So I went to a Climate Rally ... Now What?

Friday I attended the climate rally at Capital city Park in Denver Colorado which was attended by about five to seven thousand people. The various speakers included indigenous people, local school children the young woman striking every Friday, Haven Coleman and the most recent climate hero Greta Thunberg as the headliner.

Photo: JK | Location: Climate rally at Capital city Park in Denver Colorado

I think it is great that people are willing to gather and communicate about these issues on a large scale, on a regular basis and I think it needs to happen more frequently. I really appreciate how this effort is including school children because I believe educating them on these issues early will enable all of us to make tough decisions in the future.

As I left the city center and was walking back to my apartment I was considering 'what's next?'

Being that 99.9% of "activism" takes place on social media and generally is being bounced around an echo chamber, I found myself at a bit of a loss as to what we should do now that we are actually being "active." Is there a grander takeaway than the standard "keep calling your politicians" and "keep showing up to these rallies" and "keep spreading the word," is there something more actionable we can do? What can each and every individual do today and everyday to actually make a difference? Maybe it's the genes of my colonial ancestors begging me to strap on a bayonet but I know that's too extreme and probably short sighted so I'm left feeling with a bit of emptiness.

During the rally one of the speakers said "every single day we vote with our dollars." Which got a big cheer from the crowd, full of people wearing brand new Nikes and holding Starbucks cups. Please don't take this as me being holier than thou as I was sporting an alpaca scarf at the time. I just like to point out the irony of all of us cheering for action from our point of comfort, including our collective ability to escape our obligations in the middle of a work day (the rally took place at Noon on Friday October 11th). I saw several people holding up signs with a message like "Save Earth Go Vegan" and "less meat = less heat." The reason I point this out is because these rallies and colorful posters can start to feel like action but in reality we are still not having the tough conversations we need to. 

The harsh truth is that we are still at the inception of citizen inspired action on climate and because we are still in the early stages of this most important process we need to be operating with the mindset that: 

THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND

We must take on this approach because our power will come from numbers and the numbers need to come from every corner of the planet.  As parents and children, vegans and vegetarians, hunters and anglers and anyone else who enjoys our wildspaces, we must unite behind the planet and not hide behind our keyboards.

 

Unfortunate truths:

 
 

Truths:

  • WE ALL CARE

  • None of us are not perfect

 

conservation funding Considerations:

 

Courtesy of CPW

Looking at the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) fact sheet 54% of funding, $125,000,000 ($125M), comes from licenses passes fees and permits. In March of this year the Secretary of the interior released $1.1 billion dollars into State conservation efforts this money was raised from the dingell-johnson and pittman-robertson acts. Which may you may be surprised to find are funded from an excise tax on guns, ammunition, bows, arrows and fishing equipment. Hunters & anglers anglers contribute nearly $800,000,000 ($800M) annually solely through excise taxes not including the purchases of hunting and fishing licenses. Compared to any other entity governmental or not, hunters and anglers contribute the vast majority of conservation dollars in this country.

(But every dollar counts so donate anything you can!)

Climate Change Considerations:

According to the Environmental Protection Agency agriculture accounts for 9% of greenhouse gas emissions. Although I think we should be innovating in every direction to solve this issue it seems to be more sexy to talk about giving up meat then it does to talk about our highway system or our electrical grid or industrial use of our public lands and utilities.  I also think it's ridiculous that this country does not regulate livestock waste. Which is one of the largest contributors to the toxification of are aquifers. 

Courtesy of US-EPA

One of my favorite moments of the rally however was when one of the young female speakers told the audience to use their privilege as a platform to spread a good message and to inform people as to the realities of climate change and the needs of our planet. This is the first time in recent history that I've heard someone use the 'woke' word 'privilege' as something positive and not just to demean people who “seem” to have it easier.  We should be using our status in life, whatever that status maybe, to promote a message of goodness of kindness of warmth and community. We are all one people that have the same desires of safety, security, and hope for the future for our children. I like the idea that if you were born with a microphone in your hand you are allowed to use it.

In summary, I think it's beautiful that people care and are willing to meet and sacrifice and discuss these issues. I just hope that there's actually a discussion.

Ways to take action TODAY:

- I LOVE YOU

~JK

5 Design Ideas to Stimulate Your Smart Creatives*

 

“If you can’t tell someone how to think then you have to learn to manage the environment where they think. And make it a place where they want to come everyday.” - Schmidt & Rosenberg: How Google Works

 
 

A new hire is a big investment** and in most cases you are hiring them for their minds. It only makes sense that you’d want to offer a space where that mind can thrive. Yet all too often in today’s environment companies will hire smart people only to put them in boring spaces and stifle their creativity. Say you are moving out of the coffee shop into your first office or heck even upgrading from the first office to that second one because the companies needs are growing! What are the chances that the needs of your employees just happen to line up with the needs of the previous tenant which happened to line up with the needs of the developer and the designs of their architect? The answer is: outside of the restrooms, not strong (and those probably suck too). Now, I understand that most companies do not have the luxury of designing and funding ground up construction that provides a completely unique space for their smart creatives. What we can do today is to bridge the gap between the previously built world and the world we want to live and work in.

**The CEO of a construction company in NYC I used to work for said a new hire can cost his business nearly $250K in the first year, including salary, benefits, bonus, healthcare, admin work and insurance.

 
 

5 ideas to help stimulate the

5 senses of your new hires:

 

1. Play with Lighting

… Yes blue light stimulates alertness and that red filter on your phone is great after 8pm but that’s not what im talking about ... Using something like the Philips Hue bulbs or one of the other products on Amazon will enable you (or your employees) to adjust the ambient light. This is not only a creative way to liven up a previously dull space, these multi colored LED lights also change the way we interact with art. This was demonstrated brilliantly by The Garden School in Hackney. They make a static environment feel more dynamic because the space can be different every day.

Photo: JK | Location: MSG [phish concert] NYC USA

Photo: JK | Location: Arapaho National Forest CO USA

2. Introduce texture

Photo: JK | Location: O’Fallon Park CO USA

... You may have noticed that Live edge tables have become all the rage in modern offices, conference rooms, even the home dining room table. This is a prime example of how we can introduce the natural world back into our built environments. This can also be achieved with textured walls using natural materials like stone, wood or built materials like rope, glass and textiles. A textured wall changes our depth perception and our tactile interactions with the spaces in which we work.

Photo: JK | Location: Ollantaytambo Peru

3. Living Systems

... No the mini cactus sitting on top of your toilet tank is not what I am referring too. One easy way to implement living systems into our built spaces by the use of Green Walls. This idea, pioneered by one of my college professors David Tilley, has become more and more mainstream and has even found its way from the exterior of our buildings to the interior. Companies like LiveWall and even HGTV are making these systems much more accessible to the everyday consumer. Living systems are a broad and fascinating topic of ecological technology design that I will post more about in a future article. But for now things like green walls (and roofs) provide a wonderful visual, tactile and olfactory experience that we are not generally exposed to in our traditional work and classroom settings.

Photo: JK | Location: Vincente Lopez BA Argentina

Photo: JK | Location: Vincente Lopez BA Argentina

4. Air and Scent

Photo: JK | Location: Laguna Quilotoa Ecuador

... We are tied to nature through our sensory receptors, especially those in our noses and on our skin. Growing up on the Long Island Sound I have always been fond of gentle breezes and the smell of salt in the air, even a hint of low tide feels like home. Having traded the sea for the mountains I now appreciate a crisp cool morning with a subtle hint of pine. Think about it, Grandma’s house, the local bakery, the perfume of your first girlfriend, these are all people and places that have deep rooted olfactory based memories, the power of scent should not be ignored.

Now let’s walk into the office … elevator doors open ... cue the scent of burnt coffee and the receptionist who smells oddly similar to the cleaning supply aisle at Stop & Shop (a wonderful aisle to walk through just wouldn’t want to live there). These are the “smells” of the office that, in all honesty we’ve become too tolerant of. First off, coffee should NEVER be burnt and is actually quite easy to do well and also has some interesting health effects, but I digress. Through the use of negative and positive pressure spaces we can create a natural breeze feeling and capitalize on this opportunity to introduce scent in spaces where we traditionally have not. Chemist have gotten quite skilled at recreating the chemicals that flavor the air of the natural world, just go ask the people over at Yankee Candle. In all seriousness, air temperature, humidity and scent are all now able to be controlled via smartphones with market available material.

Photo: JK | Location: Jaco Costa Rica

5. Sound

Film: JK | Location: Evergreen CO USA

… The 21st century has brought us into an era where humans control nearly 100% of the Audio stimulation we receive. No, you can't tell the passing fire engine to quiet down but you can put on your fancy new noise canceling headphones and choose what music, audiobook, or podcast will take its place. Noise pollution has existed as long as sound has, but in today’s society municipalities and universities are starting to study science this phenomenon and understand its health effects. Fortunately the days of Muzak are becoming a thing of the past but leaves us without a solution for a loud cubicle neighbors or the loud talkers on public transportation. This article on office noise reduction provides some helpful tools for creating a more pleasant work environment. Now I understand that noise reduction and Biophilic design may not have a straight line connecting the two but noises from our built (and being built) environments tend to trigger us to be less productive and generally more agitated. Learning how to recreate the sounds experienced when on a solo hike through the woods or walking down a beach will enable us to provide more tranquility in our workplaces. Increased tranquility will increase the amount of time people spend at work (doing work) and enhance their ability to be productive while in that environment.

Photo: JK | Location: Arapaho National Forest CO USA



* Smart Creative: A person who combines deep technical knowledge of his or her trade with intelligence, business savvy, and a host of creative qualities. Eric Schmidt & Jonathan Rosenberg “How Google Works”


~JK

Bouns: Check out this awesome tour of Signapore with Summer Rayne Oakes

Bio (Life) Philic (Love) Design

Award-winning architect Amanda Sturgeon doesn't just create beautiful buildings, she strives to design sustainable spaces that connect people with nature. Inspired by a "biophilic" design strategy, which translates to "love of life," Amanda is determined to create projects that celebrate their surrounding environment, not shut it out.

“We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us”  - Winston Churchill

Great people attract great people and great people need great spaces in order to thrive.  Of course early start-ups are known for cramming as many developers into a single cubicle as possible (that is, until the day comes where we can afford kombucha on tap).  But you can't keep them there forever. Companies may no longer be measuring our importance in terms of the square footage of our office but we are quickly approaching a time of recognition that our productivity is directly linked to the spaces in which we are producing.   

Let's try a simple thought experiment.  If someone approached you and said for every 100 bracelets you weave you can receive $100 dollars, but only if done in 100 unit increments.  You have the option of making these bracelets at a desk in a windowless room with ample fluorescent lighting or in a beach chair with your feet in the sand as you watch the waves crash upon the shore.  In which environment would you be more willing to start in on bracelet #101, 201 … 1001? Unless you're a vampire you’re going to choose the beach (come to think of it even the vampire would choose the beach … at night).  So if we know that this is the case for a task as simple as weaving a bracelet why would we assume any different when the task becomes more important? 

I think the old world of gentleman wearing a hat and 3 piece suit  to work has left an image burned in our minds that comfort = laziness.

“A desk chair can extract energy, a hammock can restore energy, and quarterly reports can be read in both. “ ~JK

The major barrier to biophilic design taking the world by storm is people.  It isn't just one party or organization that is responsible for it, it’s all of us in combination.  It’s the profit driven client-developers that are sure of their underwriting but have not considered the user experience.  Along with underpaid architects that are encouraged to not take chances.  And lastly its us, the employees and apartment renters who must demand that our managers, corporate executives and landlords hear our cries for biophilic design. Let us not be shy in our desire for increased sunlight, fresh air and exposure to living systems.  If we are connected to the natural world throughout our day we are more productive at school, work and in life generally. Oh yea and we significantly decrease our general existential angst. 

~JK

 

“BD is not just an approach to architecture that is good for the planet. Its an approach that allows us to celebrate all that is good about being alive.”

- Amanda Sturgeon

 

The Garden School Hackney

The Garden School in Hackney, London, is a school designed for children with autism. See how designer Oliver Heath created a positive space using biophilic design principles.
 

“When we see fractals in the built environment, the brain is pre-disposed to process them easily, which lowers our stress response” - Bill Browning

 

You ever walk out of the office to the smell of fresh cut grass and immediately notice the calming, refreshing, yet stimulating effects of this olfactory experience? This isn't just a weird benefit of leaving work early one day in the middle of the summer. It is an invigorating sensory experience that we should be listening to. Seemingly simple stimuli such as a body of water, a blossoming tree against a blue sky backdrop, or the magical light that occurs during the daily golden hour awakens in us a primal feeling of connectivity. The days of square buildings and soul sucking fluorescent lighting are becoming a thing of the past (why did we ever let them come to be in the first place?). Which is why Biophilic design is an incredibly intriguing field of architecture that I strongly believe will help reunite humanity with nature, especially in the industrialized world.

(and as for that video)

Im not crying you’re crying



~JK

I came across this video while reviewing an article by Carlene Olson on Biophilic Design Benefits Students, Even in Schools with Tight Budgets brought to my attention via linkedin by a professor of mine, Dave Tilley, from UMD-CP.