Natural Capitalism - "nature optimizes"

Natural Capitalism is my favorite book to date. The clipping below is taken from Chapter 6, "Tunneling Through the Cost Barrier", which entertains the fact that better education and learning from nature can make us more efficient and productive:

"Many architects, engineers, and other designers, however, are not being well taught. J. Baldwin, long the technology editor of Whole Earth Review, was told on his first day in design school that 'design is the art of compromise.' Design, he was instructed, means choosing the least unsatisfactory trade-offs between many desirable but incompatible goals. He believed that this formulation described 'a political technique masquerading as a design process,' and he realized this was wrong... For the past 3.8 billion years or so, nature has been running a successful design laboratory in which everything is continually improved and rigorously tested. The result, life, is what works. Whatever doesn't work gets recalled by the Manufacturer. Every naturalist knows from observation that nature does not compromise; nature optimizes. A pelican, nearing perfection (for now) after some 90 million years of development, is not a compromise between a seagull and a crow. It is the best possible pelican."

Hawken, Paul and Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. New York: Hachette Book Group USA, 1999.

OpenOffice, oh how I love thee...

This doesn't relate to the environment, but it has something to do with sustainability. Since Microsoft released the ever-incompatible Office 2007 products (Word, Excel, etc) I have cussed any computer that uses it. The 2007 products use a new file type which cannot be opened by previous versions of Office. This is utterly absurd! I use OpenOffice.Org, a "free and open office suite" (openoffice.org), and I too was having problems opening the files created with the new 2007 products. But alas, my problem has been solved!

OpenOffice.Org has released it's 3rd version which will open Microsoft Office 2007 files!!!! I am speechless - this is simply amazing. I was almost ready to install Microsoft Office Excel to allow me to do work compatible with everyone else, but now I can open, edit and save any 2007 files with Open Office! This calls for a parade!

Recycling - to sort or not to sort?

I recently saw a video that changed my perspective on recycling. In a previous article, I promoted the possibility of a project that strived to create a recycling bin that sorted lots of different types of items in a somewhat efficient way. After watching a video about a city recycling program where they sort at the factory rather than on the truck, I realized this must be much more efficient.

I don't have hard evidence, but think about it. Sorting out all these recyclables takes time, energy and space to achieve.  Trash is all loaded into one bin, able to collect millions of different things. Recycle bins, on the other hand, are all single-use. One for bottles and cans, one for computer paper, one for newspaper, one for paperboard, one for corrugated cardboard, etc etc. This is bonkers! 

The original reason why I promoted the 'all-encompassing' recycle bin was because I hated finding a plastic bottle bin when i wanted to recycle my newspaper. Most recycle bins are scattered around my campus, and each location doesn't have every type of recyclable. Some do, but most dont. 

SO, why not put everything together? Imagine putting your city recycle bin out on the street, all mixed together, and rather than the truck coming by, stopping, sorting everything next to the truck, then driving 50 feet down the road and getting the neighbor's  bin, why not just grab it and go like the trash truck? The trash truck has a giant arm that grabs the trash can, dumps it in the back, and drives on - much faster than the recycle man. There's no telling how much fuel, time, and personnel this would save. The personnel could instead work in the factory where the sorting takes place. Trucks dump the recyclables on a conveyor, and workers sort the recyclables into the right collection bin.

I will try to find the video I watched to share what I'm referring to. Hopefully you, too, will see how much sense this makes! In the meantime, try these articles that are for and against sorting at the factory:

Recycling Debate: To Sort or Not To Sort

Gazette.net: Sorting recyclables a chore no more

City of Keene, NH: Sorting recyclables