Is anyone wondering about Google’s relationship with the environment? As an industry leader, you’d hope they set a high standard in green efforts. I wrote a post that concerned the trend of high-tech turning away from philanthropy and general advancements in science. I didn’t realize that I was doing so on Earth Day — which is about our Planet, our existence, our humanism, our respect for everything living that contributes to how our world fits together and is supposed to maintain its health and, in turn, our health. I am quite proud of this coincidence, honestly!

I think at some point that day I realized it was Earth Day but for the first time ever I put this day in the same category as I do any other holiday that mainly exists to take money from consumers. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll get shmancy on Valentine’s Day and I’ll show my honest appreciation on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day … but like any holiday you value – religious or not – I think Earth Day should be celebrated every day.

Unlike other special days, Earth Day doesn’t fit quite as easily into the category of scamming money out of consumers; however, my point is that anything you believe in and that is part of your moral core should be part of your daily practice. I’m not saying don’t celebrate Earth Day. Celebrate it! What I am saying is that you don’t have to reserve carpooling for that day … Pull out your reusable shopping bags each time you visit the grocery store, not just on Earth Day. Sure you can recycle, but the amount of energy required to recycle all of our trash makes conservation that much harder.

Oh yeah — Google. Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar at Google said in his blog on Earth Day:

We’ve been carbon neutral since 2007 and—Earth Day or not—we’re always asking ourselves what we can do to make the world greener today than it was yesterday. This week, we launched a new website with many of the questions we’ve been asking over the years that have inspired our environmental initiatives. What can we do to make renewable energy cheaper than coal? How can we run a data center using 50 percent less energy? And what does it take to green our energy supply?

Check out their new website, which I linked to in the above quote. I particularly enjoyed the link “Is it cool to wear shorts to work?” where you’ll find articles discussing the ways businesses can cut their energy costs and other related topics.

We do our part at Outrank to reduce waste and recycle.  We are a City of Austin WasteSMART partner!