Kudos to McDonald's. They figured out that if they simply reduced their energy use by 14% they could save $1.5B (yes "B" as in BILLION DOLLARS) per year. So what Herculean efforts did they have to do? Tap the energy content of their french fry grease?Install a microturbine on every golden arch? Tap the kinetic energy of the kids playing with Ronald McDonald? Nope, nope, and heck nope. They're turning out the lights and turning down the temperature when they are closed. It's elegence in its simplicity and it is what my mom has always told me "Dear, please turn off the lights!" Who'd a thought...
Of course they won't be having my mom standing at the door of each Micky D's. They are taking a slightly higher tech option. They are using sensors and monitors to track this stuff. This takes the human (error) element out of the loop. The cost of installing these gizmo's will be paid back quickly with the energy costs avoided.
Only 14% decrease in energy use, $1.5BILLION! Imagine all restaurants, offices, and businesses simply installing gizmo's to be energy smart (like my mom). Think about the number of people that won't need to be laid off to control a company's cost. That would be good for the environment as well as for the economy. Wouldn't it?
Sustainability is not rocket science!
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Welcome to the dirty footprint blog
The objective of this blog is to opine on sustainability issues and practices. Join me as I explore this important environmental area.
What is sustainability? Let us look at a definition:
Free Dictionary definition:
Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment.
OK that sounds good but you know, that could be rather draconian to our way of life. Seriously, are we going to give up our lifestyle? I think not.
So my definition of sustainability is: the ability to continue improving our way of life without long term effect on the environment.
What I'd like to do in the days, weeks, months, years ahead is to explore this definition and really see if we can keep improving our lifestyles while minimizing our environmental impact. Are there methods we can apply to achieve our goals? Are there behavior changes that are necessary?
Let's explore this together.
Rosemarie
What is sustainability? Let us look at a definition:
Free Dictionary definition:
Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment.
OK that sounds good but you know, that could be rather draconian to our way of life. Seriously, are we going to give up our lifestyle? I think not.
So my definition of sustainability is: the ability to continue improving our way of life without long term effect on the environment.
What I'd like to do in the days, weeks, months, years ahead is to explore this definition and really see if we can keep improving our lifestyles while minimizing our environmental impact. Are there methods we can apply to achieve our goals? Are there behavior changes that are necessary?
Let's explore this together.
Rosemarie
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