Stephen Nold

Going Green
October 18, 2007

Everywhere I look, the Green movement is coloring my world. According to Wikipedia, the Green movement is a political movement which advocates goals common to Green parties, including environmentalism and social justice concerns.  Supporters of the Green movement, called Greens, adhere to Green ideology and share many ideas with the ecology, conservation, environmental, feminist, and peace movements.

I’m not certain about the feminist component, but I get the rest of it. As a matter of fact, I have decided to become Green myself. With industry leaders like Hanley Wood announcing their investment into the Green movement, how can I resist? My home city of Austin, Texas was selected by National Geographic’s The Green Guide as one of the Top 10 Green Cities in the US.

So as of today, I am all about Green. I want Green software, Green hardware and Green technology services. Now the problem is figuring out what is defined as Green. Yes, it is easy to grasp the value of reducing our carbon footprint to make this world a better place to live. But how does one go about go Green?

Sure, we recycle at the Nold household. I hate printed documents just as much as everyone else these days. I ride a road bicycle for exercise and might even try using it to commute to work on days the rest of the staff won’t be around. I guess we could buy one of them teeny tiny cars

But if our industry is serious about reducing our carbon footprint, wouldn’t we start calculating the number of air miles we travel each year? Airplanes are one of the biggest carbon polluters. So if everyone is serious about this Green movement, would there be a push to reduce the number of tradeshows? Certainly we are not advocating the elimination of the Meetings industry as our environmental goal? Isn’t there a little irony in flying or driving to a Green conference?

Seems that talking Green is much easier than going Green. Makes my head ache. I think I will just go lie down in my hammock under the shade of one of our very large Pecan trees and enjoy the afternoon breeze. That sounds like a good way to start thinking Green. 

Posted by Stephen Nold on October 18, 2007 | Comments (0)