Stewards for the environment: Microsoft employees making a difference

It’s important for us to think about the consequences of our actions, and their effect on this green and blue sphere we call home.

Saturday April 22 marks Earth Day – a day which offers an opportunity for us to reflect on the positive impact we can all make on the environment.

Leading up to Earth Day, we’ve highlighted the inspiring work of Microsoft employees who embody Microsoft’s longstanding commitment to sustainability by leveraging technology and innovation in a variety of ways, tackling environmental challenges for the benefit of us all.

One of these employees is Karen Chalk, a procurement manager in Spain, who five years ago realised that the 176,000 end-of-life Microsoft devices moving through her spreadsheets could be re-used and safely recycled, reducing waste and helping people use the devices to expand their technology skills in the process.

The Melissa Center, a non-profit organization in Athens, Greece, that helps women and children refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan use technology to learn and communicate, is one such example of these devices being used for a good cause.

Conor Kelly in Ireland – a long-time environmentalist who set about planting 5,5000 native trees to create a small forest near some derelict farmland 60 miles from Dublin – is another Microsoft employee striving to make a difference.

A veteran software engineer at Microsoft, Kelly and his team developed the idea of a Microsoft Energy SmartGrid at the 2016 Hackathon – a system which exposes real-time global energy market data for consumption by energy intelligent applications, alongside a pilot project in Norway to help create a more efficient, flexible and intelligent grid of the future.

For a more in-depth look at Karen and Conor’s stories – as well as more inspiring stories, please visit the original Microsoft News Centre blogpost.

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