ChangeWaves: Kyle Spector: March 2008 Archives

Environment & Sustainability

Sustainable Now: Why the World Can't Wait

When should global citizenry aim for fully-sustainable, zero-environmental-impact business practices, government policies, and consumer behavior?

Right now, says Alex Steffen at WorldChanging.org.

At the moment, he seems to be a lonely voice. Most of the climate change mitigation forecasts I analyze in my work here at S)T base their models on a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to reach some multiple of pre-industrial levels of atmospheric carbon. The common thinking is that doing anything to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction--even if it's just a little--is better than doing nothing. With a few exceptions, almost no reports from governments or major policy organizations seriously examine the idea of achieving sustainability on a broad scale.

However, Mr. Steffen makes a compelling point--that only doing "something" may no longer be good enough. If most of the things we do, the way we live, and the things we make are unsustainable, then it's only reasonable that the aggregate effect of adding more people to the globe every year while only making marginal improvements towards sustainability could simply be that nothing really changes.

And he draws a sobering conclusion about the future: by definition, if something is unsustainable, then it is sure to come to an end. In the long run, that could include us humans.

By

Kyle Spector

on March 13, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

Social Technologies

50,000 Visitors: Thanks for Reading ChangeWaves!

girl%20on%20computer.JPG Last week, ChangeWaves welcomed its 50,000th visitor!

Thanks to everyone who reads ChangeWaves. Remember, you can subscribe to our RSS feed to receive ChangeWaves over email or in your favorite RSS reader.

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for our blog, you can leave them in the comments section of a post or email me directly.

By

Kyle Spector

on March 12, 2008 | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) |

Asia

Dispatch #3 from Social Technologies' Futures Expedition in Hyderabad, India

From my colleague Josh Calder, who is currently on S)T's Futures Expedition in Hyderabad, India:

Over the weekend we broke into two teams and visited six Indian homes that span the spectrum of the middle class. We came away with many provocative experiences and observations:

At an upper-middle class house, we were interested to learn that, although they have a car, they stick largely to their two motorbikes, only using the car for weekend journeys of at least two miles. The family car is 12 years old ... and has less than 35,000 miles on it!
In another upper-middle class family, we found a great example of the aspirational nature of car ownership: though the husband had only recently been promoted and was, as a result, starting to think about purchasing a car, he’d actually purchased a parking spot around the time he’d bought his apartment, years ago, “looking forward” to the future, as he put it.
A Muslim household revealed just what family can mean in India: we discovered that seventy people were living under one roof, in an apartment building-sized home. After the grandmother stuffed us full of tea and snacks, we got a view of the neighborhood from the rooftop, as the call to prayer sounded from a nearby mosque, roosters crowed, and neighbors peered curiously at us from adjacent homes.
A prosperous banker told us he wanted to send his kids to an international school, to give them a sense of wide-open possibility that Indians of prior generations did not feel.

Click to Read More ...

By

Kyle Spector

on March 4, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |

Asia

Futures Expedition to India Updates

BRIC%20LOGO.jpg Social Technologies' Futures Expedition to Hyderabad, India -- one of four expeditions over the next two years that S)T is leading to the BRIC economies -- began a couple days ago. Three of my colleagues are traveling with S)T clients and meeting with local experts, business leaders, and regular consumers as they immerse themselves in India's future.

Over the next few days they will be submitting dispatches from India updating us on their progress as time allows. Click here to see all of the posts about our expedition to Hyderabad.

By

Kyle Spector

on March 1, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) |