Technology Tips for Earth Day

 Technology Tips for Earth Day

Monitor Your Energy Use

Add the Earth Mode Google Chrome extension to your browser to monitor your energy use. "Earth Mode tracks your online energy use: from browsing, to streaming, to updating your social status. Once we know how much you use, Johnnie Walker will calculate your carbon footprint and plant trees to neutralise it."

Don’t Use Paper

It’s so much more than deciding not to print out that email. It saves trees that we all know, but  going paperless saves money. You will save the cost of paper and ink, which can be significant.Every time you hold a paper document or worksheet, ask yourself whether it needs to be on paper, or could it be a Google Sheet, Doc, Slide or Form.  The answer might just surprise you.

Do Use Electronic and Cloud Document Storage

As a school we use Google Apps for Education, so you already have access to Cloud Storage for all your school related document. But in case your one of those who have been hesitant to switch over from Microsoft (word, power point, etc) here is why you should make the switch. Saving to the Cloud means if you forget your document at home you still have access to it. It also means that if you want people to view a document you're working you can share it so that others can view it only.  If you want others to be able to edit you can grant that permission as well (and revoke it) you can also view the changes that others make a revert the document back if you don't want to keep those changes.  The final point I will make here for cloud storage is that you can easily add more storage space if you ever need it.  Adding more storage to your computer isn't as easily done.

March for Science

"The March for Science champions publicly-funded and publicly-communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. We unite as a diverse, non-partisan group to call for science that upholds the common good, and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest. This group is inclusive of all individuals and types of science!"

 

Other things you can do are:

• Walk to work, cycle or take public transport
• Use a reusable coffee cup
• Make sure you recycle
• Take a tote bag to the shop
• Plant a tree
• Go meat or dairy free at least once a week
• Carry a reusable water bottle
• Buy local organic produce

Gmail Tips Part 3: Boomerang

Before March break I read about a free app/extension for Gmail called Boomerang.  What is Boomerang? It is many things: it reminds you about emails, lets you schedule sending times for emails and can remind you to follow up if you don't hear back from an email.  I installed the Boomerang Extension before the break and have been experimenting with it since.  It lets you postpone incoming messages, so they disappear from your inbox, then reappear after a specified amount of time.

The mobile version has a 5 dollar per month price tag so probably not worth it for me.

While we are talking about delaying emails did you know there is a Gmail option called “undo send”! This gives you a grace period after you hit send – 20 seconds by default – during which you can change your mind and edit (or abandon) your message. You can enable this option in the main settings page, under “general”.