Post Archive by Month

Cattle + Predators=Soil Carbon Sequestration… How Burgers Can Save Us From the Ravages of Global Warming By Brian Skeele, on March 23rd, 2011 The Professor is in the House… Cattle + Predators= Soil Carbon Sequestration. How’s that for a Math equation??!! You have sharp hooves (no sneakers allowed), You poop, you roam…You restore the planet’s balance.  Duh!! Any questions??    Yes, …

Resurrecting the Economy…Sustainable! By Brian Skeele, on March 1st, 2011 In my last blog “What to do about the Economy?”  I was saying “we need ‘sustainable mixed use, mixed income neighborhoods, with lifelong learning and open space…..everywhere’ “. Let me explain that a bit. In 2006, Arthur C Nelson has been warning that the over supply of large lot suburban …

By Brian Skeele, on March 19th, 2011 I’ve read a couple of articles about cap and trade, and the authors seem to think it’s bogus.  Way too complicated. A boondoggle to make the same clever people who brought us the foreclosure bummer even richer. Here’s Anne Leonard’s take on it. The idea I like is to tax carbon, and lift taxes on …

By Brian Skeele, on May 20th, 2011 Stealing Stuff, Security, and Trust of Neighbors I recently heard Mark Fisher on NPR. The guy had his home broken into, and laptops and money stolen.  The real kicker, was the burgular went on Mark’s son’s Facebook page, and posted a picture of himself pointing to the money, while wearing Mark’s  brand new …

By Brian Skeele, on March 16th, 2011 Sustainable Urban Village is an odd phrase. Sustainable Urban Village is a mash up of opposites. “Village” is pastoral, dreamy, idealistic, old fashioned, small and intimate. “Urban” conjures up pretty much the opposite-gritty, concrete and asphalt, contemporary, hip, huge and cold. Add “sustainable” to the mix, and it becomes ….an odd phrase. Where …

By Brian Skeele, on September 19th, 2011 I came across this article on Retrofitting the Burbs.  Nice round up of ideas. Click here for the entire article by Aron Chang.  Also, see my earlier post on home-made services and home occupation in OPEN HOUSE, a  one weekend “happening” in Levittown. New Opportunities I believe that as designers we cannot accept as inevitable …

By Brian Skeele, on March 12th, 2011 I happen to talk to one of my partners about my latest blog on the Killer Modeling Tool, and he directed me to “Write this down. EVONY”. So I did, and later last night I went to the web site, remembering the advice he’d given me,   “Don’t let the way they built …

By Brian Skeele, on June 20th, 2011 What would you include in a Sustainable Urban Village in Santa Fe, that made it so great, you’d move in?! The September issue of the Green Fire Times is going to be a compilation of ideas and visions, and you’re invited to contribute! Download the flyer here. Download tri-fold brochure here. (two sided …

A more sustainable neighborhood…Bed ZED By Brian Skeele, on April 5th, 2011 Built and occupied in 2002, Beddington Zero Emissions Development, Bed ZED, helps people go green with time tested encouragements. The resident on the right took too long a shower. the one on the left failed to recycle a beer can. What were they thinking, what planet are they living on???? …

By Brian Skeele, on June 22nd, 2011 A polar bear, sent by his people to save their way of life, finds himself driving an ice cream truck around suburbia, on a mission to reverse global warming, one ice cream at a time. Episode #4 Village in a Box hits the streets. EPISODE #4 (previously…..Polar Sam is unveiling Village in a Box; …