Tag Archive for 'sustainability'

walking vs. driving

Published
by
bru
3 monthes and 2 weeks ago
in Chaos
. 2 Comments

Today I read on WorldChanging this post about the debacle concerning the climate impacts of walking vs. driving.
John Tierney writes:

If you walk 1.5 miles, Mr. Goodall calculates, and replace those calories by drinking about a cup of milk, the greenhouse emissions connected with that milk (like methane from the dairy farm and carbon dioxide from the delivery truck) are just about equal to the emissions from a typical car making the same trip. And if there were two of you making the trip, then the car would definitely be the more planet-friendly way to go.

Now, Karl Schroeder in the WorldChanging post linked above already scores a few points back to the walking practice but I think he’s missing the major one: where does your food come from? I don’t have any number here but I’ve this very strong feeling that practices like the 100 miles diet can help reduce our impact quite considerably, together with possibly tightening a bit our ever-loosing bound with the local territory.
Of course this is not applicable everywhere, as I guess harvesting food in antartica would be quite troublesome, and similarly growing bananas in the uk I think (again, just guessing) would be far from eco-efficient: but do we need bananas in the uk? maybe the same principles could be found in other local products, that we could produce and consume in a shorter timespan, thus saving chemical treatments, freezing, and so on.

Like a Zippo

Published
by
bru
5 monthes and 1 week ago
in Chaos
. 0 Comments

Yesterday while reading my daily techmeme I saw this headline:

Beautiful to use: Nokia unveils three new handsets that merge modern functionality with classic and sophisticated looks

The first thing I thought was “wow! Are they really releasing the Nokia Remade?”
Actually no, the new Nokias are just pretty neat handhelds, but nothing along the line that CradleToCradle authors would endorse, apparently.

For those who are wondering, the “Remade” project is (as Nicholas defines it):

a provocation for serious conversations at the tippy-top of the Nokia enterprise to seriously consider how upcycling can become part of the design, construction and consumption of mobile phones. Materialized ideas on a really impactful concept.

As Jan Chipchase, researcher for Nokia Design, puts it on his blog:

sustainability is a pressing issue in a billion+ products-per-year industry

While talking in the office with Tom, who met Jan and had the chance to play a bit with the Remade, and listening to his description of the experience, I thought that, apart from the upcycled materials, the Remade gives the feeling of an undying object, something that is there to stay, like a Zippo lighter.

Even if I don’t smoke but I’ve always been in love with Zippo lighters: they’re solid, their design is always contemporary, not too loud (well, at least the classic model) nor too dull, and when you have one in your hands you can’t help but play with it, in your own personal way: whether to try and light it in one clean swoop, or just spin it through the fingertips, or compulsively open and shut it to hear that distinctive, reassuring “clack” sound.
I’m definitely looking forward to devices like these.

how broadband can help save the planet

Published
by
bru
9 monthes and 4 weeks ago
in asides
. 0 Comments

Just a link to this article by Emily in SmartMobs that reports a study about how broadband access could spare the planet 1 billion tons of greenhouse gases.

How would faster downloads and Web page loads curb the annual flow of globe-warming gases, and by how much? According to the report:

– Telecommuting, a “zero emission” practice, eliminates office space and car commutes: 588 million tons.
– E-commerce cuts the need for warehouses and long-distance shipping: 206 million tons.
– Widespread teleconferencing could bring one-tenth of all flights to a halt: 200 million tons.
– Downloading music, movies, newspapers, and books saves packaging, paper, and shipping: 67 million tons.