Meet Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer (What a Cool Job!)

By: Bob Keefe (View Profile)

A: Man, it has skyrocketed. When I started this job two and a half years ago, I really had no counterparts at other companies. If I did, it was somebody who had been reluctantly plunked into the position. Now it’s like a growing job industry.

Q: So what caused the green streak in you, personally?

A: I spent every summer in a sleep-away camp in Maine, basically living outside for two months straight. I think that had a lot of impact on me without me realizing it. I went into civil engineering because I loved architecture. But then I realized how things were built … and the more philosophical connection between how our structures really depend on the natural environment and how they couldn’t exist without it.

Q: So a lot of it came out when you were studying civil engineering?

A: Yes. Definitely.

Q: So I have to ask—what do you drive and what kind of house do you live in?

A: Well I’m a renter.

Q: But I’m sure it’s a sustainable-built house, right?

A: It’s a little tiny cottage on somebody’s lot.

Q: Ok, what about the car?

A: I drive a Volvo sedan.

Q: Not a hybrid?

A: Not a hybrid, because my car works fine, and it would be wasteful to get rid of a car when I don’t need to. I really don’t drive that much anyway.

Q: Do you take public transportation?

A: Yep. I used to bike a lot too. But now I have a dog and that’s a lot harder to do.

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posted: 02.27.2008
Honoria Glossop, Ph.D.
I think if Google really cared about the environment it would closed its business, destroyed its assets and went to live somewhere in African village, where their carbon footprint would be minimized.
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