The Creative Activist

Nine or ten years ago the government of Abu Dhabi started planning a zero-waste community of the future called Masdar City. A scaled-down, low-waste version of the original vision exists now, but the full plan appears to have been scrapped. Anyway, the appeal of prestige projects like a zero-energy city for 200,000 people might suit the needs or resources of your little corner of the world, but there are still reasons to reflect on projects like Masdar City. Such reflection might lead to other "prestige projects" that do make sense or to smaller-scale projects that are more realistic. Let's look at each of those options in some depth, beginning with the big projects. Vertical farms, that is a farm in a multi-level structure, are a thing these days. Maybe there needs to be a 1,000 foot vertical farm with airponics or hydroponics growing 100 levels of mixed fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts. A prestige project in the area of ecological restoration might be to create a...

Selling sustainable behavior during the holidays may not be a good idea, but there might be lessons to be learned by using the holidays. Valentine's Day is today, so it will make a good illustration of what I am getting at. Assume you want to convince people to stop eating meat, as a sustainability thing, not just as a question of promoting animal rights. How could the holidays be used to help achieve that goal? A holiday-themed ad campaign might work. Indeed, such campaigns are run in November in the run up to Thanksgiving Day. I would not recommend using Valentine's Day to convince people to go vegan. What possible connection is there between the two? Well, why not force a connection or two. You might get a new idea for promoting veganism. Here is how it works: 1. Ask yourself how celebrating Valentine's Day is like selling a lifestyle change (or just use veganism instead). 2. Spend a few minutes writing down everything you associate with Valentine's Day. Rec...

This post is the first of a series devoted to the Washington DC Sustainable City initiative. In July 2011, Mayor Vincent Grey initiated an effort to make DC the greenest, healthiest and most livable city in the country. The mayor's approach to this challenge is outlined on the Sustainable DC Web site . Elsewhere on this blog I have outlined a process for “scientific activism” and enumerated some principles that underlie the steps in the process. To summarize, here is what the process looks like: 1. Study the social environment, including looking at challenges and opportunities 2. Plan your efforts in light of #1, among other considerations 3. Decide what counts as a good idea 4. Steal ideas 5. Design or create new ideas 6. Evaluate your ideas 7. Implement your ideas The principles that should be used where applicable   Target innovation Find leverage Think marketing Use facts By systematic Now, the rest of this post and the next seven or eight ...