William McDonough on Why “Being Less Bad is No Good”
In this fantastic talk, architect William McDonough discusses why being less bad is no good, and offers his thoughts on how design can be used to “love all species for all time.” Mr. McDonough explains some of the work he has done, such as re-designing Ford’s Headquarters in Detroit, and how new innovations can enable designers to come up with products that are healthy, equitable and sustainable.
Change Starts Here
Michele Finnel, Marie-Laure Couet (a fellow grad student at Brown), and I worked together to produce this submission to Current TVs ecospot contest. The idea of the contest was to create a 15, 30 or 60 second commercial that either highlights an environmental issue or has a powerful eco-themed message. The submitted videos will be evaluated by a panel of science, policy and activist experts, who will narrow the field of videos down to the top twenty. At that point users will be able to vote on the winner. The top prize is, perhaps ironically, a Toyota Hilander Hybrid SUV. The voting will take place here. I will update the results of the contest when they become available.
Our submission makes a connection between the devastation of our forests and the devastation of our urban landscapes, and makes the case that while we may feel overwhelmed by global environmental issues, we can take proactive steps in our own neighborhoods to make tangible improvements to the situation. There is an implied connection between what we can do as individuals in our neighborhoods and cities, and what we can push our business leaders and politicians to do on a regional, national and international scale. In other words, when we talk about global issues such as climate change, peak oil, and overpopulation, the individual is often made to feel that the problems are beyond the scope of his or her ability to act. This feeling is, in many ways, justified; after all, while individuals can take small steps to mitigate their carbon emissions or change their patterns of consumption, their capacity for action is far smaller than that of governments to set smart policies and businesses to capitalize on those policies. Are we saying that individuals are impotent in the face of global problems? Not in the least. (continue reading)
Discovery Channel Bicycling Video
I submitted this silly little video to the Discovery Channel as part of its open casting call for a show to be called “Do you have what it takes?”. I was required to submit a 1-3 minute video showing my passion for cycling and explaining why I have what it takes. The idea of the show was that the winner would be flown to Spain to meet the Discovery Channel Cycling team, learn how to train for the Tour de France, and then would be flown to France to be filmed riding the routes of the race. I didn’t end up winning, but Michele and I did have a lot of fun filming and editing the video. We think you’ll find this video especially entertaining!
Cairo, Egypt 2007: Problems and Solutions
This video was filmed on location in Cairo, Egypt, by Andy Posner and Michele Finnel, while we were visiting T.H. and Sybille Culhane of Solar Cities, a “not-for-profit edutainment organization dedicated to making Utopian ideals and ideas manifest in the near-term.” The film takes a look at some of the environmental and social problems facing Cairo, and then shows how Solar Cities is empowering Cairenes to take the lead in solving those problems. Specifically, they are training local workers to build solar water heaters out of recycled, local materials. The film also pays a visit to Al-Azhar park, a beautiful park located in historic Cairo on what was once a dirty, smelly and dangerous landfill. We show how it is a shining example of what is possible when people are empowered to improve their lives.
The central theme and message of the video is that we should not look at “poor people” as those that are in desperate need of our help because they are weak and ineffectual; indeed, that is an erroneous and, in some ways, dangerous viewpoint. (continue reading)
1 Megawatt Fuel Cell Power Plant
This is a video about a 1 megawatt Fuel Cell Power Plant at California State University, Northridge, in Los Angeles, CA. The power plant has a reformer that separates hydrogen from natural gas and then feeds the hydrogen into a fuel cell, generating electricity. The plant also recovers the heat generated and uses it for domestic heating on campus. In the future, some of the carbon emitted will be sequestered in a sub-tropical rainforest that is under construction.
While at present this power plant still uses fossil fuels, it does not actually burn them (the natural gas is needed in order to extract the hydrogen from it), and in the future the hydrogen will be generated either from landfill gas, or it will be electrolyzed using wind, solar, geothermal, wave or hydroelectric energy. What is most important and exciting about this plant is the fact that it is using fuel cells--touted to be the future of electricity generation--today, and they are working seamlessly on a large scale. (continue reading)
- Meet My New Folding Bike! (Poetry & Musings)
- Movie Review: ‘The Dark Knight’ (Ideas)
- Photos of Some Upgrades to My Bikes! (Poetry & Musings)
- A Personal Challenge: Cycling At Least An Hour A Day For 10 Years (Poetry & Musings)
- Life As A Lucid Dream (Poetry & Musings)
- Coal is Dead: Coal Ash Spill Yet Another Reason to Switch to Renewable Energy
- Winning a Grant, and Other Exciting News
- Considering All the Benefits of Residential Renewable Energy is Critical
- Executive Summary of the Capital Good Fund Business Plan
- A Financing Mechanism Powerful Enough to Catalyze the Green Economy
A Solution to the Limited Success of Micro-Credit in the United States?
Micro-credit has undoubtedly been a runaway success in developing countries as a tool of both poverty alleviation and economic development. To date, some 100 million people have been reached by micro-loans, and Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank…
Tonight, the Oneness of Things
It is late and my mind should be drifting through the colorful abyss of deep sleep, yet instead i find that tonight sleep will not come. I am like a hungry flower who dreams of bees so ardently that all…
My Challenge to America: Don’t Ignore Gore’s Speech
I wrote this article for the Huffington Post. The article can be seen in its original context here
Last Thursday Al Gore gave a speech, the full text of which can be read…