Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google Mows With Goats

Posted by samzenpus on from the google-goats-gruff dept.

Kelson writes "Google's Mountain View headquarters has fields that need to be kept clear of fire hazards. This year instead of mowing them, they took a low-carbon approach: they hired a herd of goats to eat the grass for a week. 'It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers,' wrote Dan Hoffman."

15 of 466 comments (clear)

  1. Here we go! by Q-Hack! · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Que obligitory Goatse.cx joke in 3... 2... 1...

    --
    Some days I get the sinking feeling Orwell was an optimist.
    1. Re:Here we go! by JCSoRocks · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I know exactly what a queue is. The OP had obviously just combined the two different spellings to make a nonexistent word. My purpose in mentioning the homophone, "queue," was to point out to him that "que" is not the proper way to spell either meaning of the word. To say that I don't know what it means is both presumptive and idiotic.

      --
      You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
  2. Excuse Me But... by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Excuse me but, don't goats emit carbon in the form of CO2 just by breathing - and methane by farting?

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
    1. Re:Excuse Me But... by garcia · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah but there are other benefits aside from the obvious jokes about Goatse-eing:

      1. Milk

      2. Meat: tasty, tasty murder.

      3. Less fossil fuel burning.

      *shrug*, it's hip to be green.

    2. Re:Excuse Me But... by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Net-zero carbon output. Fossil fuels release CO2 that has been trapped for quite some time. Goats are releasing CO2/methane that was recently stored as energy in grass.

    3. Re:Excuse Me But... by Walkingshark · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Same as the trucks that transport the lawnmowers to the field.

      --
      The world you experience is only a close approximation of reality.
    4. Re:Excuse Me But... by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Agreed. A better solution would be electric mower robots http://www.friendlyrobotics.com/ charged from solar (or other low/zero-carbon energy source). Or no grass at all.

    5. Re:Excuse Me But... by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Did I say that? I don't think I did. The parent was talking about CO2, so I talked about CO2. A facile statement like, "Oh noes, teh goats are going to breath us to death" deserves ridicule.

      I frankly don't have a anthropogenic climate change position; I don't think it's been discredited, and I don't think it's been proven. But if you're talking about CO2 production from a goat, vs CO2 production from an internal combustion engine, you're not making an apples to apples comparison. It's intellectually dishonest.

      --
      ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
    6. Re:Excuse Me But... by S-100 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      At one end of the lawn would be the goat breeding facility, run by volunteer Google staffers. At the other end of the lawn, GOATBURGERS!

  3. Side Effects? by mlingojones · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google employees no longer have to worry about tall grass during fire drills!

    ...now, they have to worry about goat shit.

  4. Still less CO2 than mowers. by wiredog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Or brush fires.

    --

    Best Slashdot Co
    1. Re:Still less CO2 than mowers. by diablovision · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm curious where you think the CO2 released in brush fires comes from.

      --
      120 characters isn't enough to explain it.
    2. Re:Still less CO2 than mowers. by tjstork · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm curious where you think the CO2 released in brush fires comes from.

      Yeah, the most carbon neutral thing google could do with that land would be to burn it.

      --
      This is my sig.
  5. Sounds Like An Awesome Business Plan by phantomcircuit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So let me get this straight, not only does the owner of the goats get to feed them for free but Google will actually pay them for the right to eat their grass?

    Where can I sign up?

  6. Re:How were they transported? by TheFlyingBuddha · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Except odds are some outside landscaping company normally gets hired to mow the lawn every X amount of time, and brings their equipment with them.