Revisiting the Dark Ages

This Saturday, March 28, at 8:30 p.m. local time, millions of people around the world will participate in Earth Hour by turning off the lights for 60 minutes and showing support for global sustainability initiatives. Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, with 2.2 million families and businesspeople going 1 hour bulb-free in their homes and companies. By 2008, the message matured into a universal call for green action, with 50 million people participating.

According to earthhour.org, 18,783 businesses; 5,491 organizations; and leaders from more than 2,398 cities, towns, and municipalities and across 83 countries and territories have pledged their support—and this number continues to climb on a running counter on the Web site’s home page.

While critics call the event an empty promise to Mother Earth—and point out that paraffin candles (which numerous participants certainly will burn) create more carbon dioxide than running a low-watt CFL bulb—Earth Hour does give people the pride associated with being part of a global movement. And if the event really does its job well, it even may alter the way society as a whole uses natural its resources. By making people aware of some of the simplest ways to save electricity, real and lasting change can occur in all areas of green. Some examples include

• turning off lights in unoccupied rooms and offices
• switching off unused electronic equipment, items with standby functions, and battery chargers
• saving energy and money by using fluorescent bulbs
• turning off outdoor lighting during the day
• closing window blinds on hot, sunny days
• using fans instead of air conditioning whenever possible
• regularly cleaning and replacing air conditioning filters
• planting shade trees.

While working on the feature story “Energy Efficiency How-Tos” in the March/April issue of APICS magazine, I learned of numerous ways to immediately and significantly reduce natural resource usage in your organizations. Authors David Rucker and J.D. Cunningham provide easily applicable, clear steps to take that lead to sizeable savings. Don’t miss this article (www.apics.org/resources/magazine), and be sure to register for Rucker and Cunningham’s free APICS Extra Live Webinar (apics.org/extra).

Finally, chime in right here on the Working Green Blog with examples of what you’re doing at home and in the office to reduce your energy consumption. And tell us if you’ll be going dark along with me on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

--Elizabeth Rennie, managing editor, APICS magazine

This Saturday, March 28, at 8:30 p.m. local time, millions of people around the world will participate in Earth Hour by turning off the lights for 60 minutes and showing support for global sustainability initiatives. Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, with 2.2 million families and businesspeople going 1 hour bulb-free in their homes and companies. By 2008, the message matured into a universal call for green action, with 50 million people participating.

According to earthhour.org, 18,783 businesses; 5,491 organizations; and leaders from more than 2,398 cities, towns, and municipalities and across 83 countries and territories have pledged their support—and this number continues to climb on a running counter on the Web site’s home page.

While critics call the event an empty promise to Mother Earth—and point out that paraffin candles (which numerous participants certainly will burn) create more carbon dioxide than running a low-watt CFL bulb—Earth Hour does give people the pride associated with being part of a global movement. And if the event really does its job well, it even may alter the way society as a whole uses natural its resources. By making people aware of some of the simplest ways to save electricity, real and lasting change can occur in all areas of green. Some examples include

• turning off lights in unoccupied rooms and offices
• switching off unused electronic equipment, items with standby functions, and battery chargers
• saving energy and money by using fluorescent bulbs
• turning off outdoor lighting during the day
• closing window blinds on hot, sunny days
• using fans instead of air conditioning whenever possible
• regularly cleaning and replacing air conditioning filters
• planting shade trees.

While working on the feature story “Energy Efficiency How-Tos” in the March/April issue of APICS magazine, I learned of numerous ways to immediately and significantly reduce natural resource usage in your organizations. Authors David Rucker and J.D. Cunningham provide easily applicable, clear steps to take that lead to sizeable savings. Don’t miss this article (www.apics.org/resources/magazine), and be sure to register for Rucker and Cunningham’s free APICS Extra Live Webinar (apics.org/extra).

Finally, chime in right here on the Working Green Blog with examples of what you’re doing at home and in the office to reduce your energy consumption. And tell us if you’ll be going dark along with me on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

--Elizabeth Rennie, managing editor, APICS magazine

Comments

[apparel software]

Some simple Green initiatives we have been using in our apparel software business are:

* setting all pc's to stanby/hibernate
* designing display-oriented apparel software rather than relying on reports
* using web meetings as much as possible to avoid travel