Going Local

Where things come from, what they are made of, by whom and how are becoming increasingly important questions as we learn just how much distant or huge manufacturers let things slide. This week alone these stories are revealed; the Gap lets an outsourced contractor use children to make clothing in horrible conditions, Japan's famous candy maker Akafuku is sloppy and Chinese drugs are found to be completely unregulated.

I don't know though, I don't really eat local food and use locally made crafts because I am afraid of this other stuff. I do it because I feel better on many levels for eating fresh organic food, living in a mostly DIY environment, etc. It is environmentally better for my family and the planet and it is ethically easier to discern the treatment of who's making my stuff. I am far from perfect. Actually, perfection isn't my goal. Far from it. There's so much fun good stuff out there. But, I am on a path. A path many others are streaming onto and that feels very good. Maybe, just maybe, the world isn't going somewhere hot in a hand bag. Maybe, our kids and grand kids will have something to work with when we are gone.

Local Currencies

The ideal of locally made in order to create a sustainable community, society and world is not new. I have lifted the beginning of a narrative from the E.F. Schumacher Society application for the Buckminster Fuller grant. Local currencies are part of this equation. Shifting to more local and regional ways of doing business is in everyone's best interest in the long run. I have posted the rest of the article here: Local Currencies

Buckminster Fuller Challenge
Application Narrative

Urgent Issue of our Time

E. F. Schumacher argued that if we are to achieve a sustainable economic
system (what he called an economy of permanence), then the goods consumed in
a region should by and large be produced in that region. With shorter
supply lines and fewer intermediaries between the producer and consumer,
fuel use is less and carbon dioxide emissions decrease. Individuals engaged
in their local economy may rely on more trips downtown but on fewer trips
across oceans and countries.

Consumers are more likely to tolerate poor labor conditions and
environmental degradation when they are made invisible by the distancing
effect of the global economy. Incorporating production into the local
economy helps to illuminate poor practices and their impact on the
community. Ultimately we learn that content workers, sustainable farming
practices, and a healthy environment lead to increased productivity and
decreased true costs to the consumer.

New Chargers

I have a new 14" charger I am using like a work on paper- glazing as I might a unique painting. This size and format is suitable for this approach and I look forward to more of these in the coming months.

The background glaze is a new white satin matte that works really well.

Alice Waters

After hearing Alice Waters (of Chez Panisse fame) speak last month in San Francisco, I have been on a bit of a kick. I bought her new book, The Art of Simple Food and am reading her biography. More importantly, I have deepened my commitment to eating high quality, locally grown food and have also invested in some expensive olive oil. The results are delicious meals even my 12 year is willing to eat!

technorati tags: alicewaters, localfood,

Paul Hawken, Blessed Unrest and WiserEarth

Paul Hawken speaking at a Bioneers event about his book, Blessed Unrest. Worth a look, about 5 minutes.

technorati tags: bioneers, wiserearth, paulhawken, blessedunrest

International Day of Peace

This past Friday, September 21, was the International Day of Peace. Here in Chatham, NY a group of us gathered for poetry, a bit of song and a bit of prayer- T'was a lovely thing.



Paul Nowak is holding a sign made by Jillian O'Connell.

technorati tags: idp, internationaldayofpeace, peaceday

All Edibles

Sara Weihman and Kirk Saunders set up a display at Dwell on Design, San Francisco, representing their company, All Edibles. Revolutionary idea of making planting an edible garden into a business. Leave it to Berkeley!! This is an idea that could spread. It's a good one.

technorati tags: alledibles, dwell

MAD at Dwell

Have to post some images of my booth. With huge thanks and hugs to Liz McIlvaine for help with the dotted backdrop fabric, George Gruel for the stunning photographs and large prints of them, Jan Gruel for her lighting expertise and John Wallner for his lights and friendship. Thanks also go out to Millie Rossman-Kid for help with new business card and look, Sara Weihman and mostly, Doug Cohen, who helped me set up and continues his networking magic....

Michael McDonough

Michael McDonough spoke this morning and what an amazing guy! He has a project called e-House. He has been working on the project for 7 years and said he'll probably continue developing it for the next 30. For the first 5 years he sourced everything. "Invent nothing, Google everything". He also said that "in the past 15 years, more building innovations have been made than in the past 15,000".

To consolidate what he has learned from this project, he boiled down 5 learning points:
1. Conventional building materials are good conductors - bad for insulation.
i.e. metal, glass, ceramic; all materials we use to cook with. Better to use aerated auto-clave concrete or other high insulation product whose inherent quality is to insulate.
2. Remove dampness.
3. Light - daylight combined with artificial light - use a dimmer. Watch where natural light falls and take advantage of good exposures. Be conscious of what you want to see.
4, Be where you are.
5. How do you want to live? Think about the site and what is there.

He also mentioned that many Leed certified high rises have an r-factor (insulation defense) of 2-3 (40 is optimum, 10 is barely hanging on). I found this confusing so asked him abut it later. He told me that Leed certification, the US Green Building Standard, does not do post occupancy studies. Building Science is a rigorous scientific study team which analyzes post occupancy r-rating and determines, though physics, the long term insulation standard of buildings.

Fascinating stuff, this.

Dwell on Design

Dwell on Design has just opened in San Francisco. As an exhibitor, I am currently sitting in the audience listening to John Hockenberry and others talk about architecture and social change, with a particular focus on sustainability, bubbling up as the highest levels of leadership are abandoned. It is a promising start to what is clearly going to be an exciting weekend. I will be blogging more than usual in the next 3 days, so stay tuned...

Social Networks

There is a lot of really cool social networking going on online. Unfortunately there is also some major creep stuff happening too. I joined Quechup at the invitation of a trusted contact, only to find out the site will spam your entire address book, possibly after you quit! Sorry if you got an invite, please disregard. I do like Facebook, though.

Venus Vessels

Here are some new bottles I am working on, photo courtesy of George Gruel, photographer extraordinaire. We took a bunch of shots on location at Dog Park, Jan and George's refuge and botanical oasis. The rocks here are part of a dry river bed Jan created. It was a gorgeous day and some beautiful shots were made.

The photographs are part of the show in San Francisco I am getting ready for, Dwell on Design. More new work is coming out the kiln in the next days, will post.

technorati tags: oddstick, dwell