Office and Workplace
Logitech’s Solar Keyboard
It may have been out for a while and it may have been Logitech’s first attempt at a solar-powered keyboard, but the Logitech K750 is definitely still kicking considering the rave reviews it’s received. As it generates power from light sources, just about any office-like accommodation will ensure that your keyboard is always powered.
Opening a curtain wouldn’t hurt, but it isn’t even necessary as that excess energy from the lights you keep on, irrespective of whether you need them or not, will now go towards powering a component of your PC. What makes it really popular though, aside from the fact that it can perform for three months after reaching full solar capacity (overkill), is the fact that the company made sure to include a host of other features that have appeal beyond just the environmentally-motivated techies.
Jobs and the Green MBA
Does having a Green MBA help when it comes to finding a job? The answer is, it depends.
Different industries value a Sustainable or Green MBA over a traditional MBA, and it can even come down to those doing the hiring. More and more hiring managers and executives are recognizing the benefits of sustainability of business, and are looking to hire these cutting edge graduates. Jobs are opening up in the alternative energy industries (solar, wind and more) as well as the green building industry with LEED certified and EPA class buildings.
Green Jobs are competitive, but having a green MBA greatly increases your chances and distinguishes you from the crowd. With more and more companies looking to improve their environmental image, they need business experts with a knowledge in sustainability. Even the trends from top business schools such as Yale’s school of managment and Johnson School at Cornell University as well as online programs from Walden University and Alliant International University are moving towards sustainability.
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Government Vehicles Going Green
As some of you know, I work for a lab run by the Department of Energy. I get the opportunity to not only witness exciting research that furthers tomorrow’s sustainable lifestyles, but also to see the changes the federal government is making to make their sites as ‘green’ as possible. Current government regulations stipulate that “each agency shall reduce annual petroleum consumption by two percent each year from a FY 2005 baseline through FY 2020″. That might not sound like much, but that adds up to an over 20% decrease in petroleum over the next ten years! That’s a fantastic step in the right direction.
Federal institutions with more than 20 vehicles have also been told to “acquire Electric Vehicles (EVs) to replace gasoline vehicles in locations near facilities and parking structures with electric outlets, and High Efficiency Vehicles (HEVs) in areas with limited alternative refueling, or as appropriate”. In my lab, this translates to replacing all retired vehicles with electric, hybrid or alternately fueled vehicles, and phasing some vehicles out earlier than planned. We were even able to trade in some of our new Ford and Chevy trucks for brand new hybrids for a moderate fee. More electric outlets for vehicles have been added throughout the site as well. My favorite part of the recent changes: the bike trend. More and
more the federal institutions are making bicycles a part of their Federal Fleet. Around my lab, we’ve been acquiring bicycles for employees making trips to other buildings or job sites across our 426 acre campus. At first, a few employees complained when the vehicles weren’t available and we handed them a bicycle helmet and a key to the bike rack, but it’s catching on. People not only enjoy doing good for the environment, but enjoy getting off their butts and exercising during their workday.
Sustainability Focused Careers Workshop
Image: Tim Patterson via Flickr
Peter was quick to make the point that the idea of a “sustainability job” is more complex than one might first think. There are plenty of sustainability focused jobs and career paths, but sustainability is rarely tangible enough to be a product in and of itself. Rather, sustainability is an issue of systemics. As such, it’s important to recognize that job seekers are likely to be looking at the market from a much wider scope when looking to break into a sustainability based career path. So many jobs can fall into the description of “sustainability related”, everything from green-living businesses, tech, green finance and investing, events, higher education, government, and food just to name a few. The point is that sustainability is something that threads through just about all career paths in one way or another. Instead of looking for a job in outright sustainability, or even a “green-collar job”, people should instead be looking for a sustainability related career, one that supports a variety of values and puts your strongest skills to good use. › Continue reading
Keep Your Agenda Green
The Equology Series of recycled paper planners from Quo Vadis
As you organize your homes during Spring cleaning make sure to think of organizing your everyday events as well. A personal planner is the perfect way to decrease the quantities of sticky notes around your desk, and manage information about your upcoming commitments in one vital place. Choosing the right planner, however, can be daunting. While trying to search for the perfect one for myself, I ran across planners made by Quo Vadis. They are extremely useful and chic, while also being environmentally friendly.
Quo Vadis works with the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) which is the largest forest certification program in the world. More than 6,000 companies have obtained forest certification through PEFC standards, and they also offer tens of thousands of PEFC-certified products globally. Forests certified by PEFC are bio-diverse, socially beneficial, and based on the sustainability of present and future generations. To learn more about how PEFC is teaching forest owners, companies and consumers how to manage, produce and buy responsibly, visit the the PEFC website.
PeopleTowels: No they’re not made out of people…
I still remember what I initially thought when I first heard about PeopleTowels. I’m rather ashamed to admit it was something along the lines of “What, are they made of people?” Thankfully, no. They’re made for people, to empower people to cut back on the over consumption of paper towels. As co-founder Linda Lannon puts it, “It is the opposite of a paper towel, it is a PeopleTowel.”
Don’t pretend you haven’t walked into a public bathroom, either at a movie theater or at work, and cringed at the sight of the trash can literally overflowing with crumpled up paper towels. Even the air only blow driers use up a ton of energy and don’t get your hands properly dry anyway. Every once in a while you’ll see the waste-conscious, roller hand towels. But even then, I’ll always wonder whose germs I’m spreading over my freshly soaped and scrubbed hands.
The solution? PeopleTowels: the smart, personal, reusable hand towels. They’re conveniently small, roughly nine by nine inches. They’re well designed and brightly colored. They’re certified organic, fair trade cotton, made with 100% natural and nontoxic eco-friendly dyes. Absorbent, light weight and fast-drying, they come in a number of bright, fun, eco-chic designs. My personal favorite is the “this is not a tree” design, which really brings the point home. By using a PeopleTowel for one year, your actions alone are saving an entire quarter of a tree, conserving 250 gallons of water, and reducing landfill waste by 23 pounds. Those kinds of numbers add up pretty fast. › Continue reading
Refillable White Board Pens and Teaching Green
As a teacher, I know how much waste a school produces in the name of education – trees give their lives to childrens paper, party cups, paper towels. School-discarded plastic fills the landfill. Markers last a few weeks at best, and their useless carcasses are quickly tossed, and another $2.99 is spent on a new rainbow package without hesitation. I can estimate that one class of kids (25) goes through about 100 disposable pens over the course of the school year. Multiply that by every classroom in the country, and you can see the impact.
The modern teacher will need writing instruments of all varieties: expo pens of all sizes – for white board and small boards, vis-a-vis pens for over heads, permanent markers for labeling, washable markers for kids to use on projects… and this list goes on for number 2 pencils, crayons and colored pencils. As a lifelong environmentalist, it has been very disturbing – and I mindfully double side photocopy when I can.
It seems that is the only thing I can really do to make a difference in my school. How can we not use markers? I have heard that you can buy and insert acetone to prolong the life of a marker, or spin them by their tip to squeeze out some ink, but this effort shows the true purpose of these pens – to be thrown out and replaced. They are the historical universal tool alongside paper for most communication, presentation, and education in school.
