July 07, 2004
You Are Not Alone
Posted by nerdling | July 7, 2004 04:44 PM
Though I don't make much of it here, I am a fan of architecture, and of sustainability and city planning initiatives. I grew up in a place I not-so-affectionately refer to as suburban hell, a maze of track homes and cul-de-sacs in salmon and beige stucco that has been so overdeveloped some serious rain would wipe it from the Earth in a flood of cracked drywall. Green building has become more popular in the past few years (though not in the area where I am from), but the technology has not outpaced the increasing demand for square footage.
The American proclivity for living large does more than raise questions about whether a 4,000-square-foot single family home should ever qualify as a "green" residence. It also calls into question one of the fundamental tenets of sustainability -- that market demand for green products and technologies will save us from environmental apocalypse. If we all go solar, if we install rainwater catchment systems and use sustainably harvested lumber, so the logic goes, then there's no need to deprive ourselves of the luxuries that space -- and the furniture and accessories to fill it -- affords. But the issue of consumption, not to mention overconsumption, is curiously absent from the sustainability discourse. And in an era characterized by unprecedented consumer wealth, this could be the movement's fatal flaw.
PS Check out the creepy developments in RFID technology that spell big trouble for the little shopper. On one hand, this is the greatest idea ever: ultra-thin imbedded tags that communicate directly with their surroundings, eliminating shoplifting and even the need for checkers—you can ring up groceries yourself. On the other hand, this also means that manufacturers can track your purchases and preferences closely, targeting marketing strategies at specific shoppers. As though what we need in the world is more marketing.
