Compostmodern 2008: A Watershed Event

The speakers, the energy of the participants, the media interest—all contributed to the success of this daylong conference. Attendees, conference organizers and presenters collectively shared a sense of optimism and a renewed urgency to address sustainability as an everyday practice and mode of thinking rather than a niche way of working. By all accounts, the conference succeeded in harnessing the potential and enthusiasm of its community while reaching new audiences.

Moderator Joel Mackower, GreenBiz, set the stage with his opening remarks: “Sustainability is like teenage sex—everybody says they’re doing it but no one really is. And those who are doing it aren't doing it very well.”

Worldchanging’s Alex Steffen described the roster of speakers as “a bright green, allstar line-up.” And it was, with each speaker contributing real success stories and fresh ideas about sustainability. Steffen also provided compelling new evidence of the urgent need for innovative, sustainable solutions. “We need to stop making stuff,” he said. “The two best things you can do are to not go so many places in your car to get ‘things’—or do not have a car, or share one. And ‘know’ the stories of how your things get to you—or share those things, too.”

Adam Werbach, former Sierra Club president, outlined groundbreaking initiatives currently underway with client Wal-Mart, which the San Francisco Chronicle revealed a week before the conference. “We need leaders,” he said, “and designers are in the sweet spot.”

Other highlights included:

• Mark Galbraith from Nau Clothing discussed the unique retail model employed by his radical new clothing venture.
• Jean-Charles Boisset discussed how climate change affects every facet of the wine industry and demonstrated the environmental savings of his innovative packaging for French Rabbit wines.
• Jeff Walker from VSA Partners reviewed GE’s Ecomagination initiative.
• Scott Stowell from Open turned the visually stimulating pages of GOOD magazine to provide insight into the editorial agenda and design vision.
• Jane Savage of Nike’s Considered platform talked of the company’s drive to use more sustainable materials and design practices in product development.
• Jacinta McCann of EDAW San Francisco addressed impact of population on urban areas by 2008.

In a unique whiteboard session, AIGA Center for Sustainable Design co-chairs Marc Alt and Phil Hamlett fleshed out specific strategic initiatives for sustainability within AIGA, with much interest from session participants.

Also on hand were a gallery of sustainable project examples, a sustainable café, a housewares store and a bookstore. Many from the crowd of more than 600 stayed after the event for conversation and uniquely packaged French Rabbit wines served in compostable glasses.

The day culminated with the announcement that AIGA would partner in the Designers Accord, a call to arms for the creative community to reduce the environmental impact caused by design, a program that was created and introduced by Valerie Casey, IDEO.

“This was exactly the conference that the community needed and I expect that it will cause the bloom of a thousand new flowers,” commented Adam Werbach after the event. “The world can't wait.”

For additional coverage of “Compostmodern ’08,” see the blog Unbeige and reviews on TreeHugger, Inhabitat, Core77, and CNET. Podcasts of the conference will be available shortly. Check the Compostmodern website or watch this site for the latest news.

“Compostmodern ’08” was made possible by generous donations from Adobe Systems Inc., Mohawk Fine Papers Inc. and New Leaf Paper.