Plant Tweets, Reverse Boycotts and Carbon Hero
by Marissa Madrigal
I just got back from a fantastic lecture at the WebVisions '08 Conference by Alexis Madrigal, a WIRED Magazine reporter(who may or may not be my brother). The Topic: "Networking Things: How the Internet is Redefining Environmentalism". Before I could even congratulate myself on being the cool older sister who shows up to provide moral support, I realized that although he was talking about using technology in our homes to increase energy efficiency, the direction of web-based green tech is something government (as stewards of the tax dollar) can't afford to ignore.
Alexis asserts that the rhetoric of conservation hasn't worked. From the number of cars we own to the number of calories we consume, we've continued on an increasingly gluttonous path while our available resources have decreased. But right now, the true believers out there (you know the ones, solar paneled, green-roofed, I'd rather bike than biodeisel true believers) are creating technological solutions that may become easily accessible enough to disrupt the patterns of modern human behavior that have us plummeting toward a climatological armageddon.
While some of the examples he gave were just neat, many of them have the added benefit of saving money...an essential ingredient for these technologies to be picked up by individuals, businesses and yes, government en masse.
Some highlights:
- "Greenboxing" Rich, smart energy people are attaching little nodes to all their engergy consuming devices and networking them to their home computers to manage their energy usage...saving the environment and money. The hope is that some day, affordable, out of the (biodegradable) box solutions will be available for your home too.
- "Carpool 2.0" - The future of carpooling is a fusion of an E-bay style vendor rating system and social networking sites like Facebook. By rating ride-shares and setting your preferences (ie. you'll hitch a ride with a friend of a friend, but not a friend of a friend of a friend) you can create trusted ride sharing and avoid the fundamental problem with hitchhiking (crazy psycho killers). Or you could walk.
- MP3's for a greener Earth. By 2012, 25% of all media will be dematerialized - sent to you over the net - no jewel case, no paper lyrics, no nothing. (psst! Yet another reason to get a sweet, sweet iphone)
- Reverse Boycotting - some websites like CarrotMob exist to drive business to green, sustainable companies
- Uganda (the country) has installed solar powered cell phone chargers in areas that are off the grid.
- Carbon Hero - Impress your friends and track your carbon travel footprint with your cell phone.
- Take the guesswork out of watering your plants, saving water and energy- There are devices for your home plants that use Twitter.com to let you know when your plant is thirsty. When the soil gets a too dry, your plant sends a tweet to remind you to water it. If used on a mass scale for big-time agriculture, the energy, water and fertilizer savings could be huge. Again, both saving money and the earth!
There should be a podcast soon of the whole lecture, and when there is, I'll post it here.
Happy Friday, Multnomah County! Have a great, green Memorial Day Weekend.
Posted on May 23, 2008
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