I will be in the Netherlands for the next ten days, mostly in Delft, see photo. I will be participating in the 40th anniversary Jubilee of the Industrial Design Engineering Faculty at the Technical University of Delft. I spent a year there in 2001 and got many of the ideas about design while visiting. My host, Han Brezet and his group have been leaders in developing, first, methods for Design for the Environment (DfE) and now, design for sustainability (DfS). Posting may be irregular until I get back.
Continue ReadingThe Economy of Enough
Out of all the zillions of words being written about our current crises, almost all are about getting back to where we were. Some talk about the pain to be felt as we recover. Some wonder about what the world be like whenever we recover and try to visualize how that world will look. the blogosphere has no end of stars that write about this, [but here is some wisdom coming from a local columnist in Sonoma, CA](http://sonomasun.thmm.com/?p=7261). Here’s the final touch. > Perhaps this economic slowdown provides the moment to evaluate how a truly sustainable economic system functions, and… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat if “No Product” was the Strongest Brand?
This is the question asked by John Hockenberry in an interesting essay directed to the industrial design community. > What if, suddenly, the strongest product brand was No Product and the strongest consumer impulse was not buying? Last year there was ample evidence that the muscle consumers were flexing most was that of restraint. The inclination not to spend almost did in the entire U.S. auto industry. It still might. At the end of 2008, Chrysler sales dropped 53 percent. Toyota reported an operating loss for the first time in more than 70 years. Retail sales for the end of… Read More
Continue ReadingSustainability and Economics
With the G20 meeting in London to deal with the global reach of the current financial meltdown, I thought it would be relevant to devote a post or two to the subject of capitalism. I am by no means knowledgeable in the subject so I have chosen a few posts giving some diverse points of view. Tom Friedman, always a booster (remember [*The World is Flat*](p://www.amazon.com/World-Flat-3-0-History-Twenty-first/dp/0312425074)), [thinks some repairs are all that is needed](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/opinion/01friedman.html); > This system was a powerful engine of wealth creation and lifted millions out of poverty, but it relied upon the risks to the Market and… Read More
Continue ReadingDesign Thinking and Sustainability
Almost everything I read about sustainability is based on the idea that we, especially in the affluent, industrialized world, can continue to live as we have by using all the new tools that will flow from the green programs engaged in by firms with and without support from the government. Given this overwhelming view that sustainability is just a matter of more efficiency and new technologies, it is a pleasure to come upon people who see the issue as much more daunting, requiring change at the behavioral level. Chirag Mehta posted an interesting item about a form of design thinking… Read More
Continue ReadingFacebook and Sustainability
In another post about Facebook Kari Henley asks, “Are facebook friends really your friends?” The answer is by no means clear. But, in writing this column, Henley points to an important social fact–as a society, we are impoverished when it comes to relationships. > Technically then, it really doesn’t matter if you feel comforted by others online or feel nourished at church or connected at a company retreat; we all need varied experiences of friendship and community in our lives. I have written extensively about community and believe there is much to nosh on here. What’s behind the movement is… Read More
Continue ReadingFriends and Facebook
I am deeply skeptical about the benefits of social networking technology. My recent [post](http://www.johnehrenfeld.com/2009/01/a-friend-indeed.html) on the willingness of people to dump 10 friends from Facebook for a hamburger was about the value of a friend to our youth. I have read two articles by Kari Henley that talk about both sides of this issue. I’ll save the second for another post. The [first article](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kari-henley/facebook-and-kids-are-the_b_177357.html) warns against the negative impacts that the development of the brain will be overwhelmed by the experience of constant use of Facebook and other Internet social technologies. > A child’s brain reaches its full size at… Read More
Continue ReadingSustainable Luxury–Oh, Dear
The NYTimes ran an item linking luxury and sustainability. The reporter, at the least, recognized the irony in conflating the two concepts. > To many people, “sustainable luxury” is a term that might best be found in the dictionary under the entry for oxymoron, right alongside “postal service” and “military intelligence.” . . . After all, luxury often carries with it connotations of excess and waste, and it is associated with fashion, an industry prone to fads that change at least as quickly as the seasons. It is not just the matchup with luxury that is troublesome; it is the… Read More
Continue ReadingCradle-to-Cradle Is an Idea, Not a Trademark
This phrase, cradle-to-cradle (C2C), is a nicely put way of capturing the idea of material loop closing, a central theme in the field of industrial ecology. (Disclosure, I am the Executive Director of the International Society for Industrial Ecology) The phrase is used as a trademark by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), a firm certifying “eco-friendly” products according to a scheme the firm developed. The firm has recently come under fire for trying to limit use of the idea, says an article in FastCompany: > Last November in my article “The Mortal Messiah” I chronicled the tragedy of McDonough, the… Read More
Continue ReadingReally Changing Thinking
The WWF has a cute video on their website showing how much water it takes to produce a cup of latte. The theme is more than just about changing the way we think than about saving water. The message is to “Change the way you think about everything.” Sounds pretty good, but it really is not about *everything*. It is only about thinking and acting more eco-efficiently. And, as I often write, eco-efficiency can at best only reduce or slow down unsustainability, the signs of stress on us and on the world we inhabit. If you are concerned about the… Read More
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