Must Climate Change Solutions Be Beautiful? (#26)

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“Going backward in our quality of life does not lead to climate change success.” – Josh Dorfman

What does it take to enable the widespread adoption of climate change solutions? The answer is vital especially because — we want to solve climate change, but we don’t want to change.

We want to solve the climate crisis, but we don’t want to give up anything we’re used to. Even if the solutions are better and would improve our lives, we’re often so set in our ways that we’d prefer the present we know to the future we don’t.

So, I’m asking – must climate change solutions be beautiful? Must they be designed so extraordinarily well that we can’t help but desire them and want to make them central to our lives? I suspect the answer is an emphatic yes.

I start this week’s podcast by taking you back to a party that occurred nearly fifteen years ago 2006. It was a gathering of eco-conscious designers, media, entrepreneurs, and influencers on Manhattan’s lower east side at a nightclub called Libation.

We called it iciNYC. It convened clean economy movement builders from across the U.S. It captured the spirit of that era and the growing awareness that design is essential to solving the climate crisis.

The Great Recession knocked the sales (I meant to write ‘sails’ but “sales” fits too) out of that effort. But today, a design-led climate movement is back and evolving rapidly. That’s good news, and that’s much of what this episode is all about.

This week on The Last Environmentalist Podcast:

• The effectiveness or lack thereof of protest movements
• Why design values need to change to consider the environment
• Beauty’s role in Tesla’s success
• Weaving convenience and beauty into climate solutions
• Rothy’s 3D printing with recycled ocean-bound plastics
• Fashion’s future using eco-materials such as wool and sugarcane
• Why urban design needs to change to create walkable cities

Resources mentioned:

• Grist article: Swanky New York Event Heats Up The Green Scene
• Discover stylish eco-friendly and sustainable furniture
• Rothy’s
• Summersalt
• Reformation
• Allbirds

This episode is sponsored by Simbly Furniture

Simbly Furniture is the maker of modern, environmentally responsible, American-made furniture. Simbly’s sleek tables, benches, and desks are made of FSC-certified sustainable wood and shipped directly to customers from a family-owned near Asheville, NC.

To learn more about the beautiful, environmentally friendly contemporary furniture at Simbly, visit Simbly.com.

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