GoFaxer Blog

Now that we’re well into the new century, it’s easy to look back on the past hundred years with a little bit of clarity. If I could define the 20th century I would say that it was a time of acquiring stuff. The western world was building up its infrastructure. But I think the challenge of the 21st century will be learning to do without.

Now that we have learned how to store and access information digitally, there isn’t as much need for bulky machinery and tools.

We don’t need a big television set. We need a thin screen on the wall that takes up almost no room.

We don’t need a filing cabinet. We just need a computer with lots of hard drive space.

We don’t need a fax machine. We just need a fax to email account.

We’re seeing this paradigm shift affecting everything both pragmatically and aesthetically.

Suddenly it makes sense to be environmentally friendly because we’re realizing as a collective society that having more stuff isn’t necessarily better. If anything it makes our lives feel cluttered. And in the case of the environment, more stuff is making us sick.

We’re seeing architecturally that everything is being designed to make maximum use of space. We don’t have to have a big house. We just need a house that feels big through good design.

The old adage is ringing true. Less is better.

It used to be that environmentalism was an idealistic battle of a few extremists. Now the environmentalist has changed to a more pragmatic model. Now it seems to be associated with a number of very cool concepts. It’s clean. It’s stylish. It’s gourmet. It’s organic. It’s upscale. It’s cool. And more than anything, it’s economically mandatory.

Internet fax is a perfect example of this. Something that would have been touted as a moral choice 20 years ago is now seen from a cold logic as a new standard business practice and more than that—it’s conversationally cool.

On top of a newfound mojo, there’s the added fact that Congress will be passing a bill in the coming months to put a cap on green house emissions, decreasing them dramatically over the coming years. Even if the current president doesn’t sign it into law, all three of the major presidential nominees will in a year.

It’s for this reason that one of the hottest markets for young entrepreneurs is green technology. Because with those caps, all businesses and consumers will be looking for ways to meet those standards, methods that will be in their best financial interests.

I’m not sure if the old-school environmentalist will like the more practical approach to the issues of global warming and conservation, but they can’t argue with results. Mark my words. This new paradigm will see results like never before. Meaning, it’s a good time to start a business that caters to the movement.