It's been too long since my last post.  Similarly, it's been too long since I've taken my bike out for a ride what with all the snow Vancouver received over the holidays.  It's all about to change...

There's been a lot of talk in Vancouver lately about sustainable transportation, bike safey, etc.  One idea that is sparking debate in the local papers is whether or not the City should delegate a lane each way on the Burrard Bridge to cyclists and inline skaters.  I like the idea of course, but wouldn't it be amazing if at all times, cyclists had their own identified boundries that cars could see and mind on every street?  Enter Light Lane.  Light Lane projects, with lasers, your own personal bike lane complete with bike icon behind you which follows you along your journey.  Unfortunately this amazing idea is still in its conceptual state but I and many other cyclists are intrigued.  I like it so much, I'm thinking of ways to make it myself!  Or.. maybe someone already has on Instructables.com... I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[via:bikehugger]  

I've just come back from a 'serious play' long weekend, sailing around the San Juan Islands in Washington (video footage here).  It was a regatta called Round the County that spanned 2 days, saw 64 boats participate, 46 knots of wind the first day and basically none the next day.  We placed 3rd in our division and 8th overall.  Sailing to me is one of the best examples of serious play.  We're all out there giving 110% because we love it and at the same time there is a lot at stake.  Overcoming fears and inihibitions, placing ourselves in unknown territory, pushing the limits of our bodies and designs, because in the end it makes everything seem easier and more alive.  

Tim Brown's Ted Talk on Serious Play came into my inbox this morning.  It's 30 minutes long but it sure is great.  He covers a lot of ground explaining how adults can overcome inhibitions surrounding play, learning from children, breaking habits, defering judgement and the absolute importance of creative experimentation.  

Seriously good stuff!

 

Have you ever wondered what happened after the tortoise beat the hare in that famous race? I hadn't ever really stop to think about what might happen the next time (or times).  While jamming on some ideas for stickers to give away for a bike safety station my friend was organizing, I did a quick search for images of the tortoise and the hare. We wanted the caption to say: "Are you really in a hurry?". On my search I found a speculative epilogue to one of my favourite children's stories.  I won't recap the story because it's quite short and a great read, but suffice to say, there are a few new morals that present themselves - learning from our mistakes, never giving up, and yes - collaboration.  Oops, did I just give it away?

This is not the end of my blog today.

In the context of slow and steady... an article today in Time Magazine caught my attention about social networking platforms, and the race to critical critical mass.

While MySpace got to critical mass first and Facebook became the poster child for the social-network generation, LinkedIn has always been the tortoise in this race. 

Reid Hoffman founded LinkedIn in 2003. I have not joined this network but after reading this article and given my intense interest in the Slow Movement, this platform is said to be focussed not on quantity but - quality. You mean I won't get invitations for Vampire, Werewolf, Mummy, and Lil' Green Patch applications? Great. That's not to say they won't be adding applications as they have just signed some deals with Google and Amazon, but they will be very mindful so as to not clutter the user experience - that they will actually be useful in fostering intelligent social connections between professional people.

The main point of this article is that LinkedIn continues to thrive in the midst of these unsettling economic times and it has a lot to do with Hoffmans' strategic, long term planning approach. The author of the article writes:

That's the kind of counter-conventional wisdom and smart strategy that Hoffman is known for. He was one of those guys who obsessively played military board games as a youth. (He once told me he never lost.) Over a year ago, Hoffman starting looking for funding to ensure that LinkedIn would be able to thrive during what he then described as the coming nuclear winter. (He figured a reserve of cash would help LinkedIn buy up companies during the downturn.) All in all, the company has raised $100 million, boasts a $1 billion valuation, and last week signed up its 30 millionth member. (A spokesman told me the sign-up rate has escalated of late and now includes one new member per second.)

Counter conventional wisdom... I like the sounds of that. Perhaps I will be the next new member of the second. Or perhaps I'll take my time to join into yet another. social. media. platform.  After lunch.

My friend Sobey introduced me to the City Repair Project a while back. I remember being blown away with optimism by the stories and videos I saw on the website. Just today, I was inspired to revisit the site because of an exciting project we are working on here. I believe more people should know about this project!  

City Repair Project is almost an entirely volunteer-run social-profit (non-profit) organization based out of Portland, Oregon but has spread to other communities across the US. What they do really well is engage with people where they live. In other words, they physically go to specific neighbourhoods, bringing with them the necessary tools, equipment and enthusiasm, and invite local residents to take part in a transformation of ordinary space to meaningful place. This could be in an intersection road painting, landscaping round-a-bouts, block parties and even the construction of shaded gathering places. The very process of bringing people together, outside, induces a sense of ownership of the place and from that ensues pride and collectivity.

City Repair Project volunteers are active in their own disciplines, which adds to the diversity and collective intelligence at each event – architecture, planning, permaculture, arts, builders, musicians, etc. all take part and contribute what they can.

The other fascinating thing about this project (you can hear it in this video) is that they did not have permission originally to carry out their vision. What happened when they went ahead anyway was an actual shift in beurocratic thought around the nature of public space in neighbourhoods.

More of that, please.

A little closer to home in Vancouver, there is a group here banding together to promote cultural vibrancy – to end Vancouver’s reputation as No Fun City. Their strategy is to engage with policy makers in order to alleviate the barriers in place for cultural organizers such as performance spaces, galleries and clubs. You can read their manifesto here > www.profuncity.com. Perhaps there is something to learn from City Repair Project.  

Ci traveled to the city of Las Vegas, Nevada this week to facilitate a sustainability workshop with a major live entertainment event. They are scheduled to start touring North America early next year so soon we will be able to say more and let you all know when it comes to your city! What I can say though is that everyone present learned a great deal about an expanded view of sustainability and social responsibility. More than a recycling workshop (which is what they thought they were getting), we worked with them to ensure every category and touch point was put through our filter of the 4 pillars of sustainability (personal, social, spiritual and environmental) and the 4 barriers to conscious consumption (price, time, knowledge, pressure).  

After two days of solid work, we had the evening free to explore the strip and take in a show. Cirque de Soleil was truly mind blowing. I can hardly believe what human beings are capable of doing when given the opportunity. After stepping back out into the Casino floor, the experience felt entirely like a dream. Did that really happen?  

We did of course laugh at the irony of why we were there, in the city of over consumption and excess. I can see though, why so many conferences and off-sites happen in Vegas. It is a city where everything seems possible, even if it is somewhat of an illusion.

A few other highlights of the trip were conversations we had with people living in Vegas – taxi drivers and neighbors at the restaurant table talking about changes they are seeing and have seen recently – things like how the economic situation in the states has been effecting the city and also what kinds of sustainability initiatives they are seeing spurt up. To sum it up, what goes up must eventually come down, and then back up again.

May we live in interesting times.

This morning, Kierstin and I went to the Vancouver South Transfer Station, Recycling Depot & Yard Trimmings Drop-off also known as 'the dump' located at 377 West Kent Avenue North in Vancouver.  Let me first say that I am a big fan of field trips.  Even the bus trip down Cambie was enjoyable because the bus driver really liked his job.  He said it was a piece of paradise compared to the 15 years he spent at a plastics recycling plant.  We met quite a few people along the way who were more than helpful to share their deep knowledge of the city's industrial metabolism with us.  Not only that, they carried so many ideas for improvement, and recognized that these things take time to implement.  Patience.  

 

These 2 chairs were on their way to the landfill but someone scooped them up recognizing that they don't yet belong there.  Perfectly good stuff.  If you ever get a chance, take a 1/2 day field trip to your city dump and recycling centre and just take a look at the stuff people are throwing away, and what is being recycled / reused / repurposed.  

It's mind boggling! 

 

I can't stop here.  Over in the recycling depot, it was a little more optimistic and future friendly.  But still an enormous amount of perfectly good stuff being sent to the shredders.  

 

Definitely though, the highlight was when our gracious tour guide showed us they're garden made entirely of refuse. This image makes me think how hopeful I am when I see plants growing out of old objects.

 

 

Where the hell is Matt? And what is his carbon footprint?!  

If you haven’t met Matt online or in your country, Google “Matt” and this one individual will show up at the top of your query. Very impressive. Matt, born in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1976, spends his time traveling the world and dancing with local people – a moving post card if you will. He then uploads the videos to YouTube where millions of people watch and wonder.

The FAQ’s on the website share a lot about his process and motivations for his documented adventures and also answer a few broader questions – like ‘why is the world so screwed up?’ This leads me to believe that Matt is a vocal globalist from our Sustainability Passion Index findings.

On the one hand, the videos are hilarious and offer a psycho-geographic break from our personal worlds. On the other, I have to ask how much energy is this one person using in his global quest to own the name ‘Matt’ and to show the world his… sweet dance moves, and to show us... the world. A vocal globalist, with a gift of connecting cultures, who happens to carry with him a very large carbon footprint.  C'mon Matt, offset that!

“Every design is, in essence, a critique of the context in which it has been produced. Every day I struggle with this thought: do we really need more? Because I am an optimist, the answer is yes. What we need is beauty, original thought, creativity, and awareness.”

I wrote this almost 5 years ago for my 'design philosophy' statement that was mounted beside my grad project on display in Carleton University's Art Gallery. For whatever reason today I am reminded of this statement, while also feeling quite weighed down by my 'latest news headlines' RSS feed, and compounded by the noise of traffic in the rain. What is it that makes something beautiful? As the cliché goes ~ beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Considering how many eyes there are out there - about 13 billion and counting... that's a lot of potential for beauty. Of course beauty has many different definitions and dimensions. It's appropriation by it's own commercialization and fantasization in the media is not so desirable. But beauty is also one of those mindset shifters. A very powerful thing to experience, especially when shared.

We have come so far in the last 5 years in terms of sustainable design, development and communication. And this is still the beginning of a (hopefully) long road.  Sustainable Minds is a relatively new company who recently bought the rights to Okala Ecological Design Curriculum which was written in part by my thesis supervisor Louise St. Pierre. This course was my starting point into the world of sustainable design and is now available to designers everywhere, not just in schools.  Whether you choose to dive into Sustainable Minds, or simply go outside and witness the slow transition of summer to fall, turn on your beauty filter and things may start feel a bit lighter and brighter, even in the rain.

It’s hard to guage sustainable progress vs. more green wash. Perhaps the most prevalent occurance of green wash going on right now is in Beijing and Hong Kong as the world gears up to the 2008 Olympics.

An article in Financial Times today articulates how Chinese leaders “have failed to recognise the extreme seriousness of the country’s air pollution and have favoured the appearance of progress over the difficult actions required to make progress real”. Not to be mistaken as ‘haze’ as officials would like to have us believe, the city of Hong Kong is is apparently suffering the worst pollution levels on record as it prepares to host the equestrian events of the Olympics.

From what I am reading, there appears to be a lot riding on the effect of the wind to clear away the dense smog that is currently looming heavily before the great Olymipic expectations.

Billions of dollars have been invested in the ‘greening’ of the Chinese Olympics but the fact that construction work has been halted, factories are closed and vehicle traffic restrictions (odd/even license plate scheme) demonstrates the severity and immediacy of the environmental crisis afflicting modern China. What a grand experiment, to see how major reduction in emmisions effect air quality in the very short term.

Ask a Chinese Anything is a fabulous blog on devlopment in China.

Back to wind and possibilities. I have always tried to imagine what wind powered freight would look like, while sailing around the massive vessels in English Bay every week. I think about tall ships, kite assisted freighters, and I try to imagine what is inside each container. Yesterday, I came across a post on the NY Times freakonomics blog about the return of the tall ship and wind powered freight. Enjoy it here. Also, a company called SkySails is 'turning wind into profit' with their Beluga kites made for regular freighters to reduce the amount of fuel needed to cross the ocean - up to 35% annually and up to 50% on trips with perfect wind conditions.

In the words of Paul Hawken, "Sustainability means re-imagining the world in such a way that we can stay here."

I’ve been following Bruce Sterling ever since I was introduced to his notion of the spime in his book Shaping Things – which overlaps with my ongoing research on sustainable design and life cycle thinking. I am fascinated with the diversity and breadth of Sterling’s interests and involvement in multiple communities both virtual and physical, and particularly his passion for design education given his background. In a recent designboom interview with Sterling, he was asked whether he thought design is living up to its potential. To which he responded:

Yes and no… Design should be ambitious and it should sort of try to flow into the nooks and crannies of society and help people out. It does rather a lot of that, more so than a lot of other fields. You know if you were to ask me ‘is the military living up to their potential?’ I think they're doing a poorer job than designers. ‘is the law living up to it's potential?’ you know the law is a noble pursuit, but do we have justice? No! If you're a lawyer should you be contented at the state of the legal profession? You know, probably not, but should you give up being a lawyer? No!

Design is certainly not lacking ambition in the news today. Between Coke announcing concrete goals for environmental progress, Boeing exhibiting, a 75-gallon tank of bright green algae, the potential feeding ground for a jet fuel substitute at this year’s Air Show where sustainability is the dominant buzz word, and today, July 28^th 2008, in the Mojave Desert, CA, USA, Virgin Galactic unveiled their new mothership and is currently preparing for test flights. (Thanks to PSFK for letting me know!)

The vessel is being touted as the most energy efficient aircraft in history, by most definitions. An all carbon composite vehicle of this size represents a giant leap for a material technology that has already been identified as a key contributor to the increasingly urgent requirement by the commercial aviation sector for dramatically more fuel efficient aircraft.

In the press release, Branson notes: “Virgin Galactic is central to our ambition at Virgin to become the world’s leading group in the operation of energy and environmentally efficient transportation, in the air, on the ground and in space.”

And how is this for marketing brilliance.. Branson announced: "We are naming it Eve after my Mother, Eve Branson but also because it represents a first and a new beginning, the chance for our ever growing group of future astronauts and other scientists and payload specialists to see our world in a completely new light."

No doubt, how these mega-brands decide how to communicate their sustainability initiatives, how they choose to "flow into the nooks and crannies of society and help people out", will continue to be paramount to sustained success. No apologies, please.

I came across a new study today - the Human Development Index - via Humantific.

The study itself is for sale but there seems to be a lot of info shared through out the site - www.measureofamerica.org. The interactive maps are compelling and well designed.Apparently this is the first study of its kind to focus on a 'developed' country.

The American Human Development Project's mission is to stimulate fact based public debate about political attention to human development issues in the United States and to empower people to hold elected officials accountable for progress on issues we all care about: health, education, and income. The project is a nonpartisan, non-profit initiative established to introduce to the United States a well-honed international approach and tool for measuring human well-being: the human development approach and the human development index.

Curiously, I did the test to see how I stack up on the HDI - 7.9 - which tells me my own personal sustainability levels are doing just fine but of course there is always room for improvement. (:

 Yesterday I went to my very first conference as a creative strategist with Ci. PSFK hosts creative idea and trend conferences in cities around the world and yesterday's took place at an old military base near the water in San Fransisco. Many of the speakers focussed on technology enabling community building and one particular speaker from Apple - Chris Riley - spoke of three highly influential people Stewart Brand, Alice Waters and Paul Hawken. I just had to thank him at the end of the day. Another highlight was Max Schor from GOOD Magazine. Very refreshing, humbling and thought provokative. He asked the audience as he was getting started - "How many people want to make things better?" Not a single person did not raise their hand. The room was certainly filled with optimistic bright creative (and nerdy) bodies, minds and souls.

The best surprise for me was the fact that the Long Now Foundation was just next door and I got to see the prototypes for the 10 000 year clock! I was in heaven. I had done quite a bit of research on Stewart Brand for my thesis paper. Some call him the smartest man in America. Look him up! The Foundation exists for the sole and brave purpose of encouraging us all to open up and adopt a long term view. We're talking centuries and millenia. What a breath of fresh air considering the conference was much about cultural trends and what they might mean for us in creative industries.

More in line with the 'short view', I couldn't get over how many people were talking about Twitter! This is something I have not really been interested in adopting - maybe because I find the name a bit irritating. Hmmmm.  Perhaps I will give it a try.

Some of the recurring themes I noticed during the day - take risks, be transparent, do the right thing the right way and the business model will follow, don't be afraid to fail, be considerate, listen to people, experiment, play, and of course - collaborate! Look outside your own discipline and geography for inspiration. Oh yes, and have fun!!!

A couple of articles came out recently (New York Times, Sustainable Life Media, Current.com) about a new milk jug redesign which is poised to save an incredible amount of energy, resources and capital through its life cycle. Sam’s Club, owned by Wal-Mart, estimates that the new boxy shape of the container cuts shipping labor by half and water use by 60 to 70%. The new shape also does away with the need for milk crates. Now, 224 gallons of milk can be stored in the same coolers that used to hold just 80. On top of that, the overall cost to consumers has dropped from $2.58/Gallon to $2.18.

There’s a usability catch though – these new jugs don’t seem to pour the same way as their predecessors and apparently that is a major problem for us creatures of habit.

Along this line, I was just forwarded a really interesting article (again from NYT) on the psychology of daily habits called Warning: Habits May Be Good For You. It talks about how certain companies have tapped into this research in order to invent completely new habits into our daily routines, and of course new products that we really don’t need to support these carefully invented habits.

This brings me back to thinking about all the conveniences that we will have to essentially give up in order to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. A lot of thinking on sustainable design says that the product should meet the same quality and ease of use expectations that the conventional product boasts, and that the ecological benefits should be a ‘by the way’ kind of thing. Personally, I go between those two schools of thought. Of course, the 'by the way' approach should be a goal of any new product but the energy number crunchers all point to a necessary behavioural and perceptual shift in our day to day habitual actions – those things we do without even thinking – are going to require some thinking again. Not necessariy a lot. But some.

I am glad to hear that there are people in the stores to educate and demonstrate to consumers that a little tweak in the milk pouring technique is all that is required to get a good pour. It’s all about education.  Next, let's talk about organic milk!

 

“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left”.

Certified genius, but certainly not an entemologist, Albert Einstein’s (1879 – 1955) prediction on man’s dependancy on the bee is being propegated through out today’s environmenal conciousness. Whether he really did say it or not is still up for debate. Personally, I don’t think it matters whether he did or not. And besides, this is not the main point for this blog! The point is, I was inspired to see Hagan Daaz take the reign in the honey bee condition with their new campaign “Help the Honey Bees”. Since 40% of their flavours depend on honey bees to pollinate fruits and nuts like strawberries and almonds (they use 1 million lbs of almonds annually), it is in their best interest (and ours) to raise awareness among ice cream lovers around the world. On top of the Hagan Daaz site which is both playful and informative, here are a few more resources (organicconsumers.org/bees and welikeitraw.com) to help us put together the pieces. Bottom line - our precious and prolific pollinators are sick.

What can WE do? The most important thing is to support our local farmers and entemologists - buy organic produce, honey and and beautiful bees wax products from them! Even more interesting, there is quite a lot of information and tips on how to cultivate your garden to be more 'attractive' to bees. Here is a pracical guide for creating bee friendly urban gardens from Berkley.

Side note: According to ecolabelling.org, there are currently 106 food related eco-labels worldwide. Here is another one to look for!

Ci's growing recognition in the marketing and advertising publication world continues, this time in Ad Age!  Ci shares some data from the latest installment of the SHIFT Report to support an interesting article about Chief Marketing Officers (CMO's) and Sustainability Officers working closely together in order to tell authentic and compelling sustainability stories from within a company and beyond.  Stories that are not wrapped in green wash, but rather those that connect with the truly responsible and effective initatives of a company along with the people behind the drive.  Consumers are indeed looking harder for true measures of sustainability in the products and services they buy.  Green spin just isn't cutting it anymore.  Have a read of the article here.