A prefab, universal design idea from FabCab . . .

In the next 20 years, the US population over age 65 will double, and those over 85 will triple. Whether those facts spell a looming juggernaut . . . or a huge market opportunity depends on one's point of view.

FabCab has focused on the latter, and is creating a smart, ready-made house that can be assembled on-site as an "instant" Accessory Dwelling Unit.  Recently displayed at the Seattle Home Show, this housing option offers the graying population a way to be close to family/caretaker support, while still providing independence & autonomy. Although not cheap -- builder estimates average about $145,000 for the 550 sq. ft. model  -- this price includes installation, appliances, and all materials & finishes.

Aspects of the design appeal to a wide audience, even those not looking for Universal Design features.  The company team at the Home Show noted that, ". . . some young 20-year-old said it was a great bachelor pad . . . then an older couple came through who was in their seventies and said, 'This would be perfect for our mother.'"  Because of the stigma that some attach to the idea of Universal Design, the company refers to their design as "invisible accessibility".  FabCab co-founder, Emory Baldwin, lives in a conventionally-built home designed with Universal Design principles.  He says his entire family takes advantage of its features, and that "When you make things accessible, you make them easier for everyone to use."

FabCab feels that Universal Design principles will become the standard for all housing, and will spread into conventional house designs & green building certifications.  FabCab has partnered with AARP, which will assist in promoting the company's ADU idea at an upcoming convention.  Here is more on FabCab . . .

Planting a seed . . .

I meant no harm.  I mostly truly did not.

But I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got.

I biggered my factory. I biggered my loads

. . . I went right on biggering, selling more Thneeds.

And I biggered my money, which everyone needs.

Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

In James Gustave Speth’s book, Red Sky at Morning, are some staggering statements about humanity’s “biggering” on this planet.

“It took all of human history for global population to expand by [the year] 1900 to a billion and a half people . . . In the past 25 years [1980-2004], global population increased . . . from 4 to 6 billion, with virtually all of this growth occurring in the developing world . . .  From the dawn of history to 1950 the world economy grew to 7 trillion dollars.  It now grows by this amount every 5 to 10 years . . . Energy use moved in close step with economic expansion, rising at least sixteen fold in the 20^th century.  One calculation suggests that more energy was consumed in those hundred years than in all of previous history.”

Seuss’s Lorax is a story about an entrepreneur, the Once-ler, who has discovered the profitability of the Truffula tree.  The tree can be made into valuable garments called Thneeds.  In spite of protests from the forest creature, the Lorax, the Once-ler proceeds to cut down all the trees.  Finally, seeing the disastrous results of his actions, the Once-ler recoils from the world, heartbroken.  As he leaves, he passes onto a young child the last remaining seed of the Truffula tree, declaring:

Plant a new Truffula.  Treat it with care.

Give it clean water.  And feed it fresh air.

Grow a forest.  Protect it from axes that hack.

Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back.

UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

Nothing is going to get better.  It’s not.

Perhaps we are seeing this child with a seed appearing throughout the world today.  In Blessed Unrest, Paul Hawken talks about the profusion of global grassroots organizations seeking environmental solutions & social justice, the movement no one saw coming.  He says that the proliferation of these movements arise from not only legacy social movements like abolitionism, but a larger transcendent vision.  Similarly, in a podcast from Vancouver radio station CJSF, entitled “Can We De-Friend Oil?” Andrew Nikiforuk, author of The Energy of Slaves, talked about a societal shift away from consumption as a path for happiness, and that such a cultural shift might likely be driven by a faith-based social movement much like abolition.

Still, many Americans' attitudes are doubtful, or even rejecting, of a need for serious action on climate change; we have yet to tackle this problem with the kind of unity we saw prior to the US entering two world wars in the last century.  George Marshall explains society’s curious aversion to dealing with our climate crisis in a Yes! Magazine article, Why we find it so hard to act against climate change.  He talks about the “passive bystander” effect; people “deliberately maintain a level of ignorance so that they can claim they know less than they do”.  They define themselves as powerless in their situation, while waiting for someone else to act first.  Marshall says that these strategies lie beneath contemporary popular attitudes to climate change.

Professor Kari Marie Norgaard, in her book, Living in Denial: Climate Change, Emotions & Everyday Life, writes that climate change is something most people exclude from their attention.  Through unspoken agreement, we manage guilt and anxiety about the issue by simply avoiding it; we keep the topic out of what she calls our “norms of attention.”  Norgaard refers to opinion polls that reveal that many Americans define climate change as both distant in time – “it’s a huge problem for future generations” – and distant in place – “it’s a global problem, not a local problem.”

This social narrative – that climate change is distant in time and location – is corroborated in research conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.   Yale has a report available called Global Warming's Six Americas that profiles the range of Americans’ concerns about climate change, from those most concerned and motivated – the “Alarmed”, to those least concerned – the “Dismissive”.  This study shows the variety of understandings that Americans have about the climate crisis, along with degree of their engagement and mobilization for solutions. One interesting point from this report is that success in communicating to these disparate groups depends on the trustworthiness of the information source.  People we already know will likely convince us more effectively than experts or famous personalities; a message will only resonate with an audience if it is congruent with their values.  Amazingly, this same Yale study reveals that the overwhelming majority of Americans, from those who think that climate change is a hoax, to those who are alarmed, all support investments in renewable energy and a more energy-efficient economy!  Sometimes we can all agree on certain policies and programs . . . even if that agreement is based on different values.

Marshall’s article says that the way to get climate change back into our “norms of attention” is for people to see changes being made everywhere, all the time. From neighborhoods around us being retrofitted with deep energy weatherization, to electric cars everywhere, to solar and wind installations becoming common . . . these things help energize people into action.

Clearly, we cannot wait for national leaders to solve this situation.  There are individuals and groups making a difference in communities all across the world, and right in our own neighborhoods – we need to participate.  In the absence of a fully-mobilized global climate initiative, we have to start where we are, and plant our seed . . .  and this blog is such a seed.

The Lorax is a story of the possibility of recovery, rescue, redemption.  Sometimes stories written for children have the power to create a compelling narrative for adults.   As we look at the challenges ahead of us dealing with climate change, it requires that we care “a whole awful lot”.