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Ecofont was developed by SPRANQ in the Netherlands as an economical and environmentally alternative to traditional fonts.  The font family uses tiny hollow circles placed within the font to reduce the amount of ink used in printing the characters.  Ecofont offers a free Vera Sans font that is an eco alternative to the Veranda typface.  I downloaded this font and it installed perfectly on my Mac OSX and shows up in the MS Word font drop down box.  Ecofont also offers a software package for purchase that allows you to use a wide variety of existing fonts in the eco format.  The software package is currently only supported on Windows operating systems.  Many people are probably wondering how this differs from printing in draft mode, which also uses small hollow circles to reduce ink usage.  With draft mode the hollow circles are often placed at fixed intervals, which can cause them to be placed in the outline of the character, making the characters appear fuzzy and less readable.  Ecofont places the hollow circles in the middle of the character to keep the outline intact, thus improving readability and quality, while still reducing ink usage.

There has also been some debate from a study at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay that says the Century Gothic font actually uses less ink than the Ecofont.  This study suggests that Century Gothic, with its thinner lines, uses 30% less ink than the standard Arial font.  Ecofont did agree with the study that in fact Century Gothic does use less ink than the Vera Sans Ecofont.  They also stated that their software package has an Ecofont version of Century Gothic that saves considerably more ink.  They also pointed out that while Century Gothic uses less ink, its wider style tends to use more paper than a narrow font.

So, whether it’s the free Ecofont Vera Sans, the regular Century Gothic, or a narrow font from the Ecofont software package, any of these choices you make to conserve paper and ink will benefit the environment and your savings account.  In the end, remember to print only when necessary.

You can download free Ecofont Vera Sans for Windows and Mac OSX here: http://www.ecofont.com/en/products/green/font/download-the-ink-saving-font.html

Apple prides itself on its environmental management of its products. Apple continually designs and engineers products to use less material, ship in smaller and less packaging, be free of toxic substances, and be increasingly energy efficient and recyclable. The iPad is no exception. The iPad 2 was designed to be 33% thinner and 15% lighter than the first generation iPad, thus producing 5% less carbon emissions. The iPad also uses a mercury-free LED backlit display, arsenic-free glass, and is free of brominated flame retardants (BFRs), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and phthalates. It also features a recyclable aluminum enclosure. The iPad uses power-efficient components and intelligent software to manage power consumption. Its 10W USB Power Adapter outperforms stringent ENERGY STAR requirements. The iPad packaging uses 28% post-consumer recycled corrugated cardboard and molded fiber made entirely from recycled content. The material efficiency of the iPad 2 allowed up to 52% more units to be transported in the airline shipping container than the first generation iPad, decreasing the transportation environmental impact.

If your iPad is broken or reaches the end of its useful life it can be easily recycled. Apple has recycling programs in 95% of the countries where it sells its products and has diverted over 115,504 metric tons of e-waste from landfills since 1994. The e-waste is processed locally in the region in which it was collected by regulated recyclers complying with all health and safety laws. The iPad is disassembled and the glass and metals are reprocessed for use in new products. Most of the plastics are pelletized into raw secondary material. With materials reprocessing and component reuse, Apple often achieves a 90% recovery rate by weight of the original product. Consumers also receive incentives to recycle old products, such as Apple Gift Cards or discounts on new products.

For a consumer electronic device, the iPad certainly exhibits some level of green and in certain use cases, further supports environmental sustainability efforts such as paper reduction.

The following resources have more information on Apple’s Environmental and Recycling Programs:
Apple Recycling Program
Apple and the Environment Website
iPad 2 Environmental Report

*This blog post was composed on an Apple iPad 2

• Allure Energy debuted EverSense, an automated home environment and energy management system that uses a mobile application and location services to manage heating and cooling based on your proximity to home.
• The Nest is a thermostat with artificial intelligence that learns your preferences and provides energy saving features to help you conserve heating and cooling energy.
• Revolve keeps your gadgets running with its portable solar chargers made with natural, recycled, and sustainable materials.
• Brunton revealed a new rugged case for the iPhone 4 and 4S with a built in solar panel that swings open to create a stand for the phone.
• The SolarKindle lighted cover from SolarFocus uses a built in solar panel to power the LED reading light and charge the reserve battery that can also provide extra power to the Kindle.

The Consumer Electronics Associate (CEA), the owner and producer of CES, donated $75,000 to local Las Vegas sustainability organizations Green Chips and Repurpose AMERICA. Green Chips supports local solar panel installations and Repurpose AMERICA collects and reuses materials from the show such as signs, banners, and foam boards. While CES held talks and exhibits on topics such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, battery technology, and green labels and standards, some stated that green tech had a much smaller presence at this year’s event. One major disappointment was the relocation of the Sustainable Planet TechZone from the convention center to the Venetian hotel. CES has yet to fully integrate green tech into the show and some sustainable product companies felt slighted by the move and chose not to exhibit this year. Although some great products were debuted this year, it appears there is still a long way to go to make green the ace in the hole for the largest gadget tradeshow on earth.

For more information on the green gadgets at the 2012 CES, visit Treehugger’s recap.

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Green technology (green tech) is creating a wave of change that reduces the carbon footprint of technology products and reduces society’s environmental impact through the effective use of technology. Green tech promotes sustainability and innovation by enabling technology to meet society’s current needs without damaging or depleting natural resources. Implementing cradle-to-cradle (C2C) design and source reduction supports sustainability by creating technology products that can be fully reclaimed or reused and reduces waste and pollution by changing production and consumption patterns. Green tech innovation creates new and alternative technologies that reduce or eliminate the negative impacts of current methods and processes (i.e. developing clean renewable energy sources in place of fossil fuels). Green tech also improves the economy by creating new careers around technologies and products that benefit the environment.

As we look ahead to society’s future the tables are turning as technology itself becomes a tool for increasing sustainability and reducing environmental impact. There are still problems to solve and challenges to overcome, but the green tech wave will certainly usher in a sea of change for the environment.

I do not like you
there or here.
I will not follow you in the
twitosphere.

Your tweets are endless noisy
twutter.
It fills my stream with useless
clutter.
I do not like
screen eggs and spam.
I will not follow you,
Tweeter-I-am.

Your egg may be green, orange, or
blue
You all leave me wondering,
who are you?

Your tweets may be phishing or a
scam.
You might try to turn on
my remote webcam.
I do not like
screen eggs and spam.
I will not follow you,
Tweeter-I-am.

You may be my favorite
twitterati.
Or my my best friend
from Cinncinati.
If you are tweeterboxes with a case of
twitterrhea
I don’t care if your’re my favorite
pizzeria.

Not with a phone.
Not from the throne.
I would not, could not, with a Facebook hack.
I could not, would not, with a PC or Mac.
I do not like
screen eggs and spam.
I will not follow you,
Tweeter-I-am.

1. Refrain from using the phone system, both land lines and cell. Both of these infrastructures suffered a denial of service (DoS) during the earthquake and for some time afterwards. Update your family/friend/work communication plan to include alternate methods of communication such as text messaging and social media. Text messages often go through even when cell calls aren’t. Instant messaging, twitter, and Facebook were working flawlessly during and after the earthquake and I used those methods to connect with people. This is how I found out the phone systems were down. People were tweeting that they couldn’t make calls and people were IMing me saying they were trying to call me. Use internet technology if it is available during the event to connect, let others know you are ok, and move on. Leave the phone lines for those who need emergency assistance.

2. Don’t call 911 unless it is a real emergency. Local 911 communications were also suffering from a denial of service because loads of people were calling to report the earthquake, or to ask if that was an earthquake. Do not call 911 unless you need emergency assistance.

3. Have a two-way radio/walkie talkie plan. We created a neighborhood two-way radio communication plan in the event of an emergency or cell/land line disruption. We agreed in advance on the channel to use for communicating and we break out the two-way radios when needed. You can get two-way radios now that cover many miles (for example 35 miles). Its a good idea to keep one in your car too.

4. Make sure these tips are incorporated into your business/IT disaster response plan. After the earthquake I heard many IT teams and businesses stating a huge flaw in their disaster plan. Most plans involve carrying a list of key personnel and their cell phone numbers. With cell service disrupted, team members without a backup plan were unable to communicate. Make sure to incorporate the tips above into your professional life as well.