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Extrapolations: New Apple TV Show
Extrapolations is the Apple TV+ anthology series from An Inconvenient Truth producer Scott Z Burns, exploring the near-future ripple effects of the climate crisis. “Extrapolations” sets its focus on climate change in a near future world in which humans are dealing with the impact of the environmental crisis and the decisions that must be made in order to alleviate the vastly-changing Earth.
The show looks highly produced and well budgeted and is packed with stars from Meryl Streep, David Schwimmer, Forest Whitaker, Marion Cotillard and Sienna Miller all on the call sheet.
Kit Harington (“Game of Thrones”) also appears in the series which is set over the span of eight interconnected episodes,
It raises questions such as , what are the lengths someone will go to to save a life or to save the planet? How, where and why does it get corrupted along the line?”
Fascinating premise – can’t wait to see it.
The original series is written, executive produced and directed by Scott Z. Burns (“Contagion”).
“Extrapolations” — produced by Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res — will debut with its first three episodes and will premiere on Friday, March 17. New episodes will air weekly every Friday through April 21, 2023.
For more please visit – https://tv.apple.com/
Keep visiting memoryeden.com for more news and updates on our future edens.
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The future of mobility and EV cars
The future of mobility and transportation is rapidly evolving, as more companies join the rush to create sustainable and accessible modes of high-speed, electrical transport options for people and goods.
Technology is also fundamentally transforming how consumers interact with mobility. Transformation is being driven by three independent trends:
- the emergence of affordable electric vehicles
- the development of autonomous vehicles
- and the growth of modernized ride sharing.
When integrated, these trends create a transportation model that utilizes a fleet of autonomous, electric vehicles that are not privately owned to provide cheaper, safer, and “greener” travel to more consumers, more often. The potential economy-wide disruptions caused by this transportation system are enormous.
- How will car manufacturers adapt when vehicle sales plummet as shared, autonomous vehicles increase vehicle utilization and provide greater mobility with a fraction of the number of cars currently on the road?
- How will oil companies react to falling oil demand caused by the increased adoption of electric vehicles?
- What are the income inequality ramifications of significantly increased disposable income?
- How will governments deal with large increases in unemployment as autonomous cars replace professional human drivers?
Before disruption occurs, leaders must be prepared to usher communities and organisation through a phase of transformational change; but change is hard.
That said, there are a few pioneering brands that are a cut above the rest and driving massive transformation in the sector.
Lilium – accelerating the decarbonization of air travel
Lilium is a German company focused on developing electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs) that can be used to offer air taxi services. The company went public in September 2021 through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal, raising more than $800 million.Using the Lilium Jet, an all-electric vertical take-off and landing jet, offering leading capacity, low noise and high performance with zero operating emissions,. Working with aerospace, technology and infrastructure leaders, and with planned launch networks announced in Germany, the United States and Brazil, Lilium’s 750+ strong team includes approximately 450 aerospace engineers and a leadership team responsible for delivering some of the most successful aircraft in aviation history. Founded in 2015, Lilium’s headquarters and manufacturing facilities are in Munich, Germany, with teams based across Europe and the U.S.
Daniel Wiegand (current co-founder and CEO) and his co-founders launched the company in 2015, designing and proving out a novel eVTOL jet architecture – and attracting some of best talent in the industry to help them achieve their mission. Since then, the company has gone from a start-up to a Nasdaq-listed company with over 800 employees and a dynamic, experienced, leadership team pulled from the best of aerospace and high-tech.
While Wiegand (the co-founder and CEO) is confident about the design of the company’s latest seven-seater aircraft, he is still struggling with the business model. Lilium has three main options. First, it can offer air mobility services to passengers, i.e., become a full-service B2C company. Second, it can become an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), selling its jets to other companies that offer mobility services (B2B option). Third, Lilium can choose a hybrid option, offering air mobility to end-users in certain markets while selling its jets to other air mobility service providers.
On June 1, 2022, Lilium announced Klaus Roewe, long-time Airbus executive, would be the company’s new CEO starting in August. While Lilium’s co-founder and the current CEO, Daniel Wiegand, will continue as Lilium’s Chief Engineer for Innovation and Future Programs and as a Board Director.
During his 30 years at Airbus, Klaus Roewe has spearheaded all phases of the life cycle of a commercial aircraft across Engineering, Manufacturing, Program management and Customer Support. He led Airbus’ most important business line, the A320 and A320neo programs, to unprecedented success during his tenure: improving aircraft performance, doubling EBIT, cutting unit costs, while increasing market share and FCF, making it the most successful large commercial aircraft program of all time.
Tesla – constantly disrupting the EV market
2021 was a banner year for Elon Musk. CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, the aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, and a few smaller startups, Musk became the richest person on Earth after Tesla reached a market capitalization of $1 trillion and SpaceX a private valuation of $100 billion. Both companies bet big on risky technologies. Now that they were leaders in booming industries, the task was to retain their lead.
Musk had proposed a round of big new bets for each company: Tesla was to work with partners to rapidly expand battery production with a focus on lithium-iron phosphate batteries, and SpaceX was to launch thousands more of its Starlink satellites aboard Starship, the largest launch system ever devised.
Meanwhile, Tesla faced litigation related to SEC complaints and safety concerns about its Autopilot driver-assistance system, and SpaceX’s growing Starlink constellation similarly raised safety concerns. For Musk, the question was: should he consolidate gains and fix the operational, legal, and political problems before launching new initiatives, or should he proceed full speed ahead?
GM – a bold EV vision
General Motors made a splash last year when it announced a bold plan to ramp up sales of electric vehicles and said it would stop making gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
But more than a year later, some other automakers appear better positioned to lead the industry’s transition to E.V.s. Tesla had global sales of more than 310,000 electric cars in the first quarter of this year, while G.M. is far behind unless it counts E.V.s made by its Chinese joint ventures. It sold fewer than 500 E.V.s in the United States in the quarter. Ford Motor has just started production of an electric F-150 pickup truck and has taken customer reservations for more than 200,000 of them.
Yet, G.M.’s chief executive, Mary T. Barra, is unconcerned. In her view, the G.M. strategy should enable the company to make more affordable E.V.s than most competitors, and eventually to win over many of the tens of millions of mainstream car buyers who are not yet shopping for electric vehicles.
Last year E.V.s accounted for about 3 percent of the 15 million cars and trucks sold in the United States. As that percentage grows, G.M. expects this cost advantage to allow it to overtake most of its rivals within a few years and to challenge Tesla for the lead in E.V. sales before the end of the decade.
“That’s the long game we are playing,” Ms. Barra said in an interview at G.M.’s sprawling technical center in Warren, north of Detroit. “And I’m here to win.”
The heart of the strategy is a battery pack design that G.M. has engineered over the last five years. Its packs, marketed under the name Ultium, are made up of Lego-like battery modules that can be combined in different sizes and used in any G.M. vehicle, from a compact car to a full-size pickup. Since the modules all use the same parts, G.M. believes it will reap great economies of scale that will drive down its costs and give it an advantage over other automakers.
While working on its Ultium design, G.M. also started building four factories with a partner, LG Electric, to churn out battery packs in mass quantities and at lower costs. It has also started retooling assembly plants to make vehicles with Ultium packs.
Ms. Barra noted that most E.V.s sold in the United States last year were luxury models purchased by people who owned at least two vehicles. G.M.’s current offerings are of that type. They include an electric GMC Hummer pickup that sells for about $110,000 and a luxury sport-utility vehicle, the Cadillac Lyriq.
“If you want E.V.s to get to 100 percent or even 50 percent of the market, there have to be affordable E.V.s,” she said. “You’ve got to provide entry models in that space.”
With G.M.’s E.V. strategy well underway, Ms. Barra is confident that the company has chosen the right path, and her biggest concern is executing it as quickly as possible. “I drive the organization crazy because I’m constantly challenging the organization on how can we go faster,” she said. “Every time I go to design and see a vehicle they’re working on, I’m like, ‘How fast can we get that out?’”
Porsche – Designing EV super cars
Porsche recently introduced its first fully-electric car – the Taycan – and much more is to follow in the coming years. The new 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance testbed is the latest clue to the sports EVs in the works, developing a mammoth 986bhp from its 735kW motors in qualifying mode.
Porsche, like all other car makers, has CO2 targets to meet, so has been slowly expanding its range of hybrids and plug-in cars. By 2030, the car maker aims to be carbon neutral across the entire value chain and expects its output to be more than 80 percent pure electric.
Both current generations of Porsche’s two largest models – the Panamera and Cayenne – have both an e-Hybrid and a performance-orientated Turbo S e-Hybrid model, for example, and there are more to come in the following years. And, while hybridisation satisfies both Porsche’s performance car goals and its gradual reduction in CO2 output, the brand is investing heavily in battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). After years of teasing, concept cars and leaks, Porsche finally revealed the production version of its first EV in 2019: the Taycan (above).
It has also invested in Rimac, first buying a 10 per cent stake in the company – known for its Concept_One and Concept_Two cars – in June 2018, only to then increase that stake to 15.5 per cent just days after the Taycan’s September 2019 reveal. In late 2021, Bugatti-Rimac was created as the Croatian hypercar maker struck a joint venture with Rimac owning 55 per cent and Porsche AG 45 per cent.
The Taycan BEV is the vanguard of Porsche’s full-electric car plans. The Taycan is available in saloon, Sport Turismo and Cross Turismo bodystyles, combined in combination with four variants: base model, 4S, GTS, Turbo and Turbo S – stretching from around £74k all the way to £141k and beyond. These performance variants still claim between 250 and 280 miles of range in Europe (though the EPA in the USA says the Turbo S actually has around 190 miles), with four-second-or-less 0-62mph sprints.
The Sport and Cross Turismo models are spin-offs; think of them as wagon and off-road estate versions of the Taycan, designed to be more user-friendly for a wider range of potential customers.
When it comes to the Macan, Porsche confirmed that the next one will definitely be full-electric and it will use the Premium Platform Electric – an 800v battery-electric platform that’s been primarily developed by Porsche, but one that the wider VW Group has access to. Audi, for example, will be creating a range of cars to sit on the electric underpinnings in the coming years. Porsche confirmed that the next electric Macan will be built at its facility in Leipzig, too. Expect to see the all-electric Macan later in 2023.
What about an electric Porsche hypercar? Porsche has been lacking an ultimate halo car since the hybrid-powered 918 Spyder, and it’s something the brand is keen to get back into. So long as it has real-world applications; Porsche isn’t about to churn out a biblically-powerful hypercar for the sake of it, but experiments are being conducted behind closed doors with a focus on improving the chemistry of the batteries.
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To explore more of our stories and insights, please visit The Memory Edit page.
Sources:
- Lilium – Images and Information – https://lilium.com/company
- NYTimes – https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/12/business/general-motors-mary-barra-electric-cars.html
- Harvard Business Review – EV Cars – https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=62046
- Cars Magazine – Porsche’s electric car plans explained in full – https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/electric/porsche/
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Grow your hotel’s appeal with right eco credentials
Can you grow you hotel’s appeal with the right eco credentials?
The answer is yes.
The growing popularity of eco hotels is a testament to the fact that consumers are more conscious than ever about their impact on the environment. Eco hotels are designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. They also offer a unique experience for guests who want to stay somewhere that makes them feel good about their choice.
Consumers today are looking for more more eco conscious aspects to their travel and tourism plans. Eco tourism is growing in popularity as more people become aware of the importance of protecting our planet.
Today’s consumers are increasingly millennial, as well as socially and environmentally conscious. Millennials are committed to implementing the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These provide a shared blueprint to action social and environmental issues such as ending poverty, improving health and education, reducing inequality, tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
76% of millennials think climate change poses a serious threat to society and have grown up viewing it as an existential threat, worrying about rising sea levels, and witnessing one natural disaster after another
. As consumers, they seek longevity and are willing to spend more on sustainable products and services, including travel. A recent Nielsen study noting that 75% of Millennials have altered their purchasing habits. They also made significant changes to their lifestyle to lessen their environmental impact, compared to only 34% of Baby Boomers.
For these consumers, there are plenty of factors that make up their eco travel experience—from the food and drink, to the service and accommodation. They’re asking tougher questions and demanding more. Which means if you’re planning an eco hotel, or own a hospitality property, eco design needs to be central to your strategy.
What is an Eco Hotel?
An eco hotel is any hotel that uses sustainable practices in its operation, from energy conservation to reducing waste.
Eco hotels tend to be smaller and more intimate than traditional hotels, which means there’s less competition and more opportunity for new business owners to enter the market.
There are many different ways to achieve this goal, but all of them follow three basic principles:
1) Reduce your environmental impact as much as possible without sacrificing quality or comfort for guests.
2) Engage guests in your efforts to reduce your environmental impact (and make them part of the solution).
3) Make those efforts visible—letting customers know what they’re doing to help the environment will increase their goodwill toward you, which can translate into more bookings.
The Design Elements Of An Eco Hotel: How To Make Your Hotel Sustainable
Eco hotels are a great way to bring awareness to the environmental impact of travel and tourism. One of the most important things you can do when designing an eco hotel is to consider what your guests expect from their hotel experience.
If you’re looking into designing an eco hotel or adding sustainable elements to your existing one, there are several things you’ll need to consider before making any decisions.
Incorporate sustainable design elements into your architecture
There’s been an increasing use of low impact structures, tents and eco buildings to create immersive guests experiences that deliver major eco benefits.
These benefits of these temporary structures are numerous:
- A small environmental footprint compared to conventional foundation systems such as concrete slabs, pads and stumps etc.
- Low probability for disturbance to ground surfaces and natural flora.
- Relatively fast install times therefore minimal disturbance from construction workers and machinery compared to conventional dwellings which may take several weeks.
- Accurate material manifests leading to minimal waste on site.
- Easily transportable materials that can even be airlifted into remote and environmentally sensitive locations offering minimal impact compared to conventional truck haulage.
- Easily dismantled and easily removed if required offering minimal onsite disturbance compared to demolition of a conventional structure.
- A range of environmentally friendly services can be installed including solar panels, septic and filtration systems etc.
- Use of recycled decking and flooring like rice husks decking that offers natural thermal insulation. With the colour embedded into each board no painting or staining is required preventing harmful chemicals spilling into the earth.
- Durability of product means minimal maintenance and disturbance on site.
- Energy efficient walling materials that can be heated or cooled very efficiently due to the canvas construction holding the ambient air temperature so well which ultimately minimises power consumption.
- Neutral colours that visually blend in well with the natural environment.
Embrace energy efficiency
First off: what kind of energy source will your hotel use? There are many different types out there.
Solar panels, smart grids and smart apps can enable an eco hotel to better monitor increasing energy demands. They can help to optimise electrical distribution and use automation to manage large variations in loads.
If you’re a property where guests can park, consider including EV charging stations and the option of connected electric vehicle services to promote clean energy and can reduce emissions by optimising car usage.
Minimize waste output and pollution caused by hotel operations
An eco hotel can help reduce its carbon footprint through waste management practices such as recycling programs and composting initiatives (among many others).
Promote local economic growth and employment opportunities for local communities
From a development perspective, ecotourism ventures should only be considered ‘successful’ if local communities have some measure of control over them. And if they share equitably in the benefits emerging from ecotourism activities. An empowerment framework is one of the best measures for helping to analyse the social, economic, psychological and political impacts of ecotourism on local communities. It involves:
- Economic empowerment – Ecotourism needs to bring lasting economic gains to a local community. Cash earned is shared between many households in the community. There are visible signs of improvements from the cash that is earned (e.g. improved water systems, houses made of more permanent materials). Most profits should not go to outside operators, government agencies, etc. The community shares in these economic benefits regardless of capital and/or appropriate skills.
- Psychological empowerment – The self-esteem of many community members is enhanced because of outside recognition of the uniqueness and value of their culture, their natural resources and their traditional knowledge. Increasing confidence of community members leads them to seek out further education and training opportunities. Access to employment and cash leads to an increase in status for traditionally low-status sectors of society e.g. women, youths.
- Social empowerment Ecotourism maintains or enhances the local community’s equilibrium. Community cohesion is improved as individuals and families work together to build a successful ecotourism venture.
- Political empowerment The community’s political structure, which fairly represents the needs and interests of all community groups provides a forum. Through which people can raise questions relating to the ecotourism venture and have their concerns dealt with. Agencies initiating or implementing the ecotourism venture seek out the opinions of community groups. These include special interest groups of women, youths and other socially disadvantaged groups – providing opportunities for them to be represented on decision-making bodies.
Implement responsible water use practices
Saving water is the first step towards a sustainable tourism industry. It is generally acknowledged that tourists consume more water than residents and in very different quantities depending on the destinations. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) states that in European hotels, every guest consumes on average around 394 liters per night. In Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia or Thailand, the average rises sharply to 677 liters, while in Barbados the figure rockets to 839 liters.
We see two major problems with water management in ecotourism today: 1) the amount of water used per visitor and 2) the waste that is produced from that water use. When you visit an eco tourism site, you’re probably going to use more than your fair share of water. And then there’s all the waste that comes with it—bottles, packaging, and so on.
So how can you design a water responsible eco hotel?
- Start by raising the awareness of guests and of the entire staff about water consumption and wastage. You can include emails prior to arrival that educate guests on your hotel’s water standards. You can design educational and fun programs for children and their families that raise awareness of cooperation and create positive habits that guests can take home.
- Instead of drinking water, your eco hotel could use ‘grey water.’ Reusing grey water reduces the use of water, stops desertification and lets local communities actually use their own drinking water.
- Instal water filters in toilets and kitchens to allow guests to refill their water bottles, leading to the saving of plastic in containers and glasses.
- Encourage guests to reuse towels and bed sheets and to reduce the duration of their showers can save millions of liters of water all around the world
- Instal WCs with partial flush or faucets with flow limiters.
- Opt for water recycling for irrigation and the adoption of native flora in gardening
- Use tanks to collect rainwater for ecological vegetable gardens.
- Incorporate smart technologies and automatic systems that adjust water pressure, detect leaks and monitor consumption.
Incorporate energy-efficient technologies into hotel operations
Smart technology allows hotel owners to monitor and reduce their carbon footprint. It also helps attract guests who prefer and increasingly demand smart design in their surroundings.
How can you bring in ‘smart’ thinking to your eco design?
- Choose furniture with built-in charging stations
- Use ambient lighting for mood enhancement
- Add motion sensors in key places
- Use voice commands for simple tasks (like controlling the lights)
- Install video cameras around the perimeter of your property so guests can see who’s at the door before answering it
- Make sure all appliances are connected to Wi-Fi so they can be controlled remotely through an app on a guest’s phone or tablet
- Install smart locks so guests don’t have to worry about keys when you’re away from home
- Install temperature monitors throughout guest rooms and common spaces so you can adjust temperatures remotely
The benefits of ecotourism:
While eco tourism might not be as prolific yet as other types of tourism there is an increasing demand for it.
Eco hotels help to reduce the human impact on the environment – natural resources are protected; social responsibility upheld. There’s also a marked reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and in the carbon footprint, plus less waste produced at each property which reduces disposal costs.
By involving communities in an eco hotel’s operations it can boost economic growth and employment opportunities in those regions plus lead to significant positive social change.;
The increased revenue generated by guests who choose eco-friendly accommodations over traditional hotels is also an added plus from a business perspective
Additionally, if marketed well you could really amp up your guest attraction by focusing on your strong sustainability credentials: By being environmentally responsible at your business, you signal to potential guests that you are ahead of your competitors. While increasing your green standing and meeting global and local sustainability goals.
Ultimately, when an eco hotel is thoughtfully designed, built and run, it’s a win-win for all involved.
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Sources:
- Images: Camp Sarika, Utah, USA
- Ecotourism and the empowerment of local communities, Research by Regina Scheyvens
For more sustainable hotel, travel and accommodation insights visit our Travel Page.
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The best 100+ sustainable design and green living quotes
Sustainable design is about taking what we have and making it last as long as possible. It’s about reusing materials and making something new out of something old—it’s about taking care of things so they don’t break down into nothingness. Sustainable design means that when we die, there will still be things around us left over from our lives here on earth.
It means leaving behind something worth remembering instead of just disappearing into oblivion like dust in the wind. In the words of Imran Khan, Good design is sustainable design.
Here are 100+ of the best, most inspiring and truth telling quotes about creating sustainability and how you can make a difference by living green and being mindful of your impact on the environment. (Accompanied by stunning photography from some of the most beautiful gardens found in luxury hotels around the world).
1 hotel – west hollywood - The best way to predict future is to create it. – Peter Drucker
- “Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” – Gro Harlem Brundtland
- “Sustainability is a political choice, not a technical one. It’s not a question of whether we can be sustainable, but whether we choose to be” – Gary Lawrence
- “There must be a better way to make the things we want, a way that doesn’t spoil the sky, or the rain or the land” – Paul McCartney
- Our biggest challenge in this new century is to take an idea that seems abstract – sustainable development – and turn it into a reality for all the world’s people. – Kofi Annan
- No matter how complex global problems may seem, it is we ourselves who have given rise to them. They cannot be beyond our power to resolve. – Daisaku Ikeda
- How long can men thrive between walls of brick, walking on asphalt pavements, breathing the fumes of coal and of oil, growing, working, dying, with hardly a thought of wind, and sky, and fields of grain, seeing only machine-made beauty, the mineral-like quality of life? – Charles A. Lindbergh
- The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces, or at least not try to defy them. – Paul Hawken
- Without environmental sustainability, economic stability and social cohesion cannot be achieved. – Phil Harding
- Reducing our levels of consumption will not be a sacrifice but a bonus if we simply redefine the meaning of the word ‘success. – David Wann
- What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another. – Mahatma Gandhi
- Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man. – Stewart Udall
- Look after the land and the land will look after you, destroy the land and it will destroy you. – Aboriginal Proverb
- You have to hold yourself accountable for your actions, and that’s how we’re going to protect the Earth. – Julia Butterfly Hill
- The most sustainable way is to not make things. The second most sustainable way is to make something very useful, to solve a problem that hasn’t been solved. – Thomas Sigsgaard
- Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. – Aldo Leopold
- A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- The old Lakota was wise. He knew that man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans too. – Luther Standing Bear
- We can’t just consume our way to a more sustainable world. – Jennifer Nini
CONVENT GARDEN HOTEL – LONDON - Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. – Chief Seattle, 1854
- Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction. – Dr. Edward O. Wilson
- The natural environment sustains the life of all beings universally. – Dalai Lama
- An act of violence against nature should be judged as severely as that against society or another person. – Dr. Michael W.Fox
- Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so called scientific knowledge. – Thomas Edison
- He that plants trees loves others beside himself. – Thomas Fuller
- We cannot hope to create a sustainable culture with any but sustainable souls. – Derrick Jensen
- There must be more to life than having everything! – Maurice Sendak
- The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. – Hans Hofmann
- We have to cultivate contentment with what we have. We really don’t need much. When you know this, the mind settles down. Cultivate generosity. Delight in giving. Learn to live lightly. In this way, we can begin to transform what is negative into what is positive. This is how we start to grow up. – Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
- We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. – Aldo Leopold
- Being green is more than just buying ‘eco’. It is an unshakable commitment to a sustainable lifestyle. – Jennifer Nini
- The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction. – Rachel Carson
- In America today you can murder land for private profit. You can leave the corpse for all to see, and nobody calls the cops. – Paul Brooks
- How long can men thrive between walls of brick, walking on asphalt pavements, breathing the fumes of coal and of oil, growing, working, dying, with hardly a thought of wind, and sky, and fields of grain, seeing only machine-made beauty, the mineral-like quality of life? – Charles A. Lindbergh
- It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment. – Ansel Adams
- The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition. – Carl Sagan
HYATT REGENCY – AMSTERDAM - Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. – Archbishop Desmond Tutu
- There is a great need for the introduction of new values in our society, where bigger is not necessarily better, where slower can be faster, and where less can be more. – Gaylord Nelson
- In our rich consumers’ civilization we spin cocoons around ourselves and get possessed by our possessions. – Max Lerner
- Our life is frittered away by detail…Simplify, simplify, simplify! Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose. – Henry Thoreau
- People ‘over-produce’ pollution because they are not paying for the costs of dealing with it. – Ha-Joon Chang
- Where the quality of life goes down for the environment, the quality of life goes down for humans. – George Holland
- We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. – Thomas Fuller
- When the soil disappears, the soul disappears. – Ymber Delecto
- …most of the damage we cause to the planet is the result of our own ignorance. – Yvon Chouinard
- A margin of life is developed by Nature for all living things – including man. All life forms obey Nature’s demands – except man, who has found ways of ignoring them. – Eugene M. Poirot
- For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death. – Rachel Carson
- Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites. – William Ruckelshaus
- We can never have enough of Nature. – Henry David Thoreau
the principal – manchester - All I want is to stand in a field and to smell green, to taste air, to feel the earth want me, without all this concrete hating me. – Phillip Pulfrey
- Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them. – Albert Einstein
- Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead
- How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. – Anne Frank
- I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. – Edward Everett Hale
- Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good action; try to use ordinary situations. – Jean Paul Richter
- Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money. – Cree Indian Proverb
- The greatest danger to our future is apathy. – Jane Goodall
- Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed. – Mahatma Gandhi
- We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world. – Howard Zinn
- Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyle. – Pope John Paul II
- The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river. – Ross Perot
- The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces, or at least not try to defy them. – Paul Hawken
- It angers me when sustainability gets used as a buzzword. For 90 percent of the world, sustainability is a matter of survival. – Cameron Sinclair
- Unless we are willing to encourage our children to reconnect with and appreciate the natural world, we can’t expect them to help protect and care for it. – David Suzuki
1 HOTEl brooklyn BRIDGE, new york - Forests and meat animals compete for the same land. The prodigious appetite of the affluent nations for meat means that agribusiness can pay more than those who want to preserve or restore the forest. We are, quite literally, gambling with the future of our planet – for the sake of hamburgers. – Peter Singer
- Consume less; share better. – Hervé Kempf
- Be the change you wish to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi
- The great challenge of the twenty-first century is to raise people everywhere to a decent standard of living while preserving as much of the rest of life as possible. – Edward O. Wilson
- We are not above nature, we are a part of nature. – Jennifer Nini
- You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. – Jane Goodall
- The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it. – Robert Swan
- The best way to predict the future is to design it. – Abraham Lincoln
- There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness – Mahatma Gandhi
- Buy less, choose well, make it last. –Vivienne Westwood, fashion designer
- As consumers, we have so much power to change the world by just being careful in what we buy. – Emma Watson
- Waste isn’t waste until we waste it. –Will.I.Am
- Cheap fashion is really far from that. It may be cheap in terms of the financial cost, but very expensive when it comes to the environment and the cost of human life. –Sass Brown
- Fashion shouldn’t cost the earth – Environmental Audit Company
- Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected. – William Plomer
- If you don’t like the way the world is, you change it…one step at a time. – Marian Wright Edelman
- The most sustainable way is to not make things. The second most sustainable way is to make something very useful, to solve a problem that hasn’t been solved. – Thomas Sigsgaard
- Don’t be into trends. Don’t make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you express by the way you dress and the way you live. — Gianni Versace
- Become an active citizen through your wardrobe. -Livia Firth
nobu hotel – shoreditch - Everything is designed. Few things are designed well. — Brian Reed
- If it can’t be reduced, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production. – Peter Seeger
- Waste is a design flaw. – Kate Kreba
- Anyone who believes in indefinite growth on a physically finite planet is either mad or an economist. – Sir David Attenborough
- There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere. – Annie Leonard
- An economy that puts back what it takes out, that is sustainable by design. – Matthew Bishop
- Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent. — Joe Sparano
- Make it simple, but significant – Don Draper
- Leave it better than you found it. –Bruce A. Nordstrom
- To be young and aware is to know you’re being lied to; to know that a bright green future is possible; to know that we can reimagine the world, rebuild our cities, redesign our lives, retool our factories, distribute innovation and creativity and all live in a world that is not only better than the alternative, but much better than the world we have now. – Alex Steffen
- Bringing nature back into the city is a way to deal with urban sprawl. If cities feel a little more natural, people like to live there rather than moving out and dividing up another piece of land that shouldn’t be touched. – Stone Gossard
- An endless number of green buildings doesn’t make a sustainable city. – Jan Gehl
- We can’t just consume our way to a more sustainable world. – Jennifer Nini
- Art is solving problems that cannot be formulated before they have been solved. The shaping of the question is part of the answer. – Pete Hein
- To design is to communicate clearly by whatever means you can control or master. – Milton Glaser
- Simplicity, suitability and proportion. – Elsie de Wolfe
- In nature nothing is created and nothing is destroyed, but everything is transformed. – Antoine Laurent Delavosier
- This is my deepest belief. That there are too many of us keeping our hearts and minds on what is not working in the world around us, than on what is. As a result, we’re getting engulfed in darkness. For you can only walk towards what your eyes can see. Memory Eden is my personal mission to keep MY eyes focused on whatever is good, true, noble and right. On beautiful gardens, idyllic edens and sustainable spaces. On the people, places and spaces that inspire me to treasure and protect our gorgeous planet. Not so I can boast in the things that I see. But so I can keep my eyes averted from darkness and walk boldly towards the light. – Neva Read, founder Memory Eden.
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To explore more of our stories and insights, please visit The Memory Edit page.
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LAGO’s airy, modular furniture designs
LAGO is a design house that systematically explores design, producing not only individual articles but also a series of modular systems that can be mixed and matched to furnish any room in the home as well as public spaces.
Lately the eponymous design company has been experimenting with the concept of creating the maximum amount of airiness in a room or space.
They’ve created a series of airy modular pieces that showcase the elegance and light and airy feel of modern contemporary setting – where air moves freely and gossamer light fills up the space.
air′i·ness n.
Synonyms: airy, filmy, gauzy, gossamer, sheer2
These adjectives mean so light and insubstantial as to resemble air or a thin film: airy curtains blowing at the window; the filmy wings of a moth; gauzy clouds in the sky; a gown of gossamer fabric; sheer silk stockings.The strength of LAGO furnishings lies in their simplicity, thanks to their essential lines and language, modularity and architectural mimicry. They have an inherent ability to dialogue with different styles and settings, and offer countless geometrics and measurements that come in a range of 32 colours and innovative materials.
One example is their Air walk-in wardrobe explores the concept of lightness in a space. These sleek wardrobe volumes boast an outstanding build and details including extra-clear, smoked grey or smoked bronze glass supports, and fully lacquered shelves and storage units. Drawer units with a 45° finish and aluminium filigree also feature profiled, handleless doors in coloured glass, XGlass or Wildwood.
This makes for an architectural walk-in space for organising your wardrobe, which can also be used as a freestanding piece, transforming into a central room partition, a TV cabinet or a unit to furnish an entrance, communal area or hallway.
Even more beguiling is their Air Sofa, which seems to float on glass supports. The supports, available in Extrachiaro tempered glass or metal, give an ethereal, innovative stamp to any space. The sofa’s soft, supple forms with the sophisticated modular build makes for a highly developed product.
Designed from extremely elastic and long-lasting materials and with a layer of selected, certified goose down, it is ultra-comfy and inviting. The aluminium frame technology and patented coupling mechanisms for the seats and backrests allow you to create infinite configurations in just a few simple steps, giving you the freedom to build your own composition.
Every piece of furniture leaving the LAGO FABBRICA factory combines the reliability of industrial processes and the dedication of craftsmanship.
LAGO’s philosophy is also hinged on healthy living, and the company has always chosen high-quality materials for its production processes that do not impact the environment and reduce the amount of waste produced.
LAGO sells into more than 20 countries worldwide, through over 900 selected stores, including many single-brands. It has also furnished more than 150 projects in cities such as Rome, London, Paris and Shanghai.
To explore more of our stories and insights, please visit The Memory Edit page.
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Holiday more consciously at Ulaman Eco Retreat
Imagine a unique holistic retreat experience for people who strive to live more consciously without compromising comfort and luxury? Today, you can not only imagine it but experience it, at the luxurious Ulaman Eco retreat in Kediri, Indonesia.
20+ years ago, Toronto native and accomplished business entrepreneur, Dino Magnatta fell in love with the Balinese people, their culture, religion and spiritual beliefs.
He envisioned a truly remarkable retreat with an “Ubud feel”. One that would be located in Kediri, close to the Canggu and Seminyak regions, complete with tranquil water features that promotes whole-body wellness and paired the effort with ecologically-sound practices.
In 2019, he connected with Charlie Hearn, a “green” architect from Inspiral Architect. The pair shared ideas and the confluence was a match made in eco-lux heaven as their ideas came together to create a unique eco-retreat.
Their vision is to design spaces fully committed to eco-living and sustainability principles by design and practice. This commitment was followed through from when the pair laid the first foundation of Ulaman until the day they opened our doors to guests.
The heart and soul of the resort lies upon fascinating bamboo architecture visible throughout the whole compound. The bamboo structures proudly stand tall from the ground, as if they were naturally emerging from Mother Earth itself.
Dramatic and bold, yet eloquent and charming, leaving a long-lasting impression for every pair of eyes fortunate enough to witness its beauty. Spectacular curvilinear roofing, aesthetic bamboo structures and uniquely shaped buildings are well-integrated throughout the whole resort, epitomising a timeless work of art.
The entire Ulaman Eco Retreat property consists of 11 eco-luxury guest villas which can accommodate up to 22 guests, making it an ideal setting for wedding parties, yoga retreats and conferences. Each villas can also be rented individually for singles, couples and honeymooners.
From the cocoon-shaped entrance gate to the bamboo grand staircase, every corner is designed to give you the perfect eye-gasm.
Most of the structures are made of bamboo and all of the curved walls on ground level are built with ‘Rammed Earth’ – a mixture of natural materials such as earth, sand, lime and gravel – creating beautiful layered coloring.
Eco-conscious practices are consistently visible in the retreat’s day-to-day operation. Ulaman follows a ‘Farm to Table’ restaurant concept with food sourced from their own organic garden, filtered from-the-tap well water and custom-hydro turbine system – some of the many eco-initiatives taken on the property. Which allow guests to enjoy the best vacation of their lives while leaving the smallest ecological footprint.
Ulaman’s Tree House Spa is the only treehouse spa in Bali and Southeast Asia. Perched over the Ulaman Waterfall and River, it was carefully built and designed around the most spiritual ‘Banyan Tree’ on the property.
This is where guests indulge in heavenly spa treatments along with the hypnotic sounds of the waterfall and river.
To book, please visit https://ulamanbali.com/
For more luxury eco escapes, please visit our Travel + Lifestyle pages.
ARCHITECT(S):
Inspiral Architecture and Design Studios -
Designing smart, efficient and greener homes
The smart home of the future is here, and it’s nothing like you’ve ever seen before. It’s smarter, more efficient and greener than ever before.
Being future forward with your house design starts with making your home work smarter for you. The days of “smart” being synonymous with “hacked” are over, and now it’s about making your home work for YOU. We’re not just talking about convenience—we’re talking about helping you live a better life.
Designing a smart home also means considering what kind of technology should you consider integrating into your home so that you can live more efficiently and comfortably.
As we push further into a more sustainable and environmentally responsible future, having technology in our homes we can monitor our impact on the planet means that the idea of a smart home is more important than ever.
When you think about the way we live now, it’s clear that the way we design our homes needs to change. Our houses can become huge sources of wasted resources and untapped emissions which don’t reflect our values or our passion to leave the world a better place than we found it.
It’s easy to get so focused on making our homes look good that we forgot to make them actually useful and sustainable. And now, as technology advances at an exponential rate, we need to rethink how we can use it in our homes for more than just entertainment. We need to use our homes to heal both ourselves and our planet – and to turn them into mini Edens of solace and sustainability.
We’ve all heard the term “smart home” used to describe everything from a fully automated smart house to a simple thermostat that can be controlled remotely. But what is a smart home, really?
A smart home isn’t just about technology—it’s also about design. The best way to make your home smart is to combine elements of both, so that you can create an interiors that feel like part of a futuristic world and reflect your personal style at the same time.
But how do you design a smart home? Here are 10 ways to do just that:
Start small
Don’t try to change everything at once; instead, start with one room or area of your house that needs improvement and work from there. You can always expand later!
Go Solar
Installing solar can vary in complexity and cost, depending on which option you choose. The main hurdles for this project include budgeting wisely for it, including it in an existing architectural design and exploring the feasibility of installation (roof area and exposure to sunlight).
A smart solar system can usually boosted by either gas or electricity for heating during overcast weather or night time. This means that you are not drawing on the grid when the solar panels are in use, which means less carbon emissions and a lower electricity bill.
Watch your water use and heating
Water and energy use are closely linked – to reduce water consumption also reduces the energy used to heat and pump the water around your home. While the best way to reduce your footprint when it comes to water is to simply use less, in an Owners Corporation this is near impossible to enforce.
Simple things homeowners can do to reduce water use include:
- Ensuring there are no leaks throughout your water system
- Installing timed watering systems for shared gardens (use between 10pm and 6am will reduce evaporation)
- Replacing foreign plants with native alternatives requiring less water
- If your property has an outdoor pool, a cover can prevent the 90-95% of evaporation
Although an extensive undertaking, one way to help reduce your water use is to consider installing smart meters that
- Alert you to reduce water consumption to keep bills down
- Have easier leak detection and repair
- Are integrated with a solar hot water or heat pump
If you’re an EV car owner, consider an EV home charging solution
As more people charge their electric cars at home, smart home chargers are a way to tackle new energy related challenges that will arise for drivers and networks. Benefits of an EV charging solution include:
Utilising smarter energy
While an EV driver is saving money overall by powering their car with electricity rather than fossil fuels, their home energy bill will still be bigger than it was before. The good news is, unlike fossil fuels, there are lots of things that can be done to understand and reduce the cost of electricity to get further savings.
By adjusting your charging schedule to take place at certain times, it is possible to take advantage of time of use tariffs which have specific periods when electricity is cheaper. It is possible to schedule when your car charges either via most electric cars/associated apps, or via a smart home charger’s app.
Many smart home chargers monitor home and EV energy usage so you can get a clear understanding of cost per kWh, which enables you to determine how much you are spending and switch to cheaper tariffs.
Accessing greener energy options
Today an electric car is already greener than a combustion engine vehicle, but charging with ever more renewable energy makes electric car driving even more environmentally friendly.
In many developed countries, the electricity grid is continually getting greener with more and more renewable energy generation, such as wind power. While this means charging electric cars is getting more environmentally friendly overall, you can switch to one of the many renewable energy providers to make charging at home even greener.
Managing your load on home energy supply
Charging an electric car at home places additional load on your electrical supply. Depending on the max charging rate of your chargepoint and vehicle, this load can damage your main fuse.To avoid overloading your main fuse, some smart home chargers automatically balance the power drawn by your chargepoint with the rest of your home, ensuring it never causes your total demand to exceed the max available supply.
Another benefit of this feature is the ability to have more than one chargepoint installed so that you can charge cars simultaneously without having to manually switch between them.
Other smart home quick ideas:
- Choose furniture with built-in charging stations
- Add motion sensors in key places
- Use voice commands for simple tasks (like controlling the lights)
- Install video cameras around the perimeter of your property so you can see who’s at the door before answering it
- Make sure all appliances are connected to Wi-Fi so they can be controlled remotely through an app on your phone or tablet
- Install smart locks so you don’t have to worry about keys when you’re away from home
- Install temperature monitors throughout the house so you can adjust temperatures remotely
- Use dimmer switches for lighting and avoid the use of halogen bulbs in your home’s interior lights
Most importantly, decide what matters most to you
Is it convenience or quality time spent together as a family? If convenience is priority number one (and who doesn’t want to save time?), then get some smart lights installed so that they turn on automatically when guests arrive or when it gets dark out—that way no one has to think twice about turning off the lights when they leave the room!
If quality time with family is more important than anything else (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t want that?), then get some smart speakers installed so everyone can enjoy music together in the living room.
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To explore more of our stories and insights, please visit The Memory Edit page.
Images: OKHA Interior design and furniture.
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A Tesla and a tiny house is #priorities
This week, the Internet blew up after Tiktok viewers tried to shut down one user for his #priorities. An EV car and a tiny house to be exact.
But his critics got it wrong. Living a tiny life means an even tinier impact on the environment. Which we all need to start considering more especially in the light of the the growing responsibility we all have to our planet and also to our wallets.
“Damn you have a Tesla but not real house? Priorities,” one user wrote, followed by two laughing emoji.
But, as user Jack (@jackleonardbirt) noted, his tiny house has “everything [he] need[s],” and his Tesla’s low energy cost means he can nearly be self-sufficient with limited financial and physical resources.
Jack’s video currently has over 14.1 million views.
In the video, Jack gives a tour of his tiny house, which he says has an area of 240 square feet.
His tiny house has a PC setup, kitchen, loft, shower, washer, dryer, and more, according to the video. Jack installed rainwater harvesters, a composting area, and a garden with fresh vegetables outside.
He also reveals he works for DoorDash, which allows him to “practically have no overhead” as it takes him “$2 a day just to drive.” He also claims he will soon be installing both wind and solar power capabilities to further improve his self-sufficiency.
In comments, users supported Jack’s tiny house decision and joined him in mocking the previous commenter.
“I swear they think you homeless cause your house is not big,” one user wrote. “I love your content!”
“How is this not ‘real’ priorities?! People think everyone is supposed to be house poor!” another added. “House poor should never be the norm!”
Many others noted that, given the current issue of inflation, Jack may have the right idea by trying to become self-sufficient.
“The way inflation is hitting, [you’re] winning compared to the average,” a commenter shared.
“Dude saying ‘what inflation?’” another agreed.
In the comments section, Jack reminded users that his lifestyle is available for anyone who is interested—they simply have to build it.
“The good life can be for anyone who wants it,” he wrote. “Do good, think minimal and stop caring what others think.”
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Source:
https://www.dailydot.com/irl/tiny-house-tesla/
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For more insights into the best of eco-led and sustainable public, cultural, residential, commercial and urban design projects, please visit our Sustainability + Impact pages.