Activism at this level draws more people into fighting for the environment because they can see the consequences in their own lives—and they will then make connections to what's happening elsewhere around the world.
It’s been a busy few weeks for the mainstream smartphone market, with two new iPhones, iOS 7 and a BlackBerry handset seeing the light of day. But in a trendy pop up space in London’s Soho on Wednesday evening, a Dutch entrepreneur stood in front of tech geeks and tree huggers alike to present a very different kind of device.
Our houses, our dumpsters, our lives overflow with stuff. It’s so cheap, how can you not buy yet one more thing that will surely make your life better? But it’s only cheap if we ignore the hidden costs to humans and to the Earth. Here’s how to fix our broken relationship with stuff.
What if you could get what you need for free and make some really great friends in the process? That’s the concept behind what even the mainstream media has started to call “the sharing economy”—where people come together to pool time, talent, and treasure so everyone involved can get what they need. All around the world, people are sharing their extra time and stuff, saving resourcees and building community in the process.
'a commons regime takes steps to protect the "resource" that the commons jointly manages/owns/cares for. More specifically the words "protecting the resource" means setting an absolute scale limit on its use. The commoners will set a scale of use for grazing a commons, or fishing a river, or taking water from an irrigation system. That is to say they set a maximum physically measured use - so many cows over the summer, so many gallons or water, so many fish per season. (NOT, so much $ worth of milk etc)
One of the greatest things about the sustainability movement is the feeling of collaborating on a shared purpose for the common good, whether it’s engaging in action on climate change or getting involved in your local community garden.
Radiation continues to leak from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi site into groundwater, threatening to contaminate the entire Pacific Ocean. The cleanup will require an unprecedented global effort.
Former OTC senior fellow David Bollier and University of Iowa law professor Burns H. Weston recently published Green Governance (Cambridge University Press) a groundbreaking book on merging environmental rights and commons thinking could create a new paradigm of governance for the 21st Century. Gus Speth, professor at the Vermont Law School and former dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, declares, “We must take these ideas very seriously, indeed.”
As I start my four-year-long journey of researching and writing about postcapitalist design cultures, perhaps it is time to reflect on what has brought me here. Let’s return four years backwards; I had just graduated from my design studies in Strasbourg. Having done two internships, intentionally in market-driven sectors (marketing/advertisement and luxury architecture/decoration), I had zero interest in a commercial design job. Being a freelancer would still be acceptable, but it would not satisfy my —yet undefined— social/political interest in design. I decided to take a year off and try figuring out the politics that would drive my practice.
It's tempting to look for glimmers of sharing in distant history. Europe's empires tumbled like dominoes, save Denmark, which ceded rulership to the commons and is now one of the longest lasting monarchies in history (h/t Jeremiah Owyang). The French Surrealists valued collective meaning so much that they concocted the exquisite corpse, an art form still practiced 100 years later. Meanwhile, revisionists try to recast "mortgage" to mean "co-ownership" with a bank.
Owning this smartphone will, without a doubt, make you feel like a better person. Recently released at the London Design Festival, the Fairphone has been outfitted for equality in every possible way.
Recycling or throwing out any piece of consumer electronics has an environmental cost. Apple is among the most progressive companies dealing with the problem. But is it enough? Read this article by Jay Greene on CNET News.
In many ways, America is headed in the wrong direction. But noted environmentalist and author Gus Speth shows us another America: "America the Possible". This is the place we truly want for our children and ourselves — and we can start building America the Possible in our own homes, streets, neighborhoods, and cities.
The Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield is home to Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, which recently made news headlines nationwide with the opening of its new million-dollar organic greenhouse and garden, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States.
“There is no direct link between Open Design and the following environmental criteria: In this thesis, it is shown that promoting local production by users and easy assembly are the main potential of OD for the environment. Moreover, it is argued that these trends could be used in different phases of product lifecycle; by involving user in maintenance, repair, upgrade and reuse. In order to promote user involvement, information regarding all these phases has to be created and shared with the society.”
None of our fixes can control the pain, grief and rage we feel as we gaze out upon what we have wrought. Environmentalists and concerned citizens are increasingly beginning to recognize the delusion of the ‘technological fix’ – the use of technology to remedy problems caused by previous technology.
To get content containing either thought or leadership enter:
To get content containing both thought and leadership enter:
To get content containing the expression thought leadership enter:
You can enter several keywords and you can refine them whenever you want. Our suggestion engine uses more signals but entering a few keywords here will rapidly give you great content to curate.
Your new post is loading...
Scoop.it!
