SXSW 2008 - "10 Ways to Green-ifyYour Digital Life"

“ 10 Ways to Green-ify Your Digital Life” [[[ SXSW 2008 ]]]
Panelists:
Katie Fehrenbacher (GigaOm.com – Earth2tech blog)
Alexis Madrigal (Wired.com)
Sarah Rich (Dwell, Inhabitat.com, Worldchanging.com)
Moderator: Jennifer Schlegel (TechSoup / NetSquared)

Green Technology: What is it, What is Out There and How Do We Do It?

Session Format
10 mins. - moderator and panelist intros, session intro, background and format, icebreaker(s)
5 mins. - current data on energy consumption and e-waste realities
20 - 25 mins. – tours and demos of websites, tools, products, gadgets, etc.
10 - 15 mins. - discuss a few overarching "Big Ideas" in green tech
5 – 10 mins. – interactive building on list of tips with session participants (create PDF we can all access)
Session participant questions throughout

Wikipedia on Green Technology
Environmental technology " green technology " or clean technology (also abbreviated as CleanTech ) is the application of the environmental sciences to conserve the natural environment and resources, and by curbing the negative impacts of human involvement.

Sustainable development is the core of environmental technologies . When applying sustainable development as a solution for environmental issues , the solutions need to be socially equitable, economically viable, and environmentally sound.

Wikipedia on Green Computing
Green computing is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently. Typically, technological systems or computing products that incorporate green computing principles take into account the so-called triple bottom line of:
economic viability
social responsibility
environmental impact

Borrowing a Theme from ETech
Revealing Invisible Networks
Exposing invisible networks and their effects -- technologists, artists, social engineers, and
scientists are unveiling the systems that surround us

16 ways to reprogram your digital life
No tech: Open the curtains
Low-tech: Turn off lights
High-tech: Doing it from your laptop
Really high tech: Having your laptop do it for you
No tech: Unplug your devices
Low-tech: Choose energy efficient options
High-tech: Get an adaptor that shuts them off
Really high tech: Make power yourself
No tech: Don't buy gadgets
Low-tech: Recycle
High-tech: Deal with your e-waste
Really high-tech: Modular electronics
No-tech: Make footprints outside
Low-tech: Calculate your carbon footprint
High-tech: Network your carbon footprint
Really high-tech: Build widgets to promote better habits

High Tech Trash

According to Gartner, carbon dioxide emissions related to the operation servers and PCs account for .75% of the annual global total. Add to that the emissions generated by telecommunications networks, and IT’s contribution to the atmosphere’s green house gas load is probably in excess of 2%.
This is comparable to the level of greenhouse gases being produced by all the world’s airplanes.

According to the U.S. EPA, 30-40 million PCs will be ready for “end-of-the-life management” in each of the next few years. The EPA also estimated that in 2005, between 1.5 and 1.9 million tons of computers, TVs, VCRs, monitors, cell phones and other equipment were discarded .

Ewaste Realities
If all sources of e-waste are counted, the UN Environment Program estimates that it could total 50 million tons a year worldwide .
The trend of shipping waste to the developing world, according to this expose in National Geographic, is likely to continue. In the U.S., it’s estimated that 70 percent of computers and monitors and over 80 percent of TVs eventually end up in landfills , despite a growing number of state laws prohibiting the dumping of e-waste.
In addition, about 180 million TVs, PCs and other components sit in storage , which has its own environmental downfall.

From eWeek Magazine:
"The federal government's Energy Star program estimates that you can save anywhere from $25 to $75 per PC per year by using the power management features on your PC.“
"...about 31.2 million of the 104 million corporate PCs in the US are left on all night, and the carbon emissions saved by turning off every one of those computers would be the same as taking every car in Maryland off the road."

THEMES
Automating
Energy Efficiency
Sharing
Networking Things
Moving from Embodied Energy to Onboard Power

MIXED Reality How do we use the Internet to interact with real objects more efficiently? Intrago Zipcar iHitchhiking Facebook Carpool Smart Charging MOBILITY =

MIXED Reality How do we use the Internet to interact with real objects more efficiently? HOMES = Jimmy Carter + MyTemp / LagoTek + Smart Metering + Consumer Powerline

GADGET Power How do we get the same performance at lower energy cost? DEVICES = Right-size devices Green UPS Greener Gadgets Remix modular design

GADGET Power How do we get the same gadget performance at lower energy costs? MATERIALS = Shake, rattle, hum + Flexible Solar PV + Novomer

DATA Environments How do we visualize the invisible? HIDDEN CITIES = Nokia EcoSensor Urban Ecology Google Earth/Maps Sim City

The Green Network Effect How online communities & social networks can Carbon Minder CO2 Stats Project 350.org, Zerofootprint

DATA Environments How do we visualize the invisible? HIDDEN CITIES = Nokia EcoSensor + Urban Ecology + Sim City

Energy Monitoring (raising awareness)
DIY and Renewable Energy (individual action)
Prefab and rapid manufacturing (change at the design stage)
Dematerialization and Service Systems (same great taste, less stuff)

Monitoring Our Energy Use

Energy Saving Adaptor Designer Gilles Belley in collaboration with EdF (French National Electricity Company)
Electronics and appliances in “Standby” mode can be responsible for up to 10% of energy usage in the home (heating excluded)
The adaptor displays energy wasted through illumination on the surface and turns of gadgets when not in use
Each module corresponds with a device, the light tells the user to turn it off, but if the user ignores the signal, it shuts off automatically

Wattson by DIY Kyoto
Measures home energy use in units of currency or wattage
Glows and changes color to indicate level of use
Stores history of energy use and can be tracked with companion software, Holmes
Components can be recycled at end of use

DIY Energy
Head4Bang

Potenco Pull-Cord Generator
20 minutes of talk time on a mobile phone
1 hour of ultrabright LED flashlight use
3 hours play time on an iPod Shuffle (about one pull per song)
A minute of pulling the PGC generates enough energy for:

Wind-up Bamboo Cell Phone A submission to the Greener Gadgets Design Competition
Made with bamboo - a renewable resource and sustainable material
Uses internal manual crank to general power to run the phone

Hybrid Solar Lighting
Solar collectors on the roof concentrate sunlight into fiber optic cables
Cables run down through the roof into a set of acrylic tubes that evenly distribute the light
Fluorescent bulbs provide backup when solar can’t do the trick, and additional solar can power the bulbs
Added bonus: mood-boosting daylight

Rapid manufacturing and prefabrication Inhabitat's Top Ten Sustainable Prefabs
Reduced transportation costs
Low site impact
Local Materials
Computer-aided waste reduction
Smart house tech features
SIPs

3D Printing
Additive manufacturing, rather than subtractive, means almost no waste
Products can be made in any batch size, anywhere, with data shipped on the computer and the ability to employ local materials in each site, reducing shipping and cost

Service Systems & Dematerialization
Created awareness of problematic relationship with object/process
Change your relationship to the problem, object, or process
Change has to be adopted by the community, not just the individual
How to make change permanent

Coworking: Space on demand

Google Maps and Google Earth: Google Maps: Earth2Tech 101 Cleantech Startups Post: http://earth2tech.com/2008/02/25/earth2tech-maps-101-cleantech-startups/ Earth2Tech 101 Cleantech Map Itself: http:// maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl = en&ie =UTF8&om=1&msa=0&msid=100024416568883817560.0004456fd4dd7d86d3b19&ll=40.313043,-95.800781&spn=46.472152,74.707031&z=3&source=embed Coal Deathwatch Map: http://earth2tech.com/2007/12/27/earth2tech-maps-coal-power-plant-deathwatch/ Map itself: http:// maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl = en&ie =UTF8&msa=0&msid=100024416568883817560.00000112e9fdac847834d&ll=46.0081,-122.84224&spn=19.839529,35.137023&om=1&source=embed Google Earth: Earth2tech Tour of Google Earth: http://earth2tech.com/2007/09/28/earth2tech%E2%80%99s-eco-tour-of-google-earth/ Great Green Building: http://earth.google.com/outreach/kml_entry.html#tGreat%20Green%20Buildings Scottish Wind Farms: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=622004&t=k&om=1 Current Air Quality: http://earth.google.com/outreach/kml_entry.html#tCurrent%20Air%20Quality EPA Created Air Pollution: http:// www.epa.gov/air/emissions/where.htm

Facebook Applications : Carpool Application: http://earth2tech.com/2007/07/24/ecoweb-tool-facebooks-carpool-app/ Carbon Minder: http://apps.facebook.com/carbonminder/about.php CO2 Stats Project: http://earth2tech.com/2008/01/16/carbon-widget-reaches-1-million/ http://www.co2stats.com/ Green Hosting Services: AISO: http://www.aiso.net/ Greenest Host: http://www.greenesthost.com/

A Few ETech Highlights:
Alex Steffen’s Keynote - Building a Bright Green Future - If everyone lived like a typical prosperous American, we'd need ten planets to sustain our way of life. What might a sustainable future look like? How do we use ingenuity to design a future that's both bright and green?
AMEE: The World's Energy Meter , Gavin Starks (d::gen network )
If all the energy data in the world were accessible, what would you build? The Climate Change agenda measures the energy profile of everything. AMEE is an open aggregation platform aimed to dramatically accelerate change, because we need to .
Awareness: Artistic Experiments in Revealing Invisible Networks , Kati London (area/code), Regine Debatty (We Make Money Not Art), Brooke Singer - Exposing invisible networks and their effects, technologists, artists, social engineers, and scientists are unveiling the systems that surround us. Co-curators of ETech's Emerging Arts Fest will lead a panel discussion situating the work represented at ETech and the context in which that work is being created and experienced
A Bomb Shelter For The Climate Crisis , Natalie Jeremijenko (NYU)
Project Sun SPOT: Inspiring Future Gadgets - Roger Meike (Sun Microsystems, Inc.), Arshan Poursohi (Sun Microsystems, Inc.) - A new generation of gadgets is emerging that can wirelessly communicate, sense their environment and affect the physical world around them. Learn to use open source software and hardware to create everything from gesture-based interfaces to robot swarms to a rainforest monitoring system that may just save the world.

Virtualization
Dematerialization (New) Materials Science Greenwashing Green Fatigue / Saturation Educating Traditional Tech Mainstreaming Green Manufacturing / Processing Systems Policy / Political Movements

Greenwashing
From “6 Sins of Greenwashing” @ http://www.terrachoice.com/
“ Green-wash (green'wash', -wôsh') – verb: the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.”
Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off
Sin of No Proof
Sin of Vagueness
Sin of Irrelevance
Sin of Fibbing
Sin of the Lesser of Two Evils

16 ways to reprogram your digital life
No tech: Open the curtains
Low-tech: Turn off lights
High-tech: Doing it from your laptop
Really high tech: Having your laptop do it for you
No tech: Unplug your devices
Low-tech: Choose energy efficient options
High-tech: Get an adaptor that shuts them off
Really high tech: Make power yourself
No tech: Don't buy gadgets
Low-tech: Recycle
High-tech: Deal with your e-waste
Really high-tech: Modular electronics
No-tech: Make footprints outside
Low-tech: Calculate your carbon footprint
High-tech: Network your carbon footprint
Really high-tech: Build widgets to promote better habits

Thank you for participating today
Jennifer Schlegel – [email_address] , [email_address]
Alexis Madrigal – [email_address]
Sarah Rich – [email_address]
Katie Fehrenbacker – [email_address]

SXSW 2008 - "10 Ways to Green-ifyYour Digital Life"

by jenschlegel on Mar 12, 2008

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SXSW 2008 - "10 Ways to Green-ifyYour Digital Life" — Presentation Transcript