Hoe krijg je een milieubox open?

Het lijkt een goedbewaard geheim: het openen van de milieubox. Wie kent hem nog, de groene doos die we in de jaren 90 cadeau kregen van de Vlaamse regering om ons klein gevaarlijk afval in te stockeren.

Everything you buy is rubbish

The people from Everything You Buy Is Rubbish made this beautiful video on how they made the shoe below entirly out of rubbish found on the shore.

More:

• Recycle plastic
• Oceans of garbage
• Bodem van de Noordzee vervuild met plastic (Dutch)
• Why this iPhone craze?
• De vloek van het groene vingertje (Dutch)

Guess I am getting old...

More:

• Why this iPhone craze?
• Mobile Madhouse publishes

Ubuntu Edge

Those who have been following me know that I am not a big fan of the whole smartphone craze, but still I am very amazed with what Ubuntu is up to. It seems to be an ultimate barrier between "computing" and "mobility" will be pushed and with a huge chunk of corwdfunding.

A phone that you can dock as a PC ? Multi-core processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage? Wow, that is impressive.

Have a look at the introduction video:

U.S. family tries living without China (Reuters)

In "A Year Without 'Made in China,'" Bongiorni tells how she and her family found that such formerly simple acts as finding new shoes, buying a birthday toy and fixing a drawer became ordeals without the Asian giant. (taken from Reuters, Jun 28 2007)

Imagine 2020: Dutch comedian Dette Glashouwer on 'money'

Alternative Economics: The Other Canon

Three introductory video clips on "The Other Canon":

Introduction to the work of The Other Canon featuring a talk by Prof. Erik Reinert positing an historical alternative to neoclassical economics.

Part one:

Vranckx: Kinderarbeid op cacaoplantages in Ivoorkust (Canvas)

Zelfs 3 jaar na de beloftes van grote chocoladefabrikanten blijft kinderarbeid schering en inslag op cacaoplantages in Ivoorkust.

Dit is een reportage van de Deense journalist Miki Mistrati en werd uitgezonden in het Canvas-programma 'Vranckx: Chocolade, nog steeds bitter?' op 30 maart 2013.

Meer:

• Shady side of chocolate (Miki Mistrati)
• Vranckx (Canvas)

Why do I get the feeling that society is trying to make us discontented with everything we do and insecure about who we are?

Click on the cartoon to enlarge

More:

• Calvin and Hobbes: Guide to Daily Life
• Discussion on Reddit

De vloek van het groene vingertje

‘[Our] way of life is not negotiable.’ zei George Bush senior al op de eerste milieutop in Rio. In zijn essay "Vrijheid in tijden van smeltende poolkappen" (gepubliceerd als "De vloek van het groene vingertje" in Knack Extra van 21 november 2012) legt Gert Goeminne inderdaad de vinger aan de wonde: in wezen gaan de klimaatonderhandelingen helemaal niet over CO2, maar over onze levensstijl.

Skeptici lachen met het groene vingertje, we moeten stoppen met voor doemprofeet te spelen en starten met te benadrukken dat een ecologisch alternatief niet noodzakelijk moet inboeten voor de oh zo heilige keuzevrijheid.

Maar garandeert ons huidige beleid wel degelijk die vrijheid? Is onze vrijheid niet net beperkt tot wat de supermarkt aanbiedt? En in welke mate kan een overdaad een mogelijkheden niet net beperkend zijn, en hoe vaak vallen wij in herhaling met ons voedselpatroon net omdat er zo veel mogelijkheden zijn om uit te kiezen?

What does "freedom" mean to you? (Adam Baker)

More:

• Nigel Marsh - Work Life Balance is an Ongoing Battle
• What Would Jesus Buy?
• Brand Aid: Shopping well to save the world
• Why this iPhone craze?

How Arunachalam Muruganantham started a sanitary napkin revolution! (TED talk)

"If anyone runs after money, their life will not have any beauty. It is boredom. A lot of people making a lot of money, billion, billions of dollars accumulating. Why are they coming for, finally, for philanthropy? Why the need for accumulating money, then doing philanthropy?

What if one decided to start philanthropy from day one?"

From TED.



More:

• Kathryn Schulz: On being wrong (TED Talk)
• Micro-finance crisis India? (BBC)

Mobile Madhouse publishes

Have you ever wondered what it takes to create an iPhone 5? If you own Apple’s current flagship Smartphone, you may be very interested to see the exciting journey it takes – from its manufacture to its software, it travels over 20,000 miles to reach your pocket! (source: Mobile Madhouse)

More:

• Why this iPhone craze?

"Les Glaneurs et La Glaneuse" in Leuven

The "Young Socialists" in Leuven will screen the French documentary "Les Glaneurs et La Glaneuse" on Thursday the 18th of October at 9pm in residence "Camilo Torres", block K, Brusselsestraat 165. After the screening, there will be a short discussion on our current consumption behaviour and the way that food and waste is treated in our modern times.

Why this iPhone craze?

No, I don't like gadgets, especially if it is mostly "community driven" and more for the "social status" than the functionality.