Today is apparently Earth Day and I have to admit I had no idea until I saw some of the stories when I got to work. Founded in 1970, Earth Day is a driving force steering environmental awareness around the world.

Googlers are doing their bit to help spread the word by sharing their ideas on an Earth Day-specific mashup map – everything from using biodegradable golf tees, to supporting green energy sources with carbon off-set credits. Earth Day revellers can also submit YouTube videos of their Earth Day proclamations which, although rather nifty, not many videos are linked through to the map yet. Google itself is no slacker to the green gang, with its Energy Saver gadget for your desktop, which I shall not doubt be delving into. With new PCs and monitors on the horizon in our office, I’ll be interested to see the energy consumption difference.

Our friends in IT industry are also doing their bit, with a raft of ideas coming out of Silicon Valley. One I particularly like is from web referral and personalisation network StumbleUpon, which hopes to build its membership by promising to plant a tree for every click on this link. Heather Clancy writes a nice round-up of other ideas here. What are you doing in your office to help the environment?

Stephanie Marshall