Classes just ended. Final grades have been submitted. Final meetings have taken place. The calm after the storm of the semester is beginning to descend upon the school. Take this between-semester breather to slow down, hit the brakes a bit, relax, recharge, unwind, reflect, and play. We wish you and yours much peace and happiness →
This has turned out to be one of the most difficult questions ever posed. In theory it should be a simple answer – living in a way that allows us to continue into the future. In reality however, sustainability is incomprehensibly complex. Is it about people? Yes. Is it about nature and biodiversity? You bet. →
Happy new year! Here is a recap of our top blog posts from 2011. Susan Crow, MCAD SDO alum, shared what it’s like to build a sustainable luxury brand from the bottom up in her piece Eco=Lux Jewelery. Published October 2011. “Real luxury is knowing the jewelry you are wearing is as ethical as it →
This past summer I had the opportunity to present at the International Institute of Information Design’s (IIID) GreenID conference in Vienna. While there I was struck by the phrase, “context brings understanding.” As information designers, we seek to clarify complex information. And sustainability is certainly a topic area that involves a lot of complexities in →
You may have caught many of the Sustainability in 7 video series that Core77 ran earlier this year. I decided to create my own based on what I learned from my recent 1000 mile cycling road trip for sustainability called Ride the Talk. 1. Make a plan, then change it. My ride really taught me →
Deadwood, South Dakota, is the final resting place for Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, and has more buried residents than unburied ones, yet it is unearthing new ways to breathe life into its sustainability efforts. Deadwood was founded in 1870 (illegally) to host the onslaught of gold miners that flocked to work in the →
After 25 miles of grinding my way through the Black Hills region, I stopped off at 120-year old store in Aladdin, Wyoming (Pop. 15). I wandered around the jam-packed mercantile that felt more like an attic than a store where everything from snacks, to antique milk glass dinnerware and, as a hand-written sign boasted, a →
About 150 miles south of Miles City lies a place, “conveniently located in the middle of no place.” It’s called Alazada, Montana, and is home to the Stoneville Saloon and not much else (there is also a convenience store and post office). The Saloon is a place that one must really visit in person to →
After a chaotic boarding at Missoula’s Greyhound Station, I was finally on my way to Miles City (~480 miles East of Missoula), the place where I would begin to Ride the Talk. My seat buddy, an exhausted mom, had already been on several buses for the past 24 hours when she made her transfer in →
Nearly time to blast off: two major deadlines on the same day. September 1st is looming. What was I thinking? I’ve been parallel planning for two epic adventures. The first being my 1000 mile bicycle commute from Montana to Minnesota to raise funds for need-based student scholarships for the program I direct. (To discover more →