It seems we need a total change of paradigm.
So many of us are making so much effort to navigate the current material world, every day, because it's too polluting, too socially unfair, too wasteful.

Consumption needs to change for sure. But production needs to change too.

Very roughly (and condensed by yours truly from wikipedia), there have been three successive industrial revolutions already:
- from the 1750s, with steam power, ship transport, textile, steel
- from the 1820s, with electricity, oil, the reciprocating engine, automobiles, railroad transport - global production doubled its pace
- from the 1970s, with the internet, microprocessors, computers - delocalization became possible, plants moved out of industrialized countries, the financial & communications sector flourished, social inequalities rose.

I believe we now need Industrial Revolution #4 (IR4): the generalization of environmentally and socially viable low-tech solutions, made as locally as possible, in the context of necessarily frugal consumption.

1. minimum material - i.e. do not over-engineer, use the minimum amount of material that will do the job safely > saves material

2. least harmful material - choose the material with the least embodied energy, the most renewable source, the least risk on health > protects the environment and its inhabitants

3. least processed material - use materials as raw and mono-material as you can find them, avoid using or creating composites > makes waste sorting, recycling and upcycling easier; lowers costs.

4. most local labor force - employ the qualified people nearest to you, or train the people nearest to you > supports local economy, reduces carbon footprint, reinforces & creates communities

5. no harming of labor force - do not kill, abuse, or exploit people; offer compensation sufficient to make a decent living, make the job safe in terms of materials, processes, and schedules; ensure a caring, supportive environment > honors basic human rights and relationships

6. equitable distribution of revenue - strive to create horizontal partnerships instead of vertical ones, give back cooperatively the profit created cooperatively > expresses respect for all types of work, makes everybody engaged in the enterprise

7. function, safety, sustainability, over aesthetics - do not let aesthetics / fashion / future media coverage have an influence on your design process strong enough to make you weaken your commitment to making good objects > prevents going back to the situation we are trying to get away from.

8. full biodegradability OR full reusability of parts - do not think of objects are individual finished goods, but as a temporary assembly of ressources, belonging to a vast material cycle > allows for composting; otherwise makes waste sorting, recycling and upcycling easier

9. maximum repairability - planned-obsolescence is forbidden. > reduces labor and material waste, maximizes return on investment into product, creates repair service jobs

10. no harming of animals - do not kill nor abuse living things; avoid animal material if you can, otherwise make sure what you take from them does not prevent their best livelyhood > respects all forms of life

Naturally not ALL things can be made following these principles, but if we try to at least transform all the ones we can, we might end up in better shape.

Wishing you IR4 new years to come.

UPS will take your packing peanuts

It seems that UPS stores will gladly take off your hands:

- packing peanuts 

- air-filled plastic pillows

- cardboard boxes

I just dropped off a bag full of polystyrene peanuts (which I couldn't have disposed of properly at all - polystyrene foam is a bitch, and even specialized recycling places will not take peanuts) and air-filled bags, along with the big cardboard box that contained them. They were all taken in with a smile.

I suppose they will get reused directly to pack things again. 

I heard of this tip while browsing the web,
made a quick phone call to the closest UPS store to confirm that was true,
et voila!

ps: do make that phone call beforehand though, to make sure your local store does that as well.

how to get rid of stuff

It's shocking how quick & easy it is to buy something,
and how awfully difficult it is to get rid of anything.

I've found that the biggest hurdles to feeling comfortable participating in the second-hand economy are lack of information and lack of habit. So let's get rid of these first obstacles right now with a little how-to guide.

0. Know that getting rid of objects will likely make you a little bit of money, be it in cash or tax-deductions (most donations are tax-deductible). It will also free up storage space in your life, physically and mentally, which is great.

1. Dedicate a place for all the objects you feel are irrelevant in your life (depending on size, it can be a bag, a box or a corner in a room).

2. Pile up these objects there until their volume or quantity calls for action.

3. Meanwhile, do the research part (a one-time ordeal):

     - do a web search to locate the closest thrift stores that accepts donations.
The most well-known in the US are Goodwill and The Salvation Army, but your city might also have a local chain of thrift stores. Some of these chains offer pick-up services, either for free or a small fee, if you schedule it enough in advance - which is great if you cannot do the drop-off yourself!

     - also keep an eye out for donation boxes when you're in town. Sometimes they are located close to supermarkets, which is convenient on your way to grocery shopping. They usually are made for clothes, shoes or books (make sure to check beforehand).

     - also check-out your city's website, or call city hall to learn about their donations / recycling programs (for example, our town has a page that links to all the local places that accept book donations)

     - additionally, you can register at your local Freecycle chapter. It's a non-profit network of people who give stuff out for free. Super easy, basically a list of OFFER / WANTED from folks in the same town.

     - if there are universities near you, chances are they have a student furniture exchange program or a swap fest at the beginning & end of the academic year. Call the schools or look online for such possibilities.

     - last but not least, you might wish to sell some of your objects, in which case your first 2 options would probably be your local craiglist and then ebay. (note: craigslist also has a free category). Oh, and of course local vintage stores for clothing & accessories. And lastly, your very own garage sale if you feel so enclined.

4. Decide which of these options are the most convenient and/or interesting to you.

5. Get your objects ready, i.e. put them in the state of cleanliness in which YOU would like to receive them.

6. ACT !!! Do the drop-off / set up your meetings / go bargain at the vintage store / set up that selling table in your driveway. On your way to work, or as a weekend routine, or however it pleases you. As long as it gets DONE.

7. Rejoice for the good deed done, and also know that this effort will eventually dwindle and stop if you reach your own equilibrium at home - i.e. at some point, hopefully, you won't need to declutter anymore (I'm not there yet). The good news is, getting rid of stuff the right way is work - which makes you think real hard next time you consider an impulse purchase.

8. Now that you know all the tricks, it becomes easy as pie to shop second-hand yourself for future needs.

Note: tax-deductions linked to donations are not based on their retail price, but on their current value as objects. (ie: a very expensive pair of shoes might be valued just a little bit more than a cheap pair of shoes) The amounts might seem surprisingly low, which can be disappointing but also a good reminder of how relative the value of things is. (hey, all of them are shoes - actually I don't totally agree with that, but that's a long conversation for later).

UPDATE: Building materials get re-used too! A lot of places have centers where you / your contractor can drop off materials and fixtures in good working order (old kitchen tiles, washbasins, etc). Just search "building material recycling center" + the name of your city on the web to locate the closest one.

the age of low tech

Entretien avec Philippe Bihouix by Mediapart

Just ordered this book and very impatient to read it.

Philippe Bihouix (an engineer specializing in metals) describes so clearly the core problem with our consumption right now. Here is a summary:

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Sorting our trash in the right bins does not redeem our current consumption level.  

Why? Because the idea that we'll reach a circular economy of total recycling is nothing but a myth.

- First because of dispersive use: we don't know how to salvage metals that are used in their chemical form (in colorings, inks, plastic additives). 

- Second because of downgraded use: thousands of metallic alloys get blended together during recycling, therefore can only be reused in lower quality steels. 

The highest you go on the hi-tech scale, the more you are consuming rare ressources. All these metals are used in a partially dispersive way. On most metals we are between 0 and 5% of recycling capability - not true for 'great' metals such as copper, aluminum, but on the other precious ressources we are moving towards absolute dispersion, with the ultimate phase being nano-technologies. Hi-tech goods (smartphones, computers) as well as the technologies used in renewable energy production (windmills, solar panels, hydogen powered-car) are of great concern. 

This doesn't mean we should stop recycling and go back to fossil fuels.
But we need to aknowledge that the technical solutions currently offered to us are simply beyond realistic implementation, and that we'll only get out of this through the bottom, i.e. by embracing low-tech.

Which would look something like this: reviewing and editing our needs, so that we choose the reduction of our material consumption, rather than wait until it happens against our will. Then, filling these needs with objects which prevent recycling waste: objects more simple, more monomaterial, easily disassemblable and reassemblable, more modular, more reparable, with all that this implies at a societal level.

The thesis of the book is that we are capable of reaching a level of comfort and civilization which is technically sustainable. Not going back to the stone age necessarily, but maybe to the medieval age - with the dentist.

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So great to find somebody who can articulate and document a situation that you've personally been trying and struggling to express for a while. 

Hopefully this will be translated in english soon.

objects we can stop mass-producing right now #1: pencil holders

cleaned-up jam pots

A pencil holder needs to do one thing: hold pencils.

Which means, pretty much anything, ANYTHING will do the job quite right as long as it's able to more or less contain things: re-used metal cans, glass jars, cardboard tubes, etc.
Plus: a lot of these look good too. AND, you can throw them away with the regular trash if you move out!

So basically, any company manufacturing 'professional' pencil holders could stop right away, the world wouldn't miss them, and an entire branch of useless mass-produced objects would disappear (and the associated waste stream at the same time).