Could You Handle a Job at Google?

"Google is not a conventional company," wrote the tech and search engine giant's founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. "We do not intend to become one."

At the "Googleplex," Google's corporate headquaters in Mountain View, Calif., goats take the place...

At the "Googleplex," Google's corporate headquaters in Mountain View, Calif., goats take the place of lawn mowers to clear undeveloped fields. The brush there would otherwise be a fire hazard, and the company says it prefers not to burn gasoline to clean it up.

(Courtesy Google, Inc.)

But using goats instead of lawn mowers? That seems to go a step beyond the free food and employee concierge services. Google employees ("Googlers," in the company's well-publicized parlance) also get time off to be inventive and adhere to the informal motto, "Don't be evil," which was long part of the company's code of conduct.

It's hard to get a job at Google, but those who do become part of a firm that tries to organize the world's information, and leave the world in good shape too.

Search: 'Google Green + Profit'

The company says the goats, used to to clear brush at corporate headquarters, are just one part of Google's effort to be environmentally sustainable and, as a result, they say, more profitable. If the goats didn't do the work, gas-powered lawn mowers might have to.

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"It's actually funny," said Google's Niki Fenwick, from the company headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. "It's just our real estate folks -- they've done it on their own. One of them worked somewhere else where they'd tried it. They bring in these goats to clear undeveloped land on the property."

Outsiders -- even some who have at times been critical of the company -- say the company's green tinge is for real.

"They're not doing this for show," said Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of SearchEngineLand.com, a Web site that tracks Google and its competitors. "One of the reasons is that it's smart business sense."

There's also a fleet of plug-in hybrid cars that are free for employees to use. The cars are fitted with batteries that can be charged while the cars are parked at the so-called "Googleplex."

And where does Google get the electricity? From solar panels over the parking lot. Today's solar panels are relatively inefficient because not much of the sunlight that hits them gets converted to electric power. But there's no air pollution, and the sunlight, of course, is free.