Monday, May 05, 2008

What we need is a report on wasteful reports

A letter in the Indy:

Unsustainable bulk of official advice

Sir: The Communities and Local Government's Code for Sustainable Homes: Technical Guide, April 2008 has just appeared on the web as part of the Government's drive to prevent global warming. I dare not print it off, as it runs to 302 pages. It costs £40 for a hard copy. There are an average of 300 words per page, but some pages have fewer than 50 words on them, surrounded by blank space .

Some of the text is in 8-point, so it has not been produced with the sight-impaired in mind. With proper copywriting and layout, it could be reduced to 80-90 pages and still be more accessible to the reader. That's 25 per cent of the paper and ink, and more readable. How about a code for sustainable government publications?

Nice critique, sir. Love the irony of the last line.

Rack rate

A telling piece about the 'cost' of our online addictions.

Green data center threat level: Not green

Note the cost debate swirling below.