Green Hosts: David vs. Goliath?

It looks like my recent post on green web hosts has gotten a bit of attention from another green host, Ethical Web Hosting in Canada (which looks like a good company as well. Hi there – thanks for stopping by!). In the comments, Ethical applauds Dreamhost's recent decision to go green, but questions their motivations for doing so:

While i applaud dreamhost's move (well done) I don't feel its actually done in the spirit of caring about reducing their GHG's but rather jumping on it as a marketing ploy before the other large hosts do the same thing. I think it is more important to support the smaller guys that do a lot more in all that they do to reduce their GHG's such as living in an area where you don't NEED a car to get to one fo the 2 offices, but can take the subway, walk or better yet, work from home.

He raises a good point - after all, I started the zen kitchen partially so I could decrease my carbon load by working from home and taking public transport more often. At the same time, however, I always get a bit bothered by arguments like this because they ignore a few key things:

1. Big business is (and will continue to be) a part of our culture, whether we like it or not.


2. Big businesses use more resources, and as such, a decision on their part to reduce their GHG's, no matter what spirit it's done in, has the potential to make a huge impact. Can you imagine, for example, what the impact would be if Wal-Mart (which, mind, I still won't buy from until they reform their labor policies) decided that they were going to power all their stores with wind energy? We'd have new turbines up all over the place in a year!


3. Whether we tree-huggers like it or not, all the high-minded idealism in the world isn't going to sway the leaders of big business until they see how it relates to their bottom line. They move on these things sometimes because it just makes good eco-sense, but usually it's because climate change is on the minds of their shareholders and customers - THAT'S what makes them move.

And honestly, what's wrong with that? In my opinion, a step in the right direction is a step in the right direction, even if it's grudgingly taken. And while I still support many smaller local businesses that are doing the right thing (just ask the folks over at Cambridge Naturals - I'm in there every week!), I do believe that it's also important to support larger businesses that are doing the right thing. Sending them the message that you're going to refuse shopping there because they aren't independently owned only sends a message that you, as a consumer, don't care whether they get involved in the climate change conversation, which makes it less likely that they will make the effort. There's room for everyone, and there has to be - positive change can't occur if we're excluding a large portion of the population.

That's just my 2¢ on the situation - what do you think?

Eco and Foodie Joy at Trader Joe's Cambridge

I have a couple of posts for you this week, which I'll work on tomorrow (I promise!) but I had to share this: when I was doing some food shopping at my local Trader Joe's in Cambridge (right on Memorial Drive, near the Charles) I was not only able to pick up the most INSANELY GOOD baby heirloom tomatoes and some orange-muscat champagne vinegar that's going to make a mighty tasty vinaigrette tonight, but, because I brought my own bag, I was offered a chance to put my name in for a drawing that this particular Trader Joe's is having to show their appreciation for helping them save paper by recycling bags. Apparently, once a month the grand Tiki God statue at the front of the store will spit out a name (much like in the Harry Potter book) and the lucky person will receive a $25 TJ gift card.

So if you're local, show them some love (and get some of these tomatoes - oh. my. goodness.)

More green hosting options from Green Options

In the interest of further exploring the green web hosting thang, I happened upon an article by Megan Prusynski, a fellow designer/greenie and member of the HOW Forum (one of my favorite hangouts on the internets).

In the article, Greening the Web: green hosting options, Megan provides a decent list of web hosts that are either powered exclusively by renewable energy or they offset their energy use by purchasing renewable energy credits. I still recommend Dreamhost, but it's nice to know that there are other companies out there doing their part.

Dreamhost goes green!

The other day, I got the best news ever from my friend RJ over at Plenty Magazine. Dreamhost, the amazing web service that I've been using for two years to host the zen kitchen's websites, has just become carbon neutral.

In addition to purchasing Green-e certified renewable energy credits, they've also purchased Carbon Credits from The Gold Standard.

For more information about Dreamhost's green commitment, visit the Dreamhost website.

Freelance isn't free

The other day I was hanging out on one of my many designer forums, and a regular on the forum posted a rant about a potential client who had contacted him about his services, gushed over his portfolio, and said that they'd LOVE to work with him. Sounds pretty good, right?

The problem was the next sentence in the e-mail, which read:

"Just so you know, this is a freelance position, so it will not be paid. But after this is done, we will need other materials, such as brochures and websites and flyers, and if all goes well, we will be able to pay you for those.

Now, mind, I could have some strong words to say here, but I won't go there. What I will say is that this is one of the reasons that I personally, even when the zen kitchen was just me, have strategically avoided using the word "freelance" to describe what I do.

It's that word "free," you see. It has so many connotations to it - from the idea of a freelancer being someone who lacks commitment to your business (which anyone who knows me will tell you is not the case), to the idea of a freelancer being someone who will work - well - for free. Not all clients believe this, mind you - I have several clients that I occasionally do freelance for, and they respect my work and my time, and pay me well for it - but there are enough naive clients out there that do, in fact, believe that they can get work for free from designers (and enough poor unsuspecting designers who actually WILL work for free on the vague promise of more work down the road) that being a freelancer is a ticket to being taken less seriously.

So what do you call yourself, if not a freelancer? I'm an independent designer, or I run my own design studio, or I'm a zen warrior princess. You choose.