Archive for the 'Environment' Category

Somewhere between a happening and fan fiction, World Without Oil is an alternate reality ‘game’ where users simulate living online during a global petroleum price shock. ‘Players’ produce movies, blog posts, and other media about the (fictional) world they live in with the goal of producing some sort of “larger truth” about how individuals could adapt to a frightening new world.

It’s hard to say whether the ‘game’ contrivance makes World Without Oil more or less effective in planning for an oil-less society down the road. Do people really need such a heavy-handed framework to rally around environmental issues or is it just easier to understand? Does framing something as a game, as fictional, make the reality of the problem seem less important?

World Without Oil raises many questions, both about its form and its function. Give them credit for being bold and different; two qualities we will all need as the planet moves forward.

Link to World Without Oil

Popularity: 8% [?]

As part of the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival, the GreenWorld contest challenges filmmakers to make a meaningful statement about the future of the environment in under two minutes. A daunting enough challenge in itself, each movie also had to withstand public scrutiny online as part of the “audience voting” section of the contest to determine the finalists.

Some of the movies are a little didactic; I suppose that’s sort of the point. I liked how surreal some of them were, adding a bit of the bizarre into what could easily turn into an Al Gore PowerPoint lecture.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Keep on biodiesel truckin’ Al.

Link to contest at Jumpcut

Popularity: 7% [?]

Circle the date: on May 20, enviro/architecture blog (and Vestal client) Inhabitat is having a “star-studded” panel discussion on the subject of recycling and reclamation in design as part of New York Design Week.

Featuring three eco-conscious designers and the editor-in-chief of Dwell magazine, the event will take place at the HauteGreen exhibition near Union Square. Inhabitat’s own Jill Fehrenbacher and Emily Pilloton will moderate.

Link via Inhabitat

Popularity: 6% [?]

Every day it becomes more apparent that Steve Jobs is simply not a man to rest on his laurels, as the famously active head of Apple Inc. unveils the newest idea that will – undoubtedly – change the world forever. His latest thought concerns the very nature of his products, the often toxic substances that go into them, and how he can make it all better.

Responding to criticism that Apple’s electronics contain massive amounts of various terrible chemicals (lead, cadmium, decabromodiphenyl ether) Steve Jobs goes through each complaint, giving his side of the story and outlining the steps Apple has taken to eliminate, or at least reduce, the toxicity of its products.

While carbon emissions are another matter, it’s hard to argue with reducing the amount of arsenic or mercury in the typical computer. Hopefully the rest of the industry, like usual, will follow his lead.

Link to Apple.com

Popularity: 7% [?]

So this is how it will end: not with a bang, but with a lack of buzzing. America’s honeybees are dying off in record numbers, with almost a quarter of the domestic hives falling victim to the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder, and no one can say why. The Disorder causes entire hives to simply disappear, leaving only queens and larvae to die.

Bees are responsible for pollinating almost a third of all consumable plants, both by man and livestock, and a total collapse of the bee industry would severely limit America’s ability to feed itself. The USDA, part of a multinational group fighting the disorder, has gone so far as to declare CCD “the biggest general threat to our food supply.”

While American hives have fought die-offs before, the scale of this latest disease reminds us how tenuous our modern environment actually is. In this complicated world, the humble honeybee can be more important than all the latest technological advances put together.

Link via CNN

Popularity: 4% [?]

Web hosting company DreamHost, employee-owned and fun-loving, went carbon neutral last week, bringing over 400,000 domains with it into a new, greener world. Good for them! Every business, from the corner store to the virtual economy, can participate in reducing CO2 emissions, recycling waste, and just generally making the planet a better place.

Now, there have been more than a few discussions here about carbon offsets, whether they do anything but make us feel self-satisfied. DreamHost’s blog, after announcing their change, became another battleground, as dozens of users argued about the existence of global climate change and the efficacy of carbon neutrality. Responses were surprisingly negative, but such is the Internet.

My favorite quote: “Free market economy FTW! :)”

Link to DreamHost Blog

Popularity: 5% [?]

Vestal’s own Mike Lin is featured today on Worldchanging with a very thoughtful and forceful argument for designers to change their ways before it’s too late. In short: sustainability is dead, so it’s time for a totally new way to look at the way we live.

Heavy stuff. Remember, design is a method of action. Keep on thinking, Mr. Lin

Link to Worldchanging

Popularity: 5% [?]

With an almost unlimited number of applications, bamboo can do practically everything from spicing up your lunch to building your tropical tree house to feeding your pet panda. And now, thanks to the good folks at CalfeeDesign, you can use the fast-growing grass to get around town on your stylish new bamboo racing bike.

Instead of using fresh bamboo – which would crack and split – CalfeeDesign builds its bikes out of special heat-treated wood, a process that gives the frame rigidity and helps to dampen vibration. The finished product, though just as expensive as other high-end racing bicycles, has a significantly smaller carbon footprint and works just as well.

Maybe I should just mortgage the tree house and buy one.

Link to CalfeeDesign

Popularity: 6% [?]

Allan Chochinov has a good habit of writing his thoughts down in 1000-word chunks:

And given the propensity for teachers to go on and on, keeping that number to 1000 words—whatever else you may think of them—might earn me a couple minutes of your time reading them.

His 1000-word Manifesto for Sustainability in Design has been getting some buzz recently, but I’m a big fan of his 1000 words for design students and later 1000 Words of Advice for Design Teachers.

Favorites?

Place insane demands. Then double them.

If you ask students for 2 models, they’ll bring in 2 models. If you ask for 6 models, you’ll get 6 models. The more work that comes in, the higher the chances that some it will be good, and that a tiny bit of it will be great. So ask for 12 models.

My favorite exercise from an architecture professor? “Make 200 drawings. You have 1 hour. Go.” (Vince Mulcahy and Henry Richardson at Cornell)

Popularity: 4% [?]

Our office here in Peru tried composting for several months, dutifully giving a large red bin table scraps and sawdust and the occasional stir. Though we had such hope in those days, our compost would not cooperate. Something in the humid salty smoggy air of Lima led the bin down a terrible, unspeakable path that is – without question – definitely not towards compost. In fact, I once saw a green tendril reach out of the bin and grab an unsuspecting pigeon. True story.

So I feel a bit better knowing that even well-meaning professionals are having a hard time with composting. Mariposa, California, a popular stop on the way to Yosemite, can’t seem to get its massive compost pile under control, leading to dozens of complaints from nauseous neighbors. The $8 million project hoped to turn the stream of waste left by Yosemite’s millions of visitors into something useful – instead, for the time being, it’s a giant smelly white elephant.

Back here in Lima, we’re all too afraid of what waits for us in the red bin to deal with the problem. See no evil…

Link via LA Times

Popularity: 4% [?]