WebEx could cut carbon footprint and travel time of MPs
WebEx could cut carbon footprint and travel time of MPs
A politician's life is all meetings meetings meetings. But by taking the effort to learn how to use virtual meeting technology, Williams was able to save himself, and two or three other participants in each meeting, the time and fossil fuels needed for them to converge in one place.
If he could keep this up for a year, he'd save nearly three tonnes of carbon being dumped into the atmosphere.
Imagine if all our politicians followed suit. That would be a massive saving.
Hang on though, there are some obvious flaws in this wishful thinking.
How many politicians are going to have the time, or the capacity, to learn a web conferencing system? Aren't these things a complicated nightmare?
Not so, according Williams, the Liberal Democrat MP for Ceredigion. He had the motivation, at least, because his constituency's in West Wales, while his office is Westminster. “I spend a lot of time travelling back and forth," explains Williams. "Face-to-face time with constituents, and staff, is important but I was very aware of not just the time and money it was costing, but the environmental impact."
I'd settle for an MP who was guilty about all the time and money he was wasting. But what the heck.
The average return journey to Ceredigion takes ten hours. Mid week meetings are the big challenge despite the continuing need to be accessible to constituents.
"I spent far more time travelling to meetings than having them," says Williams. " which isn't an efficient use of my time and meant I was less accessible to my constituents and staff.”
So, he scrapped the unnecessary face to face meetings and took them online.
Being an MP he'd presumably need something easy to use. WebEx (which is great, but expensive) gave him a trial online meeting account.
"Climate change is something we can all do something about, especially now that technology exists to help reduce our dependence on travel," says Williams.
Better still, he's more productive. "Some say this technology decreases face-to-face contact. I've found it actually promotes it," he explains. "Where I would have phoned or emailed once, these days I talk and see people via a web cam. That makes for a much more productive dialogue."
Williams can discuss articles in the media using WebEx. Previously, he'd have to fax headlines and page numbers to attendees in advance. Now they can share clippings online and collaborate on other documents, like press releases.
Have Williams' expense claims gone down though? He doesn't say.
INTERESTING FACT ABOUT MARK WILLIAMS
Williams is a member of both Greenpeace and the Countryside Alliance. There's a crossover you don't often see.
Contact WebEx here www.webex.com
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