After living in Boulder for close to ten years, it’s hard to not pick up a few green habits. For example, I recycle everything I can, I use reusable canvas bags for all my shopping and I switched out all my old light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs. However, I still have significant room for improvement and I’m committed to really amping up my efforts this Spring and Summer (bring on the Hybrid!). From the conversations I’ve had lately, it sounds like a lot of you guys are too. So in honor of Earth Day, and in hopes of giving everyone a little greening motivation (myself included), I thought it would be fun to highlight what a few of our clients are doing to make their own worlds a little greener.
Rally Software: Rally’s commitment to sustainability was built into their company from day one. Rally’s use of a Software-as-a-Service delivery model eliminates much of the waste that is traditionally associated with software products (boxes, cds, special server hardware, etc.). Rally’s founder and CTO Ryan Martens has worked tirelessly to spread the concept of “Greening the Software Industry” by speaking on the topic at several major industry conferences and authoring numerous articles and white papers.
Internally, the company has formed a “Green Team” that meets once a month to define company-wide green objectives and make specific commitments towards their achieving them. This month, the focus is on implementing an internal composting program, next month the focus will be on reducing its employees’ commuting emissions. Rally also participates in Boulder’s “Be Climate Smart” initiative, a countywide effort to help individuals, families and businesses increase their energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint. As part of this program, Rally buys Renewable Energy Credits to cover the energy used to power and cool their production servers with 100% carbon free wind energy.
You can read more about Rally’s sustainability efforts by visiting the Green Brainstorm hive in their Web 2.0 community, Agile Commons.
Corporate Express: Corporate Express is one of the world’s largest business-to-business suppliers of essential office and computer products and services and a great example of a large corporation making a significant commitment to sustainability. The company’s new line of Sustainable Earth cleaning products includes naturally-derived active ingredients and no harsh chemicals like carcinogens, nervous system toxins, harsh acids or reproductive toxins. Corporate Express made sure these products also met or exceeded the stringent sustainability certifications of Green Seal, the most widely recognized name in environmental cleaning products standards, and the EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) program, which seeks to promote the use of institutional cleaners with improved environmental and human health characteristics.
Internally, Corporate Express is doing their part to decrease fuel usage and truck emissions by using an advanced delivering routing technology that helps reduce idling, among other factors. The company is also planning to convert a portion of their fleet to biodiesel, which they hope to pilot by mid-2008. And they’re currently testing hybrid diesel-electric delivery trucks for future expansion into their fleet.
You can learn more about what Corporate Express is doing on the sustainability front here.
Colorado Garden Show: One organization that is really putting their green thumb to good use this Earth Day is Colorado Garden Show Inc., a nonprofit corporation that provides funds for horticultural-related grants, scholarships and events. This year, Colorado Garden Show will provide grants around the state to support programs such as a major grant to Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado for planting 1,000 trees on Arbor Day; a children’s garden for Advocates Against Domestic Assault; native plants and signage for Rocky Mountain Wild exhibit at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo; and a gathering garden for Montrose Botanical Society.
Since the program launched, Colorado Garden Show has awarded more than $2.5 million for horticultural projects and scholarships throughout the state. You can learn more about the Colorado Garden Show here.
Finally, if you’re feeling a little inadequate now after reading about these impressive green initiatives, don’t. There are a number of green ideas that are quick and easy to implement at home or at the office that can really make a difference. For example, the Fuser.com team up in Boulder has a few suggestions:
- Recycle paper, cans and bottles
- Set your office lights on timers, so they are shut off at night even if someone forgets and leaves them on
- Set up your offices and bathrooms with motion detector light switches (so they go on when you walk in a room)
Happy Earth Day!
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