Alex Steffen
Alex Steffen
Alex Steffen is an American futurist who writes and speaks about sustainability and the future of the planet...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
CountryUnited States of America
hard health imagine natural recovering
It's not that hard to imagine the natural world recovering it's health in our absence: it's more difficult, and more necessary, to imagine it recovering its health in our presence.
activism effects side urban
One of the most unfortunate side effects of the urban activism of the '60s and '70s is the belief that development is wrong and that fighting it makes you an environmentalist.
closets deal finding full giant lots people plenty spaces stuff whether
There are plenty of people out there talking about how difficult it is for some of us to just deal with all the stuff we already have, from packed closets that need organizers to storage spaces to maintenance costs, etc. Lots of people are reevaluating whether or not they need giant garages full of stuff and finding that they don't.
created people
People - especially the geeks who created it - have tended to look at the Internet as something that's hermetically sealed: there's the Internet and the rest of the world. But that's not how people want to use the Internet. They want to use it as a way of better navigating the real world.
chemical depend diversity ecological gas health including life limits multitude prosperity respecting shared toxic war water
We don't need a War on Carbon. We need a new prosperity that can be shared by all while still respecting a multitude of real ecological limits - not just atmospheric gas concentrations, but topsoil depth, water supplies, toxic chemical concentrations, and the health of ecosystems, including the diversity of life they depend upon.
climate
The most climate friendly trip we are ever going to take is the trip we never had to take because we were close to what we wanted.
motivation inspiration creating
Urban retrofitting: creating different sorts of spaces and uses out of places that are already there.
creativity cities innovation
To be young and aware is to know you’re being lied to; to know that a bright green future is possible; to know that we can reimagine the world, rebuild our cities, redesign our lives, retool our factories, distribute innovation and creativity and all live in a world that is not only better than the alternative, but much better than the world we have now.
enough something-better
It's not just enough to survive. We've got to make something better than what we've got.
zero mean balance
Carbon zero simply means that the emissions you are releasing either are zero or balance out to zero.
technology thinking people
I think there's a gigantic generation gap in terms of how people understand the Internet and how much they think technology is an important factor in social change.
media opposites car
If mass media, social isolation in the suburbs, alienating workplaces and long car commutes create a bunker mentality, the Internet does the opposite.
views design saving
By fundamentally changing how we design the places and systems that enable our daily lives, we can slash emissions way beyond the immediate carbon savings - because our own personal emissions are just the tip of a vast iceberg of energy and resources consumed far from our view.
fate earth particular
Cabbies in particular seem to like discussing the fate the Earth.