Via Slashdot
the US Department of Energy has announced a competition to develop efficient solid-state lighting technology. The “L Prize” program will allocate as much as $20 million in cash prizes for innovations to replace the common light bulb. Further details are available at the L Prize website. From the press release: “Lighting products meeting the competition requirements would consume just 17% of the energy used by most incandescent lamps in use today. The plan also includes a rigorous evaluation process, including testing of proposed products by independent laboratories (conducted through DOE’s CALiPER test program), as well as field evaluations by DOE and utility partners to assess products in real world conditions. Four major California utilities … have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DOE, agreeing to work cooperatively to promote high-efficiency solid-state lighting technologies.”
Now why more government agencies do not offer these prizes and incentives for such things as alternative energy and alternative fuel is beyond me.
Photo by valeriebb
Although the issue of sustainable business has been around on a large scale for over a decade, it seems we really just started seeing results during the past few years.
This spike in “eco” could have been caused by the approval of new grants for environmental companies, tax write-offs by the government, or even the creation of prizes from hopeful billionaires like Richard Branson. Perhaps those reasons started the fire, but in order to spread, many more reasons need to be evaluated.
What are the real reasons that corporate America is going green?
Money. (Gasp!) That is right. The same reason that businesses get involved with new ventures in the first place is the first reason businesses are going green. Going green can save businesses money (on electricity and utilities) and help them make money (great publicity).
However, this does not make them evil or materialistic. It is actually a good thing that people are taking global warming seriously, even if there is a financial kickback involved. In the capitalistic society in which we live, if there wasn’t money involved, it would take a lot longer to reverse the harm that we’ve already done to the earth. Money is not the root of all evil after all.
Great Publicity. Going green provides companies with great publicity. Take a look in your local paper each day for one week and count the number of articles that have to do with the environment. Chances are that you will see at least 5 or more. Many on the same day.
Next, take your favorite retail store. Whether it is Wal-Mart or Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I would bet money (and I’m not a gambling man) that they had an environmental portal off of their corporate site that tells about all the great things they are doing for the environment.
Everybody’s Doing It. That’s right! Your not the only one to fall victim to peer pressure. Businesses do it to. That is why you see so many imitation and generic products on the shelves. One company creates a hit, and 10 other companies have to follow suit and modify the product just enough so they don’t get sued.
There is nothing to be ashamed about with this either. Usually if the idea was a good one, there is enough to go around. This type of society breeds innovation anyway. It is always smart to (lawfully) borrow and modify tips from others. You may even stumble on your own innovation.
Because You Should. Using green products and promoting green services IS the right thing to do. No matter how much your making (or saving) off of it, no matter what your competitors are doing, protecting the environment is the right thing to do.
If we want the earth to be around long after we are gone, we owe it to future generations to go green and then scream it from the rooftops. Hopefully this will pressure others to do the same.
Plenty Magazine has a great article about the actions celebrity’s took to do their part to help sustain the earth in 2007.From the article:”Scanning ‘07, show biz efforts abounded from green rooms to green screens, with stars hawking eco-friendly causes daily: Brad Pitt’s New Orleans housing project with Global Green expanded into his Pink Project, Evan Almighty’s carbon-free plan included recycling and bicycling, Hollywood hosted its first “Going Green” conference, and even Comedy Central “addressed the mess.” …On July 7th, Al Gore outdid Live Aid and Woodstock with his Live Earth concert, which spread across seven continents with a mega line-up from Bon Jovi to The Police. The former Veep won an Oscar, Emmy, and Nobel Peace Prize, skipping the Presidential election hoopla for greener pastures.”
The Times Square New Year’s Eve ball turned 100 this year and, to help commemorate the occasion, went ‘green’ in the process. The ball now has more 9,500 LED lights and uses about the same amount of energy as 10 toasters. It will be interesting to see more public environmental-wise changes like this in the coming year.