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Saving the earth one byte at a time
Sustainability in computing’s Code of Ethics?
Q: Is sustainability described in computing’s code of ethics? A: Not explicitly. The ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (1992) identifies the “commitment to ethical conduct expected of every member”. It consists of “24 imperatives formulated as statements of personal responsibility”. It is argued in the preamble to the code that not every issue […]
Sustainability a “Pervasive Theme” or MIC (“Missing In Curriculum”)?
July 1, 2007
Q: To what extent is sustainability prescribed in computing curricula? A: Not at all. The ACM maintains a series of computing curricula documents (2005) for each of four bodies of knowledge (Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering and Information Science). Each is a significant document of around 100 pages. Unfortunately there is no mention of […]
SIDS: Blevis’ Sustainable Interaction Design
June 28, 2007
Eli Blevis’ “Sustainable Interaction Design: Invention and disposal, renewal and reuse” (pdf, ACM link), is set to become an influential paper in Human Computer Interaction and Interaction Design, if not the wider computing sphere. Blevis describes a broad approach that brings together computing (HCI) and sustainability in a way that benefits both streams. He argues […]
Byte here for sustainability: rethinking school lunch
June 26, 2007
I have a theory. A person’s sustainability awareness decreases while they are in tertiary education. Why? Three reasons. 1. We’re not very good at modelling sustainable behaviour (yes the skip, but also try informally applying the Green League criteria to your own organisation – I did, it’s not pretty) 2. According to Erik Erickson’s eight […]
Need to make it easier to reach for the medium hanging fruit
June 23, 2007
Major climate change report released today by the UK and UK Consumer organisations. Here’s my take. 1. People are aware of the problem Climate change is a mainstream consumer issue. Consumers in the US and UK are strongly concerned about global warming, and are ready to take action. Sixty six percent of consumers in the […]
Computing for Sustainability 
July 1, 2007
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