I had previously discussed environmental policy here and in #hcoop and got some positive feedback, but Adam wanted me to bring it up on the list again before we act on it.
The immediate action I want to take is to have HCoop buy wind energy credits from NativeEnergy to offset its electricity consumption at Peer1. At our current level the 5000 megawatt per annum level at $4 per month would suffice. I previously pledged to donate the first year's worth of credits to the co-op, so this will not cost members for a year, and thereafter it should continue to cost well under $0.05 per month per member. I think this is important and beneficial for many reasons, outlined at EnvironmentalPolicy on the wiki, and I propose that the board adopt all the proposals at that page as official HCoop policy henceforth. First, there is the Rochedale Principle of social responsibility and the basic moral principle of cleaning up after ourself. Hosting is a fairly clean business; the two biggest environmental costs are hardware disposal and dirty electricity generation. From a less altruistic perspective, the tiny cost of going totally green presents a great marketing opportunity. We can use green-e and NativeEnergy tags, join the EPA Green Energy Partnership, be listed in green business directories, and just generally attract interest as not only a unique cooperative providing great service at great value, but wind-powered too. That's about all I have to say for now. If anyone has any questions or comments please do reply to the list. -ntk _______________________________________________ HCoop-Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://hcoop.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hcoop-discuss
