When I was going through today's newspaper, one article which caught my attention was about Google. I have always admired Google as a company which was founded on the concept of innovation. This time it takes one more step ahead to become a carbon-neutral (which implies zilch or minimal release of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere) by the year 2008.

It's setting up renewable energy sources like solar panels, bio-fuels to power it's offices in the U.S and also working closely with chip-maker Intel for making greener pc's.

Eventhough I work in the IT industry, I am conscious about the amount of e-waste the IT industry generates. Wipro has become the 1st IT company in India to take a lead role by:

- Committing to build products complying with the Restriction of Hazardous
substances directive from 1st June 2007.
- Taking the initiative to set up systems to ensure complete take-back of
their e-waste.
(Source: Greenpeace Annual Report)

I have also signed up for a membership with GREENPEACE an environmental pressure group. It will be a monthly contribution of Rs.200 to the organization. I went through the literature of GREENPEACE and was amazed at the extent of environmental degradation happening all around us. Take for instance "PHILIPS" which many think is a environmentally sensitive and caring company, is not what it claims to be. It manufactures and sells around a billion incandescent light bulbs which contributes to net CO2 emissions of 48,013.56 tons per day (Source: Greenpeace).

So what is that we can do as responsible citizens to help stop GLOBAL WARMING?

Here are 8 simple things we can do and how much CO2 we'll save doing them...

1. Change a light
Replacing one regular incandescent light bulb with a CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lighting) will save 150 pounds of CO2 a year.

2. Drive less
Walk, cycle, car-pool or take public transport more often. You'll save one pound of CO2 for every pound we don't drive!

3. Recycle more
You can save 2,400 pounds of CO2 every year by recycling just half of your household waste.

4. Check your tyres
Keeping your tyres inflated properly can improve mileage by more than 3%. Every gallon of petrol saved keep 20 pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere!

5. Avoid products with a lot of packaging
You can save 1,200 pounds of CO2 if you cut down your garbage by 10%

6. Plant a tree
A single tree will absorb one tonne of CO2 over it's lifetime.

7. Turn off electronic devices
Simply turning off your TV, DVD player, stereo and computer when you're not using them will save you thousands of pounds of CO2 a year.

8. Visit www.banthebulb.in
And join the Greenpeace in forcing the government to ban the bulb.
(Source: Greenpeace)