The Lazy Environmentalist

Josh Dorfman may be the "bad-boy" of sustainability, and he may be getting a lot of visibility for driving sustainability in to the West's penchant for consumerism as linked to identity, but I can't help but wonder...

...if environmentally-beneficial behaviors are reduced to simple and easy purchases, do they risk becoming market trends rather than long-term initiatives? Will many simply move on when the next Paris Hilton trots along? Are 'we' missing an opportunity to trigger a deeper social shift here?

A page on Josh's book

More on Eco-Visualization

www.ecoviz.org

Buildings breathe data

'Eco-visualization' from Tiffany Holmes, grounded in art as activism.

What is Sustainable Design?

David and Satyendra discuss

Power Play

An interesting intersection of cultural tradition, sustainability, and domestic practice from Matsushita...even if it does run 2700 bucks!

Wind-powered rotating skyscraper

David Fisher's conceptual windscrapers generate more than their own energy needs.

Form of...an air conditioner

ICE Energy innovates: New approach to cooling

They claim:
"On the hottest days of the year, homeowners will enjoy rapid draw down of indoor temperature and up to 7.5 Tons of consistent “ice powered” cooling. All this while only using the power required to run two 150 watt light bulbs."

Rupert Murdoch Goes Green

News Corp's new climate strategy:
Saving money and boosting morale.

From IEEE Technology and Society

A few sources passed on from Jen Mankoff, CMU:

Links Between Sustainability and Technology Development

Effects of Pervasive Computing on Sustainable Development

End-of-Life Impacts of Pervasive Computing

Arnold Creek Productions Sustainability Shorts

Check out these interviews on sustainability with top experts, authors, business leaders and educators.

Closing the Loop: an Update on the Life Cycle of Electronics

In the past 12 months we’ve seen the launch of EPEAT, a procurement tool to help institutional purchasers compare and select desktop computers, notebooks and monitors based on their environmental attributes. The intent of EPEAT is to provide an incentive to electronic manufacturers to improve the environmental design of their products through a clear and consistent set of performance criteria.

Are these changes bringing us closer to a cradle to cradle model? How can your organization utilize the EPEAT tool?

Come hear two leading experts on electronic waste discuss these recent changes. Wayne Rifer , was the Project Manger of EPEAT development and is currently the EPEAT Operations Manager. Sego Jackson , is Chair of the Policy Committee of the Northwest Product Stewardship Council and Principal Planner for the Snohomish County Solid Waste Management Division.

Thursday, June 7, 2007
Multnomah Athletic Club
1849 SW Salmon St. , Portland
Registration 7: 10 - 7:30 am [or online], Program 7:30 - 9:00 am
this breakfast meeting presented by the Oregon Natural Step

Nascent Bright Green Tech from Nokia

Nokia has launched the first mobile phones to include alerts encouraging people to unplug the charger once the battery is full, a move that [it says] could save enough electricity to power 85,000 homes a year.

It'd be nice to see them tie this functionality to equally compelling 'green' designs and interfaces.

GOOD Magazine: E-Waste Video

Interesting short on e-waste and some steps you can take to reduce it.

Desktop Toolbar Gives Running Total Of CO2 Savings

Snap.com has developed a CO2 Saver toolbar that allows computer users to save electricity when away from their computers - up to 95 percent according to the company. CO2 Saver resides on the desktop and immediately adjusts user’s Windows Power Management settings to reduce their computer’s energy use when idle.

The CO2 Saver toolbar calculates the amount of energy it saves, converts it to prevented emissions from power plants, and displays the amount of CO2 a user has saved.
There’s a free CO2 Saver Partner Edition that can be custom branded and distributed to members. It includes a toolbar with your logo, a link to your web site and a running total of your group’s cumulative CO2 savings.

Earth 911, for example, is providing the CO2 Saver toolbar to its users.

RetroFuture

Time shifting with futures past.

Infosthetics

Interesting intersection between data visualization and visual communication

Importance of Design

Autodesk recently commissioned a survey of 2,000 people, and among the demographically-desirable 18-29 year olds ("millenials") a majority pay good attention to design. "Almost seven in ten respondents said that the last time they saw a product in a store that they 'just had to have,' it was because of its design."

Some of the highlights:

- Millenials are willing to pay more for an appealing product design, whether it's a car (67%), furniture (60%) or a video game system (31%)._

- They give serious thought to public spaces (66%), beauty and architecture (42%) when considering relocation to a new city._

- They are happier (74%), more motivated (64%) and more efficient (31%) in a well-designed workplace.

- An overwhelming 82% of survey participants would let the prospect of working in a beautifully designed building influence their decision to accept a job.

You can download the entire report here.

Allenby makes a case for Bright Green Environmentalism

"...an environmental discourse which does not grow to include Asia -- and Africa, and Latin America -- as increasingly important, unique, independent and non-Western voices, and as equals, is anachronistic and, perhaps, grows morally questionable. Equally, a new environmentalism that reflects the grounding of the existing environmental discourse but rejects its pessimism, fear of change, and dislike of technology, must be developed -- not because the current discourse is wrong, but because it is radically incomplete.

Western utopianism and romantic counterculturalism may be appealing, but especially with the Eastward shift of economic and technological prowess, such attitudes flirt with obsolescence; indeed, irrelevance."

See: Unfreezing Environmentalism with Technology