Technology and the Environment

Between business, design, technology, cars, etc., I get a lot of magazines... I'm actually working on narrowing that list a little. But with the exception of a recent Popular Mechanics article on the costs of commiting to ethanol (the corn-based variety), it's been a while since something really went THWACK.

Yesterday though, I got one of my usually disposable "trade rags" and much to my surpise, found something that REALLY resonated with me.

Having branded a "green" company for several years, I have my share of issues with "environmentalism" for the sake of the movement. That is - I believe in preserving our environment, but not in using 1.3 gallons of one kind of fuel to create 1.0 gallons of another... Come on, people.

To paraphrase the two points I most appreciated:

1: Technology is to serve and enable us, not enslave us. (This is one that I need to remember.)
2: We can care about the our earth without being ridiculous. We don't need to print on paper made of recycled cat hair with inks made from oak leaves and gravel to be environmentally conscious.

Just a thought to cut through the environmentalist bull tootie (actually a very well calculated economic movement): Rather than creating a new "improved" 6,800LB Escalade hybrid and increasing the fuel economy from 11 to 14 miles per gallon (for a 24 year old trophy wife to drive around the city in unaccompanied, mind you), why don't we just use what we need for the purpose? You know...If you aren't pulling a train, you don't need a locomotive.

I get 28MPG (I've hit 31MPG on long trips) in a SPORTS car. I don't need a "HYBRID" logo on my car to be doing as much for the environment as any six hybrid SUV bandwagon jumpers. And honestly, probably more than the Pruis driving Leonardo De Crapio environmental posers of the world, too. At least I'm not desumating the environment to create something that's good for it.

Hang on. I just had an idea. I'm going to burn down a forest so that I can harvest the roots to make paper. Call the marketing people. "No trees were used in the creation of this paper."

BTW: Here's the letter I was talking about. After all, that's where this whole thing started.