Novembre, 2022

As a software engineer at Google, Daniele Midi spends most of his time working on developing smart home products. But every week he also sets aside time to help Googlers learn something new from a surprising classroom: the bathroom. Daniele is the editor-in-chief of Learning on the Loo (LotL), a volunteer-driven series of one-page lessons that show up in Google bathrooms in every office across the globe. The “episodes,” as they’re called, hang inside each restroom and cover subjects from productivity tips for Gmail to avoiding bias in decision making.

The ultimate mission of LotL is to improve Googlers’ lives at work. Daniele first got involved as an intern in 2015, helping with distributing new episodes in his office. Soon after, he joined the small editorial team, and eventually stepped up to lead it. Today, LotL releases new episodes twice a month, on topics that deal with productivity, career and personal development.

LotL launched in 2007 and drew inspiration from Testing on the Toilet (TotT), another Google institution, but a more tailored one. TotT began after a group of Googlers wanted to get input on how engineers could write better tests to ensure their code was working. One of those Googlers somewhat jokingly suggested posting tips about writing better tests in bathrooms. The idea caught on. Today, engineer Andrew Trenk heads up TotT, which now covers topics like coding best practices in addition to testing.

TotT and LotL have a few things in common — for instance, the length. “A challenge is often getting everything to fit on one page,” Andrew says. “This also happens to be what makes the content so useful: Authors are forced to limit themselves to only their most critical points.” And like TotT, LotL aims to be actionable, with quick tips Googlers can use right away.

One example episode: “Effective meetings,” published May 17, 2022, written by Oded Niv. This episode shares tips for what to do and why, both before the meeting starts (“set a prioritized list of goals and activities”) and during the meeting (“politely keep the focus on the agenda”).

An episode titled “Are you writing clearly?” was published August 2, 2022, and written by Nancy Fann-Im. Tips include “Less is more,” “Write like you speak” and “Be direct.” “Even executives appreciate brevity over jargon,” Nancy writes.

All Googlers can submit LotL episode ideas via a form that asks things like whether their lesson is applicable to Googlers everywhere and what the takeaways are. It also includes the note that at least one image or meme is required. Daniele and his team of three other Googlers read through the submissions. Once they accept a proposal, the author or authors work on the one-page copy, edited by the LotL team.

“I think people would be surprised at the level of scrutiny each episode goes through,” Daniele says. LotL even began an open editing group, so any Googler can give suggestions on upcoming episodes via Google Docs. “It’s particularly helpful to get feedback on whether a lesson makes sense globally,” Daniele explains. “Local office culture in the U.S., for example, is different from office culture in Korea.”

Once the LotL team finalizes an episode, they send it to a cadre of Googler volunteers and local facilities teams across the globe who print and distribute it. (Each LotL is also available online and via email for Googlers.) From submission to launch day, the process takes a minimum of three to four weeks.

Like so much about work, LotL had to evolve once the pandemic started. When people began working from home in 2020, LotL went entirely digital, and the content shifted. LotL proposals focusing on everything from at-home office setup to coping with the ongoing stress of the COVID-19 pandemic poured in. “It was a challenging time, for sure, but it was really wonderful to see how many Googlers wanted to share ideas to help each other, too,” Daniele says.

Learning on the Loo remains a source of common ground for Googlers everywhere — and according to Daniele, it’s one that receives an encouraging amount of positive attention. “We recently added a short feedback form to our site,” Daniele says. “People will drop us emails that say, ‘Hey, I loved this, thank you so much!’ I just think that’s really, really cool.”

Next week at COP27, global leaders will gather in Egypt to build momentum for climate action. Climate change is one of humanity’s most urgent challenges, and this decade is critical in setting the world on a path to a sustainable future. Google is committed to reducing our own emissions and using technology to help everyone make sustainable choices.

Today, we’re releasing a paper that shares updates on the work we have been doing as part of our third decade of climate action. Here’s a look at our progress and ambitions.

Built to be sustainable

Sustainability has always been a core value for Google, and we know taking action starts with operating our business more sustainably.

Last year we announced our goal of achieving net-zero emissions across our operations and value chain — including our consumer hardware products — by 2030. We aim to reduce 50% of our combined scope 1[dd5395], scope 2[c32b8a], and scope 3[19a617]absolute emissions (versus our 2019 baseline) before 2030, and plan to invest in nature-based and technology-based carbon removal solutions to neutralize our remaining emissions. There are three ways we are working towards this goal: advancing carbon-free energy (CFE), reducing emissions within our value chain, and addressing our residual emissions with carbon removal and other solutions.

Our net zero goal builds on two decades of climate action at Google. We started purchasing renewable energy in 2010, and in 2017 we became the first major company to match 100% of our annual electricity use with renewable energy purchases. We have continued to do so for five consecutive years, and in 2020 we set the even more ambitious goal of operating our data centers and office campuses on 24/7 CFE by 2030.

Accelerate action through partners

While we’re committed to reaching our goals, our impact is far greater when we work together. That’s why we collaborate with thousands of partners across multiple industries — from cities and governments to companies and nonprofits — to advance sustainability and climate progress.

Over half of the global population lives in cities, and urban areas account for over two-thirds of global energy consumption and more than 70% of global carbon emissions. To help reduce these emissions, we aim to help more than 500 cities and local governments reduce an aggregate of 1 gigaton of carbon emissions annually by 2030. We are working to achieve this through tools like our Environmental Insights Explorer, which empowers cities and regions with actionable data and insights to reduce global emissions, and Project Green Light, an AI tool that provides recommendations for city planners to optimize traffic light timing to reduce stop-and-go traffic.

Likewise, many of the world’s biggest brands are working to operate more sustainably. Through Google Cloud, we’re helping customers minimize environmental impact. This summer we announced Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability designation to showcase partners that are committed to helping organizations accelerate their sustainability programs.

We are also building tools to strengthen communities’ response to extreme weather events. For example, our forecasting initiative provides flood alerts and information to at-risk communities. During Pakistan’s severe flooding this year, we provided nationwide SOS alerts with links to the latest information from government authorities.

Empowering everyone to make more sustainable choices

The billions of people who use our products and services are looking for ways to live more sustainably, and we want to make it easier for them to do so. In 2022, Google searches reached all-time highs for terms including “rooftop solar power,” “solar energy,” “electric bicycles,” and “electric cars.”

Last year, we rolled out eco-friendly routing on Google Maps in the U.S. and Canada, and this year it expanded to 40 countries across Europe. This tool gets people to their destinations as quickly as possible while minimizing fuel consumption. Already it has helped avoid an estimate of more than half a million metric tons of carbon emissions — that’s equivalent to taking approximately 100,000 fuel-based cars off the road[31542c].

Beyond getting from place to place, we’re making it easier for people to build a clean energy future from their homes. As of this month, anyone in the continental U.S. can join Nest Renew, which automatically shifts their energy consumption to the times of day when local grid electricity is cleaner or less expensive.

As we work to provide products and services that help people make sustainable choices and reduce their carbon footprints, we’ll continue improving our ability to measure the individual and collective impact of these decisions. This is important not only for Google, but also for the growing number of companies offering solutions to help their customers reduce emissions.

A more sustainable future, for all

This year, we’ve seen major steps forward on climate policy in the U.S., Europe, and other regions. We are excited about the potential of new policy measures and corporate commitments that will help us reach historic emissions reductions in the next decade. The conversations at COP27 will be a critical moment to continue building momentum and move from pledges to progress.

Our aim is to make every day more sustainable through our operations, partnerships and products. We’re energized by the progress we’ve made so far, and more motivated than ever to do our part to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future for all.