GreenSmith Consulting

10 Ways Geolocation is Changing the World

2010-07-27T09:00:00-07:00

This post was written by Rob Reed. He is the founder of MomentFeed, a location-based marketing, strategy, and technology firm.

Location technologies are transforming how we experience, navigate, and ultimately better our world. From the global to the local, here are #10Ways geolocation is a positive force for good.

Social media has changed the world. It has revolutionized communications on a global scale, and the transformation continues with every status update, blog post, and video stream. The global citizenry has become a global network.

Since becoming widely adopted just a couple years ago, social media has supercharged social action, cause marketing, and social entrepreneurship. Indeed, the true value hasn't been the technology itself but how we've used it. Today, a second wave of innovation is defining a new era and setting the stage for change over the coming decade.

Mobile technologies will extend the global online network to anyone with a mobile device while enabling countless local networks to form in the real world. We've decentralized media production and distribution. We're doing the same for energy. And we'll continue this trend for social networking, social action, and commerce.

The combined forces of smartphones, mobile broadband, and location-aware applications will connect us in more meaningful ways to the people, organizations, events, information, and companies that matter most to us---namely, those within a physical proximity of where we live and where we are. Can location-based services (LBS) change the world? Here are #10Ways:

1. Checking in for Good: If Gowalla and Foursquare have taught us anything, it's that people respond to simple incentives. By offering badges, mayorships, and other intangible rewards, millions of people are checking in to the places they go.

Apps like Whrrl take this a step further and enable like-minded "societies" to form on a local basis. The next step is for these apps to add greater purpose by encouraging more meaningful checkins and offering corresponding badges and stamps, thus mapping the cause universe. Or for a dedicated app to be developed that rewards conscious consumption, social responsibility, and civic engagement.

Yes, the CauseWorld app features a cause element, but it's not about cause-worthy places.

2. Eating Locally: Sustainability demands that we source our food as close to its point of production as possible.

Many so-called locavores subscribe to the 100-mile diet, which requires that one "eat nothing---or almost nothing---but sustenance drawn from within 100 miles of their home." Given the difficulty of accessing and verifying this information in order to live by this standard, there's a geo-powered Locavore app.

It gives you info on in-season foods, those coming in-season, farmer's markets, and links to recipes. This rather simple app is clearly just the start. In time, location-aware apps will guide us not only to the grocery store or farmer's market but through them. All the while identifying foods based on our particular diet or sensibility.

3. Political Organizing: In the next presidential election, politics will not only be local but location-enabled. We saw the power of social media in Obama's 2008 landslide victory.

In 2012, location-based apps and technologies will play a central role in how campaigns are organized, managed, and ultimately won. Much of this will be visible through mobile apps and location-aware browsers. Activists and volunteers will be more empowered. Voters will be more engaged in the moment, right down to casting their votes.

Behind the scenes, though, we'll see massive new sets of data available to campaigns for targeting, empowerment, and optimization. The party, candidate, and/or cause that has the best handle on geolocation will have a measurable advantage. (The Elections app will soon be updated for 2010.)

4. Finding Green Businesses: The web has effectively replaced the paper Yellow Pages as a way to find local businesses and services.

However, this "stationary web" experience is quickly being supplanted by the mobile web and mobile applications, which give us access to this information when we most need it. The Yelp and Around Me Greenopia has transformed its printed, local guides into a dynamic, nationwide mobile application that lets you find local, green-rated businesses in any category. No more paper and a much better experience.

The Green Map app is another that facilitates discovery and connects us to local green environments.

5. Traveling More Efficiently: We've had access to GPS navigation systems and static traffic information for some time, but only now are we seeing the full potential of these technologies.

With access to more detailed traffic information that is specific to your route and updated in real time, we can minimize congestion and maximize traffic flow (as much as physically possible).

The new turn-by-turn MapQuest 4 Mobile app is a good start, as you can get traffic alerts specific to the route you program. However, user-generated information from apps like Trapster and Waze can crowdsource more specific details, such as whether to avoid an intersection due to a toxic chemical spill.

Or, if you want to avoid automobiles altogether, Google Maps makes it easy to use public transportation and take a bike.

6. Scanning for Ethical Products: With online shopping, we've become accustomed to reading reviews and making comparisons before we buy.

This can now be done in the physical world through games like MyTown and services like Stikybits. By scanning a product barcode using a smartphone camera, you can unlock a treasure of additional information (not to mention deals) that can help with your purchase.

This might include where it was produced, how far it traveled, the reputation of the manufacturer, chemical contents, carbon footprint, or the full lifecycle analysis.

Location-aware applications can also transform commerce itself by giving us better access to local inventories and locally-produced goods. Whether it's fruits and vegetables or books and electronics, if something can be found within blocks of your current location, it makes no sense to ship it from afar.

7. Networking Neighborhoods: One of the hottest categories in geolocation is neighborhood networking. The vision for many of these apps is to strengthen the very fabric of our communities. With DeHood, you can keep track of what's happening in your neighborhood, share your favorite places, and grease the wheels for actually meeting people.

After all, if you've made contact through the app, it's a lot easier to say "Hello" in the real world.

Blasterous is another that lets you share information locally, whereas BlockChalk does this on an anonymous basis. Finally, NeighborGoods uses your street address to facilitate one-to-one borrowing and trading of useful stuff. In the end, making connections with your neighbors can lead to safer, more productive, and more sustainable communities.

8. Tracking Environmental Disasters: The size and scope of environmental disasters appears to be growing. In 2008, we had the Tennessee coal ash spill, which was billed as "the largest environmental disaster of its kind in the United States." And that was before we realized it was three times bigger than originally estimated. More recently, the BP oil spill set daily records for "largest environmental disaster in the U.S. ever."

In each case, geolocation technologies can be used by engaged citizens to monitor and track the effects. They can be used by response teams to coordinate containment and cleanup efforts. Ultimately, these technologies can be used to accurately measure the size and impact of a disaster in order to better understand its damages and costs.

9. Viewing the World Through an Eco Lens: Augmented reality (AR) follows geolocation as one of the hot trends in mobile technology. It enables you to view the world through a smartphone camera (or similar device) and see layers of geo-specific content or information.

One of the most popular apps is Layar, an augmented reality browser/platform that lets you choose specific data layers or experiences. The potential for green- and cause-related content is tremendous.

You might view green-rated businesses, LEED-certified buildings, or virtual GHG emissions as they enter the atmosphere. Combined with smart meter technology, you could see the most efficient and inefficient homes around you in real time. And for the cynics among us, you could view our mountains, forests, rivers, and oceans as they once were...before the effects of climate change and so many environmental disasters.

10. Capturing the Moment: Better access to information about what's happening around us---right now---can dramatically improve quality of life. This sense of "geospatial awareness" is possible through today's smartphones, whereby a piece of content or information---a moment---is captured and preserved based on the unique time and place in which it occurred. It is essentially to document spacetime.

Protests, natural disasters, sporting events, parties, political crises...real-time information about anything happening anywhere at any time, as well as the history of what happened. This will take several years and a number of different applications to realize.

In the end, though, it will revolutionize how we access and consume content. It will complete the democratization and decentralization of news and information...based on time and location.

Cautionary note: Privacy is the single biggest issue in the LBS industry. It's important to understand what information you are sharing with regard to your location and with whom.

Author's note: We'll be hosting geolocation events for Social Media Week in Los Angeles this September. This is the third in Max Gladwell's #10Ways series of distributed blog posts. It was published simultaneously on as many as 300 blogs.

GreenSmart Moves Recycled Bottle Based Gear Bar Higher

2010-07-16T13:21:30-07:00

I've had the pleasure of watching Grass Valley California based GreenSmart make the transition to a green company over the past three years, done with thought and full consideration of the impact of the options they were exploring. With the release of their Bottles 2 Bags messenger bag line, they've truly hit it out the park.

In the video below I'll take you on a little tour or their Baringo bag, and point out some lesser known details that clearly show how a company can effectively balance quality gear while being strongly sustainable. They've clearly hit their stride, and get that it's about meeting people's needs first, then giving them the background of how their purchase is making a difference. Not in a preachy way, but very encouraging and empowering.

The hang tag on the messenger bag says many things - About the contents of the product, how it was made, and the story of the Baringo name (It's the 2nd most endangered Giraffe species, which is why they donate 10% of their profits to the World Wildlife Fund, among others.) But this sentence says it all: "We're not perfect yet, but we're taking our cues from you."

One thing I left out from the video review: The bag has a sturdy rectangular base, helping keep its shape as you carry your gear around town or on your travels. Youtube seems to have chopped the last 10 seconds, I said, "Go have a look for yourself, I definitely give them my seal of approval. They can be found at greensmart.biz" And ha ha, that screen capture below is something else! No I'm not raging angry, promise.

Readers: What other companies out there have you seen going green in a smart way, with integrity, in a way that consumers beyond the deep green will get? Do you own any GreenSmart gear? What's been your experience?

GreenSmith Sessions #2: Humble European CSR Superstar Fabian Pattberg

2010-07-12T03:45:00-07:00

Welcome back for the second edition of the GreenSmith Sessions, this time with Fabian Pattberg, a man with a multicultural awareness of business, having lived and worked across Europe and exotic Nashville, Tennessee. The GreenSmith Sessions are an evolving series of dynamic conversations with the key influencers, thinkers and doers in the sustainable business realm, and all the neighboring arenas it touches.

Fabian and I had a far ranging conversation, addressing if and how CSR is and can remain relevant in the days of BP, what the US and EU can learn from each other, who he thinks is doing a good job with their CSR reporting (a shocker, trust me!) and other intriguing nuggets of insight.

You can find Fabian on his influential and resource filled blog and website along with Twitter. As he suggested in our session, searching his name will also show you the expanding range of places he is present online and out in the field, helping companies and their stakeholders effectively meet in the middle.

What's your take on the current state of CSR? Who's doing it well? Who's falling down on the job, so to speak? What can be done to make CSR reporting and activities more powerful, useful, and effective?

Download GreenSmith Sessions #2 Fabian Pattberg

Play GreenSmith Sessions #2 Fabian Pattberg

GreenSmith Sessions #1: Joey Shepp of Earthsite

2010-06-23T05:00:00-07:00

Somewhere amidst the preparation to move my life 12 hours away to Portland, Oregon, an idea took root: Talk to the people that inspire me, and share it with you. My goal is to have brisk freeform conversations with some of the key influencers, thinkers and doers in the sustainable business realm, and all the neighboring arenas it touches. Rather then be a linear Q & A, I want to see them be a dynamic dialogue that will give you much food for thought.

It's called GreenSmith Sessions.

My first guest is Joey Shepp, who has been involved in the sustainable business realm in some form or another for the better part of a decade, and presenting engagingly about it at innumerable events. Whether it's leading the technology efforts at Green Festival, running web, design, and social media strategy firm EarthSite, Joey has a lot to say on how technology and green meet, and how to do it effectively.

We had a far ranging conversation, largely anchored in the social media realm, Joey sharing interesting perspectives on privacy, Facebook, how he sees geolocation based businesses being of use to you and I, and more.

So join me please, for GreenSmith Session #1.

And please, do share your thoughts, on the content, on the overall presentation, on who you think I should be talking to. I'm all ears!

PS: That article I mentioned talking about youth actually being nearly on par with (rather than jaw droppingly open with) their online privacy, is here.

>>>Download/Listen to GreenSmith Sessions #1 Joey Shepp

Is Portland, Oregon Really the Green Mecca Its Reputed to Be?

2010-06-10T06:33:00-07:00

I’ve been quiet on this blog for some time. With good reason. Its called moving 12 hours from tiny but mighty Nevada City, California to the Mecca of green that is Portland, Oregon. A huge move made for many reasons and one that, a month in, I’m glad I made.

As you’ve likely heard, Portland is lauded for it’s sustainability, often being cited as the greenest city in America. Does it deserve it? Mostly.

Just look at the Redirect Guide, a source for local green companies, products and services. It’s more than 200 pages long. Go out to eat, and you’ll find that even the fish and chips restaurant makes a point to tout it’s healthier, more sustainable fare. Farmers markets dot the city, more then one happening every day of the week, the biggest drawing 10,000 visitors weekly.

Bicyclists are everywhere, with well marked lanes, respectful motorists (I've even had a trash truck wave me through!) bike only roads, and bike designated streets adjacent to the busier car trafficked ones. Sunday Parkway events sees miles of road closed to automotive traffic, becoming a mass of cyclists, skaters, and walkers.

Well integrated mass transit covers the majority of the city, well, and with the aid of such things as the free PDX Bus iPhone app, is easily used even if you’ve never ridden before, as I can attest. And I’m not alone, as it was recently revealed the bus system’s servers get nearly 100,000 hits a day, just from this app!

Why is Portland the way that it is? A vocal citizenry and a supportive government helps. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen our Mayor Sam Adams directly answering people’s questions and requests on Twitter and Facebook. It’s clear he’s committed to making Portland an increasingly sustainable city, both on an individual and regional level.

Some less obvious factors contribute to Portland’s famous livability: Metro is a prime example. I’m still getting my head around it, but from what I understand it’s a regional government, distinct from the conventional government structure in place. They help make recycling easier, for people to live more sustainably, and know what’s fun to do They even manage to make outdoor activities sexy, with The Intertwine.

And yet, Portland misses the mark in some key ways.
In the downtown area where I work at Nedspace, a coworking space that donates a portion of rent to Kiva projects and whose directors are involved in social entrepreneurial ventures themselves along with spearheading the African edition of the Maker Faire, there is not one recycling bin to be seen on the street.

In an odd step in my mind, there are instead solar powered trash cans that compact trash, allowing a higher capacity and preventing overspill. A step forward, but why not spend that money on low tech recycling bins, or add a separate compartment in those fancy trash cans?

And there is no curbside compostables collection outside plant trimmings. It’s just now beginning a test run in a small number of neighborhoods. Great to see, but with Oakland having done it for years, and San Francisco now legally requiring it, even for businesses, you’d think Portland would have long ago had a program in place, especially given the plethora of farms both in and outside of Portland.

Overall though, Portland is miles ahead of many places in the US when it comes to sustainability. Having been here a month, getting used to my highly livable home, a question that comes to mind that I’d like you to ponder too:

Can what Portland’s done be replicated in other cities that aren’t currently on the path? Does it take a built in inclination in the population for a city to go greener? Or can it be fostered? Can suburban cities, used to sprawl, being oriented around the car, and community often being a distant afterthought, shift to focus on people, community, and sustainability?

A follow on question is, should cities even try to replicate what Portland’s created? In some ways, I think not. Each city has its unique characteristics, population, needs and strengths. I think they should build a foundation of what’s around them, optimally organized and done in a way that includes a broad swath of the population’s agreement and participation. It’s the only truly, well, sustainable way to go sustainable.

Ponoko + Makerbot = The Next Evolution in the Democratization of Manufacturing

2010-04-16T03:33:00-07:00

It was bound to happen.

Ponoko, the company that’s created a thriving ecosystem of designers, manufacturers and consumers, where you as a designer can get your product made one at a time via a global network of fabricators that use 3D printers, is now working with Makerbot to give people the ability to make/have made a 3D printer for their own use.

What’s significant about this is that it gives people with the creativity and design ideas the ability to both test out these ideas, and make the final product for customers. Or just for their own enjoyment. While the Makerbot at this point has a fairly small size capability at 4” x 4” x 6”, there is probably a lot that can be made by assembling a number of pieces together.

The question some might have is, why would Ponoko, which until this point has derived much of its income from making and facilitating the making of things for people, now enable people to do it themselves? It’s simple: They’re expanding their market, by being the maker of the pieces people will use to make their own maker. Making sense?

And, in line with the rest of their product fabrication offerings, they can make the parts for the Makerbot in any number of materials that the customer wants, including bamboo.

Likewise, if you’re happy with the Makerbot design as is, Ponoko can create everything needed for a basic version, you supply the tools or even send you a kit with absolutely everything, including the tools to make it.

The design plans for the printer are being made available to the public for free, the only requirement being that, should you modify them, you make them public via the Thingiverse site, so that others can benefit from your design thinking, able to further improve (or make look just plain cool) the Makerbot.

While this does entail a certain level of trust that people will follow through on the license agreement, it does mean that Makerbot and Ponoko have the additional income that comes from making the parts from these modified mini factories. And, in creating a wider and higher profile for DIY manufacturing, it will likely then increase the market for their products, as not everybody will want to design and assemble their own 3D printer.

Is this collaborative, iterative, open source model of doing business the way of the future? One way, to be certain, and one that, in these volatile, interdependent economic times we find ourselves in, is a durable, malleable way to go that many other businesses could do to learn from.

Readers: What's your take on Ponoko & Makerbot's collaborative, open source model? Are there any other businesses or business models you're seeing out there that you think we can learn from? Please share below, in the comments.

Time to Stop Talking About Going Local, and Doing It (pt 3 of 3) Eating and Getting Around

2010-03-30T03:33:00-07:00

You hear so much about the value of "going local," but perhaps not so much on how to go about doing it effectively. Thanks much to Wayne Maceyka for sharing copious resources to do so, first covering the value of and need for localizing economies, then who's doing it, and now for two of the essentials in our modern life: local food and transportation.

One of the basics of life is nourishment and along with that, moving the foods that provide said nourishment around. Additionally, we move ourselves and other goods around all over the world as part of the economy. We currently rely upon inexpensive fossil fuels to keep a national and international supply chain running to do all these things.

Industrial food production is garnering a fair amount of attention for the GHG emissions associated with its production (including transportation) as well as the growing awareness of the health consequences of ingesting it. We derive industrial fertilizers from petroleum, and the machines that sow seeds, harvest plants, and spread the fertilizer depend upon fossil fuels to operate.

From a popular culture perspective, Michael Pollan's book Omnivore's Dilemma (here's his recent TED talk), Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution which premiered March 26 (to name a few) have helped raise the public's awareness about where our food comes from and what that means to our collective health.

An inherent danger in relying upon a far-flung and energy dependent food infrastructure is the price of oil. It skyrocketed to somewhere north of $140.00/gallon in mid-2008, and what did that do to global food prices and basic access? For those of limited means; they struggle mightily. A recent post on a food security e-mail list had an interesting comment about the ongoing need for local & regional food infrastructure. I highlighted the potential for regional & local food,

"[Senate Bill] S 510 (and even more so, HR 2749) will make it almost impossible to get local, healthy food to local people by dramatically increasing the cost of preparing local, healthy food for sale and distribution. We need new cooperative packing houses, new processors, new distributors and new retailers or our food will only be available to the affluent at a premium price. Not only the poor (both working and unemployed) but also the lower middle class will be almost entirely dependent upon industrial agriculture"

From a transportation perspective, which as we all know the entire global economy depends upon, something that happened within the past six months caught my attention; Warren Buffettís purchase of a rail company, BNSF. What I found most astounding was an article in one of the logistics industry publications analyzing Mr. Buffett's investment, the author used the term "peak oil" matter-of-factly. As we have learned over the course of Berkshire Hathaway's existence, Mr. Buffett rationally decides to invest with a long-term lens that many 'investors' can only dream of. So, does he believe that weíre heading for the land of energy scarcity?

What I'm getting at is that food and transportation are indelibly linked, regardless of the scale of food production we still need to ship it.

The closer we produce it to where we consume it the lower the risk that increasing transportation costs affecting its availability.

What I take from the various reports and analyses regarding energy and food is that local production of (nearly) everything will happen again; preparing for it the right way may prevent the massive societal disruption some predict.

What you can do now:

Visit your local Farmers Market: Here in Massachusetts, the number of markets has nearly doubles in the last five years (through 2008) and there are more than 4300 markets nationwide, a nearly 20% increase from 1994 through 2006. There's one nearly every day of the week not more than one or two towns away from where I live. Check your state's Department of Agriculture and LocalHarvest.org to find ones near you.

Sign up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share: Like Farmer's Markets, CSAs have been booming in popularity. Basically, you prepay the farm for the goodies youíll receive once the harvest begins (timing varies by region and by their growing facilities); you're financing their growth (pardon the pun). Depending on the farm, your level of choice in what you get weekly will vary, some deliver to urban drop-off points and some don't. Oh, and it;s generally an abundance of food, so be prepared to share with neighbors and/or friends. Now is the time to join (and in some popular places, they may already be sold out!)

Check out Slowfood: Chances are that thereís a chapter near you. The culture of each chapter varies depending upon the volunteers running it, so it may or may not be the place for you and it's worth checking out. If nothing else you may connect with other local food organizations you feel more connected to.

Think about other ways to get around

This may sound general, and somewhat obtuse, but has some merit. What would your life look like if gasoline were permanently north of $4.00/gallon? Could you afford to get to work? What about bus lines and rail? Would these be possible alternatives for you? Check out carsharing.net for options in your area. I like the goloco model. What about cycling? Depending upon where you live and your desire to integrate activity into your daily life this could be a viable way to reduce your dependency on fossil fuels. Hopping on a plane to visit relatives in Aspen or wherever may or may not be a trivial task in 5-10 years.

I'm not implying that if we all start supporting CSAs and farmer's markets and ride our bikes everything will be OK. There are global forces at work supporting an industrialized economy bent on growth (by necessity) that would prefer to maintain the status quo, and we can start having an impact within our families and our communities. As Gary Hirshberg reminded the crowd at a panel discussion following a special screening of Food, Inc. last Fall, as consumers (a label I really do not like) we have more power than we understand. Spending our dollars guides the development of business and policy on large and small scales; speaking with them in new ways will make an impact.

~~~

Wayne Maceyka is innately inquisitive. He holds an ME from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a freshly minted Sustainable MBA from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute. His passion: creating resilient economies to generate, restore, & preserve capital -- social, natural, & financial. Organizations working in the regional food system and those seeking to make “waste” a feedstock are of particular interest to him. When not “saving the world”, he works for the measurement technology firm Mettler-Toledo.

Find him & connect: LinkedIn | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

image credit: Donkeycart on Flickr

Personal Scale Manufacturing is Here: Why it Matters and What it Means to You

2010-02-11T03:55:00-08:00

I've been watching the evolving trend of personal scale manufacturing with interest for some time, and we're about to see that mythical "tipping point." I want you to know about it, and how it may effect your business and our environment.

It's happening. Much like the computer went from a monolithic room filling device used only by the military and government, to one that can fit in the palm of your hand, allowing you to do something about your surroundings via a geolocation enabled app, manufacturing is fast becoming something you and I can do, literally. And it has the potential to likewise shift the balance of power and control of what and where things get made, and what products do and do not see the light of day.

How?

It used to be that if you wanted to manufacture something, whether it's an entire product or its components, you had to do so at a large scale. After all, for a third party manufacturer or yourself, it was quite expensive to set up the production line to make each part. Changing aspects frequently required time and retooling. Not something for a small scale production, unless you're talking a prohibitively expensive one of a kind.

Then along came 3D printers.

These devices use a laser to shape a piece of raw material, frequently plastic, into an object, layer by layer. At first largely the province of adventurous tech geeks, last year saw the emergence of Ponoko, a company that has succeeded in creating an ecosystem of people with ideas, tools, and desire to buy what's being created.

Basically, with Ponoko if you have an idea for a product, you can find someone to make it for you. One. Or many. You pay a per minute rate for use of the printer that makes it. If you have a printer, you get business funneled to you via Ponoko. If you are a designer, you have the ability to have your product made, at a reasonable cost, no matter the quantity purchased.

This was a definite step forward, and yet you still had the barrier of cost, someone else being in control of the manufacturing.

Enter Makerbot Industries.

It has recently introduced what is the beginning of truly democratized manfuacturing: The Makerbot. It is a $750 open source 3D printer that can create small objects via ABS plastic. And it can make its own replacement parts! While we're not talking automotive manufacturing here, it is a solid beginning to what I predict will swiftly become an increasingly wide spread, widely useful practice.

What does this mean, in terms of sustainability?

Unless you live next door to the factory of what you purchase, and all components are made in one location, your purchase of a product likely logged a lot of miles getting to you. With something made via a Makerbot, you could either create your own design, or download a design from someone else, and make it right where you are. Then, rather than having to buy a new one if a part wears or breaks, you create the replacements yourself.

You've now skipped the shipping and reduced disposal waste. While this is happening on a small scale now, imagine the impact if repeated millions, billions of times.

The one sticking point at this stage is that objects made in Makerbots are made with plastic, which being petroleum based material, has the accompanying ecological footprint and in time, may prove expensive as petroleum becomes a scarcer resource. Can bioplastics be used? Can those be supplied at a reasonable cost? What about aluminum, or a temporary liquid, even some other as yet to be created upcyclable substance be used? Let's hope so. Ponoko currently works with everything from felt to bamboo.

But for now, the Makerbot marks a point in time, where the shift began.

Readers: What's your take on the sustainability of micro scale manufacturing? How else can we cut out links of the supply chain? Right now the offerings are primarily machine parts and decorative objects. What would you design and offer?

The 3 Best Ways to Drastically Reduce your iPhone (Or Any Phone) Bill

2010-02-05T05:00:00-08:00

Late last year I got my first iPhone (I know I know! Three words : 2 year contract.) With the increase in monthly bill, I was inspired to seek ways to reduce it. And I found them. Many. I thought you'd like to know too.

These days, it seems there's nearly as many ways to save money using your phone as there are types of phones. But they all seem to have a weak spot: Requiring you to do numerical gymnastics, or making your caller i.d. on the other end look like something to avoid.

While those may have monetary benefits, they can reduce your productivity, and make you look less professional. So I was pleased to have made series of discoveries in the past week that put it all together, with minimum effort, maximum results.

Follow these steps and you'll be well on to your way to smarter, cheaper, more connected communications.

First, for your domestic calls, get Skype. Then, go into your account and get Skypeout so you can use it to call land lines and cell phones, from your computer. Deals vary from country to country, but here in the US, I was able to get unlimited calls in the US and Canada for $2.99/month (they call it a Subscription) This gets you additional options, such as voicemail and forwarding to the phone number of your choice. Or you can get pay as you go credit. Less of a deal though.

Next, buy some credit. $10.00 is the minimum. This can be used for a variety of purposes, but the two you'll likely find most useful? Wi-Fi via Skype, which gives you access to Wi-Fi where otherwise it's a sea of locked access and bulk purchase amounts, even if you need just a few minutes. The other thing to unlock is the ability to change your outbound Skype caller ID to that of your cell phone number. That costs 45 cents credit in SMS to that phone to validate it. All of these options are to be found via clicking the Account->View Account menu bar links. Or directly from your Skype contact list, the top right corner.

You've now closed the familiarity gap, with your number rather than 5555555 or Unknown Caller displaying on the other end.

Next, go get the Skype app for your iPhone. You can now make phone calls via Skype, showing the same number as the cell you're calling from. As of this writing, that can happen only via wifi. But, praise be to the Apple gods, it will soon be possible via 3g. This means that, barring being in an Edge only zone, you can make calls using none of your monthly phone plan minutes.

Call internationally? Two smart options here: Either choose a Skype subscription that allows for international calling, or, to provide always an always available option, go sign up for Rebtel, usable on land lines and now, iPhone (app link) What it does is brilliant: It converts all numbers you select into a domestic dial number, that gets you calls to places like Brazil (from the US, for example) for less than 2 cents a minute. The iPhone app does the courtesy of telling you exactly how long you could call each of your contacts, based on your remaining credit.

Even better, in a select number of those countries is the possibility to make a free call. Basically, you call using the given Rebtel number, ask the person on the other end to note the (domestic to them) number on the caller ID. They call you back, at no cost to both of you.

Want to go even deeper? Get a free Google Voice account (by invite only at this point) and set your number for the region you're most often when not at home, or where you do most business. It's changeable at any time, for a $10 fee. At long last, Google Voice can be used on iPhone, via a web based app, circumventing the logjam around an iPhone app being approved. Google Voice also gives useful options like incoming voicemail transcription, outgoing voicemail that can vary by caller, the ability to listen in as someone records a voicemail, to mark unwanted callers as "spam," and to choose when calls do and do not get forwarded to your various phones.

You now have the ability to have "presence" via your local phone number in the region you seek to work in, and you now show as calling from that number, on your iPhone, your Android phone, or ye olde landline even.

There you have a tightly integrated strategy to connect with the world, seamlessly, at much less cost. What other problems can I help solve for you? I'm here to serve.

Image credit: Sateda on Stock Xchng

Verterra: A Green Company Effectively Reaching Beyond “The Choir”

2010-01-22T04:00:00-08:00

I have the pleasure of working for all clients that I admire and respect, and while it’s typically my role to help get them written and talked about by other people, I have to make an exception here. That exception is Verterra.

Verterra is a rare find: A green company that goes far beyond the expectations for their product category, even in ways that aren’t apparent to the end user, while keeping it very affordable, eschewing the “green tax” so many companies presume they can get away with charging the mythical idealized green consumer. It goes like this: They make plates, bowls and platters out of fallen Palm leaves, that would have otherwise been burnt as agricultural waste.

They don’t say it on their site, but that’s roughly 15 tons a month. All of it, even production scraps, gets used.

Another thing left out of the spotlight is their reusing 84% of the factory’s water. And they continue to increase that. In a time where water is going to become an increasingly precious resource, this is not only ecologically considerate, it’s a proactive business move.

And please, don’t take my word for it, here’s what Whole Foods recently said, having used Verterra at an event themselves: “So that’s it. No trees are harvested or cut. No glues or dyes. Just leaves and water. VerTerra truly is an authentic eco-friendly line. And if the environmental benefits aren’t enough to convince you, VerTerra boasts unmatched durability and versatility – use the plates for microwave reheat or short bakes in the oven!”

All fine and good, but what’s in it for the consumer?

They didn’t forget them here. Since I began working with them in 2008, they’ve halved their prices, while increasing quality. And when food meets plate, it doesn’t melt, leach chemical binders (typically needed to stabilize plates that use a mash of materials such as sugar cane fiber), or just bow out of being used in an oven. All the issues people usually just have to grin and bear about your average eco friendly serviceware, Verterra skips. And they can’t say it, but I can: They’re reusable. Many times.

Verterra realizes, as should other green companies, that doing the right thing but reaching few people is not enough.

Yes, actions and impacts of all sizes add up, but making a well honed tiny impact when there’s so much more you can do, for a much broader audience is in my book inexcusable. Especially in this case, when what you make is used for an activity that everybody does: Eat.

Green cynics? Bring ‘em on!

Its unique story & excellent usability have such a high possibility of sparking conversations, even in the most green cynical of us. It in a way serves as an ambassador to those who’ve had poor experiences with other green products, or just write them off sight unseen, presuming inferior performance.

And rather than just go for coverage at green specific events, they’ve thrown their net wide into the mainstream, with great impact: They’ve been used at Superbowl and NBA All Star VIP parties, are featured at Statue of Liberty food vendors, and recently, were on a surreal segment on the Today Show laying out fashion trends for 2010 (see 3:36 onward for Verterra)

Beyond the green, into the mainstream

With their refined, stylish execution, you’d think they’d stick to a few high end green focused outlets. Fortunately, no. From one store on each coast when I first began working with them, to over 450 today, plus numerous online outlets, it’s clear they don’t plan to be a niche product for LOHAS purists only. Their focus is on a product whose first priority is serving their customers needs well, backed with being as sustainable as possible.

Readers: What can your company learn from Verterra? How are you likewise reaching beyond the “green choir”? Have you ever tried Verterra? What’s been your experience?

Photo credit: Theodore Samuels || Food by Silkstone Events