This eco-storm struck with little or no warning, yet is already causing severe turbulence in every corner of our lives. But without a real paradigm shift in our insatiable con
Life cycle of a paper cup. (Illustration: Ricardo Mejia, MSc, IDE)
“We zijn hardcore bestuurskundigen”, zegt dr. Willemijn Dicke van Techniek, Bestuur en Management (TBM) triomfantelijk. Dicke en haar collega’s van de sectie beleid, organisatie, recht en gaming steken met kop en schouders uit boven hun vakbroeders als het gaat om het aantal publicaties in gerenommeerde wetenschappelijke bladen. Dat blijkt uit een overzicht van de interuniversitaire onderzoeksschool voor bestuurskunde, de Netherlands Institute of Governement, waar vakgroepen van negen universiteiten bij aangesloten zijn. De groep van TBM scoort het hoogst: 173 punten (in de score zijn de hoeveelheid publicaties en de ‘impact factor’ van die bladen meegewogen). Op de tweede plaats komen bestuurskundigen van de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam met een score van 123.
Life cycle of a paper cup: designers yearn to develop stunning, lovely-to-use products; engineers want products that are simple to produce and distribute; and users desire a good standard of living, enjoying their freedoms in a comfortable world. A simple paper cup is an extremely complex ecosystem that combines all these desires. Helping to saving our eco-system is however a daunting but necessary task for designers, engineers and users, if there is to be water for future generations to drink in whatever kind of cup – paper, glass or plastic. (Illustration: Ricardo Mejia, MSc, IDE)
Today, everything imaginable, from food and drinks to living and fashion, is being ‘eco-fied’ or ‘greened’. TU Delft of course is no exception. These days you seemingly can’t turn a Delta page without seeing big, bold headlines with the words ‘Eco’, ‘Sustainability’ or ‘Green’ in them. Thanks to this global eco-trend, TU Delft’s students and researchers are now hot stuff with their headline-making achievements in eco-design and eco-engineering.
But what does the life of a typical eco-citizen look like? To hear the ‘true confessions of an eco-holic’, I turned to my friend Marjo, an industrial design student and the eco-est person I know. Marjo admits she has set rules or ‘eco-codes’ that she lives by, but which have all transformed into some natural instinct that she is no longer consciously aware of, although she did finally manage to pinpoint some, such as:
Reuse and recycle. The garbage bin must always be the last option. Recently Marjo’s old stuff ended up at marktplaats.nl and gratisoptehalen.nl, which she recommends everyone use, so others can reuse.
Never ever waste food. Marjo is always the doggie-bag taker at the end of any borrel or party. Good for her, but for the rest of us, it can be difficult to even contemplate following her doggie-bag style lead, forcing us to ask ourselves difficult questions: wouldn’t this be unappreciated by others? Won’t I look rather cheap in this way?
Save energy. Marjo’s home is like a cave, which is not said to cause offence, because her home is really gezellig, just it has no stove, TV or large PC. Illumination mainly comes from the sun. And her saving energy mania extends far beyond her own ‘nest’; whenever she’s in public toilets, rooms or hallways, her eyes automatically search for light switches to turn off.
By following all these eco-rules, Marjo has seriously reduced her carbon footprint, no question. But she’s also paid a price. Nowadays, whenever she sees a gas-guzzler like a Hummer plowing a path along a Delft canal, the compulsion to punch the driver in his face just rushes to her head. Not only do her own efforts make her distressed about the rest of the world’s waste, but she also started judging her own family. She watches loved ones using dishwashers and dryers in horror. She hates that her family has four cars. When Marjo admitted that her anti-family thing might also involve a bit of late-puberty attitude, as well as her eco-consciousness, what I thought was that perhaps Marjo sometimes just suffers from ‘green fever’.
Eco-snobbism
After I recently returned from a trip to Paris, my friend Anne’s opening question to me was: “Did you go there by train or by plane?” By plane, I answered, “and I found a really cheap ticket,” I added, pausing intentionally to wait for her envious reply. But instead, her eyebrows narrowed, and I knew immediately that not only would such a reply never come, but what’s worse, the first twenty minutes of our casual coffee time chat would end up being Anne’s lecture about carbon footprints. In the end, I promised Anne that the next time I travelled, I would try to stay grounded.
Yet, living in this modern world, there is no way to escape committing such ‘eco-sins’, regardless of how much you love our mother earth. What if I arrive at C1000 and realize I’ve forgotten to take my organic hemp bag with me? I then have to buy a plastic bag, which some people say will remain underground forever. Yes, I’m eco-aware, but I must also make sure my life functions normally, and that doesn’t include either not shopping or walking all the way back home to get my organic bag.
To be deeply committed to ‘eco’ adds lots of hassles (and guilt) to our lives. Obviously, the eco-warriors don’t mind and actually feel quite good about it. But isn’t it also humanly difficult or even impossible to take your cola bottles to the recycling store without sneering at those who do not? And if so, is this extra eco-effort really for a good cause or just one more of the many excuses human beings have used through the ages to look down on other people – in this case, as eco-snobs?
If the latter is true, is it any wonder that we’re now witnessing some verbal backlash directed at our eco-friends, such as calling them ‘eco-fanatics’, ‘bio-obsessed’ or ‘green-freaks’?
Eco-consumerism
Today, such a misconception is widely held that if we buy more eco-products, we’re actually making a contribution to preserving our environment. Well, let me ask you: does sugar-free candy do you any good? It’s still candy. Less negative doesn’t equal more positive.
Ever since the signal was detected by marketing people, a green revolution has swept across most industries. Overnight, every product starts with ‘eco-‘ and is painted green. And globe-trotting, three-home-owning celebrities, of all people, have also joined this green storm.
Today, green is the trend. Green is simply irresistible. But here lies my concern: as the trendy aspect increasingly takes over the green message, won’t this trendy ‘eco-fuel’ simply serve to drive up our already rampant consumerism? Are we just looking for another excuse to justify our already insatiable consumer appetites? After all, a vital part of green living is not just what you buy, but the amount you consume and how you discern between need vs. want.
Like all trends, the fear is that this eco-trend will also quickly become outdated, that it is just a flash in the pan and not a real paradigm shift. After all, can anyone really say for certain what the color of tomorrow will be?
Today, everything imaginable, from food and drinks to living and fashion, is being ‘eco-fied’ or ‘greened’. TU Delft of course is no exception. These days you seemingly can’t turn a Delta page without seeing big, bold headlines with the words ‘Eco’, ‘Sustainability’ or ‘Green’ in them. Thanks to this global eco-trend, TU Delft’s students and researchers are now hot stuff with their headline-making achievements in eco-design and eco-engineering.
But what does the life of a typical eco-citizen look like? To hear the ‘true confessions of an eco-holic’, I turned to my friend Marjo, an industrial design student and the eco-est person I know. Marjo admits she has set rules or ‘eco-codes’ that she lives by, but which have all transformed into some natural instinct that she is no longer consciously aware of, although she did finally manage to pinpoint some, such as:
Reuse and recycle. The garbage bin must always be the last option. Recently Marjo’s old stuff ended up at marktplaats.nl and gratisoptehalen.nl, which she recommends everyone use, so others can reuse.
Never ever waste food. Marjo is always the doggie-bag taker at the end of any borrel or party. Good for her, but for the rest of us, it can be difficult to even contemplate following her doggie-bag style lead, forcing us to ask ourselves difficult questions: wouldn’t this be unappreciated by others? Won’t I look rather cheap in this way?
Save energy. Marjo’s home is like a cave, which is not said to cause offence, because her home is really gezellig, just it has no stove, TV or large PC. Illumination mainly comes from the sun. And her saving energy mania extends far beyond her own ‘nest’; whenever she’s in public toilets, rooms or hallways, her eyes automatically search for light switches to turn off.
By following all these eco-rules, Marjo has seriously reduced her carbon footprint, no question. But she’s also paid a price. Nowadays, whenever she sees a gas-guzzler like a Hummer plowing a path along a Delft canal, the compulsion to punch the driver in his face just rushes to her head. Not only do her own efforts make her distressed about the rest of the world’s waste, but she also started judging her own family. She watches loved ones using dishwashers and dryers in horror. She hates that her family has four cars. When Marjo admitted that her anti-family thing might also involve a bit of late-puberty attitude, as well as her eco-consciousness, what I thought was that perhaps Marjo sometimes just suffers from ‘green fever’.
Eco-snobbism
After I recently returned from a trip to Paris, my friend Anne’s opening question to me was: “Did you go there by train or by plane?” By plane, I answered, “and I found a really cheap ticket,” I added, pausing intentionally to wait for her envious reply. But instead, her eyebrows narrowed, and I knew immediately that not only would such a reply never come, but what’s worse, the first twenty minutes of our casual coffee time chat would end up being Anne’s lecture about carbon footprints. In the end, I promised Anne that the next time I travelled, I would try to stay grounded.
Yet, living in this modern world, there is no way to escape committing such ‘eco-sins’, regardless of how much you love our mother earth. What if I arrive at C1000 and realize I’ve forgotten to take my organic hemp bag with me? I then have to buy a plastic bag, which some people say will remain underground forever. Yes, I’m eco-aware, but I must also make sure my life functions normally, and that doesn’t include either not shopping or walking all the way back home to get my organic bag.
To be deeply committed to ‘eco’ adds lots of hassles (and guilt) to our lives. Obviously, the eco-warriors don’t mind and actually feel quite good about it. But isn’t it also humanly difficult or even impossible to take your cola bottles to the recycling store without sneering at those who do not? And if so, is this extra eco-effort really for a good cause or just one more of the many excuses human beings have used through the ages to look down on other people – in this case, as eco-snobs?
If the latter is true, is it any wonder that we’re now witnessing some verbal backlash directed at our eco-friends, such as calling them ‘eco-fanatics’, ‘bio-obsessed’ or ‘green-freaks’?
Eco-consumerism
Today, such a misconception is widely held that if we buy more eco-products, we’re actually making a contribution to preserving our environment. Well, let me ask you: does sugar-free candy do you any good? It’s still candy. Less negative doesn’t equal more positive.
Ever since the signal was detected by marketing people, a green revolution has swept across most industries. Overnight, every product starts with ‘eco-‘ and is painted green. And globe-trotting, three-home-owning celebrities, of all people, have also joined this green storm.
Today, green is the trend. Green is simply irresistible. But here lies my concern: as the trendy aspect increasingly takes over the green message, won’t this trendy ‘eco-fuel’ simply serve to drive up our already rampant consumerism? Are we just looking for another excuse to justify our already insatiable consumer appetites? After all, a vital part of green living is not just what you buy, but the amount you consume and how you discern between need vs. want.
Like all trends, the fear is that this eco-trend will also quickly become outdated, that it is just a flash in the pan and not a real paradigm shift. After all, can anyone really say for certain what the color of tomorrow will be?
Do you have a question or comment about this article?
delta@tudelft.nl
Comments are closed.