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Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category

Paper or Plastic? Neither

Recently, I discovered this horrible fact of the existence of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Our blue pristine seas are not what we think they are and the animal chain that feeds our seas and us are definitely not safe. The news of this floating garbage patch, comprised of tiny bits of non biodegradable waste, [...]

March 24th, 2009 | Jamie

Compostmodern 2009

[Compostmodern is an interdisciplinary conference, hosted by AIGA SF, that 'explores the range of design thinking necessary to create a socially and ecologically responsible society.']
I’ll have to admit, I was a little skeptical with my decision to attend Compost Modern again this year. Last year’s event left me a bit unsatisfied — it seemed like [...]

March 2nd, 2009 | Chelsea

Compostmodern 08

AIGA recently held their annual conference on sustainability (compostmodern.org) here in San Francisco. Speakers included everyone from big names (like Alex Steffen of worldchanging.org and Adam Werbach of Act Now Productions) to some lesser-known people who are doing great things in the environmental design field (such as Mark Galbraith of Nau Clothing and Valerie Casey [...]

January 30th, 2008 | David

Manufactured Landscapes

This film should be required viewing for everyone living in developed countries. Jennifer Baichwal documents the work of artist Edward Burtynsky – a large scale photographer who has gained widespread recognition in the past few years for his striking photographs of industrial landscapes—among them quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams. Burtynsky’s work is beautiful, [...]

January 2nd, 2008 | David

Just like Derek Zoolander, UPS can’t turn left

This article on the NY Times web site describes how UPS used software to make adjustments to the routes of its 95,000 truck fleet. By eliminating left turns, and the time spent waiting to make them, they saved 28.5 million miles of travel and 3 million gallons of gas. I’m going to do my part [...]

December 12th, 2007 | Kerry

Aptera Typ-1 100% Electric and Series Hybrid Vehicles

I just saw this article on Treehugger about two new hybrid vehicles. While it doesn’t look like there’s room for the golf clubs, the claimed 300mpg and 600 mile range for the gas-electric model is exciting. Interestingly, they used monitors in the dash as a replacement for side-view mirrors, giving you a near heads [...]

November 19th, 2007 | Kerry

Cellulosic Ethanol

I recently read an interesting article on wired.com. Current techniques to derive ethanol from corn (e85) only generates 30% more energy than required to grow and process it. Instead, if scientists can develop a method using enzymes to break down the cellulose found in plants, a potentially limitless source of fuel could be feasible.

September 27th, 2007 | Kerry