When discussing "sustainability", the topic of populations is one of those topics that can quickly lose out to solar panels, cap and trade, and biofuels. The problem is that population is a core consideration not only in looking back in history, but in plotting the path forward, and it is the subject of a recent study at Oregon State University. A study that found in the United States, th…
While recently speaking at the Net Impact Event, ARUP's Kate Dunham told the crowd that she felt there were three constraints that limited China's potential for adopting sustainability: 1) Regulatory Standards - standards she says have roots to the 1950s. 2) Business Environment - many have failed their responsibilities to the environment and are still unconvinced 3) Lifestyle Choices - T…
Getting back to the roots of a problem can be a painful process, especially when it is known far in advance that the truth is going to hurt. It is in many ways perhaps the biggest inhibitor to growth, change, and progress around the world, and in China that is no different. When discussing the differences between the US and China's approach to the environmental issues they face , one of the poi…
Dear Green Drinkers, 亲爱的GREENDRINKS会员们, What: It’s that great time of the month again: Green Drinks! 每个月最让您愉悦的集会: "GREEN DRINKS"! When: August 13th from 6:30-8:30 PM8月13日 晚6:30-8:30 Where: BAU International Lounge (4th Floor) Lane 1252, Fuxing Mid Road (near Xiangyang Road), No.17. Tel. 5466 6969国际四楼休息室 复兴中路1252弄17号 近襄阳路 电话. 5466 6969 Who: Everyone is welcome and it is FREE. 所有人皆可免费参与 Why: Those interested in making the world a better and Greener place. 想要让世界变得更好更环保的人 How: walk, bike, take a bus, or take the subway (line 1 ShanXi South Road Exit). 步行，单车，乘公车或地铁 （一号线陕西南路站） Drinks and light snacks will be provided thanks to our sponsor The Quiddity Partners. If you or your company is interested in a more active role with Green Drinks please contact us. 感谢我们的赞助商The Quiddity Partners，我们届时提供饮料和小点心。如果你或是你的公司希望可以在Green Drinks中扮演更多的角色，请联系我们。 Arc8X Design will offer its monthly, easy idea to easily Green your life. Arc8X Design 将主持这次的活动,给我们的绿色生活注入更多的想象力和帮助. Next Action: Green Ideas Green Action (GIGA) will be in the same spot at the same time next week. www.giga-china.com 下一个活动： Green Ideas Green Action (GIGA) 将在下周同时同地举办。 www.giga-china.com Our featured speakers this month are from Greenovate and Quiddity Partners (more below the break)
Submission from - David Sutton PhD, Professor of Ecology The first commandment of economics is: Grow. Grow forever. Companies must get bigger. National economies need to swell by a certain percent each year. People should want more, make more, earn more, spend more - ever more. The first commandment of the Earth is: Enough. Just so much and no more. Just so much soil. Just so much water.…
When the average consumer thinks of clean transportation, they will think of hybrid cars, pubic transportation, or walking, but for the industrial world it has a whole different meaning. It is a world made possible by carbon as trucks, ships, and airplane move goods around the world from factory floor to retail shelf. You have warehouses, container yards, and distribution centers where goods ar…
Bitter to the taste, high in vitamin C, and fun to eat, pomelos have become of my favorite winter fruit in Shanghai and for the last few months that has meant picking one up a couple times a week. Until a couple weeks ago when I picked up this pomelo near my house, cracked it open, and saw the injection mark. As you can clearly see from the pictures below, there is an injection mark and ther…
Last year, I watched perhaps one of the more interesting Poptech videos. It was of Dan Gilbert, a Harvard professor in psychology, on why we as humans have failed to respond in any meaningful way in the face of Global Warming. At the time, I wrote a review for it on Crossroads that elicited some comments from a good friend (and GW skeptic) that made me think about a wider picture of Dan's c…
Recently, when looking to understand the issues of sustainability, I have been less concerned with mpg or SOX, but about populations. Specifically, the fact that in 1950 we were a mere 1.5 billion people.. and now we are 6.7billion. One of the more interesting, and concise documents, I found recently comes from the Population Media Center. Talking points on Population is a release from their me…
While attending the JUCCCE conference last year, I began to understand that when looking at clean technologies, or otherwise making the case for "sustainability", it was important to understand the health costs to remaining brown. That in the end, policy makers and agency officials would eventually connect the dots and begin making investments into sustainability as the costs of their health ca…
Jonathan Woetzle and his team and MGI have been doing a lot of work to research, analyze, and promote the way that China should urbanize. It is a report I read last year, and it is one I believe anyone who considers themselves as having a role in sustainability should read as it does a fair job of laying out the largest challendges and opportunities that China will face going forward. Where I th…
While the focus of sustainability is closely linked to "energy usage" and waste, the conversation on the role of design & designers has yet to take center stage. The recent article Design is an Avocado: The Layers of Green Design by Brian Dougherty (an excerpt from his recent book Green Graphic Design) though does a great job of introducing the role that designers can play: 1. Designer A…
A few weeks back, Inhabitat had a very interesting piece on green labels in the US entitled IS IT GREEN?: Eco-Labels and Certifications Shortly after that, Leigh at Crossroads made a trip to an organic conference in Shanghai with Julian at Green Leap Forward, and put together a report on the labels that they found there. A very interesting counterpiece to Inhabitat's, and clearly some import…
In the article Official warns environmental pollution no longer acceptable, I saw the strongest statement to date that officials and agencies are finally understanding the tradoff of full costs between economic growth and the environmnet: Yangzonghai Lake, famous for its springs, was found to contain arsenic in June in the Yuxi City section. A local company named Jinye Industry and Trade Co. Ltd.…
With dozens of cities in China urbanizing all at the same time, and at a pace matched at no time by anyone else, making sure cities are planned and built properly is a must. While the term "urban" can mean different things to different people, municipalities of all sizes are and always have been dynamic centers of activity. Cities offer jobs and prosperity, important social interaction, and…
