The 11th hour. Reflection, review, blabberings.

The 11^th hour is a documentary which goes in depth into the problems with the worlds environment. The documentary itself is quite dry and boring, and I can understand why so many people can’t take the sustainability issue seriously. There is a lot to understand, it isn’t a simple issue, and this documentary is not going to appeal to those who don’t care about the environment since they repeat the same thing over and over and it just drags on. Also some of the people being interviewed don’t help when they over exaggerate, which will get the denialists scoffing.

However if you are passionate about this topic and don’t have ADD, you should learn a lot from this, and hopefully it should get you to research more about certain topics and learn more about the complexity of ecological and social sustainability,

The most important thing that I’ve always taken from sustainability documentaries/lectures/articles is that the whole capital system we have is wrong. We treat economic capital as the number one thing, with social and environmental below it. It should environmental at the top, social next then finally economic capital.

Consumerism is another topic talked about in the film. The way we consume and just want more. As industrial designers we know this, and we know the problems. But this ties into changing the way that we live. Putting the environment and society ahead of the dollar.

The film also talks about how technology isn’t an issue. It is a people issue. People don’t want to change, and there is too much money for them to lose if they do change. On one hand it says it’s the politicians fault and the leaders of the companies, but then also goes on to say that we as people can change it by the way we live and ‘vote’ by purchasing goods that help the sustainability cause. The governments of the world can definitely help change the way things are done (putting a price on carbon for instance), but at the end it is up to local communities and everyday folk like you and me to change. Don’t blame the government and become apathetic, do something about it.

Industrial designers have a role here. We know the technology is there, and we design the products, these products become waste, and they use up energy and resources. We can try to put more sustainable things into our products, maybe design it so it can be repairable, use less parts, use energy efficient parts. Also try to use our influence to get others to change their ways, instead of just sitting back, doing a job and getting paid.

Amazingly, as in depth as the documentary was, there is still much more to learn about the topic of sustainability. It really is a complex issue, and it can seem overwhelming to try to understand it. But just try learning a bit here and there and it makes perfect sense. You start to see why things are the way they are, and it'll make you sad and angry and frustrated, but also try to focus on the positives and do what you can to change the way things are.