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September 2004
CalEarth Forum - domes made of earth and sandbags
This site has some interesting ideas, and images of houses built with basically sandbags filled with earth & cement. They sell plans, and have examples from small emergency shelters through to a 3-bedroom house.
Cal-Earth Forum (The California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture) is at the cutting edge of Earth Art and Ceramic Architecture technologies today. Founded and directed by the internationally renowned architect and author Nader Khalili in 1986, it is a non-profit foundation dedicated to research and educating the public on environmentally oriented arts and architecture. It's scope spans technical innovations published by NASA for lunar base construction, to design and development of housing for the world's homeless for the United Nations. It's philosophy is based on the equilibrium of the natural elements of earth, water, air, and fire, and their Unity at the service of the arts and humanity.
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Eco-Village and Intentional Community - some links and resources
Continue reading "Eco-Village and Intentional Community - some links and resources"
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Treehugger: Think Office Chair
I'm a big fan of Bill McDonough's approach as described in his book Cradle to Cradle. Here's a product that is claimed to follow those principles.
Treehugger: Think Office Chair
The Think chair should make us all do just that. Created in collaboration with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (the fathers of "Cradle-to-Cradle" design and other smarties, this task seat was designed to make a dent in the mid-priced ergonomic seating market, but also to raise the bar for eco-conscious design. Ergonomically, it's an overachiever, "intuitively" knowing how your spine needs to move. But more importantly, it's manufactured from 41% recycled materials and entirely from materials deemed by MBDC as safe to the environment. At the end if its (presumably long) lifecycle, it's 99% recyclable and can supposedly be disassembled in five minutes. One helluva "sitting machine", as its manufacturer, Steelcase, calls it. Especially when specified in hot pink upholstery. At $620, its cheaper--and more intelligent--than, say, that Eames Aluminum Group chair you've been coveting.
Forget about office chairs, try a bean bag chair. Our bean bag chairs come in a variety of fabrics, and some have removable covers for ease of care. Find a bean bag that is right for you at TheBeanbagChairOutlet.com.
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Can we live with oil - getting there for less
An old friend - Guy Dauncey - has an interesting article in Yes magazine showing how the US could reduce its oil consumption for car transport by up to 97%.
Americans are addicted to the joys of the open road. But the joys come at too high a price and we’re about to hit bottom. We can get around without oil. Here’s the 12-step program to do it.
If you were a redwood tree with a lifespan of 600 years, and you started life as a seedling in the year 1700, you would be able to live for 200 years in a world without oil, witness the beginning, middle and end of the Age of Oil, and still have 200 years to observe how humans fare in a world without oil (assuming you survive the timber companies)....
What we have here is a series of changes that produce incredible results. We reduced our need for car-based trips by 50 percent and used EVs for half the remaining trips. For the remaining 25 percent of our trips, we used hybrid EVs that are 85 percent more efficent than today’s cars for half of them and smart cars, which are 90 percent more efficient than today’s cars, for the other half. Altogether, these steps reduced our liquid fuel needs by 97 percent.
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Heading to the US
I'm heading over to the US from mid October to mid November, I'd love to hear from people interested in these topics, and any friends who are around.
The places I'm going to be - and why you might be interested in being there:
| What | Where | When | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Hawken at Long Now | Fort Mason, SF | 15th evening | Paul is always interesting, and the Long Now format encourages outside the box thinking. |
| Bioneers | San Rafael (near San Francisco) | October 15-17 | Gathering of ~3000 people focussed on solutions to sustainability, a gathering of some of the most interesting people in this field |
| San Francisco | 18-21 | Sounds interesting, will drop in and out | |
| Social Venture Network | Tucson, AZ | 28 - 31 | An inspiring community of leaders in business and social entrepreneurship committed to building a just and sustainable world through business. |
| Green Festival | San Francisco | November 6 - 7 | Largest showcase of Green products |
See the full listing for additional places and social events
I'll be staying at Brewster Kahle and Mary Austin's, but email is the best way to reach me
Continue reading "Heading to the US"
Posted by at 6:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Byron sustainable ventures network
Last Tuesday we had the first meeting of a group being tentatively called the Byron sustainable ventures network. We brought together 17 people over food and conversation. The participants came from 13 businesses committed to being economically successful while retaining a commitment to the environment and community. The businesses ranged from publishing to body-care, marketing to bags, and organic food through consulting. We talked informally, and as a group, about the challenges and dilemma's common to businesses trying to "do good" while staying solvent, something that will be familiar to anyone trying to do this, but remains a mystery to most environmentalists, and most business people.
Everyone was really keen to get together again soon, one comment summed it up. "I've never related to the business networking that goes on here, the Chamber of Commerce, and that sort of thing, but this gives me a chance to talk with people who actually care about the stuff I do".
I'd be interested in hearing from other businesses in the Byron area who are as passionate about sustainability as they are about making money, and also from anyone who has a similar group of businesses in their own area.
Posted by at 8:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Un-Electric "pot-in-a-pot" fridge
This is an interesting design, for a pot-in-a-pot refrigerator, while its pitched for an African context, I could see this providing a potential solution to reduce power usage, especially in off-grid situations. It might also provide a better solution, functionally, and environmentally than polystyrene boxes for example for market stalls.
Mohammed Bah Abba's Pot-in-Pot is one of my favourite design innovations ever. Without electrical refrigeration, until now Northern Nigeria's poor agricultural population has had no access to food preservation:"The device owes its cooling powers to a simple law of thermodynamics. When moisture comes into contact with dry air, it evaporates, causing an immediate drop in temperature. When the water in the sand between the two pots evaporates, the inner pot is kept cool, preserving the goods inside."
Clearly 'high-tech' is a matter of perspective. Aside from the benefits to subsistence farmers, the Pot-in-Pot has initiated a cascade of positive effects:
"Abba's project has brought about major changes for many Nigerians: eggplants can last for 27 days rather than three, African spinach can be kept for 12 days instead of spoiling after one day, while tomatoes and peppers stay fresh for three weeks. Food hygiene standards and overall health are improving.
"The Pot-in-Pot's flow-on benefits for Northern Nigeria are widespread, helping to slow the rural exodus to the cities. Farmers no longer need to sell their produce in a hurry. Business is growing, and the revival of the local pottery industry is also helping to reduce the region's high unemployment.
"The Pot-in-Pot is also a step forward for women in the region, as young girls are free to attend school, instead of hawking food every day. Already, village primary schools report an increase in the number of girls enrolled."
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000461.html
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