Lunch in your cubicle and the ENVIRONMENT

That vending machine snack and can of Coke has environmental implications beyond the mere manufacturing and delivery systen. And now the Department of Energy (DOE) is going after those inefficient, old-fashioned last steps on the food chain. VENDING MACHINES!

There are no solar-powered, wind-driven, or wave-farmed vending machines. There are an estimated three million electricity-powered vending machines in offices and motels and lunchrooms across America.

If you speak or read governmentese, click here for press release on the DOE's move for more efficient appliances overall. The NRDC likes this vending machine idea. They are saying, they'd like even more efficiency required, "One key to large savings for many products is smart controls technologies. For example, even more savings could be achieved for vending machines if DOE had required controls that dim or shut off machine lighting or which allow beverage temperatures to float up during extended periods of non-use." Another political booster of energy efficient appliances: the ACEEE. Between now and 2012 the Obama DOE will be giving out new efficiency standards for a lot of business and home appliances. Says ACEEE, "The biggest potential energy saver among the pending standards concerns fluorescent tube light bulbs and reflector light bulbs. A final standard for these lighting products is due by the end of June."

This greener vending machine idea is not new. Southern California Edison has already embarked on a program around L.A. to cut energy waste by out-dated vending equipment. I read about it in the "Vending Times."

Stuck with old vending machine at your business? Here's some good advice from a utility company. Turn off the lights, certainly when nobody's in the building. And negotiate for a new, more efficient vending machine. You're paying for the energy. And so's our planet. [poll id="138"]