Incremental Changes

I am a big picture thinker thinking about things while looking for trends and patterns that show a path or a movement and I am watching one develop right now.  In our pluralistic society, the change is coming from all places.  It is all integral to our little world of green interior construction / furniture.  Less waste is a good idea.

My neighbor bought a brand new Prius last week.  They traded in their old car, inclusive of the Condi Rice for President sticker on the bumper.  I heard that when you buy a Prius they give you an Obama for President bumper sticker as a standard issue.  I know we are what we drive around here but can't we all just decide that good performance is good performance?  

The Vatican issued a statement that pollution would now be considered "a sin".   Along with nature's demise comes ours - so who is the sinner?  ( Marketwatch.com) The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary says that destroying God's creation was akin to tearing a page out from the bible. ( The New Yorker, June 30, 2008 ).  I would rather have a less garbage/toxic filled world to live in regardless of your views on global warming.

And nearest to my heart is the start of the integration of the interior construction world.  The divide between purchasing/procurement and design/facilities/construction seems to be healing.  Slowly but moving that way.  Large corporate procurement people and large unified school district procurement people are calling for information, learning about what they are buying and wanting to know what they need to know about sustainable approaches to building.

Whatever happened to the commercials on TV with "don't be a litterbug"  and the American Indian on horseback looking at the trash on the ground with a teardrop in his eye.  Clearly had some impact on me - I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday but I remember commercials from 35 years ago....  There are 2 movies that I find interesting from a trash and garbage perspective - Wall E and Idiocracy.   Wall E is left on the plant cleaning up garbage for 700 years after the earth has so much consumerism that it cannot support life.   Idiocracy is a world with garbage everywhere and commercialization everywhere.  Society is completed dumbed down and individual responsibility and the consequences break down.  Futuristic like Sleeper but garbage plays a part in what the world looks like in the future.

The organic society.  Able to change, adapt and grow.  Designed to integrate.  The organic workplace, a manifestation of the same ingredients - adaptable, changeable and expandable.  The little steps are happening everywhere to reduce consumption, reduce waste and build differently.  Take notice.