Being a Green Web Designer . . .
Yeah, I know. You’re shaking your head looking at my October Pink site color and wondering what all this Green Web Designer stuff is about.
Well, it’s about Green as in Climate Change, and trying like hell not to take more from the earth than I put back into it. I’ve still got a ways to go to get my Carbon footprint to Zero, but I’m a whole lot further along than just about anyone I know.
When I started this business a friend of mine told me I should have an office so I could have the write offs and a sign and all the stuff that comes with being a business. I decided against all that and opted for an in home office so that I could roll out of bed in the morning and not use a single drop of gas to be at work. My house has been weatherproofed and I don’t use AC (though I have been known to grab the laptop and head out to the air conditioned wifi coffehouse on 90+ degree days! And yes, I can walk there.) In the winter the thermostat is kept lower than most and I have a beautiful collection of real wool sweaters I get a lot of use out of.
The desktop ‘puter I used was bought from Dell, one of the companies that has shown itself to be at least aware of Green issues. This Vostro has a pretty intensive hibernate, and seems to sip very little juice compared to my last box even when it’s running full bore. And my old box, when it finally goes out the door, will be loaded with ubuntu and donated to a poor student who has none, instead of ending up leaching mecury, cadmium and lead into a landfill. And my next computer mouse will be bamboo.
All my lightbulbs are Compact Fluorescent. On the rare occasions I do leave my house and use the car, my tires are aired up and the car is maintained for optimum gas mileage.
My office is pretty close to paperless, or at least as paperless as the IRS will let me be.
Though it’s hard to keep from buying things made of oil (which is everything plastic. Sheesh!) I am aware of my choices when I purchase anything, and given a choice between an item made from plastic and a more expensive item that is made of sustainable materials I’ll opt for the wood or natural fiber or other green choice whenever possible, and since I live simply, that’s more often than not.
This green designer runs on organic produce either grown in the garden out back or purchased at a local farmer’s market, and meat and dairy products purchased directly from a local farmer. My foods aren’t shipped to me from half a world away (well, except my coffee, and that’s organic fair trade. Coffee is a necessary ingredient of Code. I do only buy coffee from Central America so it doesn’t have to come as far.) The few things I do purchase at a supermarket come home in a reusable cotton bag.
There are so many little things I do on a day to day basis, that it’s become second nature. Whether it’s turning off a light upon leaving a room, hanging my clothes out to dry on nice days instead of using the dryer, using rags for most cleaning projects instead of paper towels, etc etc etc. There are many many little things we can all do that will add up to a big carbon offset if we all do them!
So if you’re looking for a Low Carbon FootPrint Web Design, this is the place.
[tags]Blog Action Day, Green Web Design[/tags]
