Green Blog
A better web. Better for the environment.
Eating our way through Earth Day
4/22/10
(Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
to bring you information on other green efforts at Google)
Today,
Earth Day
turns 40 and is now celebrated in more than
198 countries
. Here at Google, we’ll be focusing on one of the planet’s more enjoyable aspects: its food. (Though, to be fair, we’re always focused on food around here). Our offices are hosting farmers markets, planting herb gardens, hosting talks on sustainable cooking and much more.
At our Mountain View headquarters, we’re enjoying solar cooking demonstrations, classes on composting and local food sourcing, distribution of reusable shopping bags and discussions on healthy cooking and eating. We’re also hosting a speaker from
The Nature Conservancy
and giving tours of our on-site
1.6MW solar panel installation
and the 400kW
Bloom Energy
fuel cells. Today is also Take Your Child to Work Day, so we have plenty of kid-friendly activities centered around healthy, sustainable habits to complement the bounce house, movies and games.
The focus on food is not limited to Mountain View. Our Dublin office is removing all disposable cups, Stockholm is running a special Earth Day food menu in their cafe, Wroclaw employees are planting seeds and Amsterdam is overhauling its salad bar with organic offerings. And the cafe in our London office is sourcing all of its food from within 50 miles of the office, as well as organizing a bike-to-work effort coordinated with
Google Maps
.
Beyond food, we’ve been busy with a number of other Earth-related initiatives. Last month,
Google Maps biking directions
launched in the U.S. and we hope that having these directions on hand will help you find less carbon-intensive ways to commute to work or meet friends. Just the other week we
added
a new feature in
Google Finance
that reports companies’ carbon disclosure rating from the Carbon Disclosure Project. Oh, and don’t forget about the
new kids on the block
.
If you’re looking to make a difference, check for
local efforts
or
make a pledge
to have an impact. We’re working to
minimize
our own carbon footprint, and hope that you’ll take a moment today to consider how you can make a positive impact on our planet.
Posted by Austin Rachlin, Green Business Operations
The goats are baaaahk!
4/15/10
(Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
to bring you information on other green efforts at Google)
Last year
, in our quest to minimize our carbon footprint (and keep people on their toes), we turned to an unlikely solution for mowing an overgrown field: goats. More than 200 goats from
California Grazing
have once again arrived at our
Mountain View headquarters
where they’ll stay for over a week chomping away on grassy goodness. The cost of bringing in the goats is comparable to hiring lawn mowers for the same job and the green benefits are clear: the goats eliminate mower emissions, reduce noise pollution, restore plant species and fertilize while grazing.
Don’t worry, we’re not going to be in the business of
chèvre
anytime soon, but in the meantime we’re having a lot of fun watching our new colleagues.
Posted by Dan Hoffman, Director of Real Estate and Workplace Services for NorCal, and Chief Goat Herder
Powering consumers with information about their energy use
4/5/10
(Cross-posted from the
Google Public Policy Blog
)
We all receive an electricity bill once a month that is hard to decipher besides the total amount due. What if we instead had access to
more useful and actionable information
about our energy consumption? What if consumers could use this information to automatically adjust appliances, lights, and other equipment to save money and cut energy use?
That’s what a group of over 45 major companies and organizations said today in a
letter to President Obama
. Signers include companies like AT&T, General Electric and Intel and NGOs like The Climate Group, NRDC and the Alliance to Save Energy. The group also includes start ups, smart grid companies, venture firms and trade organizations.
This diverse group shares a common vision: giving consumers the ability to monitor and manage their power use will save them energy and money. It will also unleash innovation in homes and businesses as new energy saving technologies and apps are developed.
This group will continue to look for ways to offer ideas to policymakers on how to empower consumers with energy saving tools and information.
Join the discussion tomorrow
at an event in Washington, DC co-hosted by Google and The Climate Group. If you can make it, RSVP
here
.
Posted by Michael Terrell, Energy Policy Counsel
Archive
2016
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
Apr
Feb
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Feb
2014
Dec
Nov
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Jan
2013
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Jan
2011
Dec
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Aug
Jul
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2008
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Jan
2007
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jun
2006
Nov
Oct
Feed
Google
on
Follow @google
Follow
More Google Green
Google Green site
Google Data Centers site
Follow