While it’s probably not apparent from my commentary in this space (though it could be gleaned from my blogroll), I’m not just a software industry analyst, I’m an environmentally-minded software industry analyst.
One of my principal frustrations with environmentalists in general, as I commented over on Joel Makower’s blog back in January, is the near total lack of pragmatism within their ranks. Most of what we hear from environmentalists is doom and gloom. This, I have been told in the past, is “necessary messaging” to “wake up” an unconcerned population. I don’t believe this, however. I’d argue that in fact it’s counterproductive because it kills hope and therefore any incentive on the part of individuals to even try and make a difference in their day to day habits.
The fact is that there are things we can all do that don’t involve moving back to the forest or giving up refrigeration. They range from the simple (cover your pots when you boil water) to the still simple (buy biodegradable cleaning products at your local grocer) to the moderately more involved (purchase clothing from retailers that are ecofriendly both in design and donation) to the complex (buy alternative fuel/hybrid / biodiesel capable vehicles). In a perfect world, we’d all understand that sustainability should be a critical concern in any consumptive practices, but as it stands were I running some of the environment oriented non-profits I’d keep my ambitions limited and focus on easing everyday people into eco-friendly habits rather than scaring them off.
Anyway, to try and wrestle the post back into the realm of technology, I’ll just say that after reading this, I appreciate efforts like this all the more. The great thing about environmental efforts – on either the consumer or enterprise levels – is that they need not be net-negative economically speaking. If you have trouble buying that I suggest a quick trip down to your neighborhood gas station for a lesson in economic reality.
