It’s Not Easy Being Green

November 22nd, 2007 · No Comments · Sustainability/Green Practices

OK, OK…yes it’s cliche, but we’re realizing already that it really isn’t easy being Green. We decided that we’d build our own developer rigs to save money and to build some killer rigs at the same time. What we didn’t plan on was the sheer amount of packaging that would accompany our new equipment. The packaging you see in the photo of Mike Juniper below is from the components of only one machine. Multiply that by five machines for our small team. That’s a lot of waste for a bunch of electronics that fit neatly inside a 2-cubic foot case when assembled, don’t you think?

We tried to recycle everything we possibly could from this mountain of packaging. To our dismay, we discovered that our local recycling center doesn’t recycle styrofoam so we’re trying to find someplace to take it (if you’re from Northern Colorado and have suggestions, please pass them along). But, we did recycle all of our cardboard, paper, and plastics. It would be even nicer if we didn’t have to recycle at all, because as William McDounough and Michael Braungart point out in their book Cradle to Cradle, recycling is slow motion waste. But for now, we feel that at least we’re not adding to another landfill pile.

And yes, we’ve been making sure we turn off our machines every day. And since we’re working from my home right now, we’re employing my 1-1/2 year old son to to turn off all of our monitors every night. You can’t get them started too young these days!