Hey Inhabitat Readers from around the globe! Want to meet the editors of Inhabitat and win this awesome folding bike – valued at $1700?
As we head into October we’re thrilled to announce a fabulous new initiative at Inhabitat: GREEN TALKS! We’re going to be harnessing the power of the internet to bring you LIVE presentations about future-forward green initiatives from public officials and renowned innovators – thanks to Adobe Connect Pro meeting software. We’ll be kicking off INHABITAT GREEN TALKS this month with our first ever Meet the Inhabitat Editors webcast!
We’re inviting you to share your questions and comments about our website and get to know the editors — and to encourage active conversation and participation from our readers, we’ll be giving away a super sleek Biomega Boston folding bike valued at over $1,700 to one lucky participant! So if you have something to say to the Inhabitat editors, and you want to win a sweet bike while you are at it, please JOIN US IN THIS CONVERSATION NEXT WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 14th at 1PM EST!
Here’s how to join our conversation and take a shot at winning the bike:
1. Leave a comment on this post with your question for the Inhabitat editors. We’ll be selecting the most interesting questions to answer in our discussion, and if we pick your question, you will be entered in the drawing to win the bike. So make your questions good!
2. Join our Adobe Connect Pro webcast next Wednesday at 1pm EST.
3. At the end of the webcast we’ll have a drawing to select the winner! YOU MUST BE IN ATTENDANCE AT THE WEBINAR TO CLAIM THE BIKE! If we call your name and you don’t respond, we will select another winner
Perfect for those with small living spaces, complicated commutes, or a love for carbon-free travel, Biomega‘s Boston bicycle is dream on wheels. This elegantly engineered bike features a quick and easy folding mechanism and boasts a unique integrated chain lock that is a structural part of the frame. Twin disc brakes, oversized tubing, and big burly tires round out the package, making the Boston a remarkably capable urban ride. Its innovative design even earned it a permanent place at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to take one home!
We’re looking forward to next Wednesday‘s meet-up, and it’s just the first course in our awesome new series of Inhabitat Green Talks, where we’ll be interviewing sustainability leaders throughout the US! We’ll be bringing you face to face with green luminaries in three cities that have been making huge strides towards sustainability – Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Live conferences tend to incur a heavy carbon cost as attendees trot the globe, so we’re inviting you, our readers, to get involved via web conferencing as we interview top civil and sustainability leaders and discuss expert ideas for improving cities. Our Inhabitat Green Talks, sponsored by Adobe Connect Pro will feature a blend of presentations about the local leaders’ work, interviews with Inhabitat editors, and questions submitted by YOU in advance of and during the webinars. Our online meetings will also be greening local schools with Adobe’s Green School Initiative!
+ Register for our Meet the Editors Webcast
+ Download Adobe Connect Pro to Participate!
Here’s my question:
I work for the sustainable materials library at my school (CSDS.pratt.edu) and a big part of our mission is to encourage and educate sustainability among our classmates and peers. How do you at inhabitat combat the common notion that sustainability is only for those who choose to build their lives around it, and impress upon everyone the importance of sustainability as a social responsibility for each and every individual?
With the national economy at a crossroads, does the green revolution represent the best chance for economic recovery and what steps can we take to improve the green economy?
2 Questions:
– Do you feel that the US is ready for standardization of eco-principals and technology (like LEED)? If so, then when..
– If we ever sign an international agreement on sustainability of our country (eg – Copenhagen) how would you propose we go about enforcing it. We all know the courts are typically slow in technical shifts, and smaller polluters continue to fly under the radar.
Thanks.
Pre-Fab housing, as covered on your website, is an excellent way to reduce waste, improve housing quality, and decrease the costs of building. Why do you think that past concepts such as Sears’ kit homes, Lustron pre-fabs, or even Frank Lloyd Wright’s inexpensive Usonion houses have not survived in the U.S.?
Having recently made trips to Germany & Austria, I’ve seen examples of how major cities in Europe have taken steps far ahead in redesigning urban areas to be more green. Some examples include: clearly designated bike paths, timely mass transportation, compensation for returning plastics, and edible & biodegradable cups & plates to name a few. Yet with many U.S. cities facing major budget crisis and there are still a growing number of people who are unemployed, it at times seems that buying & living green is a luxury few can afford. Hybrid vehicles aren’t really much cheaper than a gas-guzzling clunker and green building materials and furniture can be more expensive than cheap enviro-unfriendly plastic alternatives.
So, given this atmosphere how do you suggest we inspire the people around us & younger generations the value of living green?
How do you see green movements being deployed in the future?
Will they be through small organic grassroots communities expanding or dependent mostly on “once we have budget” planned city projects?
Personally I hope this green movement will not get passed over as a fad as did the save the whales campaign back in the days of my youth.
All in all, this site is serves to give me great highlights of green ideas.
Thanks!
~Jaded but Optimistic~
Having recently made trips to Germany & Austria, I’ve seen examples of how some major cities in Europe have taken steps far ahead in redesigning urban areas to be more green. Some examples include: clearly designated bike paths, timely mass transportation, compensation for returning plastics, and edible & biodegradable cups & plates to name a few. Yet with many U.S. cities facing major budget crisis and there are still a growing number of people who are unemployed, it at times seems that buying & living green is a luxury few can afford. Hybrid vehicles aren’t really much cheaper than a gas-guzzling clunker and green building materials and furniture can be more expensive than cheap enviro-unfriendly plastic alternatives.
So, given this atmosphere how do you suggest we inspire the people around us & younger generations the value of living green?
How do you see green movements being deployed in the future?
Will they be through small organic grassroots communities expanding or dependent mostly on “once we have budget” planned city projects?
Personally I hope this green movement will not get passed over as a fad as did the save the whales campaign back in the days of my youth.
All in all, kudos to the editors of this site as it serves to give me great highlights of green ideas.
Thanks!
~Jaded but Optimistic~
It used to be all about the discussion between vegetarians and meat eater, organic vs inorganic and their effects on food production, But I think now we have a whole new set of questions to ask about our diets and our concerns on how we are feeding ourselves. How do you think new food habits such as RAW food, vegan, are changing agriculture today ? ( i know that Jill is vegan )
I’m interested in using the vinyl that is used on billboards to make bags, but I am unclear where you find this stuff recycled. Do you just call up the billboard companies and pick it up from them? I love the idea of recycled, yet randomly pop artish bags, I was a big fan of the European brand… on the tip of my tongue… that does these and think it’s a unique and cool way to turn trash into treasure.
Is there a recycled good resource guide somewhere? A place to go to find out local ways to get recycled goods to convert into new products?
Matt
In light of changing trends in “consumer” driven economic reaction— Have we accurately assessed the values and changing demographics that lend to appropriate responsible demand and growth of communities?
As a planner and urban designer, I find it frustrating to be told by developers that people just don’t want compact development, and that most people will want a single detached family home on a large lot in the suburbs.
Who is verifying the changing values, and how do we bring the human factor back into design beyond stale market pattern of the past?
My thoughts are everyone could learn if we listened and tapped in the emotion behind home and neighborhood.
With the recent buzz about new green energy-supplied commercial and residential buildings that are in the works, how can we incorporate clean energy sources into our already existing homes and offices?
How do we encourage environmentalists to have webinars and web conferences instead of constantly flying around the world for environmental meetings?
As a professor at a largely working-class college, I can’t help noticing that many of my students have formed a fierce psychological resistance to what they perceive as the elitist, “Prius” tone of sustainability. Do you believe that this kind of resistance can be overcome? If so, how?
Do we have to go against the will of the common man to develop a sustainable living habit? Must it be forced upon people or can a change take place in an other manner?
Where do you strike the balance between keeping the old, not as efficient or overly environmentally friendly product/appliance/other item or replacing it with the new, low impact, potentially recycled energy efficient item which comes with a debt of manufacturing and shipping environmental costs? Where along the sliding scale of green-grey do you draw that line and which of the considerations should be weighed heaviest when making the decision? What about when discussing practices and actions instead of tangible things?
The World’s Climate: Do you know what the climate for Boston is called? Continental Moist.
What is the way to safely ride this bike in moderate precipitation?
Why is there little effort being done by Private Corporations, and they’re diverse thinktank, to instill and educate sustainable practices within the inner city?
How can my GreenRoutes club motivate high school students to leave their cars behind and ride/walk/bus to school? Making good environmental choices isn’t sufficient motivation to a student who has just earned a coveted drivers license.
How do you think small business and enterprises can best be encouraged and aided in becoming more sustainable? What role do you think, federal, state and local government should play in this development?
Everyone is now very aware of climate change and the importance of recycling and reducing waste. However, I still don’t see any real change in behaviour in the people around me. In fact its almost like people don’t want to talk about the issue because then they will have to face the problem and make changes in their lives that require a certain effort. I think much more can be done, but how do we make the issue take hold so that the majority of people and not the minority (which I think it is at the moment) are concerned enough to make real, changes in their lives? I feel like it is the elephant in the room at the moment.
How far is too far to think into the future? Technological advancements have created new sustainable solutions and rendered some past solutions obsolete. Cultural changes can impact how a society lives with regards to sustainability as well. So, what do you think is the cut-off for useful forward thinking? When does it become just an exercise in creative thought?
What is the feasibility of a national building code that mandates a minimum amount of energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings?
What are your thoughts on current bike policy and the potential to be utilized as a viable means to move large amounts of the population?
Last minute due to a power outage –
What venues can be engaged to teach & demonstrate the reality of natural systems that is present in all great design?
Do you guys implement or live a “green”life and what do you guys do everyday to help the environment beside this website?
This biomega bikeis perfect!