Software donation helps spread sustainability message to youth

Last month, Earth Rangers was honoured as the fourth “Top Green-IT Organization” by Computer World Today. Out of nearly 100 applicants, Earth Rangers was one of 12 IT departments honoured for reducing power demands and using technology to create energy efficiencies. 

Located in Woodbridge, Ontario Earth Rangers believes that children have the right to inherit a healthy planet. They also believe that children have the desire and the power to change the world. The Earth Rangers program has doubled in size each year since 2004 by engaging and motivating millions of children and their families across the country to save endangered animals and their habitats. To achieve their mission, Earth Rangers combines children’s passion for animals and the environment with their love of entertainment and web based media.

Microsoft Canada is passionate about helping groups like Earth Rangers achieve their goals. Our corporate philosophy goes beyond giving financial donations and focuses on each organization’s individual mission. For example – for the past three years, Microsoft Canada has provided technology that contributes to Earth Rangers’ green IT initiatives, working with the team to ensure they have the right tools to create crucial technological pathways to action, increase productivity and facilitate collaboration across their network.

With the help of Microsoft, as well as several other technology leaders, Earth Rangers’ new data centre is 10 times smaller than it could have been. About 9.3 square metres in size, energy consumption has only doubled - even though performance has increased more than tenfold since moving to the new system.

Rob Di Stefano, IT Systems Director at Earth Rangers, led this initiative. He says that that Earth Rangers is now “saving 90 per cent more energy which saves about 100,000 kilowatts hours each year – that’s comparable to running nine average-sized homes per a year.”

Earth Rangers new data centre

“Microsoft products are the foundation that we layer all of our other work on, and they are what allow us to be efficient,” says Earth Rangers President and Co-CEO Mark Northwood, who has also been a key player in our Green IT social investment.

Earth Rangers also used the software to build an interactive online community for kids that helps extend its conservation message. By leveraging the funds saved as a result of its green energy initiatives, we were thrilled to find out that Earth Rangers now plans to expand this program online and across Canada.

Gavin Thompson is the Director of Corporate Citizenship at Microsoft Canada.

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