Economic Graphs - Recovery amidst rising oil prices

I visited USA Today's Economic Outlook area on their website and produced these graphs which I share courtesy of their site. I like what I'm seeing on the upper graph especially the projected continued US economic growth.  It's the lower graph which charts Crude Oil prices which worries me.  The latest price per barrel of oil is $90/barrel.  The first time we saw that price was in November 2007 according to this graph and the last time was October 2008 right in the middle of the epic US banking system financial crisis.

At least to my eyes the oil price trend will continue to move upward in the coming years returning pressure on consumers and the business world to more whole heartedly  embrace energy efficiency, energy conservation and resource preserving behaviors and operational measures.  Not only because it might be nice for mother earth and feels right but because their bottom line and longer term business success demands it.  Forward looking companies coming out of this recession may want to dust off their carbon footprint reports from 2007 and 2008 and sustainability initiatives because it might just be prudent business to do so and consider taking concrete actions to reduce their vulnerabilities to rising energy and commodity costs.  By reinvigorating your internal green operations teams and greening facilities initiatives and aligning them again with long term business objectives and priorities, you'll be doing your shareholders and stakeholders a great favor!  Maybe you're already doing this which is great.  But if you're not. then food for thought!

Anyway, enjoy the graphics!  They're pretty interesting.  The USA Today link I gave you allows you to toggle between the the 11 key economic factors forming the basis of the top graph.  It's a novel and easy to operate.

The 3rd Annual eWaste Recycling Event - April 18, 2009

On April 18th my family and thousands of others participated in the 3rd Annual eWaste Recycling Event, sponsored by Small Dog Electronics, Ben & Jerry's, Symquest and We Cycle and a host of others.  It was fantastic to participate in this annual event, fast transforming how Vermonter's think and act regarding recycling.  Activities such as this really impact our green behavior and shifting such as this to the forefront of daily life.  We recycled a scanner, a computer monitor and lots of miscellaneous accessories and cables.  Please see the below press release from Small Dog:

... from Small Dog Electronics:

 04.18.2009 – Early estimates indicate that Vermont based Apple retailer, Small Dog Electronics recycled 150 tons of e-waste at their third annual Earth Day E-Waste Event this year, and it didn’t cost the public a dime.

Cars filled with old TVs, computers and electronic peripherals lined up as early as 8:00 am to recycle their electronics for free. In the end, 100 volunteers unloaded 1,700 cars. All of the electronics collected will be processed in the United States by WeRecycle! in one of their two processing plants in Connecticut and New York. 

The Earth Day E-Waste Event is part of the company’s mission of social and environmental responsibility. “We have to find the best way to recycle what we sell and educate our customers about it. Although manufacturing processes are improving, computers, monitors and other equipment have some hazardous contents like cadmium, mercury and chromium that can leach into the soil and contaminate groundwater,” says Don Mayer, CEO and founder of Small Dog Electronics.

Small Dog recycles e-waste safely and responsibly all year-round for about 25 cents per pound, a standard fee. This year the event cost Small Dog Electronics and their partners $60,000. When most companies are scaling back on community events, the leadership and social responsibility that Small Dog, SymQuest, Ben & Jerry’s, Green Mountain Coffee… and many others has shown through financial support of this event is remarkable. “Small Dog Electronics measures its success by people, PLANET and profit. This is the planet part in action and in this difficult economy when people are cutting back on everything, it is wonderful that like minded companies can join together to make a real difference. I want to thank all of our partners for joining with Small Dog Electronics is subsidizing this annual event,” said Mayer.

According to news reports, in 2008 Small Dog’s event resulted in more recycling than similar events held nationwide. For more information about the event, and to learn more about e-waste, and what makes it so detrimental to the environment, visit www.smalldog.com/ewaste. 

Net Zero Buildings in a Net Zero Economy

Bill Maclay, our visionary leader of our design firm was recently published with a guest editorial in this month's issue of Distributed Energy - The Journal of Energy Efficiency & Reliability. It's an outcome of his and our thinking and practice examining the future of high performance building design and the importance of Net Zero Buildings being part of the solution going forward.

Read on --

Net Zero Buildings in a Net Zero Economy

A Carbon Conundrum

Recently the office I work at reviewed the carbon footprint of our workplace and our professional activities. During this process, we discovered something I want to share. Our Carbon conundrum.

The carbon conumdrum is the following. We all thought our carbon footprint of our building would be larger than anything else we did. You know, all of the workings of an office, keeping a building fueled up, lights on, maintaining the facility etc. Given our rural location away from significant population centers 3/4 of our 20+ staff must drive more than 2o to 30 mins roundtrip to work. Our average commute is is actually an hour. We found the biggest part of our carbon footprint pie is our commuting, driving back and forth from job meetings, flying to conferences, meetings etc. out of state. It's not our building's operational costs. It's just plain old us moving around burning fossil fuel.

How did we react as a group to this news? Well we're much more sensitive to how much impact our driving is making and carpooling more often. We're at least more self-aware and possibly can change our commuting and meeting behaviors. Perhaps we don't need a face to face project meeting or really go to that conference or trade show out of state. You don't change this behavior overnight. I'm especially finding it hard as I have a different family schedule and after work activities every night, no set routine. For others it is easier. Regardless, it's important and I hope I can successfully carpool at least one day a week for the next year. It does make a difference.

Anyways, what do you think about the Carbon Conundrum? Best, Steve