
I spoke to a great group of designers at Compostmodern 09 – http://www.compostmodern.org/ San Francisco’s beautiful Herbst theatre, February 21st, 2009.
The main thrust of the talk is the need for designers to think very carefully about what they make and design, and its use. It was very much about heirloom design – the concept I use to describe making things that will last a very long time. For things that don’t require energy to run (electronics, kettles, stoves etc) the best way to make them “efficient” is to make them last a very long time such that the energy (and hence carbon) used to make them is amortized over a very long period.
Sadly my beautiful folding bike – www.bikefriday.com – was stolen from outside the theatre while I was giving the lecture. Where’s the justice in the universe? I’d invested in the highest quality, hand made for me, folding bicycle, [...]