Just when you think all human activities are making the environment worse, news comes that our efforts to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impacts (0ur environmental footprint) are doing some good. According to a new U.S. Geological Survey report, the U.S. is using less water now than during the peak years of 1975 and 1980, despite a 30 percent population increase during the same time period.

The report shows that in 2005 Americans used 410 billion gallons per day, slightly less than in 2000. The declines are attributed to the increased use of more efficient irrigation systems and alternative technologies at power plants. Water withdrawals for public supply have increased steadily since 1950 — when USGS began the series of five-year trend reports — along with the population that depends on these supplies.

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If I were the new CEO of Chevron, I would stop listening to the lawyers and bring the engineers into the boardroom to develop a strategy to invest a good portion of last year’s record $24 billion profit into inventing solutions to the adverse environmental and social impacts of the company’s operations around the globe.

It is clear that Chevron’s historical reliance upon litigation to get what it wants is being eclipsed by new activist strategies that have effectively boxed Chevron into a corner.

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Concerned by the environmental impact of water bottles, the 2,500 villagers of Bundanoon have now banned the sale of bottled water. This might make them the first community in the world to do so.  More than 350 residents went to the polls, with only two people voting against the ban – including a representative from the bottled water industry, BBC reports citing ABC news. Even the local stores supported the vote. Visitors won’t get punished for breaking the ban, but they will be “encouraged to fill a reusable container from water fountains in the main street.” Neat!

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What first sounds ironic makes sense at second sight: Instead of having to fly thousands of miles to get to a conference, participants save energy and costs by simply staying where they are. The Virtual Energy Forum makes it happen by choosing the internet as its event location. No expensive plane tickets, cab rides and hotel rooms are necessary to attend the event, thereby reducing not only the carbon emissions, but also the expenses typically involved in a global conference like this. Cheaper, more efficient and less impact on the environment? What an example of CleanTech!

CleanTech at work
CleanTech products and services are based on innovate technologies that optimize the use of natural resources by offering cleaner or less wasteful and more economic alternatives to traditional products and services. In that context, The Virtual Energy Forum makes great economic sense – for both participating companies and attendees – as investments are smaller and opportunity costs lower than at a traditional conference. The forum is expected to have 5,000 attendees and save 6,500 tons of CO2 emissions (or 14.5 million pounds) that would be generated by travel and production for a conventional event of that size. The environmental impact and the cost for participating in the online event is tremendously low.

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