Ed talks about building an app over 60 hours for the NorthwestHarvest. Good food is green food. Community is the key.
Monthly Archive for August, 2007
I’ve spent the past few weeks emerged in the water sector and the opportunities that exist to tackle the problem that 1.1 billion people lack safe drinking water and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
There are some fascinating people out there working to overturn assumptions and find new models of collaboration. There are also some great design ideas. Check out this system, or should I say cistern, which initially looks bizarre but is actually an astonishingly simple way of improving the efficiency of flush toilets. If we make toilets more efficient, they require less infrastructure.
Bill McDonough points out that to develop a strategy of change requires genuine humility. He follows on with one of my favourite quotes to use with naysayers:
“If anyone has any trouble with the concept of design humility, reflect on this: it took us 5,000 years to put wheels on our luggage.”
Stuff like this shows how much we can redesign even the most familiar things. Thanks to Juergen Kikuyumoja Eichholz for the link.
Some people argue that we can’t make a difference, that only corporations or governments have the muscle to work on the huge ecological problems we’re all facing, that carbon emissions are someone else’s problem. So its refreshing to see someone that sees things differently and acts on the difference. Credit to 21st Century Citizen for writing about someone worthy of the name: Steve Loo.
We’re all part of the problem, so therefore we must be part of the change.
Pedal power - that’s roots. Here are Steve’s trails to sustainability:
1. Using my bike as my main form of transportation including winter time (I still drive once a week through carsharing)
2. Using less paper (in fact, I haven’t bought any new paper in 3 years);
3. Having not just shorter showers but also having staggered and fewer showers; recently we bought a dual flush toilet. Woohoo!
4. Creating my own artistic notebooks reusing old materials
5. Becoming more integrated with my local economy – not just local foods but also locally made products and services (yay Calgary Dollars)
6. Organizing and promoting documentary screenings focusing on social justice and environmental issues, and showcasing local activists working on local causes
7. Gardening (with mixed success but still trying)
8. Questioning and challenging our politicians, journalists, teachers and other “professionals” (along with fellow students) regarding government policy and media portrayal of all the issues
9. Encouraging my friends to take up more sustainable lifestyles while emphasizing that this is progression rather than perfection.
Just because the world is speeding up doesn’t mean you have to.
Photo courtesy of sandcastlematt. This post is nigh on perfect for the car obsessives over at Re*Move.
I make no apologies for the blatant traffic whoring, but this woman is the most powerful social object (hence driver of conversations) in the known universe. 21st Century Citizen has the inside skinny on the new overuse of “eco”. “Skinny” and “barf-bag” in the same blog post- could there be a connection? What I do know is that if Paris starts espousing green causes I hope we come to praise, not bury her. Either way it will drive up our media stats, whether we’re MSM or the endiest end of a Long Long Tail.
the Art of War- indeed…
I recently met with Fujitsu Siemens Computer about green data initiatives, based on what the joint venture calls IT with a sense of responsibility. The underlying hook to the narrative is Japanese/German engineering excellence (not a bad peg, I am sure you’d agree).
Bernhard Brandwitte, director of product marketing for FSC and perhaps more importantly in the context of behavioural change an excellent story-teller, told me something that really rocked me on my heels: in Japan its common to turn production servers off at night. Yup- apparently the Japanese insurance industry tries to avoid fires in plants at night by offering much cheaper cover for companies that power down after dark.
What does that mean in practice? A much more coherent backup and recovery strategy for one. A commitment to not 24/7, not follow the Sun, not have uptime for its own sake.
I have been thinking about this issue for a while, but it was a tweet from Chris Dalby this morning that pulled the trigger:
yellowpark is going green. I’m turning my server off each night
Chris is someone I deeply respect. Another cool thing is that he won’t shop at supermarkets- all his shopping is packaging free, from a local farm shop. When he tweets a delicious lunch menu you know the vegetables were never wrapped in plastic. That is a pretty good metaphor for Chris: He is very real, very passionate, and focuses on local issues. He is all about change from the grassroots.
Chris’ commitment to server-off computing is cool because he is an expert in technologies such as Windows Small Business Server, which he sells into small and medium-sized businesses. I wonder if he could set up a service helping SMBs become more green, given his bona fides?
All I know is that much as we should all turn off our appliances at night, and our cellphone chargers, so we should ask - do we really need that server on all night?
picture credit: Chris’s dog, from his moo cards, saying… “Turn that bloody server off, I’ll be your watchdog…”
disclosure: Chris is a friend.
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