Matthew Savage's Blog

Most people trying to save the planet think that the best thing that they can do is to buy a hybrid vehicle like a Toyota Prius or put solar panels on their home. However, two of the most important areas in environmental change are being overlooked: conservation and efficiency.

The two most important resource-savings take place in energy and water usage. Although this is much less sexy than getting some semiconductors installed on your rooftop, efficiency and conservation are the easiest areas to make a difference right now, and should be regarded as the most important first step for any concerned citizen. I am amazed by how many people make the big jump towards other more technology-heavy measures, before they consider the changes that are less interesting on the surface, but if everyone did them, could literally change the world.

Often referred to as the cleanest power source of all, efficiency is the most effective way to save resources. Amory Lovins, founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute in Snowmass, Colorado, is one of the world’s most respected efficiency technology gurus. He first coined the term negawatt in 1989 as a unit of conserved electricity, or a megawatt of power that the power plant never has to generate because of efficiency.

Both in the water and electrical industry, the incentives have to be changed for efficiency and conservation to flourish. In the past, water and energy companies have been rewarded by how much water or energy they sell, without any incentives to sell less or encourage efficiency and conservation.

Nowadays, utilities are changing that model and reforming the system to create financial incentives for utilities to promote efficiency. For example, the Northwest Power Act of 1980 allowed power generators to share a portion of their customers’ savings from using less electricity, giving them a financial stake in the efficiency game. Among utilities’ large-scale efforts in efficiency is market transformation, a program in which utilities and regulators promote the manufacture and purchase of energy-saving products (appliances, building materials, etc.) with rebates, industrial training, consumer education, and marketing assistance.

But in most areas in the United States, except for the Northwest, California, New York, and a few others, regulatory efforts to drive efficiency measures have a long way to go. The decoupling of utility sales and profits has not happened yet in most areas, which gives utilities the wrong incentives to encourage efficiency and conservation.

We must spread the word about this important and often overlooked agent of change. Visit the website Flex Your Power [www.flexyourpower.org] for more information about conservation and efficiency. Also visit H20 Conserve [www.h2oconserve.org] for water efficiency tips and advice.

The evolution of social networking sites show they develop new functionalities.

1. First generation sites only let users manage friends’ lists. There are mainly flat, single entry lists by schools or classes you attended. Examples: Copainsdavant (FR), Classmates.com
2. Second generation sites can be seen as the first social networks. They are centered around an individual and his friends, and friends of friends : they follow the 6 degrees rule. Examples: LinkedIn (US), Viadeo (FR), Xing (G).
3. Third generation sites could represent the first social media sites. They allow multi-dimensional connections, real conversations between users, in compliance with the social graph theory *. Examples: Myspace (US), Facebook (US), Bebo (UK).
   
4. Fourth generation sites are what I am proposing already exist and will flourish in the future. They would represent social media sites that facilitate face-to-face meetings. They allow people to come together off-line around common interests, building real communities and friends in the real world. Examples: Meetup.com (US), Match.com (US).

We are already seeing a huge amount of green social network sites that are flooding the market place. I think that we are already maxxed-out on these sites. Most of my friends use Facebook and LinkedIn, but are unwilling to belong to any more social networks.

Unless…the rules change. The climate is right, we just need the right solution that might integrate into these pre-existing sites. Why reinvent the wheel?

There is still a huge opportunity here to provide some real value to people through the internet. People are craving to be heard and to interact with people off the computer. This is not regression, but progress facilitated by technology.

Sources: faberNovel analyses, Stanley Milgram (1967) Facebook; 03.10.2007 – Facebook study;
FaberNovel Consulting.

* As exposed by Mark Zuckerburg (US).

When I was first starting out in a new career, I joined a professional association in my area that had used the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as inspiration to form something called a Success Team. A Success Team is simply 5-7 individuals meeting together consistently over time around a common interest area.

In another life, I was a photographer, so my first experience with Success Teams was in that industry. This association made us each pay $300 to belong to the group, which I thought was rather steep, BUT they did supply a facilitator – who was also a career counselor– for our first meeting, and also formed the group for us. We were instructed on how to conduct the sessions efficiently around a set structure.

The structure is as follows:

1. Each person speaks for 10 minutes about what they are doing and what their goals are. This time is not designed for complaining or venting, but on moving forward in your career.
2. The discussion is opened up to the group for 5 to 10 minutes for feedback, comments and support. Then you move on to the next person.

Note: It is helpful to meet monthly or bi-monthly. This keeps up the momentum. It is good to follow this set structure for the following reasons: time efficiency, focusing the group on one person at a time, and forcing you to get to the heart of the issues quickly.

It is a very simple concept, but I have found it to be a powerful tool for my career in several areas, including:

• Being held accountable for goals and goal-setting.
• Being validated for what you have done and encouraged to push further.
• Sharing knowledge and best practices.
• Networking.
• Brainstorming.
• Developing your own leadership skills and becoming a better team-player.
• Organizing events and getting involved in the community.

Watch out for these three pitfalls in setting up a group:

1. When forming a group, it is hard to find people that are going to be on the same page in terms of skills and goals, but don’t worry about that too much. A lot of this is an exercise for you to go through by setting your own goals and forcing you to be accountable for them.
2. Group members must be enthusiastic and motivated and not skeptical about the idea. It is important that you like them as people as well!
3. Meet consistently and try to not skip meetings. Be serious, because the Success Team is a powerful tool if you use it right that could really benefit you.

I am currently researching how groups can come together locally and create change, build communities and do this on a mass-scale. The main ingredient in this possibility is a strong desire to push your career forward in a dynamic and beneficial way to the world. A perfect Win-Win situation! If you have any ideas, please comment.

My most recent Success Team is a Clean Tech career group in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is pushing me forward professionally, with the added benefit of helping to solve environmental issues.

So many people are hopping on the “green” boat right now. They don’t know how and they don’t know what, they just know it’s all gotta stop. And right now.

I have heard so many people wanting to get into this movement and start a “Green” business. When I asked one person what the business would be about, they responded: “I don’t know, but I know I need to start one!”

Someone else I know was transitioning from Photography into creating a consultancy that helped governments acheive the Kyoto protocols. I looked on the website and it was fully functional, except there was no content!

This was very telling. Where is the content???

I am very skeptical about this sudden desire to go “Green”. It feels very bubble-like, although I know these people are genuinely concerned. That is not to say that everything “Green” is all fluff, but there is lots out there.

I think “Green” should just be replaced by “Community”. That is what is lacking the most. Maybe we needed to wake up to how much damage we are doing to our surroundings, but are any of us really that surprised? We have been over-worked and have not invested properly in family life, nor our local communities. If we prioritized theses things, given an example by the right leaders, we might be able to start from the bottom up. Nobody has taken the leadership reigns in this country to show us values beyond mindless consumerism and the hunt for wealth.

Talk to the guy in the check-out line. Reach out to someone. Start small and build up confidence to lead by example in your local area. Do all you can to audit your ecological footprint [http://www.myfootprint.org/en/], but don’t feel you need to make it a career unless you have some true value to bring to the table.

Check out BetterTogether.org, which was founded by Robert Putnam “calling for a nationwide campaign to redirect a downward spiral of civic apathy. Warning that the national stockpile of “social capital” – our reserve of personal bonds and fellowship – is seriously depleted, the report outlined the framework for sustained, broad-based social change to restore America’s civic virtue.”

I think the word “Green” should just be replaced with “Community” – that is what is lacking the most.

Maybe we needed to wake up to how much damage we are doing to our surroundings, but are any of us really that surprised? We have been over-worked and have not invested properly in family life, nor our local communities. If we prioritized theses things, given an example by the right leaders, we might be able to start from the bottom up. Nobody has taken the leadership reigns in this country to show us values beyond mindless consumerism and the hunt for wealth.

Talk to the guy in the check-out line. Reach out to someone. Start small and build up confidence to lead by example in your local area. Do all you can to audit your ecological footprint [http://www.myfootprint.org/en/], but don’t feel you need to make it a career unless you have some true value to bring to the table.

Check out BetterTogether.org, which was founded by Robert Putnam “calling for a nationwide campaign to redirect a downward spiral of civic apathy. Warning that the national stockpile of “social capital” – our reserve of personal bonds and fellowship – is seriously depleted, the report outlined the framework for sustained, broad-based social change to restore America’s civic virtue.”

The evolution of social networking sites show they develop new functionalities.

1. First generation sites only let users manage friends’ lists. There are mainly flat, single entry lists by schools or classes you attended. Examples: Copainsdavant (FR), Classmates.com
2. Second generation sites can be seen as the first social networks. They are centered around an individual and his friends, and friends of friends : they follow the 6 degrees rule. Examples: LinkedIn (US), Viadeo (FR), Xing (G).
3. Third generation sites could represent the first social media sites. They allow multi-dimensional connections, real conversations between users, in compliance with the social graph theory *. Examples: Myspace (US), Facebook (US), Bebo (UK).
   
4. Fourth generation sites are what I am proposing already exist and will flourish in the future. They would represent social media sites that facilitate face-to-face meetings. They allow people to come together off-line around common interests, building real communities and friends in the real world. Examples: Meetup.com (US), Match.com (US).

We are already seeing a huge amount of green social network sites that are flooding the market place. I think that we are already maxxed-out on these sites. Most of my friends use Facebook and LinkedIn, but are unwilling to belong to any more social networks.

Unless…the rules change. The climate is right, we just need the right solution that might integrate into these pre-existing sites. Why reinvent the wheel?

There is still a huge opportunity here to provide some real value to people through the internet. People are craving to be heard and to interact with people off the computer. This is not regression, but progress facilitated by technology.

Sources: faberNovel analyses, Stanley Milgram (1967) Facebook; 03.10.2007 – Facebook study;
FaberNovel Consulting.

* As exposed by Mark Zuckerburg (US).

Going Local can present a wonderful opportunity. And we can harness the amazing power of the internet to build and strengthen our local communities.

I recently discovered meetup.com which is just that, an on-line venue that facilitates the process of meeting up face to face around a common interest. Taken from their website:

“Meetup’s mission is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.”

I think that this is a great idea. No matter what your interest, you can form a group and meet people in your local area consistently.

The only drawback is that you have to pay. It is a nominal fee of $12-20 a month, depending on your membership type and you can collect this fee as the organizer from the attendees of the meeting.

This blog’s mission is to provide community-building ideas for a venue like meetup.com or maybe eventually start our own community-building website that is totally free and more customizable. Stay tuned.

This is an amazing video of William McDonough (www.mcdonough.com) from the Bioneers conference in 2000. Another visionary that is willing to challenge the capitalism paradigm is Annie Leonard of the Story of Stuff. These two individuals are really the most interesting speakers on the subject of sustainability that I have heard recently.