Earlier this month, Google announced that they would no longer be mowing the grass/brush on sections of their Mountain View, California campus by conventional methods.  Instead, they will be opting for something(s) that have seen very little face time on the California Tech Circuit up to this point…goats.

That’s right, Google is employing 200 goats from herder/land management company/livestock temp agency California Grazing to “mow” the company’s grass, a project estimated to take about a week. The group is slated to be led by Jen, a border collie known for her “no-nonsense” management style (just kidding, I’m sure she’s a sweetheart). The idea is that the goats will not only tame the grass, but consequently fertilize in the process.
 
Anyway, it remains to be seen if this will be a permanent solution for the people at Google. But one thing is for sure, whether it’s creating the next big web application or lessening the company’s environmental impact, their dedication to innovation and pushing the envelope is second-to-none. We could all take a lesson from this philosophy, where the word “crazy” is more synonymous with “novel” than “insane”. No one’s written the book on “The Fool-Proof Way to Cure Your Company’s Environmental Impacts.” We’ll all have to find our own ways to handle these issues and be comfortable doing things that may not be considered “the norm.”

So kudos to you Google…..and watch your step.