Monday
I am under pressure from our councillors to be more sustainable.
No, this is not a Viagra issue, although I must admit that was my
first thought. Whoever came up with that ridiculous
"sustainability" word certainly was not an anxious middle-aged
male.
This is the green agenda thing. I have to help Bogcaster City
Council reduce its "carbon footprint". There we go again - what is
wrong with getting better doormats and putting up signs that say,
"Please wipe your feet"?
Anyway, it seems that IT is a major cause of global warming.
Never mind the real culprits, those responsible for melting ice
caps, mass species extinctions and millions dying from
starvation.
Tuesday
We have hired Andrex Smug from Eco-IT-Watch to undertake a
carbon footprint review for us. The project got off to a bad start
this morning when she saw me getting out of the Jag as she was
securing her bicycle in the staff car park.
I muttered something about off-setting by planting Eucalyptus
trees on my croft in Wester Ross, but I do not think she was fooled
for a moment.
Wednesday
Mavis has taken this green agenda thing to heart. The coffee
machine has been sent for recycling and all beverages are now
served cold and unprocessed.
If, like me, carrot juice at 11am is your idea of hell on earth,
do not come to visit.
In order to save the planet, she has decided to walk to work.
Very laudable, but as she lives five miles away and walks rather
slowly this means that she now does not get in until 11am and
leaves at 3pm.
Thursday
Encouraging news. Andrex says that we are actually relatively
eco-friendly, primarily because we do not replace or upgrade our
hardware every couple of months.
Turn off your PC by all means, but 75% to 80% of its emissions
result from production rather than use.
We also build and support locally most of our applications,
which reduces our transport carbon cost.
There are some recommendations on reducing paper output,
re-using the heat extracted by the air conditioning plant and
putting in micro-generation plants to power local office IT
infrastructures, but all that sounds sensible enough.
Friday
Took Andrex to lunch at the vegetarian restaurant in the Arts
Centre. Choked on a nut-burger and had to be rushed to Bogcaster
General while being given a tracheostomy in the ambulance. Going
green hurts more than I anticipated.
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