(via Microsoft)
With the recent uncovering of toxic e-waste destroying the environment in Guiyu China, it was only a matter of time before huge companies started to rethink of what it actually means to be ‘green’. One such company is taking it rather seriously and is stepping up, becoming more environmentally conscious in every aspect of their business; Microsoft. The company will become completely carbon neutral by the beginning of the fiscal year, which starts on July 1st of this year (2012).
To do so, the company says that they are implementing an internal ‘carbon fee’ for each of their operations buildings in over 100 countries. Meaning each representative institution will be required to pay a fine (to Microsoft headquarters in Redmond) for carbon emissions based on renewable energy and carbon offsets. This will create an incentive among the data centers, office buildings and development labs to reduce or eliminate their carbon emissions. Some of the steps taken by Microsoft to become more environmentally friendly include ‘a smarter buldings pilot’ which entailed using software and technology to make Microsoft’s Redmond campus more energy efficient. Another step included using Carbonsystems Enterprise Sustainability Platform (ESP), which is an application that collects data from smart-meters, energy suppliers, waste processors and internal business systems to learn ways of reducing the global impact of carbon waste. Microsoft is even going as far as purchasing more renewable power agreements from various green conscious power companies and reducing air travel for business trips through based on the benefits incurred as each flight produces 1000kg of carbon emissions per trip. So far Microsoft is leading the way for a greener future , but we will have to wait and see if other companies follow suit in carbon-emission reduction.
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