At Home Harmonizers, caring for the environment isn't just a job. We all know protecting our home involves more than protecting habitat, or wild places. Human life and human society depend on a healthy environment. By protecting the planet, we're ultimately protecting ourselves and our children. That's what sustainability really means.
The core mission of Home Harmonizers is to share tools that help us live more sustainable lives, while enjoying more comfort, fun, and a greater ability to focus on the things that really matter to us. Sustainability should be built into our lives, not tacked on as a chore that we try to remember to do once a week, like taking out the recycling.
But it's not all big picture stuff. Home Harmonizers is committed to minimizing its environmental impact in all aspects of its operations. Here are some examples.
The web hosting service I use, Fatcow, uses servers powered by wind energy. The company that makes my business cards, Moo, uses paper from sustainably managed forests. Even the case that the business cards come in is made from recycled pulp. The company laptop was not bought new, but as a refurbished product. I don't rent a dedicated office space, or have my own fax machine, or even my own printer. Not only does this choice keep my costs down; it also means that Home Harmonizers is a uniquely mobile and low-impact company.
Oh, and speaking of mobility, I never travel by plane on work-related trips. Trains are a remarkably pleasant way to see the country, and they offer a great environment to get work done in, with far fewer carbon emissions that plane travel causes. While I do travel by car for some projects, I always try to use vehicles that get 30 miles per gallon or better. While in Chicago, I use the local non-profit car-sharing service, I-Go, and take advantage of the hybrids they have stashed around the city.
Home Harmonizers also offers clients help with the day-to-day aspects of sustainability. At no additional cost, I deliver your electronics that are ready to be recycled to Best Buy - they've finally started accepting old electronics for free! I take all your donations to secondhand stores, where they can be resold and reused if at all possible, and send the receipt for a tax-deductible donation back to you. If you're interested in lowering your monthly home energy costs, I can recommend some top-of-the-line companies that offer home energy audits.
So, what *else* can Home Harmonizers do for the environment? That's a question I ask myself regularly, and that question is how I stumbled across my first web host, Fatcow, and their 100% wind-powered servers. If you come up with other ideas, I'd love to hear them!
Nice crowded little footer from my first webpage. Ah, Fatcow, you were lovely.