Eco Scout Tip: Save Energy Setting Google-Powered Blackle Search Engine as Browser Home Page; Two Clicks Save Energy
If you’re at all like the gang at Marketing Eco, when a way to save energy takes only two clicks of the mouse button to implement, you’re all over it.
Hang on to your hats and get ready to to “click on” your energy savings, because by using Blackle as your browser’s home page and your default search engine you can make an impact, and we all know that even the small energy savings are important ones.
Here’s the scoop straight from Blackle.com:
How is Blackle saving energy?
Blackle was created by Heap Media to remind us all of the need to take small steps in our everyday lives to save energy. Blackle searches are powered by Google Custom Search.
Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. “Image displayed is primarily a function of the user’s color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen.” Roberson et al, 2002
In January 2007 a blog post titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine. Since then there has been skepticism about the significance of the energy savings that can be achieved and the cost in terms of readability of black web pages.
We believe that there is value in the concept because even if the energy savings are small, they all add up. Secondly we feel that seeing Blackle every time we load our web browser reminds us that we need to keep taking small steps to save energy.
How can you help?
We encourage you to set Blackle as your home page. This way every time you load your Internet browser you will save a little bit of energy. Remember every bit counts! You will also be reminded about the need to save energy each time you see the Blackle page load.
Help us spread the word about Blackle by telling your friends and family to set it as their home page. If you have a blog then give us a mention. Or put the following text in your email signature: “Blackle.com – Saving energy one search at a time”.
Have a look at our energy saving tips page for ideas on steps you can take to save energy or you can follow Blackle on Twitter and we will keep you updated with simple energy saving tips.
There are a lot of great web sites about saving energy and being more environmentally friendly. They are full of great tips covering the little things that we can all do to make a difference today. Try Blackling “energy saving tips” or visit one of the many great blogs dedicated to environmental awareness.
If you haven’t changed your browser’s default home page before, Blackle has instructions embedded above to set Blackle as your home page.
Thanks to Eco Scout, Marketing Eco has “clicked on” energy savings for each ME computer. We’d love to hear how many people are already on board with Blackle, and how many of you give two clicks for sustainability by visiting http://www.blackle.com now.
