Green Tech Revolution
Balancing High-Tech Living with Environmental Responsibility
If I asked you to picture a perfectly sustainable home or business, would it include tech? Would it even have electric lights? Maybe you’d imagine an earthship in a desert, off the grid, with dusty plants all over its roof.
Sustainable for the earth, but not so much sustainable for our interests and lifestyles.
I do love how earthships look and work, but MY work is in tech. We need power, internet, and videogames. Well, maybe “need” isn’t the word—but it would be a huge and uncomfortable pivot to drop them. Most of our income and spending revolve around technology.
So how does this reconcile with my mission of climate resilience? I take a page from Pru Foster’s book, A Drop of Grace: Finding and Protecting Our Common Ground. Dr. Foster points out that our greatest tool for sustainability is often our budget. She suggests taking a look at your biggest monthly spend (in her case, the mortgage), and seeing if your money is going to a sustainable company.
The first place I looked is Microsoft. Our home runs on quite a few Microsoft products, like the family Microsoft 365 plan. We have game passes and PCs and Xbox. And at work, we’re a Microsoft partner—all our clients are hosted in Microsoft Azure. I’m also a responsible AI advocate, with a ChatGPT subscription—all running in Microsoft Azure.
Knowing that my money supports a company committed to sustainability is crucial, and I’m relieved to find that Microsoft was way ahead of me! In 2020, Microsoft set ambitious goals focusing on four key areas of sustainability: carbon, water, land use, and waste. They created departments (and jobs!) to ensure their focus is correct and their methods are sound. Let’s dive into what they’re doing in each of these crucial areas, and why it makes me proud to support them.
From this point, all quotes, stats, and images are sourced from Microsoft’s Sustainability Journey page and 2024 Environmental Sustainability Report.
Carbon: Aiming for Carbon Negative
Microsoft is not just aiming to reduce its carbon footprint; it’s committed to becoming carbon negative by 2030. This means they will remove more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit. They plan to achieve this through:
Reducing Emissions: By transitioning to renewable energy sources and improving energy efficiency across their operations. Their biggest challenge remains Scope 3 emissions—supply chains, travel, hardware cycles, and other indirect operations.
Removing Carbon: Investing in technologies and projects that actively remove carbon from the atmosphere, such as afforestation and carbon capture.
Empowering Customers: Providing tools and resources to help their customers reduce their own carbon footprints through more sustainable IT solutions.
“In FY23, 76.5% of our total emissions originated from our suppliers. We believe Microsoft also has a role to play in bringing the global supply chain with us on our journey to net zero.”
Water: Creating Water Positive Impact
Water is a precious resource, often taken for granted. Microsoft is working towards becoming water positive by 2030. Their “five pillars of water positive” are:
Reducing Water Usage: Implementing water-saving measures in their operations, from cooling data centers to everyday office practices.
“Our new datacenters are designed and optimized to support AI workloads and will consume zero water for cooling.”
Replenishing Water Sources: Supporting initiatives that replenish more water in stressed regions than they consume. This includes investing in projects that restore wetlands and other natural water systems.
Scaling water solutions: Implementing scalable water management solutions that can be adopted globally, helping to address water scarcity in different regions. This includes leveraging cloud-based tools to monitor and optimize water usage in real-time.
Advocating for effective and innovative water policy: Working with governments, NGOs, tribes, and industry leaders to promote policies that encourage water conservation and sustainable management practices. This involves participating in global water forums and contributing to the development of international water standards.
Increasing access to water: Partnering with organizations to provide clean water access to underserved communities. This includes funding infrastructure projects like wells and water purification systems, and supporting education programs that promote water conservation and hygiene practices.
In FY23, we met our water access target by providing more than 1.5 million people with access to clean water and sanitation solutions in Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, and Mexico.”
Land Use: Protecting and Restoring Ecosystems
Microsoft understands the importance of preserving our natural landscapes. Their commitment to land use focuses on:
Protecting Ecosystems: Ensuring that their operations do not harm natural habitats. This involves careful planning and impact assessments for all new projects.
“In FY23, we updated our Sustainability Standards for new construction to include ecosystem protection for both flora and fauna. Namely, for projects that include landscaping, a local expert will be consulted to avoid invasive species and ensure plantings are native to the area. And to protect local wildlife, projects that alter or update an existing facade will be designed to meet LEED Bird Collision Deterrence pilot credits.”
Restoring Degraded Lands: Partnering with organizations to restore ecosystems that have been damaged by industrial activity or natural disasters.
Sustainable Development: Promoting sustainable land use practices both within their operations and in the broader community.
“In 2020, we committed to protecting more land than we use by 2025. As of FY23, 15,849 acres of land have been legally designated as permanently protected. We have exceeded our land protection target of 11,000 by more than 40%”
Waste: Towards Zero Waste
Waste management is a critical component of sustainability. Microsoft aims to achieve zero waste for their direct operations, products, and packaging by 2030. Their approach includes:
Reducing Waste Production: Designing products and processes that minimize waste generation.
Recycling and Reuse: Implementing comprehensive recycling programs and encouraging the reuse of materials wherever possible.
“Reuse and recycle rates of servers and components across all cloud hardware reached 89.4% in FY23.”
Circular Economy: Promoting a circular economy model, where products are designed to be reused, refurbished, or recycled at the end of their life cycle.
A Commitment to a Sustainable Future
Microsoft’s commitments to sustainability are not just about corporate responsibility; they’re about leading by example. By addressing carbon, water, land use, and waste in their operations, Microsoft is paving the way for a greener, more sustainable future for all of us.
I love that every time I look at their 2024 Sustainability Report, I learn new ways to make a positive impact on the planet. It’s inspiring to see such a major player in the tech industry taking these crucial steps. It gives me hope that together, we can build a better, more sustainable world.