Unknowingly, I did something green….and it felt great!

I certainly didn't wake up Tuesday morning and say "Hey, I am going to do something 'green'."  Nope,  I went about my daily meetings in Houston - quite an exciting and productive day it  was.

Twenty four hours before my flight Tuesday evening, I received an email on my Blackberry  giving me the opportunity to check-in online, saving time at the airport do so.  While checking in, I was given the option to print my boarding pass or receive an email with the boarding card.  Since I was doing this from my Blackberry, I was not near a printer (nor am I sure I could've printed to one even if I were - unless there is some plug-in out there that does this).   So naturally I selected for them to email me the boarding pass.  When I did this, I wasn't entirely sure what I was actually doing.  I did this expecting a .PDF file to be emailed to me where I could print it - which I would do when I was in the office for meetings.

During one of my meetings that morning, I received an email on my Blackberry with the following:

Subject: "Link to mobile boarding pass for your flight to Richmond".

Body: " Please use the link below to retrieve your mobile boarding pass, which must be displayed on your mobile phone or PDA at the security checkpoint and again at the gate to board your flight.

[URL link]

As a reminder, the mobile boarding pass can only be used at IAH Terminals B, C, and E"

That sounds cool.  So at the next meeting break, I quickly opened that emal again and selected the URL link and viola! I was brought to a page that had an odd square looking bar-code and boarding card information.  I thought to myself can this actually be used?

Well upon arriving at Terminal B at Houston's IAH airport,I waited in line until my turn.  I pulled out my phone, selected the link and gave it to the security attendant checking ID's.  He said with an eagerness  "Oh Wow! This is my first one!" I responded, "Mine too."  So he grabbed his rather large handheld scanner and started waiving it over my Blackberry.  I tried five or six times.  A gentleman behind me made a comment "I was going to do that too, I'm glad I didn’t".  He wasn't mean, rather was in the tone of not-another-piece-of-too-good-to-be-true-technology-that-doesn't-work.  So I let him go ahead of me.

In the time it took for another security attendant to check his ID the security attendant helping me had taken my Blackberry and his scanner and put it in the shade of this podium and it work!  He was so happy - and I was as well.  Things were great.  He even informed me that I did not have to show my boarding pass to the attendant waiting as you walk through the metal detectors.

I made my way to the gate thinking, that was pretty cool.  When it was time to board, I pulled out my Blackberry and handed it to the gate agent.  She said almost the same thing as the security agent, "This is my first one!" proudly.  I again responded, "Mine too.".  This time they had a different machine.  It is a stationary scanner attached to their podium.  On her first try it did not work - she seemed to have scanned it to fast.  The second try, she laid the Blackberry on the podium under the scanner and slid it from of the screen to the top slowly.  "Beep!" was heard and smiles on both of our faces signaled all the world was right again.

And again I thought to myself, that was cool!  It wasn't until take-off that I started to think about why Continental Airlines would offer this.  I am thinking it most likely had some combination of customer experience and cost savings driving it.  But it hit me like a brick that I actually did something "green" and didn't even know it at the time - I did not print that boarding pass!!  While a tremendously small contribution, it was a liberating and powerful feeling that came over me.  It felt REALLY good!  The inconvenience of it not working perfectly was insignificant now - just as having to take my shoes off to pass through security.

If we all make one tremendously small contribution, collectively we will make a tremendously large contribution, a tremendously large difference.

While my family and I already recycle, this has had me consciously thinking ever since of new 'green' opportunities I can take advantage of. 

I'm hooked and hope you will be too!