Ed Dowding

How to run a Responsible Society

Ricardo Semler on How to run a Responsible Society

Shades of green: should there be more organic licencing options?

Organic food shoots itself in the foot with its elitist principles, say a recent article in Farmers’ Weekly. Organic isn’t yet what one might call ‘mainstream’, so they may have a point. For too many of us, being organic comes at too high a cost: at the till, in labour costs, paperwork, effort, and time. ...

What motivates consumers to make ethically conscious decisions?

Only 47% of UK adults believe that individual efforts to limit their own impact on climate change are worthwhile, although this rises to 70% of readers and users of the Guardian and Observer, who tend to be more eco-conscious. The research further shows that 40% of UK adults think that pollution from other countries makes ...

UnLtd Futures

I’m lucky enough to have been accepted onto a social entrepreneurship mentor programme with the marvellous UnLtd. It’s called UnLtd Futures, which, though slightly hyperbolic, is deliciously optimistic. Our first session took place at NESTA a few weeks ago. It’s an odd course in as much as none of us – including the mentors – ...

Visualising an economy of plenty

New Dream Mini-Views: Visualizing a Plenitude Economy from Center for a New American Dream on Vimeo. via Visualizing a Plenitude Economy on Vimeo.

American spending, in perspective

The Chart That Should Accompany All Discussions of the Debt Ceiling – James Fallows – The Atlantic.

Let them yearn for tat.

We have a political system divided between ‘let them work for tat’ (the right) and ‘let them buy tat’ (the left). The result is a deep and valueless materialism that allows hundreds of young people across London to go on violent and thieving rampages simply because they can get away with it. We have a ...

The glorious future belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up.

Schulz: Speak – it is our only hope. The Jewish Barber (Charlie Chaplin’s character): Hope… I’m sorry but I don’t want to be an Emperor – that’s not my business – I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want ...

Federated networks of food providers

Music to my ears: It was always felt by the group that technology might exist (or be developed cost‐effectively) that could allow individual group members to place orders directly with suppliers whilst consolidating these orders and providing the supplier and the distribution company with consolidated bulk orders for ease of transport. Joining the Dots, Sustain ...

How algorithms shape our world

Kevin Slavin argues that we’re living in a world designed for — and increasingly controlled by — algorithms. In this riveting talk from TEDGlobal, he shows how these complex computer programs determine: espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. And he warns that we are writing code we can’t understand, with implications we can’t ...

The world’s most incredible photo

Just look at this: And still we fart around with insignificant nonsense. What greater reminder do you need that we’re floating on a ball in space, and the world can be whatever we want it to be? BBC News – Space shuttle Atlantis makes final landing.

Link round up

Find out what the soil is like in your area using the soil database from the National Environmental Research Council Did you know that Henry Ford encouraged soldiers to strike during WW1? He took a ship full of peace protesters to Europe on the Ford peace ship to appeal to the “good sense of the lads” to ...

3D printing using nothing but solar power and sand.

Watch the video. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow! Enough said.

Great data, beautifully used – Snake oil?

People doing wonderful things with data always gives me a little excitement. The Snake Oil? graphic from Information is Beautiful made me very happy indeed. Useful and beautiful.

Solar is Ready Now

Notes from a great article at ThinkProgress: Solar is Ready Now: ‘Ferocious Cost Reductions’ Make Solar PV Competitive. The 17 GW which was installed in 2010 is the equivalent of 17 nuclear power plants – manufactured, shipped and installed in one year. Manufacturing costs have come down from $60 a watt in the mid-1970’s to ...

100 years of unsustaintable fishing

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jun/03/fish-stocks-information-beautiful

Economic development not economic growth.

People who should know better are forever banging on about ‘economic growth’ as being something which we should make a priority. Really? How’s that going to work? We keep on doing more stuff, which begets more stuff, which begets more stuff… so… you really don’t need to be more than about four years old to ...

Live a good life.

I remember clearly the deaths of three men. One was the richest man of the century, who, having clawed his way to wealth through the souls and bodies of men, spent many years trying to buy back the love he had forfeited and by that process performed great service to the world and, perhaps, had ...

Can you feed a family on fifty quid a week?

Sainsbury’s believes you can but when Alex Renton took up the challenge, he found his household had serious misgivings. He writes: “Most supermarket sales campaigns are about “value”, which means “lower prices”, though those are not the same thing at all. In pursuit of what would seem impossible, greater earnings with ever-lower prices, the big ...

Dollar dumped

I’m very pleased to see that the BRIC have agreed to use their own currencies for trade, rather than pushing everything via the dollar. More competition, less hegemony, more resilience. Marvellous.