The year was 1979 or 1980 and I was 3 or 4 years old. It is one of my first memories and it involves recycling. Kind of strange really, a first memory being about recycling, don’t you think? Well, actually for all I know I could have been 6 years old, but either way, it’s definitely one of the first things I remember being a kid. I grew up in Northeast, New Jersey. So my dad (who’s most sincerely NOT a hippie) would collect our soda cans and bring them to the town dump. We drove there in a little, tan Toyota (when Toyota didn’t automatically mean it was a good car). The town dump had a sort of caged in, big ol’ box looking thing. You’d drive up, open a side door (like on a fence), and throw your cans in.

My assumption is that in the early days of recycling, trucks would come by and pick them up periodically, probably truck them off to a holding center where they sat for many years. Maybe eventually, they were melted down into something else. Truthfully, I haven’t a clue. What I do remember though, is that this was fun. I got to hang out with my dad, go for a drive — and I was fascinated by the fenced in cans. Why do they do this? Where do the cans go? Does everyone do this? Why not? (Those kinds of questions that kids have.)

Fast forward about 10 to 12 years, I’m in high school. I join a newly formed environmental after-school club. We pick up litter at the high school football and track field, have walk-a-thons to raise money, and talk about books that deal with the subject of recycling. It was the early 90s, so this was fashionable in a way. Again, I did it because of the aluminum cans cage.

When I got to college, I continued this interest. I became much more involved in the politics of environmental issues. I’d go to rallys and conventions, joined the school newspaper that focused on agricultural and environmental issues — that kind of thing. Eventually though, I became tired of the group politics and forgot about the actual government politics and lobbying.

I continued to be a vocal advocate for reusing, reducing and recycling. Then I went to graduate school: Pratt Institute’s Design Management program. And this is where my interests in environmentalism and design found a stable home: two intense years of research, presentations and gaining useful knowledge. I wouldn’t trade the lack of sleep for anything — truthfully! Besides, I got to present my thesis on a concept called the Triple Bottom Line (people, planet, profit) — I love this stuff.

I found out about sustinable design practices, that sometimes recycling paper (for instance) might not be as great as everyone thinks: having to add bleach in the process to whiten the paper post-recycling may not be good for the environment. And as I did more and more research, I discovered companies that do some excellent work. They’re eco-friendly, have a solid business plan (they’re in it to make money too) and show a great use of design.

Now that my interest has a firm foundation in education and practice – and now that “eco-friendly” has gotten some serious traction in certain circles — I find interesting articles about it all the time. The most interesting research project that I did involved eco-tourism. I read a lot about an eco-preserve for tourists in Portugal. I wrote something about that earlier in the year in my post “About Eco-Travel”. I think that good design + sustainability + vacation = a great travel experience where you don’t have to “give up” much of anything and you get back and give so much more.

One day I hope to work for Seventh Generation, the Rainforest Alliance, Starbucks, or some other equally business-savvy organization or company that focuses on sustainability and good design.