Simple Ways to Go "Media Green"

Like lots of people I have become more aware of what I can and should be doing to help the environment. (Thanks, Al.) Now I am taking this to the next level by getting toward what I call a "Media Green" state. Basically, I am converting all the media I consume (and there is a lot of it) into the most environmentally friendly format I can find, without sacrificing too much of the experience.

This is the last big piece of my effort to get more green. I bank and pay bills online. Earlier this year I traded in my small SUV for a very efficient hybrid car. Further, I am more conscious of little things that I really ignored until recently - like turning the thermostat off when I leave the apartment.

In addition, thanks to my extensive use (or maybe that's misuse!) of Gmail and IMAP, I have already moved 100% of my work stuff, like meeting notes and documents, to bits. People are amazed when they come into my apartment or office and see no paper at all. I don't even know how to add the network printer at work! Media was the last frontier.

Here are the three steps I took to go "Media Green" ...

In: Audiobooks | Out: Printed Books

I "read" somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 books a year - mostly business, nonfiction and sports. However, nowadays I rarely buy printed books and instead download audiobooks from either Audible.com or iTunes. Now that MP3 players are ubiquitous - and cheap - their selection has grown a lot over the years.

For starters, I love that I can carry several audiobooks with me at once. Try that with bound books. You'll break your back. I keep two or three at all times lined up on my iPhone ready to go.

Second, audiobooks fill tons of unusable time - such as when I am waiting on line at Whole Foods or at the security checkpoint at the airport or when I am driving to client meetings. In addition, if you get an Audible subscription they actually cost less over time than hard copy books. I wish publishers made all of their titles available in audio format. Still, many of the more popular books are available as audiobooks.

If you have an iPhone, it gets more fun. Sometimes when commuting by train into the city I take notes via Gmail IMAP about what I am listening to. Of course, you don't need an iPhone to do this. Audible supports tons of devices, including Palm Treos and more.

My next step is to start storing audiobooks in Gmail or Box.net so that I can access them if I am out of content or space on the iPhone.

In: RSS, IMAP-enabled GMail and the iPhone | Out: Printed Magazines and Newspapers

Years ago I used to read three daily newspapers - the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Newsday, my local paper. I also used to buy dozens of magazines on computers, business and sports. I used to store them in a snazzy rack. Of course, I read lots of trade pubs too - AdAge, AdWeek, PR Week, etc. Now, however, I have almost completely ditched print in favor of reading online. (I just have to cancel a few remaining subscriptions.)

I now subscribe to the RSS feeds for every publication mentioned above plus hundreds of blogs. The beauty of this is that I only subscribe to what I care about and ditch the rest. So, for example, for the Times I subscribe to top news, NY, business, tech, NBA and football feeds but not the movie reviews.

Once I find articles I want to read, I clip them by emailing each into the Gmail Personal Nerve Center using a special email address so they get filtered. Then the articles show up in my "Reading" folder on my iPhone as well as on the desktop and web thanks to the new IMAP features in Gmail. This will work with any modern cell phone that supports IMAP, not just the iPhone.

In: XBox Live, DVR, Apple TV/iTunes/iPhone | Out: DVD Movies

I am not a huge movie buff, but I enjoy a flick every now and then. However, I have found that between the three boxes I have connected to my set - an XBox, cable box w/DVR and an Apple TV - I am more than covered. (This tip is not for hardcore movie fans who love DVD extras.)

XBox Live Marketplace (an Edelman client) is one of my favorite services. They have 350 movies for rental with more added all the time (subscribe to the feeds here). Many of them are in HD. Basically, all you need to do is sign up for an account and rent the movies online via the console. Movies begin to download and after about five minutes you can start watching. The rest of the flick downloads as you watch. After a few days, they expire and no longer work. It's a very elegant system and cheap too.

A lot of people have DVRs these days. Here's how I use mine. I scan the listings online a few weeks in advance and flag the movies I want. Then I record them and keep them stored for a rainy day when I want to watch a movie. I keep a library of about five to ten movies. As a next step, I may add additional storage to my DVR.

Last but not least, I have an iPhone and Apple TV. I purchase movies off of iTunes and download them for later viewing. The selection of movies on iTunes is not that great. XBox Live is better. However, I like the convenience of viewing them on my iPhone when I travel. I even take a cable with me so that I can plug my phone into the hotel TV (this works with iPods too). I may also explore storing movies on Box.net so that I basically increase my iPhone storage, provided wifi is plentiful.

These are just three simple steps I took to go "Media Green." If you have other ideas, leave them in the comments.

Comments

[Anna]

A fantastic way to help in the fight for a green future:

http://www.woozyfly.com/?c=981

[Alex]

So your ideia of going green is simply move everything online.

If your work with a pc all day and that is on 24/7 then perhaps is not a bad ideia, but if not then you are wasting more energy with your pc and recharging your gadgets than when you are buying recycled paper.

But still, it's a good ideia for anyone who is always with the pc at hand, and for those there are other advices:
- don't leave your charger on the socket when you are not charging your gadget - it still spends energy (heating up).
- clean your pc now and then, dust tend to pile up and use more power to the fans for cooling the pc.
- if you are leaving the pc for 10, 15 minutes (WC break) then suspend your pc or at least turn off your monitor.

Sometimes there are the small things that start to help.

[Dan Schawbel]

There are trends (I've seen this on TechCrunch) about internet advertising and usage skyrocketing as TV and Radio crumble. Basically, it's good to get used to reading blogs and magazines online because print will no longer exist in the future.

[Dan Blank]

Steve - this post is really inspiring! I have gone completely paperless with my career as well. It needs to be pointed out the amazing psychological benefits of this as well. To not be confronted by mountains of "to do's" each morning does wonders for productivity. Of course, the email inbox is yet another challenge. Thanks for the tips.

[kob]

Somehow I don't feel "green" after paying for these devices or the monthly costs associated with them.

Better still: The public library, which is still free to use after several centuries of service.

[Brody]

I've always strived to work with Green companies and businesses but there's one company that outdoes them all-- Sun. They consisently rank highest in Silicon Valley for the lowest carbon footprint and have programs and alliances set up for educating other businesses how to do so. They're part of Openeco.org as well as giving startups and education on how to keep it clean with sun.com/startup. When are we going to see more companies like this? At least Apple is replacing CFL screens with LED...

[Paul Herring]

I think it's a lot easier to blame some big oil company or go to an Earth Day concert than it is to take responsibility for your own carbon footprint. Your post is inspiring.

[Trevor Bramble]

I've found several publishers who offer their books in PDF format; Pragmatic Bookshelf and O'Reilly, notably. Dr. Dobbs and PHP Architect also offer PDF versions of their magazines.

[Auliya]

When a book is read, it is interpreted by its reader. When a voice actor delivers a performance for an audio book, every nuance of inflection and emotion is their own interpretation of the text. Not the listener's. Within the realm of light reading -- your "business, nonfiction and sports" reading -- this may be good enough, but for deep reading (and for deep readers) it is not. I do not want to compromise my relationship with the text. I just wanted to make this point: for deep reading, a voice actor can not do it for me.

[Ryan]

This has been mentioned in a Lifehacker post about this article, but PUBLIC LIBRARIES are an incredible substitute for buying books. These books are free and most libraries are online and can deliver a book from any branch to your local branch. They even have CDs and DVDs for "rent". Think about it...how many books do you have on your shelf that you've read and will never read again? How many have you just "given away" to a charity? Check out your local library.

www.publiclibraries.com