DISPOSABLE TECHNOLOGY AND E-WASTE: KYLE BEAN

As technology capabilities continue to progress at an incredible pace, the "life span" of tech products get smaller and smaller to the point where they are, in a sense, disposable. Kyle Bean has created his own Disposable Technology in the form of cardboard sculptures of popular electronic devices. Carefully crafted, each piece is made (approximately) to scale and even includes a seemingly bright screen. At the center of the work is a quote from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, a San Jose-based group that promotes responsibility in electronics recycling, The increasingly rapid evolution of technology has effectively rendered everything disposable. The importance of the quote of course, isn't that things are used quickly and replaced, it's what happens to them after they're replaced. While I/we enjoy our tech conveniences on the daily, they unfortunetly are not made of cardboard and producing/disposing of them has had a tremendously damaging effect on the world's environment.



We call this "e-waste" and half of it is made up of electronics such as computers, monitors, printers, televisions, dvd/music devices, stereos, and cell phones. In the United States, a dismal 10-20% percent of electronics are recycled responsibly (depending on who you talk to) and Europe doesn't fare much better at 25%. (see below chart to see where the waste comes from and where it goes) This means 80% of the roughly 50 million tons of e-waste will be either burnt or put in landfills, allowing the hundreds of different dangerous chemicals (including lead, mercury, cadmium, etc) found in electronics to leak into the water or air. Much of the waste (computers) is sold to developing countries to be sold as is (they will still end up as waste at some point) or stripped to extract and sell the rare elements and materials used in the electronics. There is currently no U.S. law to curb or regulate the export of e-waste to countries in Africa and Asia and the E.U. laws (under the Basel Convention) are obviously not being enforced. We need federal legislation to make sure that A. the environment/world population is protected from e-waste's harmful chemicals/materials. B. to re-use the rare elements and materials that will disappear from the earth unless we learn to recycle them effectively and C. that recyclers actually do what they promise, because surprisingly, even groups that claim to recycle these devices responsibly have been found to export them to developing countries. A fantastic story by 60 minutes reported that 44 recyclers were simply exporting the e-waste overseas and according to National Geographic, even Goodwill has sold computers to Ghana.

If you have electronic/electric waste please contact the E-Stewards Initiative to find a local recycler and/or the manufacturer (Dell, HP and Apple all have recylcing programs) to find out how to properly recycle the product.
(via Design Boom, CNN, SVTC)

STRANGE/SMART: CORPORATE RETAIL WOOS AMERICA'S PROGRESSIVES

In an ironic twist of fate, retail behemoth Wal-Mart has unexpectedly cast their support in favor of a mandate that requires American companies to provide health insurance for their workers. Say Whaaaaa? Yes, Wal-Mart, who for years railed against such a mandate and encouraged employees to use state medicaid programs instead of providing it themselves (along with SEVERAL other ethical/environmental concerns) is now working with the Service Employees International UNION to require insurance for their previously underpaid, sometimes undocumented, never unionized, sometimes discriminated against, still-waiting-for-their-overtime-pay employees. The support is a huge boon for an Obama administration trying to cover the remaining uninsured 50 million Americans by lowering health care costs and providing a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers. The health care reform legislation (the issue of raising the funds is still up for discussion) is currently being drafted and may see a vote this summer.

In an equally strange move, a new McDonald's restaurant in Cary, NC has included an electric motor charging station in its parking lot for green customers. Perhaps even stranger, this was not their first electric car charger (Arizona late 90's). According to Pike Research, there will be over 5 million charge points for electric vehicles in the world by the year 2015. That same McDonald's, set to open July 14th, was constructed using a wide-range of recycled materials. In the U.K., they recycle their vegetable oil into bio-diesel and this year, all stores began using fish from sustainable fisheries (fish make up only a tiny percentage of sales). McDonald's has also participated in setting a ban on using cattle feed from soy grown in recently deforested areas.

While the sudden and dramatic shift in ethical/environmental policy by these companies is impressive, rest assured the changes have almost nothing to do with providing health care or saving the planet and everything to do with making money off the increased market share they will surely secure with the progressive label they hope to garner. Wal-Mart isn't as concerned with insuring their employees (or they wouldn't have been one of the worst at doing so for years and years) as they are looking to boost their image for providing health care that may cover all their workers, but with health care costs dropping, won't cost them much at all in the end. The goodwill they'll get should bring in a new customer base (myself not included) that may have previously criticized Wal-Mart for a variety of valid reasons.

So could McDonald's and Wal-Mart be the new progressive leaders of the corporate world? Definitely not. Both companies still have arguably two of the worst environmental/ethical records out there (especially the massive use of resources to make beef for McDonald's). This isn't surprising, typically, larger, more established companies in the U.S. are understandably slow to change (change comes at a huge price sometimes) and will only do what they must to stay competitive and achieve efficiency while keeping costs at their absolute lowest. It is usually the smaller, younger businesses that drive the push for ethical and environmental progression since they are smaller, easily-changed operations and will take chances on different markets to try to compete with the more established companies. Sometimes they even do so because they feel a responsibility to reduce their carbon footprints and benefit people in ways other than providing products, but obviously, these changes can be profitable too. Improving their green/ethical public relations (even slightly) is the perfect play for large companies like Wal-Mart and McDonald's and while these corporations make these changes to increase efficiency and/or bring new customers and ultimately, to make money, it certainly is an improvement for the world. Hopefully they'll keep going, they've got a lot of work to do.
(via Hybrid Cars, The Boston Globe)

THE BIG DIG HOUSE

There were few highlights in Boston's "Big Dig" highway overhaul that cost almost 22 billion dollars over the last 20 years. However, along with the wasted time and money (and lives) that accompanied the greatest highway project in U.S. history came tons and tons of industrial/construction waste. An architectural endeavor known as the Big Dig House in Lexington, MA has put to use the remains of the dismantled I-93. Designed by Single Speed Design, the house was constructed using over 600,000 pounds of salvaged materials (see pics below). This type of recycling is not only saving resources but quite a bit of money too, SSD puts it best:
Most importantly, the project demonstrates an untapped potential for the public realm: with strategic front-end planning, much needed community programs including schools, libraries, and housing could be constructed whenever infrastructure is deconstructed, saving valuable resources, embodied energy, and taxpayer dollars.
(via Arch Daily)

PORTABLE HOUSING: GREEN SHEDS AND CABINS FOR LIVING

This past year (and economic recession) has brought a rash of cheap, portable, compact and stylish housing ideas. While this is nothing new, (see portable globe house below) these high-concept homes were designed with green capabilities and a supreme use of space. For most folks these projects were conceived as an extra summer living space, presumably in some vacation land, but as a teacher, I see them as potential full-time homes. Most impressive is the new "Shed for Living" (pictured above) created by Manchester, England's FKDA. This micro home can reach ZERO carbon status, meaning it uses less energy than it generates including the building process and day to day operation. For those of you who dream of a small, handsome space (attention teachers and Japanese architects) peep the plans and imagine.



Pictured below is the Loft Cube, designed by Werner Aisslinger; the KS1 and KS2 homes from Swedish company Summer Entertainment and a log cabin called the "Flake House" from French designers Olgga. The Flake House is currently on exhibit in Nantes, France (if you're in the area) until August at which point it will be auctioned online to the highest bidder.
(Via Dezeen and DesignBoom)

PREMIERE: FOOD INC.

The highly anticipated documentary Food Inc. premiered this past week in New York City to rave reviews and is set for limited release this Friday the 12th. I'll let the press release handle the details (below) but the potentially revolutionary film includes commentary from my favorite notable expert Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation [life-changing], Refer Madness [must-read] and Super Size Me fame) even though his appearance on the Colbert Report was mostly lackluster. The Official Food Inc. site includes an incredible amount of information on healthy eating, the environmental impact of foods, chemicals and nutritional labeling as well as a blog and recommended reading.

"In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here."

The site also includes the Hungry for Change Cafeteria which showcases some of the necessary changes that need to be made to school lunches (a subject I have addressed before while introducing The School Food Trust) Also, please sign the petition to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act.

NADEEM HAIDARY'S IN-FORMED PRODUCTS

Statistics and/or information, no matter how shocking or significant, may seldom impact potentially harmful human behavior. Not even if we wish it were so. However, that will never stop us from trying to influence others with regard to the issues we hold dear and it will never stop the occasional message from seeping in and perhaps, changing history and lives. Nadeem Haidary is one of "us" and his influence can be seen IN the products he designs by creating physical information that we use as constant reminders in our daily lives. He calls this product line In-Formed and the concept, while not totally original, is surely another great marketing tool; be it for business or activism. Of course, the downside to marketing (other than not knowing what techniques really work) is that even if the message were in our hands daily, we would eventually become numb to it and would require some other, more "in your face" type of marketing to break through the ever growing clutter. I don't even want to imagine what that would be.

In this particular case, the design is meant to educate people about the massive daily amount of calories Americans consume on average (over 3,500; healthy is approximately 1800-2300), compared to the rest of the world. I recently began to scale back my food portions (and thus calorie intake) because I'm turning into a fat bastard, so I would appreciate a reminder like the one found on the fork Haidary has designed. I must say however, that while the countries/intakes listed on the fork are worthwhile, there are far too many under-developed nations that on average, consume less than 2000 calories a day (too many of them in Africa) that should be included on other models. I and Haidary are also concerned about the resources used to create food (especially meat), which would obviously go down with consumption, but clearly a fact lost on most Americans and certainly not a message supported by U.S. industry (and yes you, McDonald's and BK). So essentially, green= consuming less food and/or foods that require less processing.

Looking at the fork, I'm a bit weary of that U.S. prong, as that thing would no doubt, end up a quarter-inch deep in my gums if this product ever existed. And for me personally, why even make the U.S. and Europe plates? I need the Africa plate seven days a week. (yes, I understand why he includes these plates in the collection, and no, I'm certainly not trying to trivialize this)


(via GOOD)

CARBON FOOTPRINTS: GOOGLE SEARCHES VS. NEWSPAPERS, CARS, YOU

Thinking green is not a new concept, however with pressures on the world (and to a large extent, the United States) to quickly clean up its act, the intensity with which people are evaluating our carbon foot prints has increased just as fast. It's about time people are looking into the impact of even seemingly insignificant tasks performed dozens to hundreds of times by your average American everyday. Google has been feeling this heat recently as Harvard scientists computed how many grams of carbon dioxide were generated by a single search on the leading engine. The massive server farms and technology necessary in the process creates 7 grams of CO2 in each search. Obviously, considering the hundreds of millions of Google searches that occur every day, this does indeed have quite an impact on our environment (or it will in the future anyway), but how does it compare to the other tasks we perform or the products we consume?

To prove how eco-friendly Google really is, their scientists have created a comparison of CO2 emissions by Google searches to those of print newspapers, beef and even orange juice. (see below) Since newspapers are currently transitioning to online websites, I'm not sure it makes a whole lot of difference, but it would take 850 google clicks to equal the 6,000 grams of CO2 they produce per paper.

It's still a bit surprising to see the environmental impact of something as simple as clicking your mouse, but look at how many clicks it takes to equal just ONE cheeseburger (15,000!). It's no secret how incredibly inefficient it is to raise cattle for beef, but to see that EVERY CHEESEBURGER creates more emissions than 5 miles of driving is astounding. As is the 3 MILLION clicks it would take to equal the CO2 created from only one month of electricity in the house of an average American. (via TechCrunch)

2010 PRIUS LOOKS HANDSOME

Earlier this year, Toyota released photos and details of the highly anticipated 2010 Prius (see website for press release). Although Toyota has clearly stated that the actual production car (due in "late spring") may vary from the prototypes on the road now, let me be the millionth person to say that they look damn good. The blue one pictured above in L.A. has better rims and assures us all that the future of green/hybrid cars is on solid ground. The new colors, roof solar panel and 50 miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency aren't bad either. (via Notcot and Toyota)

If you're in the market for the new hybrid, hold your onto your cashish for a few months longer and you may have another Prius model to choose from. Keep your ears/eyes open.

LOOKS LIKE ENERGY MIGHT BE THE LEAST OF OUR WORRIES

Cue the Debbie Downer music: Wah-WAAHHHHH. This past decade has brought significant discussion about our finite source of oil on earth as well as how we will accomplish the necessary adaptations in finding sustainable energy. According to respected British science magazine, New Scientist and German scientist Armin Reller (University of Ausberg), there may be even bleaker news about the earth's mined resources and the impact on the consumer products we manufacture. The essential elements mined all over the world (see second image) are running out at an unbelievable pace (see first image). These elements include copper, indium, silver, platinum, phosphorus, gallium, zinc, tin, lead (and many more) and are used to produce items from computers, cell phones, tv's and electronics to cars, solar cells, jewelry, medicine and pipes/cables... basically everything. For example, indium, a necessary ingredient in LCD televisions, computer screens, cell phones and solar cells may be gone in only 10 years. The increased demand and declining supply is evidenced by a sharp rise in price over the past few years to well over $1000 per kilogram. While it is assumed that we will, in the next 20 years, find renewable energy sources and harness them, our ability to manufacture necessary goods will quickly become more and more difficult and expensive. Read the whole article here from New Scientist Magazine and Nova.

I'm sure it's obvious to everyone that the important elements we take from the ground are indeed a finite source and regardless of how long they last, they will at some point run out. We may not think about this because of the debate over the energy source that will drive our future production, but do not underestimate this potentially disastrous problem with the necessary production materials. Now, the article I cited is almost two years old, so it's obvious that we all (myself included) slept on this one. It will take a serious effort in recycling these elements and again, finding renewable sources of materials to guarantee the future of the U.S. and the world. (via Gizmodo, New Scientist)

BOTTLED WATER SALES DOWN, AMERICA PARCHED.

NPR reported this morning that bottled water sales are down for the first time in years. It's not a big loss mind you, Americans bought 11 billion in 2008, but the 1% decline last year is in stark contrast to the growth in water sales over the last decade. It is because of this recent downturn that people are wondering if the new numbers are simply a sign of tough economic times or the product of environmental concerns. Regardless of the ratio, there seems to be some effect from the environmental backlash against the production of plastic bottled water. While it's true that Europe still constitutes are large portion of the water industry, they don't have reliable water from their taps. In the U.S., we've adopted this European "water culture" even though we have great tasting water in most areas of our country. What's more, a recent test at the University of Hartford concluded that Americans (in Hartford anyway) can't tell the difference between tap water and bottled water, including even "high end" bottled waters. Of course the true test will be to see what happens to b.w. sales after the recession, but so far the numbers look promising. (via NPR)

BOXED WATER IS BETTER FOR THE EARTH

Alongside the constant talk about lessening our carbon foot print, a massive movement in the development of responsible (and handsome) consumer products has emerged in the past few years. Tops on the list of earth-friendly water peddlers (there aren't many) is BOXED WATER, a new company that provides an interesting alternative to Americans' current obsession with plastic bottled water. If you have to drink packaged water, this is the company to support. Their website makes their case:

"Started with the simple idea of creating a new bottled water brand that is kinder to the environment and gives back a bit - we found that it shouldn't be bottled at all, but instead, boxed. So we looked to the past for inspiration in the century old beverage container and decided to keep things simple, sustainable, and beautiful.

About 90% of the Boxed Water container is made from a renewable resource, trees, that when harvested in a responsible, managed, and ethical way serve as an amazing renewable resource that benefits the environment even as it's renewed. Our carbon footprint is dramatically lower as our boxes are shipped flat to our filler and filled only as demand is created, opposed to most bottled water companies that ship their empty bottles across the globe to be filled, then shipped back for consumption. The flat, unfilled boxes we can fit on 2 pallets, or roughly 5% of a truckload, would require about 5 truckloads for empty plastic or glass bottles. Our cartons can also be broken down to their original flat state, are recyclable in most areas, and will be everywhere shortly. We're also giving 20% of our profits back to the resources our product is composed of - water and trees. Not only does it simply make sense, but we really enjoy supporting water and forestation organizations as it's part of our company's ethos and way of thinking to give back and participate. All that and an over-arching focus on simple and beautiful design that compliments our brand as well as the spaces it's sold and consumed in."
(via LovelyPackage)

BROKEN DOWN IN POLAND

"BIODEGRABALE IN 60 DAYS", the 60 Bag is a new carry-all that has virtually no impact on the environment. Designed and manufactured in Poland, the bags are made from a flax-viscose fabric and is produced from flax fiber industrial waste. The production of the 60 bags and their decomposition require no natural resources, little energy and don't require expensive recycling processes or space in landfills. Hopefully we'll see products like this in the U.S. soon.

THE LOBLOLLY HOUSE

This pre-fabricated home on Taylor's Island, Maryland was built in 2007, and remains a shining representation of green building in America today. Because of its location on the Chesapeake Bay, the free standing architectural design guarantees as little environmental impact as possible. The amazing thing about this home is its use of a re arrangeable aluminum frame and advanced wall components (rooms) making it 70% pre-fab. The homes can be constructed as quickly and easily as they can be taken down thus reducing the impact on any environment (and your wallet). Other green technologies include natural ventilation, green roof (has vegetation on it) and sustainable construction processes. From Kieren Timberlake Architecture Firm

The Loblolly House is just one example of architectural genius from a new book called ARCHITECTURE NOW! HOUSES published by Taschen, which you can view here. The book will be available in April 09.