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| Editor's Letter |
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May 5, 2008
Environmental responsibility, when it pays
Will our green intentions lead to real change this time? I think so, but to find out which ideas will be successful, look to yourself
Environmental concerns are front and centre today in the media, in political discussions and during coffee breaks at work. But the cover of this issue of Backbone asks a good question: are we actually making real progress this time, or are we looking at a greenwash in which people and institutions simply jockey to be on the right side of this fence while actually accomplishing little? Will all the sound and fury end up, again, signifying nothing?
Because remember, we’ve been here before. A number of years ago everyone was talking about holes in the ozone layer and PCBs and recycling and habitat loss. We didn’t make much progress then, so the problem is still with us.
It would be fair to say, however, that this time there is an increased sense of urgency, coupled with a greater emphasis on practical solutions. You’ll find many such examples in this issue. But as the green exhortations fly, which are likely to succeed? Here’s an easy test: as Detlev Zwick, Schulich School of Business associate professor, said in Hailey Eisen’s cover story, successful green products and services will be those that are mainstream and cost effective. “It won’t be driven by moral obligation because, bottom line, there is still only a small group of consumers who will pay a premium for environmentally sound products.”
The successful environmental initiatives will be those that deliver a benefit without requiring us to dramatically change our lifestyle.
Short and long roads
Like compact fluorescent bulbs. These little gadgets deliver huge environmental returns (see the Publisher’s Letter on the next page) and don’t require significant change from us: yesterday you ate dinner to the light of an incandescent bulb, today it’s a fluorescent. Easy. Compact fluorescents will be a hugely successful environmental technology.
Electric cars, however, face a tougher road to widespread adoption. Few inventions have changed our society as much as the car, and gassing up and hitting the road are deeply ingrained in us. An electric car is intriguing and pulls at our genuine desire to be better people, but to actually drive one would require us to start thinking in terms of short round trips. If your electric car can go for six or eight hours on a charge, you then have to return home or go somewhere with a compatible plug to charge it overnight. Filling a gas tank takes five minutes; recharging a car’s battery will require many hours.
So even if practical electric cars were available today, they would not supplant gas-powered vehicles for quite some time.
On the business side, a good example of a company using motivated self interest to deliver both customer satisfaction and power reductions is co-location provider Q9 Networks. Hosting companies traditionally charge on a per-foot basis: a server installation that occupies 100 square feet will be charged for the space occupied, and all the concomitant services—including power—are included on an all-you-can-eat basis.
The problem is there is no incentive for customers to moderate their power use, so a few years ago Toronto-based Q9 moved instead to a per-volt-amp model. Customers that used less electricity saved themselves money, so suddenly customers began to audit their electricity load. “The behaviour of our customers changed dramatically when we made this switch. They are much more active about inventorying their equipment and much more knowledgeable about how much power they’re using and why,” said Q9 CEO Osama Arafat. “The overall consumption for every one of our customers has been reduced.”
None of this argument is meant to discount altruism or the real desire of many people to help the environment, but for the type of massive and near-term change we require, look first for practical and relatively low-pain initiatives to be the success stories. If these moves also save people money, success is almost guaranteed. And once we see that these initiatives work, we will be more willing to move on to more substantial lifestyle change.
Peter Wolchak
Editor
pwolchak@backbonemag.com
Environmental responsibility, when it pays - May 5, 2008
Profiling innovation - March 17, 2008
Predicting 2008 - January 2, 2008
The argument for reconsidering Microsoft Office - November 8, 2007
Hybrids sales to hit record levels. Is that a good thing? - September 7, 2007
TO tops in digital media, professional shared services - July 1, 2007
Blogging for dollars: market maturity or death knell? - May 1, 2007
Tears, cheers and bears - March 9, 2007
The Year Ahead: Keep an Eye on IP TV - January 4, 2007
Little cash for technology?
SMBs should reconsider - October 27, 2006
editorletter_09050601.asp - September 5, 2006
Waiting on innovations - July 6, 2006
Wi-Fi plan puts Toronto ahead - May 8, 2006
The innovation engine - March 14, 2006
Technology is wonderful. Except when it’s not. - January 9, 2006
Simply not prepared for the worst - November 10, 2005
Wi-Fi: the future of mobile communication or a lot of industry hype - September 11, 2005
Tech stories, the bad and the good - July 14, 2005
Forget About Relying on Hotspots - July 12, 2005
Blog, RSS and VoIP only with your eyes open - May 2, 2005
The Innovation Issue - March 16, 2005
E-tail success: watch the pennies - January 4, 2005
E-business needs more town criers - October 11, 2004
No one "gets away from it all" any more - September 2, 2004
The four elements that will make Wi-Fi useful - May 7, 2004
Got Innovation - March 9, 2004
Check out an e-book - January 19, 2004
Lifestyle Options Will Drive The Workplace - November 10, 2003
Welcome to the New - September 13, 2003
Notable software, unlocked doors and one try at canning spam - July 14, 2003
Exposing E-tailing‘s Failures - May 6, 2003
Boring, costly and absolutely vital - January 6, 2003
Terror, One Year Later - September 2, 2002
Convergence: the last big dream - July 10, 2002
Planning a big e-commerce project? Ask for a guarantee - May 6, 2002
Tablets, pirates and promises made - March 5, 2002
Don‘t let the pessimists get you down - January 6, 2002
Dealing with the fallout of terror - November 6, 2001
We‘ve only seen act one - September 24, 2001
Why You're Reading This Magazine - July 1, 2001
This is not simply the Information Age - May 1, 2001
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