By far the coolest thing I've seen since Saturn's rings and moons:
Sticky light
4.07.2011
Another link-dumping
This time, on sustainability:
I: Top Ten Cleantech Companies
II: Given the current political things of note (i.e., potential shutdown of the government), it only seems appropriate to post this bit on where the states are going on clean energy. Generally not in a good mood about politics lately.
III: I think without commentary, you can come up with your own conclusions about Del Monte's latest "green" initiative. Maybe you can even come up with clever names for them.
In brighter news:
IV: North Carolina's bright opportunity
V: If you can believe Walmart is in the "in brighter news" section, their efforts have really blown the top off of others' corporate sustainability programs. It may not be perfect, but it's moving things.
VI: In vaguely related news, it seems that shareholders respond to sustainability initiatives, but only when they appear to have real teeth.
VII: Iceland is looking to make a big investment in clean tech infrastructure and transmission.
and just for kicks:
Arty photos of TVs being turned off.
I: Top Ten Cleantech Companies
II: Given the current political things of note (i.e., potential shutdown of the government), it only seems appropriate to post this bit on where the states are going on clean energy. Generally not in a good mood about politics lately.
III: I think without commentary, you can come up with your own conclusions about Del Monte's latest "green" initiative. Maybe you can even come up with clever names for them.
In brighter news:
IV: North Carolina's bright opportunity
V: If you can believe Walmart is in the "in brighter news" section, their efforts have really blown the top off of others' corporate sustainability programs. It may not be perfect, but it's moving things.
VI: In vaguely related news, it seems that shareholders respond to sustainability initiatives, but only when they appear to have real teeth.
VII: Iceland is looking to make a big investment in clean tech infrastructure and transmission.
and just for kicks:
Arty photos of TVs being turned off.
4.05.2011
Craig's Vision
Just thought I'd share what may well be a paradigm-buster for non-profits. Or, it could just be a bust. Time will tell, I suppose. Still, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark sets his sights on bringing together non-profit organizations in much the same way Craigslist brought together buyers, sellers, missed connections, and "escort" services.
4.02.2011
on Saturn and other stuff
Yesterday, friends, was my first anniversary. How did I celebrate it? After team meetings at school, Ian and I grabbed dinner with some friends at Pop's for some delicious cheesesteak action. Yes, so romantic, right? Well, fine, but after that we went to a fire circle in the country where the stars were crazy-bright, bluegrass was playing, and someone had a telescope set up.
Through that telescope, you could see Saturn, rings and all. It appeared ablaze with light. Looking online, I see Saturn is, at its closest, 1.2 billion km away from Earth. That I could so clearly see the thing from a distance my brain can't even comprehend makes one feel deceptively less small than one probably ought feel in the universe.
Still, my anniversary rocked.
In other news, I had the second half of a Saturday short-course today. In it we discussed the business case for sustainability, especially issues facing large companies. There are some things that have bothered me a lot about the sustainability discussion of late:
1. Certifications. One big one recently touted has been the ISO 14000 family. ISO 14001, in particular, simply certifies that you have an environmental management system that you track. The goals and performance metrics are set by the company. In one way this is great, since it allows flexibility across industries and disciplines, but on the other, it doesn't necessarily guarantee much at all.
2. Trade-offs. This is the subject of some of the major "sins of greenwashing"--shielding trade-offs or implying false trade-offs. This has been a major gripe of mine with use of compostable products and "biodegradable" packaging. Turns out, if you do an actual life-cycle analysis, it's terrible to put in landfills. If you're going to have compostable service ware, COMPOST.
3. Businesspeople think sustainability is at its zenith. It's not. It's in its infancy, and there's no dialog on how to realistically advance past mere efficiency in the long term. What happens when everyone is equally efficient and your efforts no longer offer you competitive advantage? What happens when consumption increases and disposal options decrease and/or become more costly? Let's brainstorm on this, folks.
That's all for now. Exhausted.
Through that telescope, you could see Saturn, rings and all. It appeared ablaze with light. Looking online, I see Saturn is, at its closest, 1.2 billion km away from Earth. That I could so clearly see the thing from a distance my brain can't even comprehend makes one feel deceptively less small than one probably ought feel in the universe.
Still, my anniversary rocked.
In other news, I had the second half of a Saturday short-course today. In it we discussed the business case for sustainability, especially issues facing large companies. There are some things that have bothered me a lot about the sustainability discussion of late:
1. Certifications. One big one recently touted has been the ISO 14000 family. ISO 14001, in particular, simply certifies that you have an environmental management system that you track. The goals and performance metrics are set by the company. In one way this is great, since it allows flexibility across industries and disciplines, but on the other, it doesn't necessarily guarantee much at all.
2. Trade-offs. This is the subject of some of the major "sins of greenwashing"--shielding trade-offs or implying false trade-offs. This has been a major gripe of mine with use of compostable products and "biodegradable" packaging. Turns out, if you do an actual life-cycle analysis, it's terrible to put in landfills. If you're going to have compostable service ware, COMPOST.
3. Businesspeople think sustainability is at its zenith. It's not. It's in its infancy, and there's no dialog on how to realistically advance past mere efficiency in the long term. What happens when everyone is equally efficient and your efforts no longer offer you competitive advantage? What happens when consumption increases and disposal options decrease and/or become more costly? Let's brainstorm on this, folks.
That's all for now. Exhausted.
3.29.2011
WTF moment of the day
This slime materials mover is just absurdly cool to watch in action. At first it seems like there's not much purpose to it, but you can totally imagine it might come in handy in a laboratory setting, working with a variety of different materials. It could also be handy in art, really. Picking up media and moving them to a precise spot has a lot of potential.
I had a conversation with someone about it where we also recalled a nanotechnology exhibit at the Museum of Life & Science in Durham. The exhibit showed surface materials composed of nanoscale tech that was meant to imitate the way water rolls off cabbage leaves without the regular surface tension water displays when rolling on other things. I guess this is a similar phenomenon to what happens when water rolls off a duck's feathers. Biomimicry at its finest.
It's interesting to think of how difficult we find it to imitate what occurs automatically in nature (though I suppose nature has billions of evolution-years on us).
I had a conversation with someone about it where we also recalled a nanotechnology exhibit at the Museum of Life & Science in Durham. The exhibit showed surface materials composed of nanoscale tech that was meant to imitate the way water rolls off cabbage leaves without the regular surface tension water displays when rolling on other things. I guess this is a similar phenomenon to what happens when water rolls off a duck's feathers. Biomimicry at its finest.
It's interesting to think of how difficult we find it to imitate what occurs automatically in nature (though I suppose nature has billions of evolution-years on us).
3.23.2011
Retired subway cars given new life
Worth clicking through to the original link: Dramatic Photos of Retired Subway Cars Being Tossed Into Ocean
I wonder what the environmental implications are. It's a cool photo series, though, regardless.
I wonder what the environmental implications are. It's a cool photo series, though, regardless.
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