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A Greener Open World for Oracle, Ellison
SAN FRANCISCO - Oracle CEO Larry Ellison may burn up a bunch of fossil fuel in his 450-foot motor yacht and his collection of fighter jets, but at his company’s massive Open World tech event in San Francisco this week, green’s the word.
The conference features special “Green Room” sessions on subject like how make data centers more energy efficient and how to cut down on office printing to save trees.
Meals are served in biodegradable containers. Waste is placed in separate containers for recyclables, compost and regular old garbage. Instead of water bottles, there are “water stations” where waiters fill up attendees’ “green” cups made entirely from plant material.
Most unusual, though, has to be the bicycles. In the corners of the exhibit hall, attendees can plug their cell phone or PDA into a stationary bicycle, hop on and recharge their gadgets with pedal power.
And in the park behind the convention hall, there’s an Internet cafe that gets its power from participant pedaling too.
Attendees who hop on a hooked-up stationary bike for 15 minutes get a free cup of coffee along with their mini-workout.
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