Green Options » product design

The Twelve Days of sustainablog: Biofuels, Preachers, and Echinacea

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:43:05 +0000

May Day, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and even Cinco de Mayo… lots to celebrate in May. We had lots to celebrate at sustainablog, also… especially a bevvy of new voices who joined us during the month.

Those new writers got us over our Spring fever slump, and took sustainablog in some very interesting new directions…

May 2008

Keith Rockmael reviewed the film A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba.
Our friends at Low Impact Living suggested five eco-smart ways to spend your tax rebate.
GO editorial intern Oscar Cardenas explored the environmental impact of using echinacea to fight colds.
Guest poster Max Gladwell argued that social media can change the world.

Lessons from Little House on the Prairie

Aaron Szymanski — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 14:41:27 +0000

I’m reading a book about wood. The title is “Wood,” by Harvey Green. It’s written a bit like the slightly more popular and accessible books by a different author titled “Salt” and “Cod” by Mark Kurlansky. But “Wood” is about our use of wood in home construction, furniture, machinery, packaging, religion—everything. In this book, the author makes many interesting observations, like the fact that although the saw was developed independently in many parts of the world and they are strikingly similar, some cultures designed saws to cut on the push stroke (Western) and others to cut on the pull stroke (Eastern). I think this is fascinating.

He also writes about a time in our past when almost everyone had some knowledge of working with wood because everyday activities like farming, cooking, cleaning traveling, required implements that needed to be made out of wood.

Now that I have read it, this seems so obvious. Back in Laura Ingalls’ time, you couldn’t just go to the store and buy everything you needed like we can today (alas, Mr. Oleson’s store was well stocked but not like what you can find at Wal-Mart). Still, what a cool common bond they all had. I feel a little envious of what seems like a really artistic skill, but then I think that this is sort of how computers are for us today. Almost everyone has to have some knowledge of a computer interface in order to help get our jobs done (supposedly) faster and more efficiently.

Why Can’t Every Product be Sustainable?

Aaron Szymanski — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:39:44 +0000

If you go to the mass retailers today, it’s likely that you’re going to pay more for sustainably designed, developed, manufactured and shipped products. In some cases, like my Timberland boots, the products will be superior in all ways that matter and the sustainable attributes will be an added-value. But in most cases the product will either be harder to find, quicker to wear-out or less aesthetically pleasing than the less-sustainable competition.

It’s tempting to point out the many examples beyond my Timberlands, which are sustainable without the sacrifice or the bloated price tag. Sure, they exist but they are the minority–a miniscule struggling minority. If we all start to question why, we can shift every product manufactured towards a more sustainable approach. Every product.