Rethinking sustainable design

People have often criticized me (rather, attacked me) in regards to sustainability and free enterprise. Take, for example, oil. If we all stopped driving and embraced solar energy and foot-power, what would happen to the employees of oil companies? They'd be out of jobs and a major pillar of our economy would collapse. Valid point. One rebuttal is the idea of adaption. Companies that have proven to be successful are able to adapt the changing times. They are willing to embrace new concepts and implement them.

Adaption and evolution of companies is the central idea in the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. William McDonough and Michael Braungart suggest that we can maintain our current lifestyle with no ill consequences, given a little ingenuity. The book revolves around encouraging companies to consider the entire life of a product, from conception to consumer use to disposal to rebirth. They provide many tangible examples of companies that have embraced sustainable techniques, helped improve the environment, and saved money. One example is the waste water of a textile company. Initially, they were heavily polluting the surrounding environment with toxic chemicals from their dying process. After some careful thought and upgrades, their waste water is now as clean as or cleaner than the water that flows into the plant.

I found the book to be particularly refreshing. McDonough and Braungart reject the idea of choosing the least harmful alternative, rather they seek to find truly good solutions. They insist that recycling as we know it now is actually a bad thing. Even the "paper" of which the book is printed is unique. I urge you to read it to find out what I'm talking about. And don't forgot some of my favorite ways to get books!

Image: http://www.mcdonough.com/cradle_to_cradle.htm

The amazing mobile (cell) phone

A while back, I posted about using your computer for more than just computing. In that post, I discussed some of the issues of e-waste (a.k.a., unwanted electronic devices that end up in landfills or worse places). Mobile phones are another big player when it comes to e-waste. But don't just use your phone to make phone calls. Today's mobile phones do so much more. Depending on your exact model, you might be able to do the following:

1. Make phone calls (of course)


2. Take pictures


3. Record your appointments and contacts


4. Send notes to yourself


5. Listen to music


6. Watch videos and movies


7. And more

Each of these tasks could be completed by an individual electronic device. But why waste all that money? Get a good mobile phone and save yourself the hassle.

Idea #4 is one of the most interesting. I often send email reminders to myself via my cell phone. When I'm in the car and need to remember to send some thank you notes, I just type a quick message and email it to myself. If your phone is capable of sending a text message, simply send a test message to an email address (instead of a phone number). My phone is synced with all of my contacts (which includes myself), so there is no need to type in my email address. I just select it from the list. I save paper and time!

What else do you do with your phone?

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Korean.culture-cellphone-01.jpg

Give the gift of appreciation

For those loved ones of yours who may be on the fence about caring for the planet, give the gift of Earthly appreciation this holiday season. The BBC has collected amazing scenes from around the globe in a 5-disc set called Planet Earth. From mountain peaks to oceanic depths, the images remind us how incredible, yet fragile, our planet is. Even for someone like myself who cares for the well-being of our home, I was continually awe-struck. The first four DVDs show animals and planets from around the globe. The fifth DVD sheds light on man's impact on the planet and potential consequences. If you decide to obtain this DVD set, I encourage you to check out some environmentally-less-harmful and cost-effective methods. I'll leave you with a quote from Amazon.com UK:

As befits the BBC’s reputation for producing some of the world’s best nature documentaries, the five-disc set Planet Earth is an epic travelogue, focussing on different ecologies and the unique animals that inhabit them. Once again, Sir David Attenborough provides the narration, as the cameras fly across the surface of the earth, zooming in to give us a bug’s eye view one minute, zooming out to give us an eagle’s perspective the next. The BBC’s cameramen filmed more than 200 locations, resulting in some truly spectacular footage, much of which has never before been seen.

Image: http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/bbcdvd1883

Computers do more than just compute

eWaste is a mounting problem. Never heard of it? eWaste is defined as discarded electronic products. We make about 20-25 million tonnes of it every year which not only creates landfills, it leaches dangerous chemicals (such as mercury) into to water supplies. While ewaste can be recycled, I suggest reducing ewaste by reducing consumption.

Today's computers can do a lot more than you can imagine. Using my laptop (Apple PowerBook), I can do the following things:

• Listen to music, free internet radio, and pod casts
  
• Watch DVDs and [legally] downloaded movies
• Organize my information (calendar and contacts)
• Create photo albums

And when I sync my cell phone (Sony Ericsson w810i), I can do the following mobily:

• View my contacts and calendar
• Read electronic books
• Send notes and reminders to myself
• Listen to CDs, MP3s and FM radio
  

Using a little imagination, you can understand how much money and resources I'm saving by utilizing these devices to their fullest. A TV/DVD player can cost $500 or more. Paper-based calendars are bulky and wasteful. A boombox costs hundreds of dollars.

In the spirit of offering suggestions, use Google to see what your devices can do. Use your imagination first. Think about what you want your device to do (e.g. read books on your cell phone). Search for this and your specific device. Assuredly, someone out there has done what you want to do and has posted how-to information.

Image: http://www.greenpeace.org/

Greg Horn: Great minds think alike

At least a year before I even had the idea to create this blog, Greg Horn decided to publish a book that would put me out of business. Titled Living Green: A Practical Guide to Simple Sustainability, this book is pack to the brim (or spine) with easy ideas for better living. I considered slowly feeding you one of his ideas semi-weekly. But that doesn't seem right.

Seriously, though. Check it out. Those of you who know me, you understand it takes me forever to read a book. But, I got through this one is about 15 bus rides. He takes you on a journey from what you put into your body to what you put on your body to where you put your body. He focuses more on chemical issues than energy and materials, but it's all in there. Included at the end is a list of websites and references (yes, folks, scientifically-based research).

So, curl up with a cup of tea and the neighborhood cat, and knock this one out in one sitting. It'll take you weeks (or months) to try all the things he suggests.

Image: http://wellbuilding.com/

In case you hadn't heard...

Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for

their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change

If you haven't done so already, or if it has been a while, I suggest watching "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore. Instead of hopping into your SUV and driving 20 miles to Blockbuster, check out some of my suggestions to get what you want. I'm a little surprised it's not available through iTunes considering that Al Gore is on Apple's Board of Directors...

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:AlGoreGlobalWarmingTalk.jpg

Peak Oil: Watch these movies

Few people have probably ever heard of Marion King Hubbert, but his idea of 'peak oil' has profound implications. Put simply, he proposed that the rate of oil production follows a bell-shaped curved: first it increases, then it terminally decreases. In 1956, he predicted that America would reach its peak oil production rate around 1965-70. He was laughed out of a job, but America actually peaked in 1970. That means since then, our oil production rate continues to drop. But our demand for oil continues to increase. He predicted world peak oil production would happen about now. Below is a graph of expected peak oil production for many countries around the world. We're running out of oil.

Since our society essentially runs on oil (for energy and plastic), what are we going to do?! First off, check out these movies to learn more about peak oil. Everyone likes movies.

• A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash
  
• The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror
  
• The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream

Each of them really made me think about our country's dependency on oil, especially the foreign variety. CO2 isn't the oil reason to lower our consumption of oil. Check it out for yourself, tell a friend, and leave a comment on ways you intend to reduce your dependency on (foreign) oil!

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:GlobalPeakOilForecast.jpg

Turn your old media into cash... or something different

Who doesn't have a bookcase filled with books, CDs, DVDs or video games? Once we've read it, listened to it, watched it, or played it, we often never look at these items again. But most of us continue to buy new items. The environmental impact can be staggering. The Green Press Initiative claims that:

Over the past 3 years, the U.S. book publishing industry has consumed an average of approximately 20 million trees per year to print books sold in the U.S.

Regarding CDs and DVDs, the EPA details the life cycle of these items and the energy intensive process to create, distribute, and recycle them. Aluminum, polycarbonate, and gold are just a few of the resources required to make them.

We also know that buying these items isn't cheap. Some books can easily cost over $20 and some DVD seasons sets can cost as much as $50 or more! So what can you do about it?

1. Turn unwanted media into cash. Amazon sells just about everything, and so can you. Using Amazon's extensive data of media information, selling is as easy as listing items using the barcode, waiting for people to buy, and shipping. Check out Amazon.com's "Sell Your Stuff" page.
2. Turn unwanted media into different media. Swaptree allows you to easily list unwanted media, specify items that you want, and it finds matches with people across the country to make a swap. Just like Amazon, it's easy to list items using barcodes or ISBNs. You just pay shipping (usually around $2 per item).
   
3. Rent instead of owning. Most everyone has heard of Netflix or BlockbusterOnline. How about BookSwim to rent books? Or what about BooksFree?
   

I've had great success with these sites. I sold a ton of media on Amazon. There are no fees to list items, and buyers automatically pay for shipping. It's generally easier than eBay since it allows you to take advantage of information in their databases. Just by entering a barcode, Amazon almost always finds the basic information about the item and a picture. Swaptree is also fantastic. All items are rated according to their condition, so you know what you're getting. I intially listed only a few items, yet I instantly recieved matches. The site allows you to approve/disapprove each match. I recently swapped a DVD someone gave me for a DVD set that sells for $40. And I love Netflix. All of the envelopes concern me, but they are beginning to offer streaming movies over the internet. No waste at all! There are many more sites out there, just do a Google search. Always be aware of the type of site... buying/selling, swapping, or renting.

This idea may seem like one small drop in the bucket, but each little action can add up to something profound.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Bookcase.jpg