Week 8 Reading / Responses

Cradle to Cradle
http://www.thenewprogramme.net/storage/coursematerials/va6-1_cradle%20to%20cradle.pdf

Wow, Thomas Malthus was for good reason an unpopular prophet of the future but fightingly on target. Its really interesting to know those theories were being devised even then.

This article is a sobering reminder of supply and demand or total cost of life.

As expressed in the article consumption by consumers are the core reason why all of this is taking place. We like to think at the everyday consumer you're innocent and just a small piece of the puzzle that effects the rest of the world but in reality our wallets are what drives this destruction. If we tell those companies that we won't buy a product that isn't sustainable, or renewable then can we turn the tide? Is consumer apathy the core issue here? And for us as designers should we also refuse to work for companies with negative practices and poor environmental concerns? Where can we safely draw the line between feeding our families and standing up for what we believe in? Sooner or later one generation will have to lay down its own ambitions and amenities for change on an unprecedented scale. We can't ask for change anymore. Someone has to demand it. Who will it be? Mine own millennial generation? We talk big but we're so distracted by glamourous new technologies that we don't even care enough to wipe all of Chinese blood off of our iPhones before we start taking new Facebook photos of ourselves. We need to teach not only a larger world view, but a senese of selflessness.

- Sent from my iPhone.

Sustainable Business
http://www.thenewprogramme.net/storage/coursematerials/va6-2_Gray.pdf

If McDonalds can we swayed to produce a healthier product in Sweden under public pressure than why and the hell is it not being done here? These companies do the bare minimum to meet public approval. Its all bottom line. With that said how do we rally American's and the populations of other countries to hold companies like McDonalds accountable for the garbage they're stuffing into the faces of children and adults? Maybe we they kill off enough people to see a decrease in profit they'll start to adjust their practice. Seriously, this article as well its sickening that we as consumers have the power. If we don't buy it they go out of business. Why aren't we holding these corporations hostage? How can a society mobilize and get organized to stand up against these faceless companies?