There are so many great ideas! GTRI has already established a group of people to act as the “environmental cheerleading team” (sounds silly, but is very important to have when starting an EMS). Two employees are determined to set up an urban rooftop garden! How incredible would it be to take your lunch break on the roof in an environment as pictured above? I would be a much needed improvement from eating at your desk. I have done it on a regular basis, and I truly believe that eating at your desk in front of your computer during  (a time that is supposed to be a break from work) is a soul drowning activity. But, that’s just me.

I am really happy to be part of the project. I think more and more businesses will realize that there IS a business case for sustainability.

Saving energy = saving money.

More green space = happy employees.

A solid environmental management system = marketing advantage (and green street cred).

I am currently teetering between two majors. I am very passionate about both of them:

Public Health or Environmental Engineering. I really want to bring my design skills and innovate the current systems in these fields. Design new ways to transport medication in developing countries. Design household products that measure energy in ways that have not been conceived yet. There are so many exciting opportunities!

Eeeenie, meeenie, minie, moo .. alright, I know I can’t decide that way. In my mind the two fields are so interconnected! I wish I could do both. I have to come to a decision soon though!

I have formulated a question for all of you readers:

Imagine it was the year 2050. . .

It is early morning and you just woke up  (somewhere radical) . . .

You sit up and look out the window . . .

You live in the world’s most sustainable city of all time. . .

What do you see?

By 2050, what types of innovations in sustainability will there be? Shout out some crazy ideas folks! I need some inspiration!

“Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value.”

>>Buckminster Fuller

I am a big admirer of Bucky’s work—read his book Critical Path it will make your brain explode (in a good way). For those of you not familiar with him, he is known as the “renaissance man” of the 20th century. He was an accomplished designer, engineer, architect, and inventor.

What do you think of this quote? Interesting food for thought…

This Thursday I will be speaking about Closed Loop at Avant Design Discussions that is hosted by People of Resource and the Museum of Design in Atlanta. Avant is “a modern take on the age old tradition of dinner, drinks, and design discussions. More details to come…

Watch this video >> AVANT 101 to learn more about the Thursday shindig.

Last week I had my intermediate presentation for this project. One of my Professors, Claus, starting talking about products that seem so natural and biodegradable (its a long word so lets call this “bdg” ), but are not because of one teeny tiny detail. He discussed teabags for example.

What is a teabag composed of?

+ tea leaves (100% bdg)

+ cloth pouch to hold the tea leaves (bdg)

+ a string (bdg as well)

+ a paper tag, usually with the company’s logo (bdg)

+ 2 staples holding the string to the tag and to the teabag (aha! not bdg)

Without the staples, the entire product could be composted. I honestly had forgotten there were even staples on teabags until Claus brought it up. Why a staple? There are a ton of alternate design solutions to attaching the string to the tag and to the teabag. You could sew it together. Tie it together with knots on each side of the string. Perhaps the string could just be a cloth strip that is an extension of cloth bag.

Above are hand-sewn silk muslin tea bags from 1903. No staples.

There are a lot of different ways to do it, but the point is why did a designer chose a certain method over another? Manufacturing? Probably. Or maybe because there is a certain tradition on how teabags should look nowadays? It is funny how some things can come full circle. The first teabags were used by silk sacks with string tied around them, which could currently be viewed as a little primitive. The teabags nowadays may be more sophisticated with its staple attachments, but are not the preferred methods when it comes to sustainability. So now, maybe tea companies will go back to sacks with ties knots on them. Does this mean we are going back to the stone ages? I don’t think so, it just means we are learning and even though our methods may get a blast from the past, we are ultimately moving forward.

What do you guys think?

I took these photographs weeks ago of a chair that was created by a design student at Lund University. Does anyone know who? Let me know! I would love to speak to him/her and get the inspirations behind this piece.  It is really interesting. It reminds me of an old outdoor fireplace in my backyard that used to grow moss and weeds because no one ever used it. Maybe it could be an outdoor furniture line… like the concept of picnic-ing in the lawn? It could happen. I dig it.

Mr. McQuire: Ben, I just want to say one word to you, just one word…

Ben: Yes, sir.

Mr. McQuire: Are you listening?

Ben: Yes, I am.

Mr. McQuire: Plastics.

Ben: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McQuire: There is a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

Okay, plastics are here! Now what?

Accomplishments:

+ A composting system is established! I put my food waste into a bin and then periodically put it in Johan’s garden compost pile. But, if i didn’t have a nearby friend with land property… and just lived in a single apartment.. what would I do?

Upcoming:

+ A follow up with the trash-burning company, SYSAV. I have contacted them with a few questions I had mentioned in the trash burning video.

+ A follow up with Maria Wall, part of the environmental engineering faculty at LTH. She is currently working on a project dealing with sustainability in homes as well. I contacted her wanting to meet up and get the specific information on what kind of work she does (and maybe how it relates to my research).

Some Pictures:

Garbage pile on the corner of my kitchen counter…

lots and lots of soft plastic packaging

some melon peels drying by the window sill

you gotta love the kitchen

I heart frozen pizza

The wall mosaic that is not growing very fast after all.