Hamster Power. Very Innovative
by Amy Flanders, Public Relations Office
For immediate release…
Info Dept. Going Green? You can thank Uncle Al and His Band of Furry Friends… Alfred Herzburn in Records Management (basement) recently saved $640 in his electric budget last month. Accounting was amazed, but thought something fishy was going on, so Dave Grillski, Accounting Senior Manager, called Mr. Herzburn into his office for a little discussion.
Turns out Mr. Herzburn had devised a way to hook up a team of hamsters to a generator.
“Those little fellas run around on the wheels 24/7. We just took advantage of their energy,” Al told Dave.
But Big Dave needed more proof, so he trudged downstairs for a look-see. Sure enough, the hamsters were going round and round and producing enough electricity to run three copiers, two fax machines, a shredder and two space heaters. Another hamster was hooked up to a plant mister and was itself protected by a tiny umbrella.
Mr. Herzburn said, “We were thinking of a way to hook the hamster up to the mister to, you know, keep the plants moist and hydrated and all. We had a special meeting about this and one of the guys, Freddy Lowenstein, came up with the idea to get one of those cocktail umbrellas and attach it to the bracket on the hamster wheel. It works like a charm. The little guy never gets wet, but the plants are blooming like a rainforest canopy!”
Dave commented, “That crazy bastard is onto something. Before you know it, we’ll be running the entire basement on hamster power! When I walked into the Information Center this morning, I was met with the aroma of cedar shavings and hamster chow. Then I saw, along the window sill, the hamsters at work. Or should I say play? It’s an ingenius idea and it saves money, which is the bottom line. Some day I foresee running our entire Zurich office on this kind of dealy.”
If you want a tour of Al Herzburn’s hamsters at work, you’ll have to get in line, because two elementary schools have already booked tours, as well as a team of science students from MIT. Way to go, Al!