Our Digital Economy is Saving the Planet’s Assets
Bits and bytes travel in the air waves with almost zero friction. Gravity barely affects numbers on the web. The people pushing pixels and text around all day from home have little impact on carbon emissions. The leverage afforded by the Internet can bring a disproportionate amount of money to Hawai`i and is surely worthy of research.
Many folks in our own local economy work at least part-time online. Some sell products while others have figured out how to sell knowledge or provide a service remotely. Others use web-based tools to simply monetize the popularity of their websites. Our digital economy is growing and one day it will help us become “sustainable island.”
The net-effect of teaching people how to sustain themselves or thrive using a computer and an Internet connection is straight out of science fiction. It’s also an ideal setup for a remote paradise.
Here in our isolated, micro-eco-system we have great potential by strengthening our digital economies. As we strive to become the model for other sustainability efforts (food, energy, health) we need to consider the ways digitization is helping reduce consumption and preserve the local environment.
Another largely digital force, Google, is also contributing in many ways. First by working with other industry giants, Microsoft and Yahoo! to setup giant green data centers and now by dedicating resources to help educate and create renewable energy sources.
Learn how Google is, “Building a future that’s clean and green”.