There are many holidays that serve as once-a-year reminders of things we really should be doing and thinking every single day. Some good examples? Mothers Day, which reminds us that we should love, respect and stay in touch with our mothers as often as possible. Administrative Professionals Day, which reminds busy executives to be appreciative of the staff members who make their jobs easier—and do the little things that often go unnoticed. Or how about birthdays? Yes, we only “turn” a new age once a year. But shouldn’t we celebrate being alive more often than every 365 days?
Similarly, on April 22nd of every year, Americans are reminded that the planet we live on is fragile and that the natural resources we have are limited. And as environmental causes become more and more mainstream, people are definitely jumping on the “green” bandwagon. Just go to http://search.twitter.com and type in #earthday. By the time you read through the last hour of results, Earth Day 2009 will already have come and gone!
At iLinc Web and Video Conferencing, we are committed to keeping the spirit of Earth Day alive for the rest of the year. By providing businesses and individuals with a robust and easy-to-use web conferencing product, we make it desirable to meet online, which not only saves money but also protects the environment by reducing travel.
In addition to providing the tools for better online collaboration, iLinc also gives its users the ability to measure how much “green” they are saving. The iLinc Green Meter—the only tool of its kind—is an automatic calculator inside iLinc web conferencing software that tracks CO2, cost and travel reductions accrued by meeting online rather than traveling. How does it work? The patent-pending technology makes calculations based on each web conferencing participant’s location and the standard emission rates for cars or planes.
With this innovative technology, not only can an individual see his or her immediate impact on the environment, a team can tally its total, as can an entire organization. Want a real-world example? In the month of April, iLinc’s own sales team held all of their sales meetings and demonstrations online using iLinc technology. Using the Green Meter, we quickly discovered that holding these meetings and demonstrations online instead of traveling allowed our organization to avoid emitting 915, 040 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. (Not to mention the $188,607 we avoided spending!). You can easily see the kind of impact this would have on a larger scale! In fact, iLinc’s customers have already prevented two billion pounds of carbon emissions from being released.
In going about our day-to-day business, we are doing our part to reduce environmental harm, and that’s a great way to make the principles of Earth Day—conservation, awareness, sustainability, and most importantly, action—last all year long. Want to join the year-long movement to help the environment? Go to Earthday.gov for useful tips for making your life greener. You should also consider moving your in-person meetings online. To get started, click here for a free demo of iLinc web and video conferencing.
Posted under Green Business, Travel Reduction, Web Conferencing
This post was written by Christine Olivas on April 22, 2009
