Article 6: Cloud Servers

A Green Cloud?

A huge 20 year agreement has recently been made by Microsoft and a wind farm in pilot Hill, Illinois. The idea behind it, make one of Microsoft biggest data centers green. Cloud data despite all of its convince tends to confuse consumers to where exactly their information is stored. The truth is, it is stored in a huge data facility full of servers. These servers of course use immense amounts of energy and also require even more energy too keep them at a cool temp. The result is the often a very costly and unsustainable business.

Microsoft which is current in a transition to becoming a more sustainable company believes the solution is to team up with as many alternative energy companies as possible. Doing this they believe that cloud data will not only become more green but to also improve their infrastructure. This is a sort of trend for a company that in the last two years has invested millions into power infrastructure systems. Everything from greener backup generators that run on natural gas and biodiesel to more efficient fuel cell designs, which could be used to power neighborhoods at 1/10 of the cost and 1/10 of the size.

If one thing is clear though Microsoft isn't doing this because its necessary better for the environment, while that is an added plus, rather they are seeing a stable and reasonable prices coming from green power. From an economic standpoint any reduction in risk is considered a positive and Microsoft a company that runs on energy sees the potential in sustainable energy because of this.

Link: http://www.dailytech.com/To+the+Cloud+Microsoft+Signs+20Year+Contract+for+175+MW+of+Wind+Power/article36221.htm 

Article 5: Earth Property

Can a Tree House Save a Jungle?

Well in Costa Rica they think it can, all it required was a change in marketed. It all started with a green pitch, tell people that if they buy this land in the jungle then no one can harm it and the buyer is saving the environment. Soon though local sellers found out that the green pitch wasn't enough to attract buyers to pay $250,000 for a mostly unusable jungle property. So what happened next was they sold it as a sustainable property, a win win situation for buyer and the environment. The buyer would buy the property and the locals would grow food on the property, the owner of the property would then see profits from the food grown on the property. It was this idea of an investment that caused 54 plots of the 96 plots avilable to be sold. With the added bonus of being able to build a treehouse on the property.
In short the jungle stays safe, the owner gets an investment that pays out and that he or she can visit and everyone wins. It really makes one wonder if this is a better option then giving the government control of the land.







Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/26/greathomesanddestinations/saving-the-earth-without-losing-a-buck.html?ref=topics

Article 4: Sports

Can a Sport Start a Movement?

Sports are for better or worse beyond mainstream. What this means is that they are integrated into our culture so deeply that they simply cant fade out of existence. According to a recent ESPN sports poll "88 % of Americans age 12 and older are fans of at least one sport." and it is estimated 1 billing views watched the at least part of the 2010 world cup. So what does this mean for sustainability? Well sports can influence the way we see the world, they can shift cultures. Think of all the kids asking their parents why all the players where wearing pink, on breast cancer awareness day. Sports have also supported everything from women rights to AID's awareness. Now just imagine if sports focused on sustainability. The out reach would be massive!

The best part of all of this is that they really already are and it benefits both the teams and the sustainability movement. A nonprofit called the Green Sports Alliance which was founded in 2010 has helped many teams not only reduce waste but also improve resources and reduce costs simply by devising greener solutions. It should be noted though that most viewers don't watch the games from inside the stadiums instead they watch them from their couches, hundreds to thousands of miles away. So how do you influence these people?  Well the best answer seems like the simplest through the players. Athletes often have a huge influence on those that italicize them and given that they are branded correctly they could be part of the sustainability awareness push. We have seen this in the past when basketball star LeBron biked to a game in 2012, this alone made major news headlines. All in all sports seem like a great outlet to get the word out about sustainability and I think we should be pursuing it more aggressively.

Ecological Footprint Re-Evaluation

Ecological Footprint Evaluation and Correction

So far?

Well following my goals has been a bit difficult. I feel as though I have only been accomplishing one of my three previously stated goals. That goal being to use less ghost power. I have been using power strips for a long time, so has been a fairly easy adjustment to switch them to the off position before going to sleep. That said my other two goals aren't going as well. I think the main reason for this was a lack of insight. For example my first goal was to produce less waste, however finding products that don't have as much waste has become quite difficult. My last goal to cut down on driving has been problematic also in that unforeseen circumstances prevented me from not driving one Monday. For this reason I have re-written all three of my goals as seen below. I believe that these goals keep me far more accountable and that by executing these three new goals successfully, I will reduce my footprint.

New/Updated Goals

1. Continue to unplug power-strips and keep track of power usage. Attempt to reduce monthly power usage by at least 8%. 
2. Reduce my carbon footprint by only walking to campus. The walk is 1 mile long and requires me to leave at least 20 minutes early but it will pay off both environmentally and economically.
3. I plan on eating vegetarian one day a week. I realize the impact is small but I wanted to set a achievable goal to begin with. I also think this is one of those those goals that could morph into eating vegetarian twice a week or more.