Okay, this one’s a biggie. The Story of Stuff is an award-winning video packed with so much good information that classrooms across the country are now showing it to teach about consumption and sustainability. You may think you know enough about these issues by now, but trust me, you won’t regret watching this entertaining 20-minute video.

Here’s a short clip:

Be sure to watch the full video at www.storyofstuff.com. If there’s only one thing on the entire internet that I would suggest sharing with others, this would be it.

There’s also a new Story of Stuff book available today. Author/narrator Annie Leonard will be on The Colbert Report tonight (3/9/10) to discuss it!

How cool looking is this new green-roofed apartment building in Amsterdam?

More info and photos here.

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The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is using packaging made from TerraSkin, an innovative paper-like material made from stone. More info here.

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(via Print Magazine’s Tips for Green Printing: Part 1 & Part 2)

Productivity Future Vision

This is a pretty awesome video by Microsoft showing a glimpse of what our increasingly digital future will hold.

I’m not sure if this makes me more or less of a loser, but I still have yet to see the movie Avatar. Those blue people just kind of creep the hell out of me. Nevertheless, it’s supposed to be a great film with a great message, so I’ll probably try to check it out while it’s still playing on the big screen.

This illustration was done by Tavis Coburn for the British Academy Film Awards and it totally kicks ass.

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Understanding FSC

Neenah Paper had a nice presentation on the Forest Stewardship Council, the organization that promotes responsible forest management throughout the world. For a quick overview of the presentation, click here to grab a PDF.

You should also find the FSC certified printers in your area.

Calm, collected, German.

Legendary industrial designer Dieter Rams, in his 40 years with Braun, established a clean design aesthetic which now serves as inspiration for many of today’s Apple products. These are his ten principles for good design:

• Good design is innovative.
• Good design makes a product useful.
• Good design is aesthetic.
• Good design makes a product understandable.
• Good design is unobtrusive.
• Good design is honest.
• Good design is long-lasting.
• Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
• Good design is environmentally friendly.
• Good design is as little design as possible.

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(Image from the film Objectified)

This 1963 poster by Tom Eckersley is a good reminder that environmental messaging wasn’t always, and shouldn’t always, be colored green.

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This is a really cool illustration by Justin Gabbard for The New York Times, relating to this great piece by Thomas Friedman:

The fact that it has snowed like crazy in Washington — while it has rained at the Winter Olympics in Canada, while Australia is having a record 13-year drought — is right in line with what every major study on climate change predicts: The weather will get weird; some areas will get more precipitation than ever; others will become drier than ever.

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China is quietly laughing at us right now. And Iran, Russia, Venezuela and the whole OPEC gang are high-fiving each other. Nothing better serves their interests than to see Americans becoming confused about climate change, and, therefore, less inclined to move toward clean-tech and, therefore, more certain to remain addicted to oil.

Great signage for Vancouver’s Olympic transit line. From an interesting interview with the city’s planning director on preparing for the Olympics and beyond:

All of our facilities are readily convertible into civic and community uses. We know how our facilities are going to be used the day after the Olympics are done, essentially. And they’re all part of making our livable city even more livable.