Complexity researchers, Reinette Biggs, Stephen R. Carpenter, and William A. Brock, in a new article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Only the abstract that follows is freely available to the general public. They point to the danger of waiting until signs of collapse cannot be ignored. By then the collapse may be inevitable. (Hat tip to Garry Peterson) Ecological regime shifts are large, abrupt, long-lasting changes in ecosystems that often have considerable impacts on human economies and societies. Avoiding unintentional regime shifts is widely regarded as desirable, but prediction of ecological regime shifts is notoriously… Read More
Continue ReadingLearning from India
In an interview on the E-Commerce Times, environmental educator Trudy Heller shows how we can learn sustainability from other parts of the world. In Shillong, I would leave the guest house each morning and walk out into a scene from a sustainable economy. In the driveway and walkways, four or five women were employed sweeping up debris that had fallen from the trees during the previous night’s rain. Each woman worked with a biodegradable sweeper made of broom grass, a locally grown agricultural product. This tableau of a sustainable economy was striking to my Western senses. The system provided employment,… Read More
Continue ReadingMore Buzzword Talk from the UK
Still finding stories about sustainability becoming a buzzword. From the Guardian: The Centre for Policy Studies has published its 2009 lexicon of “contemporary newspeak” (ie irritating jargon) and it seems to have identified “sustainability” as the worst offender. In his preface, Bill Jamieson writes: Few words have become more heavily used or abused in government or corporate affairs than “sustainable”. It now occupies a lofty position in the towering hierarchy of buzzwords. It is commonplace today to stick the word “sustainable” in front of almost anything, to talk of “sustainable development”, “sustainable transport”, “sustainable housing”, “sustainable communities” and so on.… Read More
Continue ReadingSeeing (RED)©
A few weeks ago during a break at a conference I was attending, I wandered into the Starbucks in the hotel lobby and ordered a coffee. I am not much of a coffee drinker these days, but I felt the need for some liquid refreshment. I generally prefer Peets anyway because they have great teas, and still make espresso the right way by hand tamping. Starbucks’ push button technology smoothes out all the variations that makes life interesting. But what really caught my attention was the paper insulating band. The first item I noticed was a promise to donate a… Read More
Continue ReadingNipping “Green” in the Budzword
[Green Inc.](http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/) sort of [recognizes](http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/language-watchdog-is-fed-up-with-green/) some irony in the name of their blog. > Do blogs like Green Inc. (and its predecessor, T[he Business of Green](http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/on-the-color-of-money/)) have something to answer for? > People and companies employing the word “green” in environmental contexts are guilty of “mis-use, over-use, general uselessness,” according to Lake Superior State University in Michigan, which last week unveiled its results from an [annual survey](http://www.lssu.edu/banished/) – it’s 34th – of words that should be banished. > > “Environmental buzzwords are getting the axe this year,” the university said in a statement. “‘Green’ and ‘going green’ received the most… Read More
Continue ReadingWater With Intention™
A few days ago I picked Fiji water as my first choice in Marketplace’s list of greenwashing candidates for 2008 and added another. Here is still another one that might top the list: [H2Om](http://www.h2omwater.com/mission.html). You can buy a case online in these varieties: Perfect Health, Love, Prosperity, Gratitude, Will Power, Joy, and Peace for only $34.95. Besides simply thirst quenching, this water will bring you whatever the label says. “Vibrationally charged via words, colors, music, and You!” You simply have to, “Think it While You Drink It®” The company mission > Our Mission is to create awareness and education on… Read More
Continue ReadingIs Sustainability Becoming Another Buzzword?
Among all the year-end recaps of 2008, a [International Herald Tribune Culture column](http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/22/arts/design22.php?page=1) about design appeared to give sustainability a rousing cheer with a headline reading, “2008: The year that substance and sustainability reigned.” But reading further, the story was more about damning with faint praise. On the trend in design, their assessment is hardly consistent with sustainability. The article featured Nacho Carbonell’s “Evolution bench,” a highlight at the 2008 Milan Furniture Fair. > It’s ugly and ungainly. The colors are dirty, and it has a very strange shape. You can sit on it (though not very comfortably) by perching… Read More
Continue ReadingSustainability Resolutions for 2009 (ctd)
Matt May offers an important prescription for moving toward sustainability in 2009. The path to sustainability can be much shorter and straighter if you follow his formula: create a “stop-doing” list. I suddenly realized that I had been looking at the problem in the wrong way. As is natural and intuitive, I had been looking at what to do, rather than what to not do. But as soon as I shifted my perspective, the vaunted Toyota Production System became for me a study of what wasn’t there, and of how and what to stop doing. The Lexus line of cars,… Read More
Continue ReadingSustainability Resolutions for 2009
New Year’s imminent arrival is always a time to think about and make resolutions for the coming year. Take a moment and think about your own list. I am sure you will find almost everything is a sort of promise to stop doing things you consider to have negative consequences, even if the promise sounds like, “I will be nicer to my boss.” Now think more deeply, and ask yourself why did I choose this list of things. Almost all, although you may not use these words, will fall into the category of bad habits, and in some cases, habits… Read More
Continue ReadingGreenwashing Winners
The Greenwash Brigade’s (a regular feature of [Marketplace](http://marketplace.publicradio.org/)) favorite [choices](http://www.publicradio.org/columns/sustainability/greenwash/2008/12/2008s_greenwashes_of_the_year.html) for 2008. My first choice from their list: > Fiji Water’s new green campaign: Yes, shipping water in container ships from a pristine aquifer in paradise is somehow green. [Really](http://www.publicradio.org/columns/sustainability/greenwash/2008/06/fiji_water_by_the_numbers.html)? Here’s another brand, [Bling H2O](http://www.blingh2o.com/), that would certainly qualify for their list.
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