Clipmarks | Sustainability Clips

System Design as a Function of Media Technology Strategy

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:56:53 GMT

clipped by: bellapria

Industry Insight

System Design as a Function of Technology Strategy - Ascent Media

by Mike Spinks, Principal Consultant

During this challenging economic period, Media & Entertainment (M&E) companies have been forced to focus not on growth and sustainability, but on survival. Companies that remain competitive will do so by adopting or further developing efficient operational systems to reduce costs and maximize revenues. However, these steps, though required, are not sufficient for long-term viability in a changing media landscape. Companies that that achieve efficiency while positioning for future growth will be best equipped to take advantage of the global economic upturn when it finally arrives.

Introduction

Tags: system design, strategy, economic times, economy, technological, media strategy, ascent media

A Short Lesson on Sustainability

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:57:11 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal

Clip Source: www.recombinantrecords.net

This cartoon is heavily influenced by the books "Natural Capitalism" - Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins (1999) and "Mid-Course Correction" - Ray Anderson (1998). It is also in the same vein as the flash animation "The Story of Stuff" by Annie Leonard, which I watched when I was about 90% of the way through the drawing process.

Human Centered Design Toolkit

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:06:17 GMT

clipped by: Bareface
clipper's remarks: Amazing level of insight helping understand the real needs of people you are designing for.

Clip Source: www.ideo.com

A free innovation guide for NGOs and Social Enterprises

For years, organizations have used Human-Centered Design (HCD) to arrive at innovative business solutions. In collaboration with the Gates Foundation and non-profit groups IDE, ICRW, and Heifer International, IDEO has specially adapted this process for NGOs and social enterprises that work with impoverished communities around the world. The resulting HCD Toolkit helps organizations understand people’s needs in new ways, find innovative solutions to meet these needs, and deliver solutions with financial sustainability in mind.

Floating Cities

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:18:49 GMT

clipped by: rj3sp

Clip Source: greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com

As Sea Levels Rise, Dutch See Floating Cities

Delft University of Technology A Dutch design firm imagines floating cities as a response to climate change.

The Dutch have long been known for innovative ways of managing water in flood-prone regions.

So perhaps it is not surprising that designers in the Netherlands are envisioning floating cities that would make parts of low-lying nations habitable amid dramatically rising sea levels and storm surges linked to climate change.

Clip Source: www.deltasync.nl

Floating City

Floating City is a concept for sustainable, innovative urbanization in a densely occupied delta area. It is a climate robust solution for urban development. In contrast to conventional urbanization, the Floating City can cope with water level fluctuations. Thus, it is a city without flood risk. In this project special attention was paid to themes of sustainability and mobility.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

TU Delft floating city delta-sync

[Video]

Tags: netherlands, floating, city

Flushing Our Future or Toilets for a Thirsty Earth?

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:30:53 GMT

clipped by: nedhamson1
clipper's remarks: The farmer in Somalia needs it. The farmers in Texas, New Mexico, and Alberta need it too but you are flushing it away. Now come Juan Carlos to the rescue!

Clip Source: tech.ashoka.org

Water friendly toilets

Juan Carlos Calizaya Luna designs and installs innovative and environmentally friendly sanitation systems that give low-income communities the ability to manage their waste in a way that is beneficial for the environment, health in a model that even increases their wealth.

Juan Carlos's new approach to sustainable waste management saves 50% of typical urban water consumption, and most importantly, it involves local citizens in development and financing to ensure sustainability.

Tags: ecology, toilets, water

Examples of San Francisco Bay Area Homeless Garden Projects

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:34:58 GMT

clipped by: sfhomeless
clipper's remarks: This is a garden in Santa Cruz.... but, don't be jealous San Franciscans.. who care about homeless life and plant life... we have all kinds of Garden Communities and Farms on the way now...

A couple weeks ago, the SF First POWER group (homeless and formerly homeless peer advocates, already working to help others around the city, at the main library and outreach) and SF Project Homeless Connect and the Hayes Valley residents started a Garden Community at Octavia & Lily Streets.

Here is a link to a 2 minute, intro video about the Octavia & Lily Garden Community in the Hayes Valley neighborhood, a few blocks north of Market Street.

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyBWmSjMiic

15 homeless (or formerly homeless) and 15 non-homeless residents are going to work together to build up community, grow food, share labor and share the fruits of their labor, TOGETHER !

Other community groups, artists, advocates and more SF POWER group members are already doing outreach to pro

Clip Source: www.homelessgardenproject.org

Homeless Garden Project Mission:

Bring Together people from throughout
the community in the beauty and security
of our certified organic garden.

Practice and Teach principles of economic
and ecological sustainability through classes
and hands-on experience.

Provide homeless men and women
job training and transitional employment.

Recognized as a MODEL PROGRAM by
World Hunger Year,
a leader in the fight against
hunger and poverty.

Donate today to the Project!

Mail Address: P.O. Box 617, Santa Cruz, CA 95061
831.426.3609
Tax ID #: 77-0475165

Please check back for
information about our
Holiday Store

Tags: sf garden communities, sf project homeless connect, judith klain, homeless gardens, sfhomeless

Environmental Blogs

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:59:02 GMT

clipped by: adolphpaul123
clipper's remarks: Blogs at Commoncircle.net provide comprehensive information on environmental sustainable development. Join our network today!

Clip Source: commoncircle.net

Free weblogs powered by renewable energy. Sign up today!

Tags: environmental blogs, eco blog, permaculture blog, sustainable group, sustainability network, sustainability guide, long term sustainability

blog: OakParkNow

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:17:44 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks: The monkey and I have it in mind to move up Sacramento-wards at some point.

Clip Source: oakparknow.blogspot.com

Tags: sacramento, blogs, local, neighborhoods

Happening Upon A Herd Of Urban Goats

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:57:24 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: 1greengeneration.elementsintime.com

It was a year ago. I was driving down the street, and I saw them - were they wild dogs? I slowed… then the car behind me slowed as well… they… they were goats! Wow!

I was fascinated - they were alone, under some trees, behind a hastily put-up fence. Two days later, I’d just returned home and was checking my RSS feeds. On the Slog newswire was a headline “Goats in Capitol Hill!”

I grabbed my camera and whisked off - it was nearly dark, and this was something that must be captured!

Amazing. On a hill between the dog park and the freeway, were a whole bunch of happily munching goats! There were many people looking on, taking cell phone photos, laughing, and enjoying the bizarre sight.

I learned later that the city rents them - I’ve seen them in other parts of town since. One of those fun little sustainability sights in the city!

Have a lovely Friday, everyone.

Timothy Parks Construction, Inc., is a full-service remodeling and painting contractor

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:49:34 GMT

clipped by: TPRCI
clipper's remarks: Experience and Knowledge
Our painters are licensed and insured, and stay up-to-date with the latest tools and paints available on the market, using only high-quality paints suitable for your particular project. Whether indoors or out, we understand how our products work in these environments to afford your project the lasting beauty and sustainability you desire in Sarasota, Fl.

Clip Source: tprci.com

Timothy Parks Construction, Inc., is a full-service remodeling and painting contractor, proudly serving the Sarasota area.. We have completed many residential and commercial projects and are committed to quality workmanship for a fair price with a full guarantee. Our reputation has been built on our customers' satisfaction in Sarasota, Fl.

Whether your home needs an update inside or out, or your office needs a touch of color, we are the team you need to create the look you want at a competitive price in Sarasota, Fl.. We provide complete, unparalleled service, from prep work to trim finishing. Our painters have the professional skills necessary to efficiently complete your project on time, and within budget in Sarasota, Fl.

Since 1985, Timothy Parks Construction, Inc. has offered his services to the home improvement industry, providing first-rate customer service and exceptional handiwork to residents and business owners in Sarasota, Fl.

Tags: sarasota, port charlotte, painting, handyman, handymen, sarasota painter

San Diego company acquires Maui wind project

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:45:59 GMT

clipped by: CohoctonWindWatch

Clip Source: www.starbulletin.com

Michael W. Allman, president and chief executive officer of Sempra Generation, said the acquisition expands the company's footprint in one of the fastest-growing renewable energy markets while furthering Maui and Hawaii's sustainability goals.

First Wind (formerly UPC Wind), a Massachusetts-based company, built a 30-megawatt wind farm in the West Maui mountains, the Valley Isle's first commercial-scale project three years ago.

Tags: alternative energy, first wind, industrial wind, wind turbines

Economists Search for New Definition of Well-Being

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:43:58 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: "GDP has increasingly become used as a measure of societal well-being and changes in the structure of the economy and our society have made it an increasingly poor one," Stiglitz told the news agency Bloomberg in a recent interview. "So many things that are important to individuals are not included in GDP." In the model they unveiled last week in Paris, the academics recommend including other factors, such as sustainability and education.

Significant Shortcomings

Even the inventor of the gross domestic product measure, the late Russian-American economist Simon Kuznets, was aware that the classic method of computing GDP had significant shortcomings. "The welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income," he said in 1934.

This is because the growth rate says nothing about the distribution of wealth in a country, the state of health of its citizens or their life expectancy. The number provides no information about the cleanliness of rivers or the amo

Clip Source: www.spiegel.de

GDP may be an extremely useful economic indicator, but it ignores many factors important to the well-being of a society, such as health care or life expectancy. Economists like the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz are now trying to come up with a new, broader definition of prosperity.

It was an astonishing confession for a politician to make, particularly one like French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "The world over, citizens think we are lying to them," the French president admitted last week to a stunned audience at the Sorbonne in Paris. "And they have reasons to think like that."

One Green Generation

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:44:09 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: Sustainability

Clip Source: 1greengeneration.elementsintime.com

One Green Generation

About this Site

Now is the time to come together as One Green Generation – United Across the Divides of Age, Class, Race, Creed, Country, Religion, and Political Ideology.

Peruse our Pages

Organic Gardening 101

Living Locally

Northwest Resources

Recipes

The Buy Sustainably Challenge

We are entering difficult economic times. Join us in saving our family budgets and helping our local communities thrive.

The Vegetarian Myth...our eating ways are KILLING the Planet

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:11:45 GMT

clipped by: leevardi

Clip Source: permaculture.org.au

The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability

We’ve been told that a vegetarian diet can feed the hungry, honor the animals, and save the planet. Lierre Keith believed in that plant-based diet and spent twenty years as a vegan. But in The Vegetarian Myth, she argues that we’ve been led astray–not by our longings for a just and sustainable world, but by our ignorance.

The truth is that agriculture is a relentless assault against the planet, and more of the same won’t save us. In service to annual grains, humans have devastated prairies and forests, driven countless species extinct, altered the climate, and destroyed the topsoil–the basis of life itself. Keith argues that if we are to save this planet, our food must be an act of profound and abiding repair: it must come from inside living communities, not be imposed across them.

Part memoir, part nutritional primer, and part political manifesto, The Vegetarian Myth will challenge everything you thought you knew about food politics.

The Crisis of Global Land Use

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 09:45:40 GMT

clipped by: celestialdancer
clipper's remarks: Meeting these huge new agricultural demands will be one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. At present, it is completely unclear how (and if) we can do it.

If this wasn't enough, we must also address the massive environmental impacts of our current agricultural practices, which new evidence indicates rival the impacts of climate change. Consider the following.

Already, we have cleared or converted more than 35 percent of the earth's ice-free land surface for agriculture, whether for croplands, pastures or rangelands. In fact, the area used for agriculture is nearly 60 times larger than the area of all of the world's cities and suburbs. Since the last ice age, nothing has been more disruptive to the planet's ecosystems than agriculture. What will happen to our remaining ecosystems, including tropical rainforests, if we need to double or triple world agricultural production, while simultaneously coping with climate change?
Yes, it is an inconvenient truth as the origi

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

As the international community focuses on climate change as the great challenge of our era, it is ignoring another looming problem - the global crisis in land use.

It's taken a long time, but the issue of global climate change is finally getting the attention it deserves.

Unfortunately, this positive shift in the national zeitgeist has had an unintended downside. In the rush to portray the perils of climate change, many other serious issues have been largely ignored.

I fear we are neglecting another, equally inconvenient truth: that we now face a global crisis in land use and agriculture that could undermine the health, security, and sustainability of our civilization.

Our use of land, particularly for agriculture, is absolutely essential to the success of the human race.

But we are demanding more and more from our global agricultural systems, pushing them to their very limits. Continued population growth (adding more than 70 million people to the world every year)

Clipmarks | Sustainability Clips

System Design as a Function of Media Technology Strategy

Industry Insight

System Design as a Function of Technology Strategy - Ascent Media

by Mike Spinks, Principal Consultant

Introduction

A Short Lesson on Sustainability

Human Centered Design Toolkit

Floating Cities

As Sea Levels Rise, Dutch See Floating Cities

Floating City

TU Delft floating city delta-sync

Flushing Our Future or Toilets for a Thirsty Earth?

Water friendly toilets

Examples of San Francisco Bay Area Homeless Garden Projects

Environmental Blogs

blog: OakParkNow

OakParkNow

Sacramento Links

Favorite Links

Happening Upon A Herd Of Urban Goats

Timothy Parks Construction, Inc., is a full-service remodeling and painting contractor

San Diego company acquires Maui wind project

Economists Search for New Definition of Well-Being

One Green Generation

One Green Generation

About this Site

Peruse our Pages

The Buy Sustainably Challenge

The Vegetarian Myth...our eating ways are KILLING the Planet

The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice and Sustainability

The Crisis of Global Land Use