Kill-O-Watts are these handy little machines that you can plug appliances in to and get a reading of how much energy they actually use.
The Canton Public Library (Michigan) checks them out to library patrons for one week at a time. They are a hugely popular item at the library. Read more about the Kill-O-Watt project at CPL here:
http://www.cantonpl.org/blog/green/environment/kill-watt-energy-meters-available-check-out-cpl
I gave a presentation on November 5 at the Michigan Library Association Annual Conference with the very amazing Christa Robinson and Joel Wiese. We talked about green and sustainable strategies for public libraries. You can view our presentation and see resources here:
https://mylibraryideas.wordpress.com/go-green/
Have suggestions for other vendors, blogs, books, websites, etc. that we should add to the page? Leave a comment or email me!
Carbon footprint, sustainability, environmentally friendly, et cetera, et cetera. There is so much being said about the green movement and making changes towards creating environmentally-sound practices at home and work! The last time I posted on the topic it generated quite a bit of interest, so clearly people (and librarians too! 😉 ) are seeking information to the question: how do I go green?
Last week I received a survey from the Association of Midwest Museums asking members about Green Museums and Sustainability Practices. It brought two thoughts to my mind: 1) The museum world and the library world share a ton of common interests and issues and need to start working together more and 2) Librarians need a similar survey to see what we’re all doing related to sustainability at the library.
So while this has all been on my mind, I was sitting in the doctor’s office yesterday and found a great series of articles in the October 2008 edition of Black Enterprise, a cool magazine that says it’s geared towards African-American entrepreneurs, but really covers a huge array of topics, not just business. But I digress. They recommend some websites that provide information about technology and it’s relation to the environment. Let’s face it, libraries use a ton of technology and that really creates a huge carbon footprint. Here are some sites they mentioned:
Green Technology – http://www.green-technology.org – As they say: “a non-profit initiative designed to inform government efforts toward sustainability, providing a forum in which government officials can communicate with those in the private sector who are developing and distributing green technologies.”
The Electronic Product Enviromental Assessment Tool – http://www.epeat.net – Provides analysis of computer products based on their environmental attributes
I did try to hunt down the official Greenstar website hosted by the U.S. government, but to no avail. However, I did find this great website from the Chicago Center for Green Technology that is worth looking at.
Okay, that’s all for today folks. Peace out.
