of $17 Billion.

That’s Billion with a "B".  A capital "B".  It  really deserves to be bolded and italicized. 

Personally I find that offensive.  I know, it’s the capitalist socienty we embrace in the US, and I’m for it – heck, I’m an entrepreneur as well and we’re a for profit company, but how much is enough? 

I think there should be a call for these companies to put a significant part of these profits – and I’m thinking along the lines of at least 25% – toward renewable and environmental efforts.  We’re working on extending a website calling for increased support of renewable efforts by Big Oil.  I’ll post more soon, but encourage everyone to join us in calling for a $4 Billion fund to be created by Big Oil to support emerging renewable and environmental efforts.

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Is there anything wrong with going green to see green

A friend asked me about that last post – what’s wrong with going Green to see more Green?

The answer is nothing – as long as you are sincerely making green efforts.  We see increased profitability as a significant benefit of taking a green strategy.  And for many companies one of the main drivers will be the desire to positively impact the bottom line.

I see nothing at all wrong with that – as long as the efforts really result in a greener operation.  The concern with many tech companies right now seems to be that they are creating alot of media buzz around renewable strategies and green initiatives, but may be doing so just for the positive PR.

My opinion is that green strategies make business sense, if implemented correctly and with the correct priority (something that Data-Green specifically makes it easy to do).  If it makes business sense, lots of organizations will do it.  The positive Public Relations from these initiatives is a side benefit.

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Are Big Tech Companies Going Green just to see More Green?

Interesting article on the big tech companies going green.  There’s a question as to whether the green movement among some high-tech companies is truly well intentioned and genuine or just rhetoric to gain a boost in PR. The article can be found here.

While I don’t doubt that (as with anything) there are a few bad apples, I tend to doubt that all efforts by companies such as Microsoft and Apple are just a smokescreen.  They have too much to lose by making such a play.  When Steve Jobs comes out and states unequivicolly that their performance will improve in the greenspace, if Apple doesn’t meet that statement they would be killed in the media.  Even worse, however, would be appearing to meet his challenge, only to then be revealed as a fake.  The negative fallout if Apple were to "fake" green initiatives would be much bigger than the original criticism received from greenPeace on the environmentally damaging materials in the older Macs.

The level of adherence might be in question, but there has to be some fre behind the smoke.  The real question is how much.

As Data-Green talks to other tech companies (and we are, looking for opportunities to partner with us in out green tech initiatives) nearly everyone seems to have an interest in going green.

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Squidoo

Quick note – we just added a Lens on Squidoo.  I’m a fan of Seth Godin’s blog, and he’s been making noise about Squidoo for a long time now, so I finally bit the bullet and went through the process. 

One of the first things we’ve added is a poll, so please check it out and vote!

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On the Fun Side: Green Gaming

I’m not really ashamed of the fact that I’m a gamer. I’m not even a closet gamer – I don’t hide the fact.

Now comes along this article and it looks like I need to rethink my gaming strategy. According to Hardcoreware.net, the Nintendo Wii is roughly 10x more environmentally friendly than the XBox360 and the PS3!

On the bright side, this looks like great excuse to go buy a Wii.

Earth Day 2008

Earth Day 2008 – and getting lots of press.  I’m a little surprised at the amount of press, actually – but pleasantly so.  In Orlando, lots of local businesses are having random events around Earth Day that makes me think there’s lots of possibilities for the green efforts to really take hold.

Having said all that – it shouldn’t be a once a year thing – and lately it hasn’t been.  Green efforts are really stepping up and it’s great to see.  I’m seeing more and more articles on greening tech these days as well, which is also encouraging.  I’m not yet convinced that technology executives "get it" yet, but that’s OK I suppose, since a huge part of what Data-Green does is educate.

In any case, if you’re reading this, please make an effort to do something for Earth Day – even if it’s the only day you really do something for the environment, it’s a start!

Greetings!

At long last I would like to say hello.  I know that Rick promised my blog arrival a while ago, however, due to our busy schedule I have not been able to get on here yet.  The wait is over though, so you will begin to see more of me in the near future!  Get excited!

Off Topic: Lost a couple of posts

Well, I just upgraded my laptop from one of the first generation Macbook Pros (Core Duo 2.0, acquired to replace my failed PowerBook G4 a little over two years old) to a new Macbook Pro (Core2Duo 2.5).

And while I love the new LED display (I went glossy over matte, but that’s personal preference) what I don’t like is the fact that my saved blog posts didn’t get transferred when I used Apple’s migration assistant.  And unfortunately, I already blew away the drive on the old system. 

So the bottom line is some lost wisdom.  I trust it won’t be the end of the world for anyone, but it is an inconvenience.  On the other hand, the new MBP is awfully fast.  Quite a performance difference between the two.  Plus the new one has a Silver EPEAT rating!

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Earth Hour recap

So – did you go dark at 8?  Our house was dark.  I have to admit though that I was at a big event here in town and that event didn’t go dark, but it was at an arena. I guess you could say the dogs participated.

I absolutely get the Zen feeling that many have expressed about it.  As a kid we would spend alot of weekends and summers at a vacation home we had near the mountains along the Appalacian Trail in Pennsylvania.  This was as I was growing up on Long Island, NY and about as far from civilization as you could get – or so it seemed.  Friends and families would come up to visit over the summers (My Dad would take his entire vacation in August – 3+ weeks) and I remember that alot of people wouldn’t be able to sleep for the first couple nights because it was so quiet.  Just you and nature.  Complete and utter darkness, except for the moon and the stars.