Green Daily

Today's New York Times offers an article by Allison Areiff about SB08 in Monterey, California. No, she's not covering this year's hard-partying spring break. This is the annual Sustainability Below the Surface conference.

Throughout the article, Areiff considers where we are now with green design and asks why things still have to have "whole-grain hippie-ness" to be really green (Or, why can't green products be more stylish)? She also touches briefly on greenwashing and the oxymoronic idea that making more green stuff will save the planet.

Her best example of good green innovation is Benjamin Pender's revolutionary idea of providing water not in plastic bottles but in unlimited-supply fountains in San Francisco's public places, which apparently was inspired by a trip to Paris, France. Pender's concept drawing, complete with water bottle refilling stations, looks cool, but shouldn't we all have picked up this idea in kindergarten?