thinking matter

Chatsuree Isariyasereekul | Applies Theories in Sustainability | Prof.Scott Boylton | Spring 2015

THINKING MATTERSIf we can change how we think, it will change how we behave

Thinking Matters

2

http://pixshark.com/plant-in-hand.htm

If we change how we think, it will change how we behave

3

Introduction How did we get here?

Getting to Know...Sustainability What do we mean by sustainability?

Why does thinking matters?

How is connected with sustainability?

Creating a New Paradigm Sustainable Approach

- What can we learn from nature?

- What can we apply from natural systems to

our manmade systems?

Implementation / Frameworks

Designing Our Future What are the outcomes?

- the future we want and roadmap of well-being

Our planet, our responsibility

CONTENTS

Thinking Matters

4

“You see, the Greenhouse Effect is a direct result of burning fossil or old carbon fuels”

Jack Herer–American Activist

http://galleryhip.com/climate-change-causes.html


5

INTRODUCTION How did we get here?

Thinking Matters

6

HOW DID WE GET HERE?Before the industrial revolution, human and animal labor, wind, water, tide, and sun were valuable sources of energy, none of which caused pollution or depleted finite natural resources.

The Industrial Revolution was a period of rapid development that occurred in agricul-ture, business, transportation, economic policy, social structure, and manufacturing. In manufacturing, production size was expanded and mass-produced to create higher demand and the rapidly growth of markets. Moreover, the drop in prices of nonrenewable resources during and after The Industrial Revolution increased demand. This was also the beginning of environmental problems and some of prob-lems that continue to this day. As described in the Brundtland Report, “development trends leave people poor and vulnerable while simultaneously degrading the envi-ronment.”1

As we all know, fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are major energy resources that have been exploited power the global economy. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable energy derived from the remains of flora and fauna subjected that pressure and heat deep within the earth for over million of years. So, it would take at least a million years to allow Earth to produce resources again.

The Earth’s environment has been changing dramatically since The Indus-trial Revolution. Deforestation, drought, flooding, climate change, and pollutions are just a few examples of the devastation. These problems are caused by human

action and the development of technol-ogy. Furthermore, as mentioned in Limits to Growth by Club of Rome in 1972, there are four condition of problems to create environmental problems, which are the exponential growth of population, lim-ited of natural resources, human apathy toward the limited of natural resources, and pollution.2 These problems directly impact the atmosphere, and completely change the state of our ecosystems. The extinc-tion of animals has been increasing, and it has distorted ecosystem behavior. This scenario has not only effected to the earth, but all of it species and ecosystems. The problems have become so significant, they can no longer be ignored . Therefore, the idea of sustainability has caught people’s attention, and more people are concerned about this. However, this idea is not new, people have been discussing for decades, if not centuries. Even though people try to shift to sustainable thinking into an action, it is not easy as they thought. Therefore, changing how people think is a good start. If we can change how people think, it will change how they behave. That will be the answer of Sustainability.


7

http

://ga

llery

hip.

com

/clim

ate-

chan

ge-c

ause

s.htm

lht

tp://

galle

ryhi

p.co

m/w

ater

-pol

lutio

n.ht

ml

http

://w

ww

.bus

ines

sins

ider

.com

.au/

Thinking Matters

8

http://www.cliffordpaper.com/sustainability/


9

GETTING TO KNOW...SUSTAINABILITY What do we mean by sustainability?

Why does thinking matter? - How is it connected with sustainability?

Thinking Matters

10

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SUSTAINABILITY?First we have to understand what “sus-tainability” is and how important it is to people’s lives. Sustainability attempts to balance three elements: environment, economy, and society to improve the quality of life, create an equitability society, and promote the feasible use of natural resources. In other words, it is a bottom-up-approach whose ultimate goals are environmental well-being, economic well-being, and social well-being. The Brundtland Report describes sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compro-mising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.3 So, we need to consider what will be our future, in making our decisions about the present. We can say that sustainability is another form of behavior change.

The concept of sustainability drives the economy toward stability, and narrows the gap between rich and poor. Sustainability also helps businesses long-run success in financial, human resources, materials (raw and reuse), systems and process, energy, and so on. Integration of sustainability

within a company’s core strategy becomes an important principle to operate and manage their success. For example, the circular economy is “an industrial system that is restorative by design”.4 In other words, it is a new business niche that closes the hole within the industrial system. The system not only helps business owners save their budget, but also preserves the environment by shortening the time of unnecessary processes and closes the loop of the system. This model eliminates the linear system that takes raw materials from nature, makes products, then creates waste. Circular economy’s idea is to “driving value-creation through four interrelated

closed-loop systems.” 5 First is “the power of the inner circle” refers to minimize material usage in the production system. So, “the tighter the circle, the less a product has been changed, and the faster it returns to use, the higher the potential saving.” Second, “the power of circling longer” refers to lengthen the numbers and time of cycle. Third, “the power of cascaded use” refers to varieties of purpose of the products. Finally, “the power of pure circle” refers to uncon-taminated materials increase the efficiency of product and productivity.”6 The exam-ples are product from ocean plastic, Freitag, Method, mud jeans, and so on, which called Regenerative Design.

The Circular Economy is an industrial system that restorative by design.


11

“FROM TRUCK TILL BAG

Giving used materials a new life is called “recontex-tualizing” at FREITAG. Transforming used truck tarps into highly functional, unique bags takes place in five highly complex stages at the F-actory.”

“We are a Dutch denim brand that dreams of a world in which there is no such thing as waste. What if we all clean up our own mess? This simple thought led us to a new way of thinking. Send your jeans back when you don’t wear them any longer. We reuse all materials, while you can switch to a new pair. Returned jeans are upcycled and transformed into one-of-a-kind vintage pieces. Or, when they are beyond repair, the jeans are recycled into new items. This is how we create our own circle of denim products.”

It is a cleaning products that safe for people, pets, + planet.

Thinking Matters

12

natural resources because the unstabilized system creates the depletion of animals and natural resources.11 It consists of the balanced integration of environment, econ-omy, and society.12

WHY DOES THINKING MATTER?How is it connected with sustainability?

Limits to Growth states that “if present growth trends in world population, indus-trialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached sometime within the next one-hundred years”.7 The book captured people’s attention and created awareness that the world had been changing. This makes people realize what we have done with our planet and gave them the reasons why we have to change our thinking and lifestyle to be more sustainable.

Thinking is the starting point of what, where, when, why, and how people generate and produce ideas. The results can be positive or negative depending on the person. However, the environmental problems that are occurring today are the consequence of negative human behavior. They are a result from the development of the new technological ideas. So, thinking is essential foundation to create people’s sense of responsibility to star fixing the en-vironmental problems that face the world.

As previously stated, changing the way we think will create a change in how we

behave. Also, there is no way to escape from the global problems happening right now. If we are still doing the same thing repeatedly and ignoring planet’s warning, will have nothing left to keep us alive. Therefore, we have to think very carefully about our planet and the resources that we have left. How we are going to manage and preserve our ecosystems for present and future generation?

Generally, thinking creates positive and negative effects, which result in designs, for example, product design, strategic design, transportation design, and so on. Each design outcome follows either the sustainability or the expansion model theory. Expansion model is a function product-based system in the markets that allows economic growth, which creates the competition between the nations.8 The idea of expansion model is to develop and innovate products that drive economic expansion with no regards for the waste or damage they creates.9 Moreover, this model widens the gap between the rich and poor because developing countries export their natural resources to industrial-ized countries. It is also create the depletion in developing countries.10 In contrast, the idea of sustainability stated in Our Common Future provides the opposite outcomes. Sustainability model is the system that measures ecology and balances the finite

Thinking is the starting point what, where, when, why, and how people generate and produce ideas.

“if present growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue unchanged, the limits to growth on

this planet will be reached sometime within the next one hundred years”–Limits to Growth

Expansion Model

Sustainability Model

Society

EconomicEnvironment


13

http

://w

ww

.bus

ines

sins

ider

.com

.au/

Thinking Matters

14

A system is a combination of elements that are interconnected holistically to accom-plish a purpose. The behavior of the system is determined by its intended function. Generally, everything in this world is a system, everything is connected—human, plants, animals, and environment. Change in systems are happening all the time, and these changes create destabilizing effects. So, maintaining balance within the systems is important. Donella H. Meadows, author of Thinking in System, introduced twelve leverage points to create positive change in systems.13 The twelve leverage points provide intervention to return balance to the systems. It can be divided into two groups, which are physical, and information

does and does not have access to infor mation.5. Rules - Incentives, punishments, and constraints.4. Self-Organization - The power to add, change, or evolve system structure.3. Goals - The purpose or function of the system.2. Paradigms - The mindset out of which the system arises.1. Transcending Paradigms - I might say that changing how we think is a highest leverage point.14

For example, information flows provide information for people who are in a system so that they can get and digest information to start changing how people think. The

Balancing Feedback LoopsReinforcing Feedback Loops

Information Flows

Rules

Self-OrganizationGoals

Paradigms

Transcending Paradigms

Numbers

Stock and Flow Structures

Delays

and control.Physical:12. Numbers - Constants and parameters such as subsidies, taxes, and standard.11. Buffers - The sizes of stabilizing stocks relative to their flows.10. Stock and Flow Structures - Physical systems and their nodes of intersection.9. Delays - The lengths of time relative to the rates of system change.Information and Control:8. Balancing Feedback Loops - The strength of the feedbacks relative to the impacts they are trying to correct.7. Reinforcing Feedback Loops - The strength of the gain of driving loops.6. Information Flows - The structure of who

LEVERAGE POINTS–Place to intervene in a system


15

more information flows in a system, the more people can absorb and process that information. This will slowly create a behav-ioral change in the system. In contrast, if the information that flows in the system is not good, it will make the system fail. However, problems are common in a system structure. It produces such common problematic behavior patterns that are called “archetypes.”15 In order to push sus-tainability and solve problems at the same time, understanding system traps allows us to understand archetypal problems in the system. Because we keep falling into the same traps over and over again, identifying

and comprehending all the traps will create a strong system. There are eight traps we should aware of that we can see as an opportunities because we can learn from them:16

1. Policy Resistance Fixed that Fail 2. The Tragedy of the Commons 3. Drift to Low Performance 4. Escalation 5. Shifting the Burden to the Intervenor Addiction 6. Seeking the Wrong Goal 7. Success to the Successful–Competitive Exclusion 8. Rule Beating

Restoring Balance to the World

http

://ga

llery

hip.

com

/fac

tory

-pol

lutio

n.ht

ml

http

://in

habi

tat.c

om/

http

://ta

iny.

info

/wor

ld-a

roun

d/pl

anet

a-be

z-vo

dy/

http

://ph

otot

echm

ag.c

omPe

ter M

cbrid

e, N

atio

nal G

eogr

aphi

c Cr

eativ

e

Thinking Matters

16

Policy Resistance Fixed that FailWhen various actors try to pull a system stock toward various goals, the result can be the policy resistance. Any new policy, es-pecially if it is effective, just pull the stock farther from the goals of other actors and produces additional resistance, with a result that no one likes, but that everyone expends considerable effort in maintaining.

Way OutLet go. Bring in all the actors and use the energy formerly expended on resistance to seek out mutually satisfactory ways for all goals to be realized–or redefinition of larger and more important goals the everyone can pull toward together.

The Tragedy of the CommonsWhen there is a commonly shared resource, every user benefits directly from its use, but shares the costs of its abuse with every-one else. Therefore, there is very weak feedback from the condition of the resources to the decisions of the resource users. The consequence is overuse of the resource, eroding it until it become unavailable to anyone.

Way OutEducate and exhort the users, so they understand the consequences pf abusing the resource. And also restore or strengthen the missing feedback link, either by privatizing the resource so each user feels the direct consequences of its abuse or (since many resources cannot be privatized) by regulating the access of all users to the resource.

Drift to Low PerformanceAllowing performance standard to be influenced by past performance, especially if there is a negative bias in perceiving past performance, sets up a reinforcing feedback loop of eroding goals that sets a system drifting toward low performance.

Way Out Keep performance standard absolute. Even better, lets standard be enhanced by the best actual performance instead of being discouraged by the worst. Use the same structure to set up adrift toward high performance!

EscalationWhen the state of one stock is determined by trying to surpass the state of another stock–and vice versa–then there is a rein-forcing feedback loop carrying the system into an arms race, a wealth race, a smear campaign, escalating loudness, escalating violence. The escalation is exponential can lead to extremes surprisingly quickly, If nothing is done, the spiral will be stopped by someone’s collapse–because exponential growth cannot go on forever.

Way OutThe best way out of this trap is to avoid getting in it. If caught in an escalating system, one can refuse to compete (unilaterally disarm), thereby interrupting the reinforcing loop. Or one can negotiate a new system with balancing loops to control the escala-tion.

SYSTEM TRAPS


17

Success to the Successful - Competitive ExclusionIf the winners of the competition are systematically rewarded with the mean to win again, a reinforcing feedback loop is creating by which, if it is allowed to proceed uninhibited, the winners eventually take all, while the losers are eliminated.

Way OutDiversification, which allows those who are losing the competition to get out of that game and start another one; strict limitation on the fraction of the pie any one winner may win (antitrust laws); policies that level the playing field, removing some of the advantage of the strongest players or increasing the advantage of the weakest; policies that devise rewards for success that do not bias the next round of competition.

Shifting the Burden to the Intervenor AddictionShifting the burden, dependence, and addiction arise when the solution to a systemic problem reduces (or disguises) the symp-toms, but does nothing to solve the underlying problem. Whether it is a substance the dulls one’s perception or a policy that hides the underlying trouble, the drug of choice interferes with the actions that could solve the real problem. If the intervention designed to correct the problem causes the self-maintaining capacity of the original system to atrophy or erode, then a destructive reinforcing feedback loop is set in motion. The system deteriorates; more and more of the solution is then required. The system will become more and more dependent on the intervention and less and less able to maintain its own desired state.

Way OutAgain, the best way of this trap is to avoid getting in. Beware of symptom-relieving or signal-denying policies of practices that don’t really address the problem. Take the focus off short-term relief and out it on long-term restructuring.

Rule BeatingRules to govern a system can lead to rule beating–perverse behavior that gives the appearance of obeying the rules or achieving the goals, but that actually distorts the system.

Way OutDesign, or redesign, rules to release creativity not in the direction of beating the rules, but in the direction of achieving the pur-pose of the rules.17

Seeking the Wrong GoalSystem behavior is particularly sensitive to the goals of feedback loops. If the goals–the indicator of satisfaction of the rules–are defined inaccurately or incompletely, the system may obediently work to produce a result that is not really intended or wanted.

Way OutSpecify indicators and goals that reflect the real welfare of the system. Be especially careful not to confuse effort wit result or you will end up with a system that is producing effort, not result.

By Donells H. Meadow

Thinking Matters

18

http://www.wangvivian.com/?p=562


19

CREATING A NEW PARADIGM Sustainable approaches

- What can we learn from nature? - What can we apply from natural systems to our manmade systems?

Thinking Matters

20

SUSTAINABLE APPROACHNature is adapting itself to new conditions very easily. Also, the nature of each animal is very unique, patterned, and structured. Scientists are trying to study how char-acteristics of several creatures can be

applied to any innovation, which is called “Biomimicry”. “Biomimicry is an approach to

innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies.”18 Moreover, designers are observing nature’s characteristic chemistry and behavior to mimic their patterns. For example, a characteristic of a kingfisher’s beak is influ-encing the shape of the Shinkansen (bullet trains)19, because “moving from low drag open air to high drag air in the tunnel”20 will create a sonic boom, the lotus’ leaves surface has self-cleaning textures that can be applied to self-cleaning paints, mirrors, glasses, and textiles to create new inno-vations21, and characteristic of sharkskin creates a drag-reducing patterns so that it can move faster without the friction and less use of energy.22 Because nature has so many things to surprise us, we just have to ask the right questions. What function do we need rather than what we want.

The Shinkansen Bullet Train

Surface Allows Self-Cleaning: Sacred Lotus

Skin Reduces Drag: Shark

http

://w

ww

.how

itwor

ksda

ily.c

om/h

ow-d

o-ki

ngfis

hers

-hun

t/

http

s://

cabr

ider

evie

ws.w

ordp

ress

.com

/ht

tp://

biom

imic

ry.n

et/a

bout

/bio

mim

icry

/cas

e-ex

ampl

es/n

atur

al-c

lean

ing/

http

://w

ww

.bio

mim

etic

-arc

hite

ctur

e.co

m/

http

://w

ww

.bio

mim

etic

-arc

hite

ctur

e.co

m/

2011

Geo

rge

Prob

st


21

relevance and apply it to what we do. The four principles are avoid digging mate-rials from earth at a faster rate than their redeposit and regeneration; avoid produc-ing materials at a faster rate than they can break down into the environment; avoid destruction of the planet and diminishing in quality or quantity; and move society toward the well-being of efficient and equable resources used to and meet hu-man needs. Increasing people’s quality of life and creating less waste means polluting less, and improving our planet’s changes to provide things that we need to survive. 31

Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature mentioned now studying organisms of the Redwood Forest. The nature of the Redwood Forest provides systems and strategies that can be adopted and applied in a complex ecosystem.23 There are ten commandments:

- Use waste as a resource

- Diversify and cooperate to fully use the

habitat

- Gather and use energy efficiently

- Optimize rather than maximize

- Use materials sparingly

- Don’t foul their nests

- Don’t draw down resources

- Remain to balance with the biosphere

- Run in information

- Shop locally 24

These commandments not only preserve the nature, but at the same time, create a new efficient system in businesses.

Natural Capitalism, a book co-authored by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L.Hunter Lovins in 1999, introduced an alternative that can create a new paradigm for the nex0t industrial revolution.25 The authors said that it helps to circulate a natural resources to create less waste.26 Natural Capitalism supports and helps the growth of populations, technology as well as preserve nature. Also, this book mentioned about Muda, a Japanese word for “waste”,

“futility”, or “purposelessness.”27 It focuses on eliminated unnecessary production’s process, for example, stop-and-go traffic that delivers (raw) materials. So, Womack and Jones coined the term “lean think-ing”28, which in the end is eliminate muda. It consists of four linked elements; 1. the continuous flow of value 2. as defined by the customer 3. at the pull of the customer 4. in search of perfection29

This idea approaches the efficiency of process steps, which leads to the reduction of waste in society. Furthermore, it helps companies increase their profit.

The planet is the system that everything is connected to; society, environment, and economy. According to The Natural Step, to live sustainably, we need to follow four fundamental principles of indisputable

What can we learn from the nature?

What can we apply from natural sytems to our manmade systems?

“The Natural Step (TNS) frame-work is based on scientific princi-ples; is focused on the beginning of cause-effect relationships; and incorporates the wider environ-ment-social-economic system in its thinking. Designed to guide actions and behaviors, TNS framework works towards achieving sustain-ability.”30

Thinking Matters

22

IMPREMENTATION / FRAMEWORKS

The limits of natural resources can slow down industries and businesses because natural resources are a factor that drives the whole economy. Therefore, many organizations try to create new models, processes, and frameworks to solve prob-lems in complex systems. These tools and models are helping to measure problems, restrict the scope, and provide alternative ways to reach a solution. Reinventing Fire, written by Amory B. Lovins, a co-founder of Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), talks about the new energy era and provides 4 steps to create the leverage to change the future: identify the solution, choose the right approach, create the demand, and scale the solution.32 This model was discussing in energy savings for buildings, but this can be applied to solve other problems as well as create solutions.

Reinventing Fire is about mapping pathways for the US economy from now until 2050 with no use of oil, coal, and nuclear power in the system.33 In other words, this idea is an initiative that tries to change the whole energy consumption habit of a nation. The idea of Reinventing Fire is not only limited to just the US, but it tries to diffuse this

idea globally. It focuses on how to bring communities involved with four categories together. These categories are transporta-tion, building, industry, and electricity.34

In transportation, there are five areas that Lovins mentions, which are Autocompos-ites, fleets, trucking, autos, and transport system. The first point he discusses is mate-rial used in vehicles called Autocomposites, which could change the auto industry and entire transportation system. Based on the fact that car weight has a lot of impact on efficiency, and material is playing an important part on cars’ ability to increase or reduce the use of fuel. So, Autocomposites or materials for cars are an innovative way to reduce impacts. These Autocomposites will be lighter weight, but have the same safety characteristics. The result on the economy will move beyond niche markets; the companies will increase their profit, and people can access this product with cheaply.35

Second, fleets, as we know Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer, and every year this company has to deliver goods to its retail stores around 900 million miles with its long haul trucks. Their trucks average about 6 miles per gallon. RMI provides a solution by designing a “comprehensive model” 36

that assesses the level of efficiency and emissions reductions, and calculates return investment. From this idea, every year Wal-Mart can save approximately $500 million in fuel costs by 2020.37

Third, the increase of fuel prices, regulatory pressure, and attention on climate change are creating new business strategies and rational on the fuel efficiency of truck transportation. From this problem, RMI had launched the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) to look for safety, efficiency, and future profits for the truck industry, and redesign the future of trucking to expand the size of cargo with less fuel. Then, RMI has accelerated the idea of a transition from unsustainable to sustainable mobility, and make this action realistic and global.38

For the electric vehicles’ ideas, lightweight materials are the key findings from research that indicates the position of the future rev-olution. Also, introducing Electric Vehicle’s (EV) Project Get Ready to Americans, and getting them to be ready for this new revo-lution. Project Get Ready is the plug-in elec-tric vehicle project that aims to accelerate the electric vehicle industry “by fostering ecosystems in which the technology can most succeed.”39 RMI is targeting residents in India and China for this initiative because they all have almost the same per capi-ta auto ownerships, as well as the rapid growth of the auto industry in China, which needs to be more efficient so that they can achieve a more advanced market.40

Finally, RMI improves transport systems, which includes “developing efficient transportation for real estate development and large corporations”41, accelerating the development of new transportation energy paradigms, and advanced research into transportation systems. Transport systems include ship, barges, cargo air, rail, truck

Reinventing Fire

Transportation


23

and other freight users. For example, a new green energy economy on freight patterns that these day “at least 10% of global green-house-gas emissions are linked to freight, along with 17% of the US fuel use.”42

The basic idea of Reinventing Fire in the built environment is to increase the efficiency of the US buildings by making existing buildings more energy efficient and making building owners see the value of deep energy retrofits. So what are Deep Energy Retrofits? They are “a whole-build-ing analysis and construction process that achieves much larger energy cost savings than those of simpler energy retrofits and fundamentally enhances the building value.”43 This can make long run savings not only in term of energy, but also energy cost. There are five stages of building solutions that change the future of energy; 1. To identify the solutions because today’s buildings consume large quantities of energy (72 percent of electricity and 34 percent of directly used of natural gas). 2.To build more efficient buildings can cut carbon emission at the source. 3. To choose the right approach to optimize the whole building, which saves a lot of money. For example, changing new materials for windows to efficient energy saving, painting the wall to a lighter color, and creating appropriated insolation for buildings can save money long term. To do this, it has to see the system as a whole. 4. To create a demand by introducing this alternative way of energy saving to

building owners. For example, The Empire State Building saves $4 million per year on energy costs, which means it has reduced energy by 38 percent. 5. To start to scale the solution by work-ing with leaders who retrofit the building’s value, so this reduces the energy used and does not rely on the power plant for energy. These pathway can change our future and decrease the enormous amount of energy used, which helps and sustain the world.44

Basically, industries’ energy consumption is vast and much of the industry’s system is inefficient. RMI tries to influence industry strategy on energy consumption to the companies that have to be more savings and efficiency. RMI’s vision for industry is by 2050, industry will expand by 84 percent, but will use 9 percent less energy than today.45 To accomplish this goal, thinking about systems as a whole and integrative design that offers wider opportunities and improves the entire system as a closed loop. “The more complete the design inte-gration, the better the result.”46

Electricity is an important source of energy for society; it improves people’s quality of life as an industry resource, transportation, and business. So, changing electricity use is the most important leverage point far shift-

ing the US economy as a whole. However, overuse of electricity generates 40 percent of the total carbon emission in the US that drives the most negative impact to climate change as well as health problems.47 Rein-venting Fire is try to influence people to see and understand what people can do to the address problems of today and accelerate a transition to a more renewable and resilient the US electric system. It started with questions for people about what electricity will look like in 2050, and the only answer is sustainability.48 The goal is by 2050, elec-tricity system powered should be efficient and renewable, and transition from fossils fuel to renewable.49 Before reaching that goal, first we need to see and understand the whole system of what the process of producing electricity and what its conse-quences. Then we need to rethink what we can do as individuals and at the industry level to identify new sources.

Buildings

Industry

Electricity

Thinking Matters

24

Moreover, Kate Raworth approached her new idea of equal access to the resources. Her idea is to make individuals, companies, and governments change and reduce pov-erty. She also highlighted that economic growth creates three problems, which are deprivation, degradation, and inequality. It is because growth is not enough as an idea to acheive what we want. She created a framework called “doughnut economics”50, to measures the quality of human well-be-ing from the balancing of the environment in social foundations.51 From one scientific perspective, the environment consists of nine planetary boundaries, which are: - climate change - freshwater use - nitrogen - phosphorus cycle - ocean acidification - chemical pollution - atmospheric aerosol loading - ozone depletion - biodiversity loss - land use change. The social foundation consists as defined by the UN Millennial Goals of eleven social priorities identified as: - food - water - income - education resilience - voice - jobs - energy - social equity - gender equality - healthThe balancing of the doughnut encourages healthy economics sustainability global quality of people lives.52

OxFam–Doughnut Economics

Doughnut Economics Model

Examples of Doughnut Economics Measurement


25

Cradle to Cradle (C2C) is an ideal that resists the production system like Cradle to Grave. Its idea is to rethink how we produce, design, use, and reuse, materials in more sustainable way and create less waste in our environment.53 Moreover, according to the Cradle to Cradle website, it also builds Cradle to Cradle certified product standard (C2C certified) that approaches society to create product innovation under circum-stances of five assessed products, which are:

Knowing the chemical ingredients of every material in a product, and optimizing towards safer materials. - Identify materials as either biological or technical nutrients - Understand how chemical hazards com- bine with likely exposures to determine potential threats to human health and the environment certified

Designing products made with materials that come from and can safely return to nature or industry. - Maximize the percentage of rapidly renewable materials or recycled content used in a product - Maximize the percentage of materials that can be safely reused, recycled, or composted at the product’s end of use - Designate your product as technical (can safely return to industry) and/or biological (can safely return to nature)

Envisioning a future in which all manufac-turing is powered by 100% clean renewable energy. - Source renewable electricity and offset carbon emissions for the product’s final manufacturing stage

Manage clean water as a precious resource and an essential human right.

- Address local geographic and industry water impacts at each manufacturing facility - Identify, assess, and optimize any industrial chemicals in a facility’s effluent

Design operations to honor all people and natural systems affected by the creation, use, disposal or reuse of a product. - Use globally recognized resources to conduct self-assessments to identify local and supply chain issues and third party audits to assure optimal conditions - Make a positive difference in the lives of employees, and the local community54

All the products that pass the standard of C2C Certified in materials health are divid-ed into four levels of certification, which are bronze, silver, goal, and platinum. C2C also provides guidelines for designers that design for a long life time, durability, and disassemble and recycling. This basic ideas facilitate to reach the idea of sustainability because it is a closed loop system.55

Cradle to Cradle

Thinking Matters

26

https://theconfusedbutconsciouscustomer.wordpress.com/about/


27

DESIGNING OUR FUTURE What are the outcomes?

Our planet, our responsibility

- The future we want - Road map of well-being

Thinking Matters

28

Environmental problems—natural resourc-es, flooding, drought, climate change, global warming, and so on—generate pressure on humans to be aware of our environment as a whole. All these problems are also forcing people to create solutions. By trying to think from the beginning of problems, create processes of reach the goal, and identify possible results are where we should start. These whole ideas can lead to the future we want. Agenda 21, an imple-mented action plan, indicates the direction of sustainable development in economy, social, and environment. This statement was published in 1972 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There are 5 steps that lead people to create the future they want 1. Identify environmental problem and system traps. 2. Make people aware of current problems. 3. Change our attitude to sustainability by trying to rethink how we produce things and how can we preserve the world. 4. Create ethical thinking by thinking twice before designing or creating something that could destroy the world. 5. Enact sustainable ideas. Everyone must make sustainability happen. It cannot succeed with only a few people working together create bigger and suc-cessful outcomes.

I believe that in the near future, we have to learn to live consuming fewer environ-mental resources and improve the quality of our living contexts. So, we must prepare ourselves to be ready when the time of adaptation comes. That’s will be the new roadmap to well-being.

WHAT ARE THE OUTCOMES?


29

In this planet, there are more than seven billion humans population and millions of species living organisms that have to rely on the Earth as a resources of living and growing. Harm from the Industrial Revolu-tion left a lot of marks in parts of this world and some of them are so destructive they can no longer be fixed. Even though we cannot fix what is already destroyed, we can create the new paradigm to reduce the problems. The new paradigm is to think differently with new perspective of sustain-ability as the our solution. This will help to preserve the world before it is too late to fix and before we have no place to live.

Moreover, the organizations mentioned earlier guide us as a role model by pro-viding systems, frameworks, strategies, and research, but if people are ignorant to change, everything that they have been doing will be useless. So, changing how people think will change how they behave and respond to society and this world.

OUR PLANET, OUR RESPOSIBILITY

http://background-kid.com/blue-sky-green-grass-background.html

Thinking Matters

30

END NOTES1. World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (Oxford: Oxford University Press,1987).2. Donella H. Meadow. The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind (New York: Universe Books, 1972).3. Our Common Future. 4. Ellen Macarthur Foundation. Toward the Circular Economy: Economic and Business Rationale for an Accelerated Transition 1, 2013.5. Ibid.6. Ibid.7. Meadows.8. Victor Margolin, “Expansion or Sustainability: Two Models of Development”, The Politics of the Artificial: Essays on Design and Design Stud-ies (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), 82.9. Ibid.10. Ibid.11. Ibid.12. Ibid.13. Donella H. Meadow, and Diana Wright, “Leverage Points–Places to Intervene in a System”, Thinking in Systems: A Primer (White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Pub., 2008), 112-140.14. Ibid., 112-140.15. Ibid., 111.16. Ibid., 112.17. Ibid., 112-140.18. Biomimicry Institute, “What is Biomimicry?”, accessed May 19, 2015, http://biomimicry.org/what-is-biomimicry/.19. Biomimicry Institute, “Shinkansen Train”, accessed May 19, 2015, http://www.asknature.org/product/6273d963ef015b98f641fc-2b67992a5e.20. Ibid.21. Biomimicry Institute, “Surface allows self-cleaning: sacred lotus”, accessed May 19, 2015, http://www.asknature.org/strate-gy/714e970954253ace485abf1cee376ad8#.VVwDRheQZpk.22. Biomimicry Institute, “Skin reduces drag: shark”, accessed May 19, 2015, http://www.asknature.org/strategy/038caf2e453c09b-3016465cc6ca93605#.VVwEIxeQZpk.23. Janine M. Benyus, “How Will We Conduct Business?”, Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature. (New York: Harper Collins, 1998), 238.24. Ibid., 253-254.25. Paul Hawken, Amory B. Lovins, L. and Hunter Lovins, “The Next Industrial Revolution”, Natural Capitalism: Creating The Next Industrial Revolution (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1999),1.26. Ibid.27. Ibid., 125.


31

28. Ibid., 127.29. Ibid., 127.30. The Global Development Research Center, “Sustainability Concepts”, accessed May 19, 2015, http://www.gdrc.org/sustdev/concepts/19-n-step.html.31. The Natural Step, “The Four System Conditions of a Sustainable Society”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.naturalstep.org/en/the-system-conditions.32. Rocky Mountain Institute, “Reinventing Fire”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.rmi.org/reinventingfire.33. Ibid.34. Ibid.35. Rocky Mountain Institute, “Autocomposites”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.rmi.org/autocomposites.36. Rocky Mountain Institute, “Fleets”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.rmi.org/Fleets.37. Ibid.38. Rocky Mountain Institute, “Trucking”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.rmi.org/Trucking.39. Rocky Mountain Institute, “Autos”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.rmi.org/Autos.40. Ibid.41. Rocky Mountain Institute, “Transport Systems”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.rmi.org/Transport%20Systems.42. Ibid.43. Rocky Mountain Institute, “Deep Energy Retrofit 101”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.rmi.org/retrofit_depot_101.44. Rocky Mountain Institute, “A Tale of Two Futures: Sustainable Buildings or Unsustainable Climate Change”, Video, April 7, 2014, accessed May 20, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TioZ2sVL-E.45. Rocky Mountain Institute, “Reinventing Fire: Industry”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.rmi.org/Industry.46. Ibid.47. Rocky Mountain Institute, “Reinventing Fire: Electricity”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.rmi.org/Electricity.48. Rocky Mountain Institute, “Source U.S. Electricity Renewably”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.rmi.org/our_goals_source_us_elec-tricity_renewably.49. Ibid. 50. Kate Raworth, “Exploring Doughnut Economics”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/.51. Ibid.52. Ibid.53. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, accessed May 20 May, 2015, http://www.c2ccertified.org/.54. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, “Get Cradle to Cradle Certified™”, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.c2ccertified.org/get-certified/product-certification.55. Ibid. 56. United Nations Division for Sustainable Development, Agenda 21, accessed May 21, 2015, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/.../Agenda21.pdf, 1992.

THINKING MATTERS IF WE CAN CHANGE HOW WE THINK,IT WILL CHANGE HOW WE BEHAVE