My New TV Show

Title: My Not So Carbony Life (Ok, the name might need some work)

...But, I've had this idea for quite some time to create a documentary / TV series following and proving or showing the ability to live a sustainable, carbon neutral life and still be a normal, functioning, and involved member of society (ok, this is dry for a sec, hang with me).

The idea would be to build a house entirely with renewable energy and local materials or materials delivered without the use of fossil fuels.

The focus would be the demonstration of whether it is possible to

Selflessness - Playing for the Team

[Originally written on 09-Feb-2009]

Coach Dan Herr and '08 Truckee JV Boys Basketball

Don’t think about winning, don’t think about the score…play for the moment…play in the now…the rest will follow

Every member of a team has a job, a role…you may not always like your role, but you have to play it. If you are in the game, you have a role, if you are the 6^th man, you have a role, if you are riding the bench you have a role (cheer the team on…help the coaches out). If you play your role, giving up the selfish ego, we will win as a team…and everyone likes winning

Its not about winning…its about being

Smarter Life Future: Complex Everything or One Thing Full of Complex

Does it really make sense to make each and every one of our devices smarter? Will that really work? Or is the real idea to model every possession as it is; lifeless and simple then track, store and analyze everything about it.

I’m imagining a world with plural realities. Not in the typical/cliché dreamers sense of alternative universes, secondary planets with other life, or alternate realities; but a plural reality in digital form: a photocopy of everything that does exist in a modeled reality with the ability to be computed, analyzed, measure, calculated, sampled, and backed up.

Fundamental Change

Change... How hackneyed, overdone, overused, rhetoricized, Obama-ized, falsely sold, over-promised and under-delivered.

I won't get into politics as the leaders of our government are in offices with responsibilities far beyond conception of most of us, with unreasonable expectations set by us, and millions if moat billions of voices to answer to. And for full disclosure I believe that the Obama administration is doing the best job that they know how to given the situation and set of circumstances that all by the eldest and wisest of us have not seen. But I digress to the point...

We all signed on for "change" because we believe

The Law of Reversed Effort

There is a Law of Reversed Effort. The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed.

Proficiency and the results of proficiency come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity, of letting go as a person in order that the immanent and transcendent Unknown Quantity may take hold.

We cannot make ourselves understand; the most we can do is to foster a state of mind, in which understanding may come to us.

--Aldous Huxley (posted to iJourney.org on Nov 22nd 1999)

You go... go now...

I believe in inspiration through action, creativity and analysis in design, and experience by jumping into the fire. What about you?

Blue Blaze

My family has a term we referring to as "Blue Blazing" when we take a random scenic tour away from the direct route of A to B. Blue Blazing is a commitment to live life in the slow lane from time to time. To focus on quality instead of quantity in life.

The "Blue Blaze" term originates from backpacking and is the name of the scenic way around or bypass on the Appellation Trail from Maine to Georgia on the East Coast. Growing up it was taking the long way around just because, seeing what's out there and around the corner. Being impulsive and experiencing the beauty and wonder that we waltz right by without the slightest acknowledgment our entire lives. Blue Blazing is the reason I exist, the reason my parents met, the reason they chose quality over quantity in life.

They Lied to You: Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too...

Why my generation will succeed. My generation are the first ones to actually care about what our grandparents have to say. My generation is full of doers... We are sick of what has always been talked about and ready for it to happen. Our parents looked to freedom, to break free from the machine, to be individuals and to tell the world "screw you I don't have to listen to you, I can do what i want." we grew up in a world where we were constantly told by our parents and society that we were special. In our own way and at our own unique time we all found out that we weren't. Whether it was failing at school or sports or simply realizing that every movie and tv show we grew up with tried to feed us the same message... That we were different, special, and joe schmo would rise above the pack, be the next hero, live above the matrix... We stepped outside our bubble and realized we had been lied to. Our reaction wasn't one of hatred, but rather of disappointment we were familiar with and should have expected. We came out feeling like a kid who just learned about Santa's relationship with his parents; we didn't want to believe it, and we kept trying not to, but there was no escaping the truth. We could no longer accept the rainbows and butterflies world we were told to believe in. One by one we realized we couldn't escape the reality our parents tried to get away from their entire lives.

The building of a my Modus Operandi

In an effort to explain what I know and believe in business, to put forward what is at heart the fore of what I want my company to do, I define the following in speaking for we the people of of the company:
"We are not hired sales men; we are Engineers. We are not here to sell the latest fad; we believe in designed solutions. We will not sell you what is not right for you; we hold ourselves to a higher standard, a strict code of ethics, and a belief in a brighter and better land. We believe in providing solutions to our community of friends, not sales to unfamiliar constituents. We believe our customers should become our friends, not pathways to dollar bills. We believe a company’s method of operating, their Modus Operandi, should not simply be the way business has always been done, but the way it should be done. Not a status quo, but a constant aspiration for improvement and betterment of our business, our community, and our environment. We believe in the “Why” behind what we do, the future of generations untold, the prosperity of the planet as a whole, and ultimately, we believe in helping you."

Why Energy? Why now?

Why do I work in the renewable energy industry? Because I believe in a brighter and better land than the one I was born into. I believe it is the right of the people to have energy that does not harm and hinder re-growth in our natural environment. I believe in the right of future generation to enjoy the environment as much as, if not more so than, I do every day, every weekend, every year. I believe we are wasting away our most precious resources and too worried with the day-to-day to plan for the future. I believe our binging habits, our greed and ignorance, our lazy richness, our lack of care leaves us on the cusp of disaster and diminished quality of life for our grandchildren. I believe we eat more than we should, consume more than we must, and feast on the bosom of life not noticing how we drain her energy. I believe it is my civic duty to provide clean energy to the world. I believe it is my God-given charge to fight for the people from the bottom up. I believe it is my job to make Renewable Energy happen as the first major step toward a sustainable existence. It starts here. For me it starts with Clean Energy Center.

How Green?

The fact of the matter is that “Green-Washing” is prevalent the world around. Green Building here, Green Energy There, Go Green, we say, as if it is a switching of a light from evil to sublime environmental utopia; but the truth is that there are shades of Green. Yes we all want to “Go Green”, we all want to make a difference and be eco-conscious in our ways. If we are given the choice for free, or course we will “Go Green.” The real question is how green? Does replacing one light-bulb with Compact-Fluorescents have the same impact as riding your bike to work every day? Sure, we would say these are both “Green”, but how green? Is reducing the nation’s waste by 10% more “Green” than cleaning up the Plastic Flotilla in the Pacific Ocean? Is using Photovoltaics, Solar-heating, and recycled water irrigation systems more “Green” than building a Cob or Rammed-Earth House? Is LEED Certification more “Green” than an Earthship? Is “Green” an on-or-off claim? Are you saving the earth or killing it? Are you good or bad? Are you a shade of green?

A solid rating system needs to be developed to give a quantitative value for the relative sustainability of products, services, businesses and styles of living. The idea is to say, if everyone in the world were living as you are living, using the given product as you are using it, performing business day in and day out as you are, what is the potential lifespan of your actions and effects upon the world around you. Businesses and People alike should have Sustainability Audits.

My initial impression of the rating system would be the inverse of a logarithmic function where the high end sustainability numbers (say 100%) are extremely hard to achieve. Ultimately if you wish to achieve the 100% Sustainable Mark, you must be able to perform your actions as you do now into infinity without any substantial change. In between we should be considering:

Alternative two seems most appropriate for getting individuals and businesses to buy into the idea of being “Green” as it is easy to take the initial steps with minimal effort; whereas, Alternative one would likely create a better bell-shaped distribution of lifetimes with a median just up-hill of the inflection point allowing you to effectively establish a standard by precedent.

All facets of the rating system are relative, interrelated, and dynamic, though based upon present values. For example, if we were to calculate the Percentage of Sustainability of a Bottle of Water, we would consider the consumption of Petroleum Products at Current Levels and solely change the Bottled Water Market’s contribution to new petroleum and recycled bottle consumption.

Requirements:

Product, service, or practice audit of resources required for finished product.

Share of global market of each individual resource required

Estimated amount of resource potentially available for each required resource

Current Average Consumption of product, service, or practice

Global Population

Some Limitations:

Based upon the concept of rating for this system (based upon timeline of depletion of resources), levels of sustainability are subject to change due to other industries. For example, petroleum was no longer the preferred fuel for transportation, water bottle consumption would suddenly become more sustainable.

What I would give....

If I could give one thing to the world... one thing that would change it and sustain it... it would be the oxymoron of a non-profit organization that's goal and purpose in life is to create, invest in, support, and build sustainable businesses... an organization that reinvests what is earned into the community and the world around it... building businesses not merely with the intention to get rich and the desire become the largest of the Fortune 500's, but the goal of becoming the best business they can possibly be... choosing instead of big, instead of gargantuan, to be great.

Smart "Green" Grocery Store (Short Business Plan)

Idea:

Smart Grocery Store with goal of zero waste, organic food stuffs, and ultimately sustainability

Store Concept:

Food products available in wholesale bins not prepackaged with wasteful plastics, cardboard, and papers. Individuals will purchase a membership to the store/club and be given containers and bags to be reused with every store/use purchase?

Food Quality:

Where available and as often as cost-sensitively possible, food products will be locally-sourced, organic, in-season,

Issues:

People have become accustomed to having all types of foods available regardless of the season. The lack of availability of all foods in all seasons will be a draw-back for customers.

Containers:

Assumedly very few different types of containers would accomplish the feat of amply storage area for the different food products available. The containers should be stackable, non-petroleum-based, bio-degradable at the end or their life, convenient to carry, reusable for many many years, easy to clean, toxin-free, crush-resistant, and individually identified (with RFID?). The containers need to be as convenient for fluids as well as solids with the ability to pour easily as well as scoop from. These containers will need to have a standard weight, fluid measurement designation, and ability to be simply weighed.

Pre-filled Containers:

As is common-place in humanity, simplicity and ease often take precedent over cost savings. In order to aid individuals seeking non-time-intensive shopping, pre-filled store containers of the most popular sizes, amounts, and weights will be made available adjacent to bulk bins.

Use of Containers

Unless an effective method/incentive is developed for individuals to return the containers, containers will disappear left and right. Immediately the ideas are either a store credit for the return of each container (incentive may not be effective enough), or a limited number of containers for each person such that the return of each container affords you another, more can be purchased, and there is the possibility to be eligible for more containers after so many returns (shopping trips).

Store membership packages:

Individual

Six Containers

Couple

Ten Containers

Family of 5

Twenty Containers

Superstar

50+

Ability to add on at any level?

Receipts:

Upon signing up store members will be enrolled in the store’s online receipt database with the ability to check receipts and sign up for email or SMS notifications about purchases at time of purchase.

***Note: Please feel free to use, build upon, and take from these thoughts***

American Cultural Idiocy and Our Future

Our reactions as an American people is like coming home to spend time with the family; not your wife and kids, your folks, your parents, brothers and sisters. It’s like being thrown back into the fire, into a different mix that you remember with some distaste, but you go along with it just the same. In this mix you do your best to step up, take care to the dishes, do the chores, only to find that in the end your parents enjoy taking care of you once again. You end up in the situation where things are provided for you, meals are cooked, beds are prepped, days are planned. You find yourself in a routine being cared for… a life filled with thoughtless actions, lazy habits, and dreamless nights. Though you may be irritated, you are surrounded by comfort and ease of life, neglecting dramatic spousal tensions of course.

Eating to eat, not necessarily because you are hungry, sleeping to sleep, though you are restless and full of energy, suppressing the jitters to do something else for the sake of the family, surrounded by the wings of the family, knowing that we don’t have to worry about much… food will be on the table tonight

This is how we are as a people. We are Americans and each and every one of us wants to be a Hero and believes in the Hero mentality. We are instilled from youth with the idea that you can be saved when all has gone wrong, that you can repent and seek forgiveness, that when you are in your deepest darkest moment, there can still be a happy ending. We believe as the little rat drowning in the UC Berkley lab, that we will be saved by the ever glorious outstretched hand. The hand of God, the hand of a parent, the hand of a Super Hero, the hand of a passing stranger who wants to be that Hero. We believe as part of our culture that a Savior will come in our daily lives, in our worst moments, to solve our problems as a species, to correct our errors in this world. Even if we are not glowing outward with this revelation, this belief, we at least consider the possibility that we could be saved, that there might be a God, that even if we completely screw everything up, Big Daddy will come save us. Even if we turn this world to shit, a day may come when we are taken away from “God-awful world” into one of peace and harmony. That a hero will save us, don us in white robes, and welcome us to some glorious land where all our conflicts, disagreements, and discourse in this life will cease to exist. We will undergo transformation through death, and find life anew… maybe we will… maybe we will find ourselves right back in this world with a chance to do it over again… with the opportunity to try one more time from the beginning.

It is in this belief that we dismiss all responsibility. Sure, I am concerned about the environment, I want a good future for my family, I don’t want to just throw life away; but I have more important things to worry about. And besides, aren’t we supposed to have a savior coming one of these days? Aren’t others always calling for the end of time? What about Y2K version 2.0 (December 21^st 2012)? Or is there an ice age coming again? One of those things should fix all the problems right? And even if not, there are tons of people smarter than me that should worry about that sort of thing. I mean Big Brother is scary at times, but doesn’t it also give you the confidence that Uncle Sam is looking out for our best interest. I mean Big Brother is smart right? He’ll take care of us. It’s the USA man; we always save the day…

Or so we would believe. Hollywood movies read like a US Military advertisement campaign. I don’t know if directors get free access to Military Stock footage, equipment, personnel, tactics, and consultation, but it sure has been a good move on their part if they have. Movies like the recently released Transformers 2 shine an amazingly bright light for the United States and make claims that would have you believe that the President of the United States is the Supreme Ruler of the Earth; thought I know other countries would have their two bits to say about this. I saw this movie in New Zealand with a Frenchman and a New Zealander after which both proclaimed that they wished they were United States Citizens so that they could join the US military. Now I know this is just a movie, and I know this is just ONE movie, but it is the epitome of what we portray and believe as a populace.

We believe without question what we see in movies and TV without even realizing it; we believe in being saved, in always having a hero, in always having a savior. Now I will not shed this all in a negative light, because through our beliefs we have pushed harder in the past than many would have ever thought possible. Like the rat in the experiment swimming for 20 hours instead of the median 7 simply because of hope, belief; not something that we simply tell ourselves, but a deep down knowledge that even if we fail we will be caught. Even if we slip on the ice, fall off the rock, collapse from the heat; we will be taken care of, saved, comforted, and nourished back to health. We have the wings of a family, the arms of an angel, and the grace of a father high in the sky that will take us to his kingdom everlasting.

With Television in our lives as a constant background noise, Movies as the stories we hear and know, and music filling any void left, our world is shaped. We define our realm by what we see. Life is no longer shaped by life, but by our perception of life. People no longer recognize the world for what it is, but instead for what they compare it to on television. Wow, these loggers are just like I saw in Axe Men. This ship is just like on Titanic. This beach is just like in the OC. I feel like Ewoks should be popping out of this forest. Hollywood’s “reality” is so entrenched in us that even our movies refer to movies; Martin Laurence in Bad Boys 2, “Mike, I seen this in a movie once. They didn't make it!” We quote movies every day and in part define our culture by them. I mean, who hasn’t said, “I’ll be back!” imitating the Governator’s thick accent?

Consider this; I’m pretty sure that it is a general consensus that we enjoy living and/or that it is better than the alternative. We find ourselves on this earth for one reason or another (I’ll leave that for another discussion) with a whole gamut of future possibilities in front of us. Each of us has a feeling that we are going in a certain direction, we are driving in our car at 100 miles per hour (160 kph), moving along on some course. It is obvious the direction we are going, for the immediate future, because we can see the road straight ahead and just in front of us. We know we’re running out of fuel, and we are idiotically keeping the pedal to the medal in our jilapi hoping we can make it to another gas station. We know that we don’t want to take any immediate abrupt turns onto side roads because that would cause us to slow down and loose the thrill of breaking the speed limit. But heck, if we saw a sign that for sure told us there was a truck-stop to the right at a y in the road, we might be willing to take a last minute veer off-course.

Now if we were all to stop, pull each of our cars off the road for a few minutes and line each and every one of us up along a great race line extended through the salt-flats without any speed rolling under our wheels, we would realize that we can go in any one of millions more than 360 degrees of direction. But what happens? It’s a prisoners dilemma isn’t it. One jackass with a nitros tank and racing fuel decides he wants to spin some broadies and jet off into the distance seeing how fast he can go, and we say, “ I bet I can beat him” and off we go. Off without purpose of direction, or course; just a straight line with the idea that we want to go faster than joe-blow ahead of us. If we beat him, go faster than him, and leave him in our dust, we’ll slow down, spin a couple more doughnuts and jet off in the next straight line for the immediate thrill and maybe hours later when we’re all out of fuel we’ll return to our original line to fuel back up and ask where we really want to go.

The point is, if we don’t get off our high horses and realize that we have to take responsibility for our actions; not just throw away those 1000 year plastic bottles; not just say that it is a concern but it’s not that bad yet; not just write it off for the future generation and assume that our problems will be solved by someone. If we all drive by the accident on the freeway and assume that there are so many other people passing by that “I’m sure someone else will call.” What happens when we all say that? What if there is no savior? What if alien life forms do not come from another planet with all their life-saving/changing technologies? What if we realize for once as a species that we are responsible for our own demise?

Step back, take a look, the future is upon us every waking second and to assume we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it without considering the ensuing monsoon is arrogant, irresponsible, and flat-out idiotic. Living for today’s satisfaction will not work any longer. We have become fat and lazy driven by immediate desires and lacking long-term goals. We have become a consumer (and I hate to use the cliché statement but) fast food economy, driven by immediate results even if it means sacrificing long-term goals instead of the opposite.

Where is our discipline and determination? Our ability to sacrifice today for tomorrow? It is so easy today to be wasteful because wasteful is cheaper than thrifty. Costco and Walmart make more sense than the corner store and buying what you really need. What happened to building something that lasts, buying something that has been prolonged, planning for more than now? We all know what happened; in a Capitalist economy it didn’t make sense any more. When we are all driven by value, by money; when it is the foundation of our culture and defines class; why would you but an $90 part for your broken outdated printer when you can get a brand new one for $100? Why would you drive miles to recycle your used batteries, glass bottles, and old clothes when the trash man come to take away anything you don’t want every week? Why would you buy organic eggs, bio diesel, or recycled paper when it costs four times more for the same amount? You wouldn’t, you won’t and you don’t unless your perceived value of the more thrifty, more eco-friendly, more intelligent choice is greater than the cost difference over time. And we can see that it is only when the cost of the usual, more economical option is comparable to that of the smarter option as is seen in tough economic times (such as gasoline in 2008) that we will choose the smarter option. We act on money first, then intellect.

Of course we can see the other side of this money issue as well. If money is taken out of the equation because it is of no consequence (i.e. we are not sacrificing mortgage payments to buy different groceries), then we once again act on intelligence and choose the free-range, organic, brown eggs because all choices are on the same playing field.

So how do we put the smarter options on a level playing field? Who determines what the smarter option is? Do we go for the Best Available Technology or the Best Practical Means? We use these terms when referring to pollution control of the environment and they might rightly be applied to the intake and experiences of the human body with the environment.

The time has come for practical consideration and effective action toward designing our world as a whole. No longer can we sit back, act as individuals, the keep our heads down to the grind without constantly analyzing the consequences of our actions. As my welding teacher Tommy the Torch once said, “If you don’t Stop Think Act and Review it will turn in to the other acronym; Shit That Ain’t Right!” The plants and animal life that surround us, the earth as a whole, the planets, stars and galaxies that surround us have not continued to exist through chance, regardless of how they were initiated; each and every one has evolved. Life has changed, organisms have died and been reborn, plants have found the environs in which they belong, fish the water to swim in, being the planet to be on, stars a fuel to burn, and planets a star to surround. The answers for survival exists around us though the natural process of selection, survival of the fittest, existence of the most suitable. We’ve had the stigma for the longest that environmentalism is the hippie-ism, earth-child, granola crunchy, weed-smoking, dread-lock totting antithesis of Capitalism. What we fail to realize is that being eco-friendly is not underserved, counter-productive, or about being “green.” It’s not about donning earth-tones. It’s not about giving up everything and attempting to live in the woods. What we must realize is that we need to be intelligent about the mutually symbiotic relationship that we need to share with all the surrounds us and part of that is our environment, the earth we live on, the only place in the universe that we know for sure hosts life.

For as long as we can remember as a “civilized” people with written history we have not had to take responsibility for our actions with respect to the environment. The assumption has always been that this world is so large and has so much to offer that our small little actions will be corrected by the natural processes of the world that we don’t fully understand. If I pour out the oil from my truck today, it will just filter back into the earth where it came from. If burn a wood fire, the trees will sort out the CO₂, the rain the ash in the sky, and so and so. If I kill a wild animal to eat, there will be more later on next time I am hungry. If I don’t want something anymore I throw it away, the garbage man takes it, and I don’t care about it anymore. If I sell something, it is bought, I get the money, and I move on to the next sale. What about the lifecycle of what we create? The plastic water bottle is the epitome of this. Because we feel that our time is more valuable than the time it would take to plan, refill, and place a bottle in the refrigerator we continue to go with the easier cheaper option. I don’t blame you. It makes sense. It’s cheaper in all of our minds to continue purchasing the 24-packs of bottled water for five dollars because they are so convenient.

But think about the life of these bottles. These bottles consume ungodly amounts (17 Million Gallons per year) of petroleum and natural gasses, sure and use about seven times more water to produce than they hold… okay, that’s great. We know all these facts, blah, blah you’re boring me with statistics... The real issue here is our stupidity.

Imagine you try a new candy. Now this is no normal candy, this is the Wanka of all Wanka bars and puts those little green-haired, orange skinned Umpa-Lumpa’s life work to shame. This candy is so delectable, it’s like nothing you’ve ever tasted before, and what’s more is the sensory you feel while trying it is truly better than the hottest sex you could ever imagine. It’s not a drug, there is nothing immoral about it, and even the church is a fan of this stuff for abstinence. The only downside is that every bit you ingest will be weight added to you for the rest of your life. If you eat an ounce of it, you will be an ounce heavier for the rest of your life no matter what you do. Now one try sure as heck won’t kill you, nor will consuming it for months straight, as long as you are okay with putting on pound after pound.

As a kid it is candy, you love it, you love the sweets, you don’t know enough to care about sweets. As an adolescent you become a little self conscious and aren’t sure you should consume as much, but you love the feeling. As an adult, you realize how much weight you have gained and know that you shouldn’t have a dip anymore, though you sneak a taste every now and again. But then you reach true maturity when are retired with your kids well out of the house and financial freedom in front of you. Now you have time to look at past present and future with analytical eyes and realize, before you hit an age where you feel too old to accomplish much in a given day other than the necessities, that you wish you hadn’t gained so much weight living for fast cars and freedom. You now understand that you need to live today not just for today, but to live today as the first day of the rest of your life with all those handfuls of experiences in your bag as tools of knowledge to use all along the way.

Now sitting pretty at 62 and a half years old you consider that each M&M sized candy you consumed only weighted ½ oz, or 1/32^nd of a pound. If you consumed those little babies at the same rate we consume water bottles in the US, those little guys add up to 420 lbs! [1]Even if you only horded those little delicious bites as a teen, you easily double your fat; and that is rock-hard weight that you will never, ever loose. You are an oversized mammoth who even overbears the weights of his quarter-ton truck all because of instant satisfaction.

The point is to illustrate the stupidity with which we consume because we do not have to see the background action. All we care about is the fifteen minutes to four weeks that a water bottle, for example, plays in our life; or rather we play in it. It will well outlast us, our grandchildren, for that matter 40 generations down the line that water bottle will still be staring someone down in an over-stuffed landfill. “We recycle!” you say. The sad part of the story is that by saying that you are in the minority. Even by the most liberal estimates, only 30% of plastic drink bottles are recycled today (2009). So let’s put these forty generations in perspective. Two generations ago my grandparents were living through the Great Depression being as thrifty as possible, Four generations ago my family was making carriages in Pennsylvania, Twelve generations ago my family came across the Atlantic Ocean with William Penn to start a new life in a new world, Seventeen generations ago my family were Schwabish Knights who had just received a Coat of Arms from the Emperor Ferdinand, 40 generations ago Leif Ericson was just discovering what would become New England. All 15,622 could have consumed[2] in his 73 years would still be around not just today, but for another 709 years! Is that how we want to be remembered? Remembered for filling the earth with our garbage. Producing a world just to dispose of it? Enough about water bottles, but we are consuming 8 light minutes worth of plastic water bottles every year in the United States. 8 light minutes! That’s the same as a tower of water bottles stacked from here to the sun! And the largest shame of all is that we find a use them for one twelve-thousandth of their life at best. In comparison that would be two days of your life. You are only useful for two days of your life out of 365 days a year for seventy-five years. Can you imagine being kept in jail, being told you are useless, and sitting in the dark for 27,391 days out of 75 years? What sense does that make? Can you imagine having a 13-year old Labrador that you have only ever given 4-minutes to play in its entire life? Can you imagine owning a house your entire life, making mortgage payments on it month after month and only ever using it for one weekend and then setting it on fire? How about purchasing a $200,000 Ferrari just so you can drive it seven and a half miles and crash it off a cliff? (whew!…Sorry about that rant)

With this said, don’t be mad at the bottle producer. Don’t be angered with all the friends you know, your family, and even yourself for purchasing the cheap option. You have been logical, they have been logical when it comes to the short-run, and the immediate satisfaction. You can’t say bottled water producers are evil; oil companies are bad; fossil fuels are the devil. The response to problems cannot be pointing of fingers, “You are on the evil team, and this is good versus evil.” Finding problems is great because that creates opportunity. To react with stubborn hatred is punish a baby for crying as a natural reaction to plugged ears on an airplane yelling “Shut Up! Please Shut Up!” We cannot simply treat the symptoms and assume all is good. If you have a headache, chances are it’s for a good reason. Instead of treating the root the problem and looking for the understanding that we need to eat better and get glasses because we spend too much time staring at a computer screen, we down the Advil every day and keep on chugging. If you have back problems it’s probably because you didn’t take good care of your feet. If you’re fat, it’s probably not because you have a disease and don’t drive to the gym and look for the closest parking spot every week, try living a more active lifestyle. What do all of these things teach us? That before “civilization” we may have had all the tools to live a healthy life; that we need to seek understanding; that we cannot discredit the decisions we make every day and how they butterfly affect the world. So don’t point that finger, don’t call companies evil, instead ask if we’re on the wrong path, how do we correct ourselves? How do we have an understanding with all that we do? How do we consciously evolve and ensure that our posterity may live as fruitful a life as we can ourselves?

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[1] Based upon 2008 bottled water market of 8.6 billion gallons with average bottle size of 0.5L and US populations of 304 Million. Gives 214 bottles per year average.214

[2] Based upon 2008 bottled water market of 8.6 billion gallons with average bottle size of 0.5L and US populations of 304 Million. Gives 214 bottles per year average.214

Cradle to Grave Design and Sustainability

As with television where the argument has become that children need better programs to aid in their development and ensure their head are not filled with violence…The issue is they are watching too much TV…Don’t address the symptoms…oh, you’re sick, whats wrong?...ok here are some drugs to make you not feel bad and fool your body into thinking you are okay…what about addressing the underlying issue…for example, your back hurts because you have a leg shorter than the other; you are sick all the time because you are mal-nutritional and stressed; you aren’t sleeping at night because you don’t feel fulfilled and you don’t get any exercise during the day…instead we say, ok here are some pain killers for the back, some flu vaccinations and anxiety med to keep you from getting sick and stressed, and take these sleeping pills before you go to bed at night…Oh yeah, and here are some more pills to treat the side effects from what we have you before…Really? REALLY?! WAKE UP!...Oh that’s right, you don’t care to look at the problem or the root of the problem…work consistently as hard as you can…buy lots of crap…that’s how you get through life…isn’t it?...

Architects, Designers, Land Planners, and Governments need to perform the same self evaluations and rethinking as Modern Medicine Doctor. No more can we go, okay lets build a box that is completely impractical and simple and throw some other boxes on the side. We’ll keep out all the evil sunshine, air, heat, weather out then add lots of lights and heat in it..Oh, but wait we don’t want to have a huge power bill, so how do me make it more energy efficient?...That’s working backwards! How about designing buildings intelligently, practically, useful, naturally integrated, spiritually significant, unique (but not at the loss of practicality), from what is locally available, and that uses what is naturally given in the surrounding environment….and how about this, no turf farms in the desert where they won’t grow, no palm trees in alpine ranges, no swimming pools right next to a lake, natural light, collection of rain water… I mean, come on people…seriously.

But we in and of ourselves cannot sit and say, you are wrong…what the hell. We need to go back and look at why nations and populous simply look at the overlying issues, the symptoms. Somewhere in our lives there has been something that stimulated us to ensure that we took action. People that come together to stimulate change in policy, in environment, in living conditions, in design, in our future; we have all had some calling card; some series of events that has led us here, some certain experiences that have proved in our own minds that:

·         This world is worth saving/preserving/conserving for the benefits of ourselves and others

·         The changes in effect now present a viable threat to the non-existence of what we cherish in the foreseeable future

·         We have the ability to influence and the control the way in which we change our environment

·         For one reason or another most people (or a sufficient amount) are not aware of their impacts and how they are making or can make a difference

Sustainability?

What is the root of sustainability? Why do we look to be sustainable? Why has this become a keyword?

I took a course in college called Engineers for a Sustainable world in which I was highly disappointed. The topics of the course included:

 More concentrated on the effects of engineering and technological development on society. Having sustainable practices in engineering and development procedures in the stead of

Not so much concentrated on sustainability as much as something simple that will keep working for you for a fair amount of time…?

My question that was never answered: can sustainability be sustainable without consideration for environmental impacts? Is simply saying that something is more sustainable or better than what we currently have worth raving about? Can you say you are a sustainable builder because you produce something that is relatively more sustainable? Can you claim that you are all-knowing simply because you know more than everyone else? To do so is conniving, false, illusionary, deceptive, and fundamentally flawed.

Start from the beginning, go back and design/build from the ground up with purpose, consideration, and multiple revisions…develop a revolutionarily original design, not a most improvement upon the design…innovation is not enough!

The lists of projects for the semester included Cayuga Lake Watershed, Aqua para el Pueblo, and Solar Cooking

Design

Even more important in design is undersign…. We need to understand that in creation of something we are also responsible for the “uncreation”, for the degradation, and non-existence of our creation…understanding that our creation will cease to exist at some point and we must understand (with a frame of mind that it is already dead) what will be the aftermath of what we have created? How are we designing in the end of the lifecycle of our creation? What will be done with the various components when they are to be removed from the house? Will they be destroyed? Will they be reusable? Will they be recyclable? What components of the creation will have to be disposed of? How does their decomposition/reuse time compare to their useful time? Are we throwing that 1000-year plastic bottle in the landfill when it only has a useful life of a month in the average use? Are we creating something toxic to be disposed of only in a landfill? Consider the fact that 43% (from Sustainable Wanaka figure) of landfill waste comes from construction and demolition combined.

Consideration for construction practices, materials and implementation is crucial! We cannot design a building, structure, etc and simply say here is what you are to make, now order the materials and make it happen; I don’t care how you do it just get it done. The fact of the matter is you must include in the design the planning for construction, how pieces are assembled, what materials are readily available and best suited for the project, what sizes we can use to reduce waste (and decrease construction costs).

Fear and Life

Walking in Life. You can walk in life in many different and distinct ways…stading without direction or motivation, walking without direction (walking to walk), walking without purpose or goals (following a path not knowing where it goes), walking with purpose and direction (you’ve got somewhere to be) , running with purpose (to train), running with direction (running to get somewhere more quickly)… so you can live your life…living to live, living as it comes, living dedicated to some cause, living hard core, living for the next life…

But don’t miss out on the walking because you can discover things you would not have otherwise come across or realized.

What is the scariest thing about walking through the forest in the dark? You are vulnerable…if you were still, you would see, feel and hear all around you…if you were running you would feel as though you can escape the fear… but to revel in it, just walk…feel the hairs stand up on the back of your neck… feel scared and understand it.

But is there something more important to see here? Am I Fearing of fear… do you always have to overcome fear? Or can you accept that you will always have fear? New fear, undiscovered, unknown, and untested fears? Does that mean you slide the slippery slope of no longer pushing the envelope, or do you understand that you don’t simply face fear blindly, unintelligently, and just to rid yourself of all fear? You don’t face fear because you want no fear…you face fear to grow…to take that step and find the new ones…you work through these problems, these issues, these obstacle in the road not so there will be no more obstacles (because they will always be present) but because you cannot face a wall of mountains all at once… you cannot sip every drop of that wine of refreshment all at once as the poison will kill you, but taking it drop for drop throughout time it is as the oil of joy and the corn of nourishment… it is the wine of refreshment… a pivotal part of your life. Build your pyramids one block at a time… they are not created by aliens with space ships and time travel all in one fell swoop… but through relentless dedication, hard work, constant re-evaluation, and time. Life is not magic, but persistence. Life is not something that just happens; it is what you make of it. Life will not give you every answer, but is that reason to quit? It’s a start…its growth, development, rebirth, and a new attempt to start something new…to take what you are given and even what you aren’t and make the best of it.

What Defines Us

When we are surrounded by that with which we are comfortable with well defined, yet unrecognized limits, it is near impossible for us to define who we truly are, or rather identify what defines us. It is amazing how quickly we know who we are, or what we are not, when we are where we don’t belong.

My American Dream

You don’t “let opportunities happen”. The “let so and so have the same opportunities you had” mentality is the same lazy selfishness that leads to socialism and inevitable societal failure. Opportunities are not just something you hopefully sit and wish for; opportunities are created by the tireless search, the undying will, the desire to overcome and succeed. As any immigrant to the United States will tell you, the American dream is not given to you on a silver platter; it is not handed to you when you walk through the door; it is not handed to you by your parents or anyone else. The American Dream is what you make of it. The American Dream is standing up against all opposition and doing what you want to do, pursue what you wish to pursue, and regardless of what holds you back, you keep going where you want to because that is your freedom, your decision, your goal, your dream. That is the American Dream