Both of us at Arcane Palette are passionate about the environment. We know that it’s up to us to set an example for our kids and leave a positive legacy of not destroying and further pillaging our planet. And we know that it involves a lot more than using Blackle. The biggest way we can have a positive environmental impact is by reducing our carbon footprint. Did you know that the average American is responsible for pumping 7.5 TONS of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year? Seriously. Seven and a half tons. I don’t even know what a ton looks like — my brain is totally incapable of fathoming that concept.
That’s a lot of pollution, and we need to take action now before it’s too late. The biggest enemy to our planet right now is ignorance. In this country, we still have politicians that doubt the existence of global warming. We don’t have time to waste debating the reality of the problem, we need to do our part to keep it from getting worse. It’s for these and more reasons that we have made it our mission to take a pro-active role in conserving our planet. We do this by utilizing clean, renewable wind power for 50% of our total energy consumption. We know it’s not much, but our total carbon footprint is made significantly less by this and other measures we take to preserve the air we breathe. Our long-term goal is to be 100% green by 2015; that includes not only our energy consumption as a company and as individuals, but also in the servers and services we use. Since 2007, our web host — DreamHost — has been using a combination of certified carbon offsets and power-efficient best practices to ensure their status as completely carbon neutral. It is our personal mission as a business to make sure that not only are we doing our part for the environment, but also that the resources we use are doing their part in promoting clean emissions. We want to be a beacon of change for ourselves, our clients, and the design community.
Here are some resources to get you started. Feel free to suggest more:
Wired Articles: Planet Earth
The Planet Ink Company
Annie’s Homegrown: Natural and Organic Foods
Become Carbon Neutral
Carbon Footprint Calculator
Utah Blue Sky
Al Gore and Al Gore’s twitter feed
Energy saving tips on Twitter
1&1 US Data Center Goes Green
DreamHost Goes Green!
