Living in, not to mention running a business in, one of the most visited cities in the world has tremendous benefits. San Francisco is the home of diverse culture, great food, bounding creativity and innovation, and it’s not such a bad place for a web designer. However, like any other city in the world, San Francisco has poverty. And for those of us who live here and those of us who visit, it isn’t something easily missed.

When we started our web design company in 2006, we had something bigger than just making great websites in mind. We wanted to make a difference in our community. We believe that businesses have a great social and ethical responsibility.

Start Local

I always think the best way to make a difference, is to get involved locally. Poverty, like many other problems we face, affects our own communities. The philosophy is, if each of us take steps to address the problems around us, we have a long term solution.

That said, poverty is by no means an undaunting problem we face. In 2007, 12.5% of the U.S. was at or below the poverty line. The problem is huge. And the question this often raises is, “what can I do?” The question it too often raises is, “where do I start?”

So here are my thoughts on the matter and I’ll follow this with some links to other resources. I tend to think the best way to get involved in helping any cause, is to focus on what you know. For example, as designers and owners of a We Design and Development firm, Lauren and I have dedicated our efforts to helping community arts and education organizations in San Francisco and the Bay Area, such as the San Francisco Children’s Art Center, the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View and Root Division in San Francisco.

By allocating a portion of our time and money to organizations like these, we aim to help build a stronger foundation for fighting some of the causes that can lead to poverty. Through education, we can help open up new opportunities for people who otherwise have few. And, we get to do it in a way were we feel we will be most effective.

In my opinion, being a part of solutions in a way that draws on your personal strengths and experiences, is the best way to affect change. And in doing this, you build stronger communities. With this in mind, Root Division is hosting their 7th Annual Art Auction on October 23rd. We hope you will join us!

Some Resources to Get Started

There are many more resources on the Blog Action Day website and I’d be more than happy to talk to any of my fellow designers who interested in ways they can get involved.

Just last month The Guardian reported on melting ice caps in Greenland triggering earthquakes. Last Friday it was announced that, Al Gore and the UN climate change panel will share a 2007 Nobel peace prize for raising awareness about climate change.

We know about the problem. We know something needs to be done. So, how can you help, as a web designer ? (rips open shirt, revealing blue spandex top with the letters “E” and “W” in prominent red and yellow)

Yes! Ew Man can do it

If you Google eco web design, 6,830,000 results come up. That’s a ton of information to take in, so let me boil it down. If you want to be an eco-friendly web designer, there are 3 basic areas of consideration to make:

1. the website
2. the web hosting
3. the work environment.

1. The Website

There is a lot of talk on the web about green web design and energy saving colors. Black Google is a campaign for Google to change to an all black background, which would save an estimated 750 megawatt hours a year. Blackle offers users this option, providing a customized Google search and calculating saved watts every time you Blackle something. Doesn’t have the same ring.

Blackle’s custom search results, using Google

So, darker colors mean less energy? Yes, sort of. Energy Star conducted a study measuring power usage when monitors were set to different background colors (I added in hex values because they are so pretty).

Following this thinking Mark Ontkush from Eco Iron put together a low wattage color pallette Emergy-C to help motivate designers to be energy conscious, when designing websites.

The fact, however, is that this really has a decreasing impact with todays standard LCD monitors. While darker backgrounds do use less energy, the 74-59 watts from all white to all black is really only applicable to CRT monitors, which are less and less common. For the more common LCD monitors, the split is closer to 36-33 watts, in part because LCD monitors use a white back light and achieve darker colors by blocking parts of the spectrum.

Aside from the biggest hurdle (the client), in restricting your color palette as a web designer, the most substantial impact you can make is in the next 2 areas of focus, web hosting and your office environment.

2. Web Hosting: Carbon Neutral

The greatest potential impact you can make as a web designer or developer is to partner with an eco-friendly web hosting provider. The growing trend for web hosting providers in this area, is to go Carbon Neutral. Carbon Neutral means that these companies have committed to offsetting the carbon emissions produced when generating the needed electricity, in one way or another, like planting trees. It is an easy commitment for hosting companies to make. Rackspace, one of the largest hosting providers in the UK was also one of the first to start offering carbon neutral web hosting. Since then, carbon neutral web hosting is cropping up around the globe.

As a web designer, you are in prime position to recommend hosting service to your clients. If you want to take it up a notch, you can seek out a hosting provider that goes a step further, like Hosting Direct, that runs completely on wind power. In fact, they purchase so much renewable energy, they end up powering a good percentage of their local region with power from windmills.

3. The Office: To the Geek Cave Ew-man!

Don’t under estimate the impact you can have on the environment as an individual. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of being eco-friendly, are the little things you do in your day to day life. I know a lot of people feel overwhelmed by the many considerations they feel they have to make to offset their own impact on the environment. This is, in my opinion, the leading deterrent for most people.

So I thought I’d put it to an expert in living green, environmental specialist Meredith Thomas. When asked how a person can get past this barrier of feeling like they don’t know where to begin, Meredith had this to say (paraphrased):

Knowing where to start, is the biggest barrier for most people. That is precisely why I started A Little Greener. The thing I want people to realize is that you can start small. The little things really matter, like recycling, turning off lights, reusing “disposable products like plastic utensils and containers. These things make a difference and they take very little effort.

True, this is just the beginning of what you can do as an individual. A lot of people either feel one person can’t really make a difference or that they have to do everything or nothing at all. If there is one thing I want to get across to people who are looking to reduce their impact on the environment, it is that they need to do what works best for them. You can’t apply stringent rules to your life, that you won’t be able to live up to. This is a mistake people make and then they become discouraged.

This is one of the messages I try to convey at A Little Greener, as well as provide people with a wealth of easy tips and links to help them live a little greener.

To start, I would recommend people start by making a list of all the areas in your life that you can make changes in. Compartmentalize these tasks. Separate your work life from your home life, shopping from being at home or work. Then, focus on one area at a time. You can’t expect to go from 0-60 overnight.

Meredith outlines the basics for making your work space less wasteful, from choosing a space to buying printers and fax machines, on the work life page of her website. Among the advise she give on this page, is how best to dispose of old office equipment and computer components and manage energy consumption.

Being in the field of web design sets us at great advantage, when it comes to consumption. I’m not talking about the Jolt cola you try not to spill on your mouse. I’m talking about product. In all practical terms, we are in an industry that doesn’t produce material things. But, at the same time, we are in an industry that uses a lot of energy to exist. Making good decisions about obtaining and disposing the tools we use can make a big difference, not only in how we conduct our own affairs, but how we influence others. Don’t forget, we are in a great position as web designers and programmers, to set an example. Our clients look to us for technical advice all the time.

“When it comes to offsetting your own energy consumption,” Meredith adds, “you can purchase carbon credits.” In the same way carbon neutral hosting companies offset their carbon emissions, individuals can purchase carbon credits to offset their own consumption.

Carbon credits are relatively inexpensive. There are a slew of nonprofit and for profit organizations offering carbon credits for sale. Ecobusinesslinks.com has done the homework for us and put together a comprehensive comparison of these organizations. Most of these organizations offer energy calculators to help you calculate your energy consumption.

Penguins Saving Penguins

Penguins on treadmills help reveal over-fishing and warming seas

My call to you, as a reader, is to help save the penguins. You all know Lauren and I have an almost disturbing affinity for the little flipper chickens. In fact, I proposed to her in front of the African Penguin colony at the Steinhardt Aquarium.

Fred Foldvary wrote a follow up report on global warming and penguins that I hope you will read.

Interested in making a donation?

Here is a great place to start: Charity Navigator. They’ve got an extensive list of nonprofit organizations helping the environment.

Thank you for taking an interest and supporting Blog Action Day