Recycle computer hardware for recommerce

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The European Parliament has voted for tougher regulations on the disposal of worn out/obsolete electronic items, requiring each country to collect 4 kilos of e-waste per citizen by 2012, and to process 85% of all its electronic waste by 2016.
We’re seeing that in times of recession, economic interests tend to overrule eco-causes, and corporate social responsibility around sustainable developments dwindle. But the need for a more sustainable lifestyle will remain a most pressing issue for years to come. Interestingly, in a credit crunch, consumers become increasingly aware not only of the financial value in their past purchases, but the material and ecological value of ‘stuff’ as well.

Dell runs Dell Reconnect in partnership with Goodwill Industries. The scheme allows users to take their electrical equipment, from any brand, to one of Goodwill’s 2,200+ participating locations in the United States or Canada, where it will then be refurbished or recycled.
(Companies like Nike and Patagonia have been doing this for years, but good for Dell :-)

Solar powered art

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SunFlowers, An Electric Garden as seen at night

SunFlowers, An Electric Garden designed by Mags Harries and Lagos Heder for Austin, Texas is a sculpture of 15 giant SunFlower covering a thousand feet of space along the Interstate 35 Highway. The solar flowers collect energy to power their blue LED lights at night and send the remaining energy to the city’s power grid. By November 2011, 330,316 kilowatt hours of clean energy has been generated by the sculptures. That’s roughly the equivalent of 10,735 days of electricity usage in an average American house.

SalarFlora

On a smaller scale is Darren Saravis’s SolarFlora. These thirteen foot flower sculptures generate solar energy to power its own light as well as outlets at the base of the sculpture that passersby can use for a quick charge. SolarFlora is from the product-development firm Nectar Design, and meant to generate energy from within the heart of a city.

Floralis Generica, open during the day

Perhaps the most stunning is Floralis Genérica of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Built near the National Museum of Fine Arts, the giant sculpture responds to light and opens its petals during the day and shuts them at night. Four nights a year this stunning piece is lit and remains open after dark. The name, Floralis Genérica, is meant to represent all flowers in the world and its opening daily symbolizes a hope that appears anew each day.  Creating green energy through art gives us something visually beautiful in our urban and rural landscapes – surely this is a great way to encourage communities to grasp the potential of clean energy?

Greener Electronics

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Guide_Greener_Electronics_OSGreenpeace have just released a new version of the Guide to Greener Electronics. This is important for Envirodigital as we want to recommend digital solutions for getting greener, but we all know that most digital devices are manufactured with electronics components and use electricity to power up. Greenpeace report:
“This time ranking 15 gadget and electronics companies on energy, greener products and sustainable operations. HP takes the lead at 5.9 out of a possible 10 points, followed by Dell, Nokia and Apple.
Previous releases of our Guide to Greener Electronics have prompted improvements within the electronics industry including phasing out hazardous substances like PVC and brominated flame retardants from their products. In its sixth year, it is now part of Greenpeace’s wider Cool IT campaign to persuade IT industry leaders to become climate action leaders too.
Electronics, such as computers, TVs and mobile phones are both resource and energy intensive to produce. That’s why the guide’s new energy section focuses on how companies can lead the way by reducing their own energy use and using their influence in support of clean energy legislation.”
Is it all corporate greenwash? Well it seems that consumers can be reassured that HP takes top spot because it scores strongly for measuring and reducing carbon emissions from its supply chain, for reducing its own emissions, and advocating for strong climate legislation. I guess the public transport CO2 emissions will rise if we all buy HP laptops (lovingly known by their owners as “bricks” :-)

Responsibly international performing arts practice (its digital & environmentally sustainable!)

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The British Council have been hosting their Edinburgh Showcase 2011, as part of the Edinburgh Festivals which included a digital day, focusing on creating engaging digital content (case studies: Digital Theatre, NT LIve!, Watershed) and engaging audiences digitally (case studies: National Theatre Wales, Sadler’s Wells, Hoipolloi & us, Envirodigital). I talked to the international delegates about how to engage audiences internationally, but responsibly (in relation to protecting the environment), reporting on Envirodigital’s co-production of Five Minute Theatre with National Theatre Scotland. We webcast the day and you can watch the content on demand!

Watch live streaming video from envirodigital at livestream.com

READ ON >

Arts Marketing Association: webcasting keynotes

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Envirodigital has been busy webcasting the Arts Marketing Association’s (AMA) annual national conference, broadening the reach and scale and access to the live event in Glasgow. Online participants watched from Australia, Austria and from UK wide, and appreciated the chance to see the content without the need to spend time and money travelling.
storifyenviro

Day 2′s content is here to give you a flavour:

Watch live streaming video from envirodigital at livestream.com

Five Minute Theatre – 12 days to go

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I’ve spent the week on Five Minute Theatre, making sure that the people and the technologies are going to work just fine! We’ve done site visits to hubs like the CCA in Glasgow and Lemon Tree in Aberdeen and trained up roving crews at Howden Park (Livingston) Govan and lots more who will based in cars, driving round remote Scotland. Whilst we’ve focussed on the technology and the new processes that this introduces to the production and performance process of theatre, this project remains at its core a celebration of live theatre created in Scotland: its about live performance of engaging, exciting drama. Follow #fiveminutetheatre on Twitter for a glimpse of what the performers are up to as they count down to performance day!

National Theatre Scotland have blogged the process of the making of this project so that we can share the learning with other theatres. Here’s me talking about what I’ll be doing on the day!

STV partner Five Minute Theatre

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5mintheatrelogoNational Theatre of Scotland’s Five Minute Theatre project, on which Envirodigital are technical consultants, will feature over 1000 performers in eleven countries. Of the 235 successful entries, 202 will be performed in Scotland, thirteen across the rest of the UK, four in Europe and sixteen across the rest of the world. Not only will those crowd-sourced performance groups take part in an extraordinary 24 hour online broadcast of live theatre, taking place on Tuesday 21st June 2011, from 5pm until 5pm the following day, they will also find themselves the stars of STV.tv!

Of the hundreds of writers who applied to the scheme, those selected include poets, primary school pupils, teenagers, film-makers, families, community groups, visual artists, carers, professional theatre-makers and expectant mothers. Writers for the plays are based in Paisley, Paraguay, Govan, Milan, Orkney and New York as well as Brighton, Brussels, Shanghai, Mumbai, Livingston and Beijing.

STV will make the 24-hour event available to its online audience by streaming it live on www.stv.tv. The broadcaster will provide technical and studio facilities, enabling eight of the projects to be performed and recorded at STV’s studio at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. Rob Woodward, chief executive of STV, told The Herald: “This innovative 24-hour online broadcast is set to be a fantastic showcase of Scottish talent and originality.”

Last week, Envirodigital was part one of the trickiest meetings NTS has had for #fiveminutetheatre yet – Scheduling Day! From Audience Development Manager Marianne’s blog:

“It was all Countdown-esque number crunching and scribbles on the whiteboard. It was really hard work and felt like a cross between a Rubik’s Cube and a Sudoku puzzle, but we’re pretty confident that the structure we have in place and the balance between live and pre-recorded shows will work.”

Thanks Seth for this evocative picture: 5mintheatre

Creative & Interactive Industries’ low carbon transition: Final Report

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Envirodigital and Scottish Enterprise facilitated workshops with Creative and Interactive Industries for Scottish Government’s 2020 Climate Group, to feedback on what the options, opportunities and challenges might be for the sectors on achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and a 42% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020. The final report is below, and features digitisation as a key opportunity.