To me, one of the most important things in the world is protecting the environment. It is high priority to me for two reasons. For starters, I don’t want to be scrambling for food and trying to stay warm when I am 60 (which is not that far away). And secondly, I find homo sapiens abuse and disregard for the planet that sustains us shockingly selfish. The vast majority of people appear to have a “fuck it, I’ve got better things to care about” attitude. It makes me ill.
That is why I think people who try and improve things by developing and using new technologies are our best hope. The easier one can make these changes the more likely people are to adopt them. An excellent recent example of this was a competition held by the EPA. It was called Apps for the Environment and resulted in 100 apps given funding and made available. It was open to anyone and everyone. From individuals to companies. The government also created live and on-line forums for people to collaborate. The apps submitted had to address one of the following seven priorities.
- Taking Action on Climate Change
- Improving Air Quality
- Assuring the Safety of Chemicals
- Cleaning up Our Communities
- Protecting America’s Waters
- Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism and Working for Environmental Justice
- Building Strong State and Tribal Partnerships
Many of the resulting apps were very interesting but esoteric. Therefore they don’t reach enough of the population to create substantive change. One app struck me as potentially highly effective because it was about saving money – and I think that is an excellent back door for effecting change. It’s called GasHog. The purpose of it is to keep you in touch with the fuel economy of your vehicle. I believe that this approach could easily convince someone to purchase a more fuel efficient car once they realize how much money they are wasting. Maybe this is where my future lies.
