I mentioned Van Jones awesome speech during my PopTech adventure last year and now it’s online, or watch it above!(22 mins) He has an incredible vision, a whimsical way in delivering and connecting everyday people to his message, and is one damn smart cookie. Basically, he talks about building a green economy to lift people out of poverty, and giving green jobs over jails! Give it a definite watch and pass it around!
green
Wowzers… awesome!
“It started with San Francisco, Hong Kong, then Melbourne and other cities, and now, beginning in July, all plastic shopping bags in the entire country of China will no longer be free. As part of China’s attempts to reduce their extreme pollution problem, the policy will call for a small charge for plastic bags in China that must be shown clearly in all supermarket receipts.
Furthermore, ultra-thin plastic bags are now banned from being produced at all. As part of this effort, the government is encouraging the use of reusable bags and cloth sacks, and increasing efforts to recycle all plastic bags still in use.”
Via Inhabitat (Source IHT)
Australia does the same via Treehugger.
I’ve have a few reusable bags, but always forget to bring them to the store. Until it’s law, I’m going to forget, and besides, I use my paper bags as trash cans which has been handy.
FYI: statically and visually according to Chris Jordan, we use “60,000 plastic bags every 5 seconds in the USA alone!” (1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags are used in the USA every hour.)
I guess it’s time to go pick up one of those cool reusable bags:
– Porter Grocery Tote (paper like plastic bag)
– Muji portable Bag, (I can’t find online, but it’s in the nyc soho store)
– Flip and Tumble (A bag that turns into a puck)
– AMT Shopper Bag (Louis Vuitton like print bags)
update: I was just at Wholefoods and they said they were starting to ban usage of plastic bags this week/month! Ah, heres an article.
This past year I’ve been incredibly fascinated and inspired by Adam Kalkin’s disruptive, poetic, rustic, and rather playful spacial creations redefining what things could and perhaps should be. His projects show exploration, curiosity, and an incredible sense to imagine like a kid again while being stuck in an adults body which I love.
Check out this great video summary of Adams work and personality via Dwell Daily Blog. For a peek at some of his other whimsical creations:
– 12 Container House
– Push Button House, NY Times or TheCoolHunter.
– Bunny Lane House via ApartmentTherapy
– QuickHouse via inhabitat
Adams work reminds me of one of my other favorite sustainable architectural firms: Lot-ek (video, Recycled Airplane Library)
Here’s a pretty nifty way to be a bit more sustainable. Take all that paper you waste daily and mash it up into usable paper logs for bonfires during the frigid winter. I’ve always made knots out of newspapers to start up fires, but this ideas pretty cool if it works. Reminds me of those can crushers for recycling, but now ya just mash up layers of paper, and you get “paper logs” for usage 😉
via ApartmentTherapy
DIY Source: two3five.com
Sweet goodness! What a great idea. Manufacturing Beer bottles to convert to brick structures for later use. This reminds me of the POM bottles that can be used as regular glass cups for home use. Why can’t this come back to reality! The amount of bottles tossed each year is absurd. Makes me want to ask photographer Chris Jordan to make a visual map of it for his “Running Numbers” series! (Did ya know in the USA alone we go through 106,000 aluminum cans every 30 seconds! It’s absurd!) There’s also the “66 Beer Bottle= a cheap solar water heater” direction.
“Upcycling is a 21st century term, coined by Cradle to Cradle authors William McDonough and Michael Braungart, but the idea of turning waste into useful products came to life brilliantly in 1963 with the Heineken WOBO (world bottle). Envisioned by beer brewer Alfred Heineken and designed by Dutch architect John Habraken, the “brick that holds beer†was ahead of its ecodesign time, letting beer lovers and builders alike drink and design all in one sitting.
Mr. Heineken’s idea came after a visit to the Caribbean where he saw two problems: beaches littered with bottles and a lack of affordable building materials. The WOBO became his vision to solve both the recycling and housing challenges that he had witnessed on the islands.”
I want I want!!! It’s like buying Lego’s with your beer bottle as an adult! or you can just reuse what you have laying around much like the students at Western Washington University.(their show is in Seattle today, Nov 10th, 5-7pm)
via inhabitat
“Design is a big part of the sustainability problems in the world. Design has been focused on creating meaningless (often), disposable (though not responsibly so), trend-laden fashion items—all design. Graphic design is particularly bad, though paper materials, at least, have a huge potential to fix this problem.”
Presentation given at IDSA Connection Congress, San Francisco 2007
Very interesting! Check out the PDF presentation and watch out for his upcoming book “Design is the Problem“.
“A very simple modification to a standard electrical coverplate changes its function from one of consumption into conservation. A standard junction box behind the face plate catches your coins and saves them.”
Neat! I’d probably need a cash or credit card slot, but I like the concept. I wonder if there are any electrical metering attachments, somewhat like the iSave water meter concept. This almost makes me want to make a piggy bank for the green, sustainability, aids, foundations etc…take all that pocket change that pile high monthly and donate it. A Donation Piggy bank.
via oboiler
I don’t post on shoes too often, but when a big cookie monster like Nike known for making mountains of carbon fuming rubber glue shoes launches a 100% sustainable shoe in their eco-consciousness Nike Considered footwear line, I start to smile.
I’d seen previous attempts in this line that didn’t fair to well stylishly nor environmentally, but the these new Long Ball Lace shoes are rather appealing with it’s minty lime highlights while being 100% biodegradable using a cork sole and sporting some baseball stitch like weaves. Now all they have to do is figure out how to drop the price a bunch and be a bit more like TOMS shoes with donations to the needed, even though they probably do this already. 😉
via coolhunting
Full size pics after the jump
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Are you the type that never finishes a meal on the go ends up trashing it? Are you also the type that sees people in need of food on the streets asking for pocket change or food? We’ll Replate.org’s hope is to fix both these problems by bringing awareness of wasting less and helping more. If you have unwanted leftovers on the go, leave it on top of a nearby trashcan rather than in one so it doesn’t go to waste. I know this might seem odd at first, but I’ve countlessly seen people dig through trashcans seeking good edible food. It’s somewhat disheartening, but treat it like recycling… It’s still usable so help someone out by letting them know. Reduce, reuse, recycle.
I’ve always wondered about grocery stores, fast food joints, restaurants, etc throwing away perfectly good food(I see it alllll the time at grocery stores). I forget where, but I once read/heard that all the food thrown away in the states would be enough food for the 3rd world countries in need. For a brief video on this topic have a look at Current.tv‘s video on Freeganism. Here are a few other organizations surrounding this topic: Freegan.info and FoodNotBombs.net.
(thanks axel)
Here’s an intriguing proposal to help rid the carbon problems in earths atmosphere; vent it out to space! I’ve never thought of such an idea, but then again, I never really understood our atmosphere scientifically as Mr. Wong below describes. I’d also question what happens when it’s all out in space? Is space the solution for all of our problems? anyhow, just thought ya’ll might like this read:”This week’s issue of The Economist reports on an interesting scheme proposed by Alfred Y. Wong, professor of physics and director of the Plasma Physics Laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles, to rid the Earth of carbon dioxide emissions. Wong posits that a conveyor built in the Arctic could take advantage of the Earth’s magnetic field to expel emissions into outer space.
The Antarctic and the Arctic are the only two sites on the planet above which the sky opens up to space. There, particles from the sun that get through and cross the atmosphere could be harnessed for their gigawatts of power to lower the concentration of greenhouse gases by expelling them.
read the rest after the jump… via treehugger
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Manufactured Landscapes is a stunning must watch documentary film created by legendary photographer Edward Burtynsky and award winning director Jennifer Baichwal that has received several awards this past year. The film visually captures China’s massive industrial revolution through Edwards camera while questioning our own human endeavors in impacting the planets future global proliferation, destruction, and waste.
I was not aware of this film until recently while talking with Edward at TED about his amazing slide show he gave at Poptech which previewed images used in this film. I missed the film when it was in theaters, but the DVD’s are available which I’d highly encourage everyone to buy (or the book) and share. (it’s a bit odd thinking about the movies message on massive product waste while using the exact same substance to distribute this film)
As an industrial designer I’ve been greatly influenced by the huge message Al Gore gave in Inconvenient Truth (meeting him pushed me as well) while also advocating Alex Steffan of Worldchanging.com‘s message that “your either in, or your wrong”. I’m stuck in a field where products and massive sales are king, yet the sustainable need for global changes is so uneducated in a cost driven but not globally aware or active field if not society. I’m not saying change is not happening, but time is not something you can pause… this change must happen, not sooner, but now. Perhaps I feel more like architect and famous product designer Philippe Starck when he was onstage at TED and said “I believe in general that my job is absolutely useless; but now, after Carolyn(Porco) and these guys, I feel like shit”.
Anyhoots, before I get ya’ll stuck in my own dilemma, give the trailer to Manufactured Landscapes a view and perhaps question your own actions in your own field, home, and surroundings and get motivated for some simple changes like recycling, changing to longer lasting light bulbs, or even reusing your CD spindles.
Trailer Preview
Manufactured Landscapes website
Worldchanging.com
ClimateCrisis.net
Above is a picture I took flying Jetblue on my way to CES. If you have not flown Jetblue, do it! They kick butt because they cost less while making the user experience more desirable. They have the cool snooze packs, rocking chairs, personal direct TV screens, spacious seats, clean, tasty snacks, easy to use webpage, soon to be dancing inspired terminals, great customer support, and many other great ideas that keep surprising me. (I’ve got tons more ideas, but I’ll let them hire me to hear those thoughts 😉 )
Anyhow, back to the picture above. This is what I saw while walking back to my seat; a sea of monitors glimmering pool-like reflections onto the walls. These screens really light up the place!!! Besides the light, these screens sure do create some heat. One thing that bothered me was that every single screen was “ON”, blasting images, light, and heat everywhere. Now I usually don’t make a gripe about this, but ever since I got into “save energy mode” I’ve realized how much money and energy can be saved through simple things such as a light. I asked myself, why can’t JetBlue turn off the screens that are not being used? I know users can turn off their screens, but it’s not easy to.(I’ve had to show so many people how to turn them off) This flight was half empty, hence, half the screens were “ON” for no reason. Why can’t the default be “OFF” while the action to turn on the screens be up to the users (If I recall right, this is how it works on some international airlines). Would this actually save them a few dollars of energy a flight, hundreds a day, and perhaps thousands a week?
Jetblue makes tons of simple changes to save money. I think this is a simple idea to save energy unless there is something about energy efficiency on airlines I’m unknowledgeable about. Perhaps they have some future concept to greet users with their names individually on screens for that VIP treatment expereience. Maybe the screens act as secondary heating devices which cost less than heating the fuselage? I have no clue, but I have faith in Jetblue in creating a much better user experience while keeping airfare low and keeping me a couch potato as I’ve probably logged in more movie and TV hours on their airline than I have on land! Jetblue, if your reading this, please make this change or let me know why not. Otherwise, hopefully there’s a reader out there with the right connections to save some mucho energy for them.
update: a few more pictures and thoughts from my red-eye flight back after the jump…