In 2006 we went to the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo to make a documentary. We wanted to explore how close America was getting to undergoing a green building revolution. We thought, why not ask the companies and people who it mattered to most. One of the quotes that really stuck with me from the trip was in response to our question, “If you had to re-name the green movement, what would you call it?” Deborah Snoonian, who was an editor at Plenty magazine at the time, said, “The second industrial revolution.Well we watched, waited and dabbled. At least from our position the “revolution” was spinning out. Then, yesterday morning, while cleaning up after the kids before work, NPR playing in the background, I heard a story about Detroit machine shops being re-purposed in part to build components for the green energy industry. And while this isn’t going to be the good fate of every machine shop or Detroit auto worker it still caught my ear and stood out as a positive sign.
In nature, waste equals food. If you’ve ever read “Cradle to Cradle” or a 4th grade science text book you are familiar with this concept of nutrient flows. However “Cradle to Cradle” also goes on to discuss the concept of technical nutrients. The idea that non-biological material flows can be used to grow new technology, physically, literally. Well all of these ideas coalesced in my brain as I listened to the report yesterday. And while some may call massive government investment in green energy unnatural, the fact remains that the money is fertilizing a much needed shift. That the second industrial revolution is taking root in the very soil of the first industrial revolution is not an accident. It’s exactly what needs to happen for the sake of efficiency. As one of the subjects of the NPR story remarked when asked why his company wasn’t outsourcing these new manufacturing jobs overseas – “It’s the American workers that understand the processes needed to manufacture at this level.”
It’s time to turn the unsustainable industries of our recent past into a boon for our immediate future. You might say we’ve been composting.