I'm convinced that the best remedy for sleepless nights is midnight baseball. Every March I breathe a sigh of relief that soon almost every night, I can switch on my radio and hear the soothing sounds of the Giants' victory or defeat and will be guaranteed to be asleep by the third inning. It's not that the games are boring, it's just that at a low volume, the announcer's voice and the crack of the bat lulls me to sleep every time. I switch on my trusty Panapet (see image to the left) and head off to the ballgame where all the thoughts from the day are hit out of the park (so to speak). If I've had a particularly rough day and make through the whole game, I get to sing along to Journey's "Lights", which is kind of a treat at 3 am, let me tell you.......
My Panapet has served me and its previous owners faithfully since 1972. It needs some new batteries from time to time, but for the most part, all I have to do is turn the dial on the side and KNBR comes in crystal clear. I find that many of the appliances I own that are older than I am work much better than the stuff I buy new at stores. I recently found out why this might be the case. A little thing called planned obsolescence.
Basically, the idea started shortly after WWII by a guy named Victor LeBeau, an economist who believed the key to the United States' economic prosperity was in the hands of product manufacturers. If goods were not manufactured to last a long time, people would buy more of them and consumption, a key component of GDP growth, would rise, bringing forth "economic prosperity." Corporations liked the idea because it meant higher revenue for them and longer relationships with their customers. An amazing piece called "The Story of Stuff" articulates this phenomenon beautifully. See that here:
So, I've presented you with a lot of gloom and doom here that is likely to be no match for midnight baseball's sleep inducement.
Enter in the design community. Designers have a lot of power. They pretty much conceive of almost everything we experience in the built environment. If you think about it, your home started as a sketch on someone's desk and your iPod might have been a fleeting thought while a designer was showering. I attended a very inspiring panel discussion this week called "Design Green Now" that highlighted the growing movement within the design community to consider the entire life-cycle of a product--cutting a big gash into the tired, old "planned obsolescence" idea that's unfortunately still hanging around.
Additionally, there are some pretty cool innovations happening within smart nano-materials. Angela Belcher, a materials scientist at MIT, and one of my heroines, has uncovered some very interesting research about abalone shells and how their regrowth systems could possibly be applied to electronics allowing components to "regrow" themselves. Read more about that here.
In short, there are very bright people working on these problems--but they need help from us. If you're not a designer or a MacArthur genius, what can you do? Well, you can show your support through what you buy or what you don't buy. Before you rush out to buy a new product think about why you're doing it....is the purchase necessary? What is motivating you to buy it? Does the byproduct or container have an additional use after you're done with it (use ReadyMade for help on that one)? And watch the full "Story of Stuff" here.
This time it's a little smaller and has taken the form of a drinking cup from the brilliant minds behind Flatterware.
As I've mentioned before, sustainability is first and foremost about behavioral changes and this design elegantly addresses just that.
Bottled water blows. It is counterintuitive. Why would you purchase something that flows freely from a tap and through your purchase deepen your environmental footprint to include transportation, plastic, and then probably not be able to recycle the bottle once you're through with it? I'll admit, I've purchased bottled water ((gasp))....for me, it's usually a purchase born out of convenience. "I didn't bring my water bottle with me because my bag was stuffed" or "I brought a small purse with me," etc. Research has shown that convenience is a major motivator behind bottled water sales. It also carries over to people who purchase coffee in the mornings in paper cups because they don't want to lug their travel mugs around all day.
Well, excuses to buy tap water just got smaller. I purchased a flatterware cup last week for a mere five bucks and have brought it along in my tiny purse or in my stuffed school bag--and I haven't bought a single bottle of water since. The cup starts off folded up in a five inch disk that looks kinda like a hockey puck. A twist of the wrist pulls the lid off the top and a cup springs up from the bottom. You can fill the cup with hot or cold liquid (it's made from ABS plastic) and enjoy yourself. The walls of the cup are flexible (but not so much that you have flashbacks to Capri Sun shooting out of the straw and all over the cafeteria table) with the lip made from a harder plastic. Once you're done with your drink in a flatterware, push the cup down with the lid and twist it to lock--totally easy.
The reason I like this design so much is because it addresses a major underlying behavior behind bottled water drinking: carrying space. I hear there are other variations in the works that include baby bottles and other colors.
Get a flatterware cup here so we can raise our cups and toast our good sense.
As you formulate your New Year's resolutions, I hope ridding yourself of plastic bags--or really, plastic OR paper bags will make your short list. If you need any more convincing, read this article. To entice you to consider this very important resolution, feast your eyes on the Baggu! I joyfully received three of these lovlies from my boyfriend's parents, and I am in love.
These little darlings will give you absolutely no excuse to answer the question, "Paper or plastic?" in 2008. As you can see, they fold up neatly into small pouches that fit in your purse, back pocket, or glove box with ease. They fold out to provide you a generous shopping bag that's machine washable (in cold water, of course), hip, and durable. They are also nylon so you can silkscreen on them--making the Baggu a great option for merch. Start 2008 off right here. This could be you:
Well, that explains the slew of green announcements! In all seriousness, that figure really surprised me as I reside in San Francisco and have to check myself from time to time when I think that the whole country is as green-minded as my neighbors and I. I guess I don't have to check myself as much as I thought.
In an article from Brandweek.com, Aveda's VP of Global Marketing " cited research showing eight of 10 Americans now believe that it is important to buy products from green companies. 'We’ve always talked about our environmental work to the trade, but now it’s time to start shouting it to a larger audience.'"
Aveda announced today a new initiative to green their already pretty green product lines. They will embark on a new campaign "Beauty is as Beauty Does" that will promote a different kind of greening practice the company has employed on a six week rotation.
The first order of greening is promoting Aveda's use of windpower-- a practice that has elevated then to become one of EPA's Green Power Partner Partnership Leadership Circle members (a mouthful--but an honor). Next up is packaging. Stay tuned--you'll see evidence of these initiatives through print media and in-store displays.
I learned a new vocabulary word today: prosumerification--it's the marriage of professional and consumer and manifests itself in stuff like professional-grade appliances and electronics. Newly built homes and condos often boast "professional grade range top and hood"--but fail to mention that even if you're just making mac & cheese on it, the greenhouse gas emissions that result in your use of a "professional grade appliance" are way more than the old faithful General Electric model version you got in your first apartment. Always at the cusp of new trends is Treehugger.com, who weighs in with this piece:
Prosumer is a portmanteau from Professional and consumer, it is an ugly word picked up by the vendors of digital cameras to describe too many complicated and formerly expensive professional features being added to consumer models. Paul Kedrosky makes it uglier by inventing Prosumerification- the tendency of home stoves morph into into commercial Garland ranges, Home entertainment systems that rival a THX equipped cinema, video cameras where George Lucas couldn't use all the features, all of them more complex, expensive and sucking more power.
A remarkable example can be seen in rice cookers; Toshiba invented them 50 years ago with a simple heating element beneath the bowl that had a thermostat to click off as soon as the water was gone. We use a 25 year old one like this every night and it still works perfectly. Now the Wall Street Journal tells us that Toshiba is offering the Vacuum-Pressure Rice Cooker for 100,000 yen ( US$ 830). It creates a vacuum while the rice soaks, then 264 pounds of pressure while it cooks, all in a vessel coated in silver and diamond dust to distribute the heat evenly.
One rice expert questions the logic of this:
The latest rash of technology is a bit much for Mr. Nishijima, the rice expert. "Just because you pay 70,000 yen [about $575] or 110,000 yen doesn't mean that there's a drastic change in taste," says Mr. Nishijima, who adds that good rice can be made with the simplest of rice cookers if it is to be eaten right away. He thinks consumers might be too susceptible to hype. "It almost seems like anything is OK as long as it's expensive," he says. ::Wall Street Journal, subscription only but copy of portion here.
Also in the Journal was "Japan Aims To Be Climate Change Leader But Lags Kyoto Goals"
Household emissions present a major challenge. (household emissions rose 37.4% from 1990 levels)
The government estimates that household emission of 175 million tons of CO2 in 2005 will have to be cut by 38 million tons - or nearly 22% - by 2010. Officials are urging citizens to take quicker showers, use less air conditioning and heating, and switch to eco-friendly appliances.
I'm convinced that the best remedy for sleepless nights is midnight baseball. Every March I breathe a sigh of relief that soon almost every night, I can switch on my radio and hear the soothing sounds of the Giants' victory or defeat and will be guaranteed to be asleep by the third inning. It's not that the games are boring, it's just that at a low volume, the announcer's voice and the crack of the bat lulls me to sleep every time. I switch on my trusty Panapet (see image to the left) and head off to the ballgame where all the thoughts from the day are hit out of the park (so to speak). If I've had a particularly rough day and make through the whole game, I get to sing along to Journey's "Lights", which is kind of a treat at 3 am, let me tell you.......
On the first day of 2008, I was waxing poetic about a brilliant new bathtub that conserves water. Now in the first days of spring, it seems another vessel has captured my attention.
As you formulate your New Year's resolutions, I hope ridding yourself of plastic bags--or really, plastic OR paper bags will make your short list. If you need any more convincing, read this article. To entice you to consider this very important resolution, feast your eyes on the Baggu! I joyfully received three of these lovlies from my boyfriend's parents, and I am in love.
