The Now

I am not an Oprah watcher but I certainly talk to an awful lot of people who are Oprah fans. I am probably really out of the loop and this is old news but I am hearing over and over about these 2 books relating to living in the NOW. Letting go of your ego and other distractions and just being in the now. Not a new concept, in fact very Jungian from what I can gather, but clearly this is impacting people. It is an interesting concept when you combine it with being more environmentally responsible.

If you are in the NOW and not thinking about later or earlier, do you just not care about the impact of your actions on anything? I am living right now so who cares about later? Or do you look at your present actions as right now and then what impact it does have on the future.

For instance. You buy a new fancy computer, like a very, very yummy IMac. The first day you get it, you unbox it, throw away all the packaging and marvel at the design, speed and technology. You cannot fathom that this stunning purchase will one day be your old computer that you cannot wait to get rid of and replace. Is that living in the now or later? How do you do both?

So do you look at the computer and say, when I throw this away, where does it go? According to an article I read in Forbes.com, electronics are the fastest growing solid waste stream in the world. They are not allowed in California landfills and therefore, they are often shipped overseas to junk yards. Waste all over the place. Check out the article "Rehab, Reuse, Recycle" at Forbes.com April 21, 2008. Pretty interesting.

How do you consume today and not trash tomorrow? Planned obsolescence is in seemingly everything we buy. Just get ready to want something newer. And not just because it is newer - it is so often times so much better. Look at the older big huge computer monitors in your office. When they die, you bring in the new flat screen monitors. What a difference. The quality of the screen is better but also, the ergonomics of your desk is so much better. You can work differently, you can pull up to your desk and see the typing on the screen. Clearly an improvement but how do we do this and not just keep junking up the planet.

"Cradle to Cradle" would say that there needs to be planned future in good design.