Big, indeed. The world’s economic superpowers have essentially agreed that we can’t keep dumping carbon into the atmosphere. On Nov. 12, the White House and the Chinese government had a nice surprise for people that like to breathe pollution-free air and dream of one day owning oceanfront property, minus the risk of losing it to rising sea […]
Green Government: iPads cut Vancouver, WA paper use by 40 percent
The city of Indianola, Iowa isn’t the only municipal government that’s reducing paper waste by using iPads. The city of Vancouver, Washington is also saving lots of cash — and trees — by switching 54 city employees to Apple’s tablet. According to this post in The Verge, the city has cut printing for council meetings […]
Stat of the day: Feds dispose 10K computers… a week
How much e-waste does the U.S. government generate? According to General Services Administration (GSA) head Martha Johnson, “By some estimates, the federal government goes through 10,000 computers a week.” And that’s not the only staggering statistic in this Washington Post/Bloomberg article that examines the steps the GSA and EPA are taking to combat e-waste and […]
LED lighting market’s pieces finally falling into place
LEDs have been in the news lately thanks to some advancements, deep price plunges and even some political drama. It’s all helping to heighten the lighting technology’s profile, but is it enough to make consumers sit up and take notice? Here are three stories that while loosely related on the surface, weave together to form […]
E-waste bills hit Capitol Hill
Earlier today, I featured this story at CIO.com in the Top 10 about the Responsible Electronic Recycling Act, which places explicit restrictions on e-waste, closing loopholes that allows recyclers to pick off the choice parts from discarded electronics and ship off the rest. The hope is to stop the deplorable environmental and health conditions at […]
U.S. Government’s $1.5B cybersecurity data center: Yes, it’ll be green
Don’t expect to glean too much information about the U.S. Government’s new $1.5 billion data center in Camp Williams, Utah, which just broke ground and will be operated under the auspices of the NSA. Little is publicly known about the (take a deep breath) Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cyber-security Initiative Data Center (CNCI) except its […]
Gov’t data center consolidation’s hot, PUE’s not
For shame! According to CDW’s 2010 Energy Efficient IT Report, just 17 percent of the government IT managers surveyed (federal, state and local) currently track PUE (power usage effectiveness). A pity, but at least the vast majority, 79 percent in fact, are planning or are already in the midst of data center consolidation projects. Washington […]
Solar panels are coming back to the White House
President Jimmy Carter had them installed. Reagan’s administration removed them. George Bush Sr. dabbled with a small installation. Now, they’re really making a comeback. At the 2010 GreenGov Symposium, The White House announced that solar panels will be reinstalled on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue along with a solar hot water heater system as part of a […]
US Gov't Printing: A $440 Million Waste
Lexmark and O’Keeffe & Company recently polled federal agencies about their printing habits and what they found would make any eco-conscious taxpayer fume: Federal employees on average print 30 pages every work day, totalling 7,200 pages printed per employee, per…
Government IT: Open Source, Virtualization and Clouds on the Rise
The U.S. Government, despite its massive appetite for IT, doesn’t conjure images of a forward thinking or nimble entity when it comes to adopting technology – cutting-edge research arms notwithstanding. But things are changing. Kim Hart of The Washington Post…
