[HCoop-Discuss] EnvironmentalPolicy

[Graham Freeman]

Hi, folks,

As an HCoop member, I'm strongly in favour of this proposal.

It used to be acceptable in the USA to litter on the sidewalks and on  
the highways, but as our society matured we realized that such  
behaviour was not reflective of a good community member.  The  
negative impact of leaving one's trash lying around in public is  
disproportionately high compared to the inconsequential effort  
required to properly clean up after oneself.

Similarly, we USAians are finally starting to catch up to much of the  
rest of the world by acknowledging that most things we do have an  
environmental impact, and that to be a responsible world citizen  
involves doing what we each can to minimize the negative impact of  
what we do.

Being a responsible world citizen isn't just "a feel good" thing to  
do - it's the right thing to do.  And when we can in fact realize  
economic gains (via the marketing angle) while doing the right thing,  
deciding whether or not to take such action becomes a no-brainer.

Short of colocating at a datacenter that significantly offsets its  
electricity consumption with the direct use of renewable energy  
sources, participating in the carbon offset market is (IMO) the best  
solution.  I haven't done enough research to feel comfortable  
recommending one vendor (e.g. NativeEnergy) over another, but I'm  
quite comfortable with Nathan Kennedy's research skills and  
decisionmaking abilities.

Cernio Tech Co-op has a Sustainability Analyst Intern who is  
researching a very similar approach for our purposes.  I would be  
happy to share the results of this internship with HCoop, if  
desired.  However, based on what I've seen so far, our intern is  
reaching essentially the same conclusion that Nathan has already  
reached.

Graham Freeman
Cernio Technology Cooperative
www.cernio.com
+1 415 462 2991 (San Francisco)
+44 (0) 20 7101 9343 (London)
graham.freeman at cernio.com