I found this campaign from the Icelandic tourism board especially shaming and the scold that I deserve since—especially owing to the fact the justifications of mandatory sorting of trash, deposits (Pfand) to encourage recycling are starting to hold less and less water or even a panic over Legionnaires’ disease tap water is generally clean and safe—I too am guilty of imbibing exclusively the bottled variety.
Like Kranavatn (Icelandic for tap water), it’s not out of fear for safety that I prefer to get my bottled water, which is even sourced not far from where we live and assuredly is piped in as well, but because I’ve come to prefer the carbonation—something I am confident that could be otherwise arranged. This is a small pledge for visitors that we could all make.
Friday 7 June 2019
kranavatn
Wednesday 6 March 2019
7x7
bathdoom: interior remodelling as a first-person shooter game
philosophical zombies: the Turing Test for AI consciousness
waste management: budget cuts are rubbishing recycling programmes and good intentions on the municipal level in the US and elsewhere, via Digg
das botenkind: a radio host who broadcasted for the US Army in West Berlin had her sobriquet translated as “Newsbabe”
human hoberman: an mesmerising synchronised dance on a slick floor
brick-and-mortar: gorgeous letterpress posters of artful arranged Lego reminiscent of printed circuit boards
lotus eaters: parrot junkies are having the poppy harvest in Madhya Pradesh
Monday 11 February 2019
achievement unlocked
In a move that makes the Olympics seem a little more relevant and meaningful—rather than an expensive showcase whose benefits are very, very fleeting for the venue—the always brilliant Nag on the Lake informs that for the 2020 Tokyo Games, in order to make a bold statement about sustainability and what we toss away with our mounting trash heaps of electronic waste, athlete’s medals will be sourced essentially fully from recovered precious metal. The symbolic recycling reflects Japan’s growing more conscience of the impact that such rampant consumption has for the planet and will hopeful influence more not just to prospect but to reduce buying what’s disposable and apt to be superannuated in the first place.
catagories: ♻️, ๐ฏ๐ต, sport and games
Friday 9 November 2018
throw-away society
Via Boing Boing, we learn that Collins Dictionary—edging out other runners-up including the complimentary plogging—has selected single-use as their word of the year (“WotY”), noting a four-fold increase in the frequency of the term applied to consumable, disposable products, usually plastic, whose unchecked proliferation are wrecking ecosystems and working their way up the food-chain since 2013. Hopefully that increase in print correlates with an increased public understanding and acknowledgement of how we’re rubbishing the planet. Stay tuned for more lexical superlatives as they are announced.
Sunday 22 April 2018
spaceship earth
Sponsored by the partnership of a senator and environmental activist in response to a devastating oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, Earth Day was first observed in 1970 on this date. The movement has grown exponentially since and in 1990 spread internationally, set aside by nearly two hundred countries as time to focus on ecological challenges and solutions.
Despite growing support and awareness of the importance of our being better stewards of the environment and that Nature is not ours to dominate, the movement is facing regressive forces, not the least being narratives that global-warming is a myth. Originally celebrated about a month earlier on the Spring Equinox, the 22 April date was chosen so to make the day truly universal and not tied to a particular hemisphere and as the April date would fall within most colleges’ Spring Breaks and allow the chance for students to organize rallies. Unfortunately, as like contemporary conspiracy theorists—the date chosen was a bit inauspicious as 22 April 1870 was the birthday of Vladimir Lenin (unbeknownst to the event’s organisers, especially considering the need to translate it from the Old Style calendar to the Gregorian) and some harboured suspicions in the US particularly at the time (and through to this day) that that signaled a Communist inculcation and was reminiscent of the coerced “voluntary” Saturday (Subbotnik) spent in community service, to include the sorting and recycling of trash. Fortunately, Earth Day’s message has transcended those arguing that we’re separate and outside of the natural world.
catagories: ♻️, 1970, holidays and observances, ⓦ
Tuesday 22 March 2016
รรถrungar
Via the always brilliant Nag on the Lake comes happy and hopeful news that a design student named Ari Jรณnsson of the Reykjavik Academy of the Arts has made a prototype, fully biodegradable plastic container out of powdered algae, an agar-like binding material that allows the vessel to keep its shape while holding something—like a full water bottle—but quickly decomposes once empty. While we’ve gotten somewhat better about recycling, more than half of all plastic packaging is used once then tossed and becomes an unwelcome and eternal addition to the environment. Read the full article at Dezeen magazine for more brainstorming and innovative solutions to problems both wee and seemingly overwhelming.
Monday 16 March 2015
whetstone or rolling-stock
catagories: ♻️, technology and innovation
Monday 21 January 2013
ersatzteil or fantastic plastic
The industrial and design revolution that will make makers and engineers of us all with the rapid introduction of three-dimensional printing is patently exciting, and it will bring in its wake consequences that we cannot foresee in form and function that is instant, intuited and mediated by a collective inspired for its own sake.
I got a blue elephant, but with this modern invention, I suppose one could wish for anything, from a replacement bumper, a personalized action-figure, a key to leave with the house-sitter, a bicycle-helmet, a scale model of my block, a watering can with a long, thin spout at the right angle to reach the plants without spilling, a pedestal that’s just the right height, to a prosthetic foot, tailor-made. I think the un-apprenticed will quickly acquire the spatial- and stress-knowledge for their Goldie-Locks cobbling, working up to ever bolder and artistic departures from the template through trial and error. The movement would I think bring back a sense of community, things, piece and part being no longer exclusively in the estranging and ransoming hands of business, which is excellent, but I hope the fabric of the revolution is managed in such a way that we are not splintering the problems of manufacturing from a few areas to something omnipresent and contributing more towards pollution and consumption.
Safety and durability should always be a factor along with resource-fulness and caring for the environment, but I suspect that the clever architects of a technology that is continuously progressing will see to that the 3-D printers will become more and more energy efficient (not reduplicated factories in miniature) won’t remain finicky machines (like cheap paper printers with their exacting and costly refill cartridges) but will be able to process plastics presently destined for the recycling bin and sort-yard. It will be nice to see the return of collection drives, as well, as recycling too becomes an immediate process.
catagories: ♻️, ๐, ๐ก, ๐, revolution
Monday 6 August 2012
milkman or pfandtasic
For several years now, there has been a campaign against litter and to promote recycling in many parts of Europe by imposing a deposit on beverage bottles, from a few cents to a significant portion of the cost—like with bottled water when the empty bottles can be worth more than their contents. This is called Pfand in the German Sprachraum.
catagories: ♻️, ๐ฉ๐ช, ๐ณ๐ด, ๐, ๐, food and drink, networking and blogging, travel
Tuesday 20 March 2012
conservation of energy or green-washing
Alexander Neubacher, writing for Der Spiegel’s international section (auf Englisch), presents a clever look at trenchant German environmental policies and psyche, suggesting that outcomes are sometimes marginalized for the sake of the movement and solidarity. Though I do believe that many ecological initiatives of Germany and the inchoate care and concern for the planet’s health are positive, like indoctrinating everyone at an early age to develop sustainable practices, wind- and solar-power and preservation of natural habitats, it is interesting to explore how some aspects of environmentalism, in practice, have perhaps become counterproductive and have been victimized by their own success.
Sunday 26 June 2011
PET project or post-consumer comment
In die groรe Ideen Blog, Big Think, findet sich ein Artikel รผber eine neue Lebensmittelgeschรคft in Texas, verpackungsfrei Ware anbieten fรผr Verbraucher. Einkรคufer werden ermutigt, um ihre eigenen Behรคlter zu verwenden. Wie an einer Tankstelle, sie kรถnnen sich damit fรผllen, was sie brauchen. Neben die Verringerung der Verpackungen, fรถrdert das Lebensmittel den Gebrauch Produkten der Saison und lokal angebauten Nahrungsmitteln. Trotz fester Wiederverwertungsprogramme gibt es viel Verschwendung. Das Recycling ist wichtig, aber die Verminderung hat mehr Wirkung. Recyclingmaterialien sich einer Abbau unterzieht, und Kunststoff-Mehrwegflaschen (oder einer aus Glas) sind nicht wiedergeboren bei Rรผcklauf. Pfand macht Flasche brandneu nicht, und der Extratransport verneint wahrscheinlich jeden Streben. Ich hoffe, dass diese Vorstellung startet durch, und Einkรคufer werden mehr wiederverwenden als nur ihre Tragtaschen.