Greening your Commute....

One of my top tips about being more green and carfree is to telecommute. Glad to see that the American Electronics Association agrees. Obviously when one looks at the source, one has to wonder what the motivation is? Perhaps selling more electronics. Now putting my cynicism aside, telecommuting is an entirely viable option to displace miles driven and CO2 produced in the act of commuting. However, one must be careful not to discount "additionality" of producing more waste from additional electronics sales.

High tech has replaced the automobile industry as the stalwart's of "planned obsolescence " encouraging us to buy new gear all the time. Hey I'm guilty on my allowable shopping list right now is a new MacBook computer that I'm craving to replace my existing Powerbook G4 that is crawling when doing some of my graphics work. But it is replacement and additional hardware. So to be truly green in your telecommuting, don't use it as an excuse to succumb to the Diederot Effect.

But seriously, Greenwashing is big business even when the claims are legitimate, you have to make sure that you look at the larger picture when assessing your actions. If you make a mis-step that reveals itself with more knowledge, don't fret. As I recall, I only learned how to walk by learning how to fall.