Green Daily

Alexis Madrigal is a newsman following energy and science at Wired.com. His work also appears in Dwell, Earth2Tech, and Arcade. He's appearing on the SXSW Interactive panel, 10 Ways to Green-ify Your Digital Life on Tuesday, March 11th.

Can tech save the planet? According to Alexis Madrigal, it can certainly help. Accepting the reality that, no matter how much they love the planet, most people will act in their best interest -- even if it's in spite of environmental consequences -- he imagines solutions for sustainability that go beyond "turn down the heat and put on a sweater," and instead work to streamline our lifestyles so we're living as efficiently as possible.

Part of that involves clever gadgets -- like MyTemp, the device that automatically adjusts the heating or air conditioning in your house based on your day-to-day routines -- but the bigger picture is "mixed reality greenness."



It sounds like the plot from some green-leaning sci-fi novel or eco-themed video game, but in fact the concept is much more down to earth. Picture your daily commute, guided by your iPhone. Your day starts with Zipcar, a car sharing service billable by the hour. You check for availability, find one that's free in your neighborhood, and take that car to the commuter train. The car is picked up by another Zipcar user as you check the phone again to coordinate your train journey with the local electric bike rental service. Pick up a bike, ride it to the closest in-town public transit, then hop on the subway (or the bus, or the trolley, or whatever) and head to the office. Simple, seamless, and far less hassle than fighting traffic. It's probably a far cry from how you get to work every morning, but companies like Intrago are already making this vision possible.

It's resource sharing -- and we've been doing it online for years. Want to find five friends you went to college with in 30 seconds or less? Check Facebook. Need to know how to cook Thanksgiving turkey? Someone posted a tutorial on YouTube. Trying to figure out which movie's worth watching on your night out? Check dozens of user reviews on everything in theaters, then quickly find out which friends are going to what movie by scrolling through your Twitter account. But now, instead of simply sharing opinions and information, we can start mixing components of the online and offline world to share real-world, tangible goods.

Alexis' panel will look at these types of digital solutions, along with ways to green the power coming out of your socket (so those gadgets get charged with eco-friendly energy), and also how the government can legislate to make a more significant dent in our emissions. Check it out at 11:30am on Tuesday, March 11th in room 9 at the Austin Convention Center.