We have a problem, and we don’t yet a decent solution. As a species, we’re running lemming-like off a whole bunch of cliffs, of which climate change is just the biggest and nearest. At the same time, an enormous amount of human innovation is going into making people click more ads.
There’s a popular school of thought about climate change that says we don’t need to worry, because humanity always innovates its way out of a crisis. If that’s true, then we’d better get innovating right now, rather than waiting for others to do it, because we’re in the crisis. We need to experiment like crazy, to try all the things that might help. Most will fail, as startups do, but if we try enough, something will work. If we can harness the kind of crazy innovation that’s created our modern web, we can do just about anything.
It’s easy to think that software can’t fix anything real, but if you can write a line of code that saves someone energy, you leave a piece of coal unburnt. If you get someone out of their car and on a bus, you help take a fuel tanker off the road. In fact, I’m pretty sure that web software is the only thing we can scale quickly enough to make a serious difference in the time available.
So, if you’re a developer, maker, or innovator, and love a challenge, why not pick the one that really could change the world, and for the better? Sign the Cleanweb Manifesto, and strike out on the biggest adventure of your life.
Cleanweb UK will be here to help you find a way to make your project sustainable, whether that’s finding a business or non-profit funding model, pointing you to people who can help, or just putting you in touch with like-minded friends you didn’t know you had.
Stop selling people to advertisers. Join us, and let’s fix the future.