Time Unknown (Entries tagged as environment)

Population growth

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 09:51:00 +0300

Population Growth: unnatural, unnecessary, unsustainable is a beautiful but sad video on population growth.

If after that you feel tempted to say we can solve it by colonizing other planets, read this insigthful article on the math of population growth and think again.

Toilet tank sink

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:27:06 +0200

Sinkpositive is a little sink that uses water that normally would go into the toilet tank and then into the toilet. That is, you get to wash your hands in clean water and soapy water gets used to flush the toilet. It looks quite simple yet clever.

Unfortunately they do not sell these in EU yet, but it seems to be possible to order one from USA.

Spit and piss

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:22:38 +0200

Walking to a bus stop in Helsinki center today I noticed just how many spit blots there were on the sidewalk. A truly appalling amount of bodily fluids. I notice that there was no place where I could really put my bag if I needed to, the spit was literally everywhere. Gah. It was not this way when I was a kid. Is it my generation that is doing this and peeing the the corners like dogs on weekends?

Wash it unblack!

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 07:23:14 +0200

For years I have been musing over reverse graffiti. It's nice to see the the idea in use. Now I'm wondering where to try that.

Minimizing the plastic use

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:02:53 +0300

Almost every time I buy something, there is plastic wrapping or packaging involved. Many objects, like dvds and toilet paper, are wrapped in a thin layer of plastic. Others, like most shampoos, come in a plastic container that is not refillable. Finland does not properly recycle plastic from households, so most of of that plastic will end up in the landfill (what a pretty name for a mountain of garbage, by the way). Is there a way to minimize the plastic garbage generated by one's life?

Here are some ways I have found to reduce the amount of plastic garbage:

Don't go for disposables utensils or plates, choose the real ones instead.
Buy anything in plastic wrapping in largest possible package, thus minizing the wrapping ratio
Use shampoos and conditioners that come in refillable bottles.
Say "no, thank you" when stores offer you a plastic bag and use a permanent bag of your choice instead.
When possible, buy stuff used as that will keep the seller from throwing away something that would be totally useful for you.
When all the other things are equal, choose the non-plastic product, like a cotton shirt over a polyester shirt, or a wooden spatula over a plastic one.
Choose high quality products. Even if it is plastic, high quality lasts longer in use than low quality.

What advice do you have for reducing the amount of plastic garbage?

Ideal job

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 11:41:39 +0300

A bit over a year ago I started compiling a list of requirements for an ideal job. I'm happy where I'm working now, and have no interest in changing jobs, and this happiness has partially resulted from using my list to check if I really wanted to take this job or not.

The entries are not in any special order.

Knowing my position and my primary responsibilities
A sense of belonging
Being able affect what my responsibilities and priorities are
No multiple bosses giving conflicting orders
Linux as my primary OS
Less than 50 minutes of commute (one way), or being allowed to work during the commute and to count that as work time
Max one transfer during the commute
Being allowed to work on information security
Well ventilated meeting rooms or no multihour meetings
Aversion to useless meetings
More into fixing things than into assigning blame
Culture of clear communication and information sharing, so that people know enough to do their work and to prioritize their tasks and that there is no feeling of being kept in the dark
If job requires long distance travelling, at least half of the time spend getting there and coming back is counted as work time
Most of the skills learned are usable elsewhere, not just learning ins and outs of a proprietary or in-house system
Not being the contact person for things I cannot do and do not have authority to delegate
Being allowed to work more when I have better concentration and less when I am less able to be productive
Decent ergonomics
Reasonable financial compensation that grows when the skills and responsibilities increase

I think these are also things I'd like my employees to have, if I'll ever have employees.

Global Climate Change as a lottery

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 11:51:48 +0300

The Most Terrifying Video Youll Ever See represents the global climate change as a decision grid.

There! I want to go there!

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 18:44:51 +0300

I saw some photos of Plitvice Lakes National Park and instantly wanted to go there. It looks just perfect, just like the place I used to have a poster of on my wall as a kid.

Hyvä Espanja!

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:54:00 +0200

Reutersin mukaan Espanja on määrännyt että uusiin ja peruskorjattaviin taloihin on asennettava aurinkopaneelit. Järkevä veto sillä näin aurinkovoima yleistyy, eikä tämä ole kovin kivulias operaatio talonomistajillekaan, sillä paneeleista tuleva kustannus, The Timesin mukaan noin 1300 euroa, maksaa itseään ajan kanssa takaisin.

Täydellinen talvisää

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:00:00 +0200

Tänään hetken oli täydellinen talvisää: 0 astetta Celciusta, puhdasta lumipallolunta puissa ja maassa, ei tuulta eikä lumisadetta. Kaikki näytti kauniilta ja maagiselta. Kelpaisi kun koko talvi olisi tuollainen.

Ecological footprint marking

nospam@example.com (Lynoure) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:01:24 +0300

Occasionally, when trying to choose between products I'm yearning for a ecological footprint marking to be mandatory on all products. That way consumers could easily compare the enviromental effects of e.g. locally produced but overpacked tomatos to tomatos shipped from Spain.