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Apple is going solar in a big way.
Nearly the entire roof of Apple’s new headquarters in Cupertino, California will be covered by photovoltaic panels. It’s appropriate that one of the world’s most innovative company’s would take this step. But with the price of generating solar energy plummeting, we expect to see more large solar installations. Plans show that Apple’s solar system will generate over 5 megawatts of electricity.
Designed by Norman Foster, this large new building incorporates numerous STAND FOR LESS features including generating energy through solar power.
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Thomas Friedman breathes fire into the STAND FOR LESS movement
Frustrated by the inertia of political leaders, Thomas Friedman took a strong stand for smart, aggressive action on climate change and clean energy at this year’s Greenbuild.
Take a few minutes and listen:
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Peak Oil Infographic from Carsort.com
A review of some of the facts regarding the power source of the modern world. This chart does many things well, but it doesn’t acknowledge global warming or communicate the sense of urgency that we need in order to aggressively move toward other sources of energy.
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A new way, Cradle to Cradle 4 of 5
We need to create “products that, when their useful life is over, do not become useless waste but can be tossed onto the ground to decompose and become food for plants and animals and nutrients for soil; or, alternately, that can return to industrial cycles to supply high-quality raw materials for new products.”
-From Cradle to Cradle, the book by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
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Redesigning our industrial society, Cradle to Cradle 3 of 5
The authors of Cradle to Cradle emphasize that we have a design problem in how we create and use stuff.
They advocate a system of industry that will:
1) Release fewer pounds of toxic wastes into the air, soil, and water every year
2) Measure prosperity by less activity
3) Meet the stipulations of thousands of complex regulations to keep people and natural systems from being poisoned too quickly
4) Produce fewer materials that are so dangerous that they will require future generations to maintain constant vigilance while living in terror
5) Result in smaller amounts of useless waste
6) Put smaller amounts of valuable materials in holes all over the planet, where they can never be retreived
This is what we call STANDing FOR LESS.