Google Going Green Goats

Here's a cool way to maintain your lawn... i got this from Yahoo news just this morning and Google is actually doing this in their perimeter.

I think this is a good idea, and I believe it is worth adopting.



We live in an increasingly green-conscious world. For some, "it's not easy being green"; however, many individuals and corporations have taken steps towards embracing green initiatives.

Recent news from Google suggests that the search engine doesn't just think outside the box when creating software. Creative thinking also characterizes the company's quest to be green. On May 1st, Google announced that it would no longer be using noisy, gasoline-fueled lawnmowers at its Mountain View headquarters. Rather, Google rented goats from California Grazing for a week-long visit to the complex. The animals ate grass and fertilized the land.

According to Google's official blog, "The goats are herded with the help of Jen, a border collie. It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers."

Before the goats arrived to feast at the Googleplex, the brush in the area was reportedly 4-ft tall; however, the goats ate through most of it in just a few days. An on-site herder said the goats would do a field-clearing for Google once a year. The herder also reported that a couple of goats got sick because human were feeding them flowers, which are poisonous to goats.

Google Isn't Alone, or Even First to Use Goats

Google may be getting all of the press now, but Yahoo has been using goats to maintain its land for at least a couple years. Yahoo has even uploaded a photo showing goats grazing on its property with the caption:

Once or twice a year, a large herd of goats can be seen just past our parking garage in Sunnyvale, grazing happily on the tall grasses of the hill (cough - landfill - cough) beyond. We have a special fondness for the goats and are always sad to see them go (which, based on their voracity, happens much faster than you'd imagine).

Not to be outdone by Google and Yahoo, Chattanooga, Tennessee has been letting goats roam in a city-owned section of the Missionary Ridge since 2006. The city had been previously overrun by kudzu vines - known as "the vine that ate the south" – that grow up to a foot a day. Chattanooga's goats are now said to be the "official city mascots" and have even inspired songwriter Randy Mitchell to write "Ode to Billy Goats."

When I first heard about this story, I thought it was a joke. Goats? Really? But I think the idea is a good one – as long as you have the time, money and patience to deal with them.

What'sthe most creative or unique "green" idea you've ever heard of?

Resources:

http://www.reuters.com/article/bigMoney/idUS24458641020090504

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/us/05goats.html

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/05/01/google-and-yahoo-both-use-goats-for-lawn-mowing

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/mowing-with-goats.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/04/AR2009050400027.html