MODERN LIFE vs. HUMAN NATURE

Latest

2011 The year in review

2011 was such a letdown that it doesn’t even deserve full sentences or paragraphs…or I’m just completely lazy at this point after a weary year of turmoil. So for now I’m just going to throw out some of my own headlines that I would have written about this year except that I was too busy fighting the good fight and well..losing and then winning and then losing more..and then recovering…and..well you get the picture. So here goes. See if you guess the real story from the phrases below.

1)Canada craps on the planet again.

2)Mother nature slaps hard when you keep raiding the cookie jar.

3)See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and do nothing about the evil that is right in front of your face when you were elected to do something about it.

4)Apathy isn’t a great video game but it helps big business.

5)Another two bite the dust.

6)Too much “i” not enough “we”.

 

Answers:

1) Canada’s PM Stephen Harper pulls out of Kyoto, increases Tar Sands production and gives the finger to anyone who is concerned about clear air, climate change or the future.

2)Japan, probably the single greatest nation fishing the hell out of the oceans and killing whales by the hundreds gets hit hard by an earthquake and tsunami. Sounds like revenge.

3)Obama becomes a huge disappointment in the wake of the Wall Street Bank meltdown by Not making any significant changes to stop the rampant greed and fraud at the highest levels of the banking industry.

4) Occupy Wall Street gets bored and moves on as people raised on videogames realize that in the real world no one really cares how cool you are on the internet and they aren’t going to pay you real wages for getting more facebook friends.

5)Ghaddafi gets taken out by his own people and Kim Jong Il just dies and the world is rid of two more evil dictators. Yay!

6)Steve Jobs dies at the height of ipad, ipod, iphone, and itune mania, and we realize that what he brought to the world was “cool gadgets” that make people less likely to talk to each other in public.

Critical? Harsh? I’ll let you be the judge.

Enjoy the New Year!

January 3, 2012 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

The Modernature Series circa 2005

A few pieces I did while doing research on sustainable manufacturing in Vancouver, BC. I just foudn these again so i thought I would share them…

November 26, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Rethinking sustainable products and services…

I must admit that I like new things. I like change too. But what I really like is new things that change things for the better. So I was quite intrigued when I read an article about new ways to look at sustainable product and service creation.

To summarize the article suggested that “We need more than sustainable versions of everyday products. We need new products and services based on behaviour change.”

The article also suggested that “freeing people from the need for energy is one of the most probable future businesses.”

The authors then introduce a business strategy called the Peleton Strategy. Like cyclists in  a race who ride in a group to conserve their energy the authors suggest that people operate in consumer groups to conserve energy..or create new groups of consumer behaviour that benefit the individual consumer, the new group and limit energy use thereby limiting the use of our natural resources and creating less emissions.

They use the example of Yellowtail wine to explain how the company decided to change consumer behaviour by targeting non-wine drinkers; their goal..get these people to drink wine.

“In a famous example Yellow Tail wine (launched in 2001, became the most popular wine imported to the United States and accounts for nearly half of all Australian wine purchased) was aimed at non-wine drinkers. Yellow Tail aimed to change the behaviour of non-wine drinkers.”

They then discuss how to apply the same thinking to car drivers.  Essentially, how do we get car drivers to drive less or switch their behaviour to a less emission intense form of transportation? Then how do we do the same thing across other industries?

“Similarly we should not ask how we can make our current products greener and therefore attract ecologically motivated consumers. Instead, we should be thinking of ways to replace the most resource-heavy forms of consumption.”

If this interests you I would suggest reading the entire article. If not , you can just wait for me to figure it out for you…but you might be waiting a long time.

Here is the link to the article.

Enjoy!

October 10, 2011 | Categories: Environment | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

Clever coffee brew systems vs. french press

I want a good tasting cup of coffee every morning don’t you?

I think I’ve come to the age where I get some sort of strangely satisfying feeling when I see the little dark, oily spots floating on top of the foaming, smokey-brown surface of a good espresso filled cup of coffee. Mind you I don’t have the money, patience, real time and dedication to get an espresso machine installed in my house but I’ve come to a nice balance with my french press. It’s simple and convenient in all ways and I can make a very good cup of coffee when I’ve attended to the right beans, soy cream and cane sugar mixture. But after an acquaintance of mine showed me his new “home brewing system”  I was taken aback by these new convenience gadgets.  These new coffee brew systems, mostly created by companies like Keurig and Tassimo(no links here..well..just keep reading..), offer the convenience of “no hassle” coffee making to add to your unadulterated life of carefree bliss.

I was mildly enthused about these new gadgets until my acquaintance showed me the random flavoured disposable plastic container that is the birthplace of your coffee. Then it became obvious to everyone in the room that what sounded like a great idea had just turned into another thoughtless, convenience item that would help strip any real joy out of those fleeting moments of human endeavour that are essential for long lasting fulfillment in life.

Instead of a careful combination of ritual, art and food crafting…you get processed, plastic convenience. Though I dare not stray from my objective approach to this comparison of the two devices I would even go as far as saying that using a coffee brewing system could actually lower your IQ and make you more prone to saying really stupid things like “I have no idea what it’s made of or where it comes from but I don’t have to clean anything up”.

Enjoy!

September 26, 2011 | Categories: Health, Living | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Save yourself and the world by eating less beef?

Christian Science Monitor

In my search to be healthy and to find smarter and better ways to live I have been having conversations about eating beef and/or other meat as part of my diet. Personally, I have completely stopped eating fast food burgers and other beef products..well..primarily because they taste like cardboard and make me feel like  a beached whale afterwards…you know “trapped on a beach without enough energy or brain power to move myself back to where I won’t die”.

As well, I am athletic(and want to continue to be) and I need to eat foods that are healthy. I would like to think that most people know that eating burgers is not healthy but there is more to it than just that. If you don’t know that eating burgers and fries is not in the least bit good for you..well..turn off your tv and start reading books you moron. Where was I? Oh, ok so I eat less beef..and usually feel better for it too but as I have recently found out meat production, and primarily the production of beef is going to kill us all faster than driving cars that run on fossil fuels.

Here’s the deal:

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems,” -Henning Steinfeld, senior author of the report

“Livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, reports the FAO. This includes 9 percent of all CO2 emissions, 37 percent of methane, and 65 percent of nitrous oxide. Altogether, that’s more than the emissions caused by transportation.”

There you go, cow farts cause environmental damage worse than pollution from cars! Wow, not only is McDonald’s destroying your chance at being the next Arnold Shwarzenegger but they are also destroying the planet. Awesome. But then again who still eats at McDonald’s anyway.

And for all you people still relying on the protein excuse for eating burgers..hey, guess what..cheese has more protein than beef. Excuse me, I need to go eat a grill cheese and tomato sandwich..so good!

Enjoy!

July 14, 2011 | Categories: Environment, Health, Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

A good car and a bad landlord.

I drank too much coffee today.

How do I know this?

I know this because I am angry. Coffee makes me angry.

I also talked to my landlord today. My landlord makes me angry because she charges too much for rent. Yes, I should have known this. But how do you know you bought a crappy product until you try it..and in this case lived in it. I want to return my product because my landlord lied. Yes, omitting the crappy parts of a deal is lying in my books. Now, if you bought a car that was crap you should be able to return it too. But I’m guessing you wouldn’t want to return the car above because unlike my lying landlord Nissan is actually helping you save money. This would be called a good or smart purchase. Renting from my landlord would be called a dumb or fraudulent purchase.

So here’s the benefits:

90 m/hr(120 km/hr..I think) That’s fast for an electric.

100 miles per charge which is way beyond the average city and/suburban trip. Too bad the name is weak. So I’ve come up with a few new names. Let me know if you like any:

1) The Nissan Air-as in clean air…umm..no kidding right?

2) The Nissan Cancerbeater-better than any new Cancer fighting drug you can buy from your local multi-national pharmaceutical company.

3) The Nissan TFFY (Too Future For You-some people will just never get why this vehicle is important.)

4) The NIssan Breathe-you can breathe in and out freely when you are around it because it has no exhaust!

5) The NIssan Savior-because you are literally saving people’s lives by using it…maybe even your own.

6) The Nisssan SmartER-because it makes the Mercedes SMART car look really stupid.

7) The Nissan FUOB (F**k U Oil Barons) maybe a little too aggressive…?

8) And finally the Nissan INDY..because buying one of these cars means that you’ve just taken a step towards independence from oil and all of the bad things related to it. Congratulations!

Oh, and oops there’s a 20,000 person waiting list…because(and this is pure sarcasm)-The Toronto Star claims that electric/hybrid cars are not popular choices these days..you know in the post-Inconvenient Truth/We’re all going to die days/because we’ve decided we can’t do anything about it so we might as well eat burgers and buy hummers again.

Am I being too sarcastic? I blame my landlord.

Nissan Leaf

February 25, 2011 | Categories: Environment, Transportation | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Chinese oil spill not covered in mainstream news…

Epoch Times covered another oil spill story in China 5 days ago. Was it major? You decide…and check your fish before eating…?

February 9, 2011 | Categories: Environment | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

Patagonia founder gets it…

Just read an article in Fast Company about Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, and as a clothing guy myself, I am pleased with his fortitude and direction. Patagonia has been leading the way in more sustainable fabrics for years and are an inspiration to the industry…though I might add that their sustainable products account for less than 30% of their product line. I would like to challenge him to go for a 100% sustainable product line, and I would also like to challenge almost every other clothing company in the world to add something sustainable into their product lines because it is those companies that are putting the nail in the human coffin by ignoring the environment entirely to make profits.  As Yvon gets closer to death he is realizing that money doesn’t matter when you are dead. What matters is that you leave your children a legacy and a better planet.

Enjoy!

February 8, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Gotta love winter cycling…

I have recently realized that winter cycling is just plain fun! Having moved back from the west coast I traded in my snowboard for a cyclocross bike..well, my snowboard and all my gear was stolen but whatever. Anyway, I’ve recently been ripping the city in the snow on my bike and it sort of feels like snowboarding without all of the expense and drive time. It is a very serene experience to be quitely riding down the street during a snowfall, breathing in the fresh air, skidding around corners and watching people sloshing around down the sidewalks in their furry boots and down-filled jackets trying to stay warm. Staying warm isn’t usually an issue for me because the heat generated from riding makes you warmer faster than any heated seats.

Below is a good article about all of the intricacies of riding in the winter but I prefer the trial and error method of approaching the winter snow. Stay dry and keep an eye out for weather impaired drivers!

Treehugger article

Enjoy!

February 4, 2011 | Categories: Bicycle, Environment | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

Organic cotton grows but what about eco denim?

Just read two articles, one that said that organic denim was getting harder to find in the market and the other that said that demand for organic cotton is growing in the world.

The first article in the NYTimes seems to be a general complaint about how hard it is to use organic denim as opposed to genetically modified cotton to make jeans..which is sort of like saying how hard it is to play football without using steroids…hmmm..I call bullshit..and I know because I source organic cotton.

According to the Textile Exchange and Treehugger organic cotton production was up by 15% in 2010.

Levi’s stopped making their eco denim line because it seems it’s too hard for them…I feel bad for Levi’s..not really. I own and love their eco denim (softer than regular cotton) but now I’m going to have to go elsewhere to buy my non-toxic jeans.

Great article below about denim.

The cost of denim?

I only buy organic denim now because it’s like voting with my money. Every little step counts.

Enjoy!

January 21, 2011 | Categories: Fashion, Living | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

« Older Entries