It’s a shame to let the twitter stream go to waste. So when looking for ways to recap my experience delivering a talk on Zero Waste at SXSW, the twittstream seemed like the perfect way to tell the story.
It all starts with my last two tweets before getting started:
robotchampion Prepped and ready for 1230 #zerowaste talk, props, surprise guests, and even activism!
robotchampion Talk is just moments away, use the #zerowaste hashtag
As we get started eight folks chime in with GoWalla and Foursquare check-ins and general announcements about it beginning:
steveblackmon #zerowaste — at Zero Waste: The Future of Green http://gowal.la/s/4rK2
JessiO At the #zerowaste session in 8A. (@ Austin Convention Center w/ @ramon_deleon @benedictwong @leahjones) http://4sq.com/8RQqOx
YannR next #zerowaste … the future of green @ sxsw
sustaining Settling in at the #zerowaste session; looks like a diverse crowd and a lot of Austinites!
Then, I launch into my intro attempting to explain #zerowaste, but here is what they crowd hears/tweets:
GREENITED On average Americans create 6 pounds of trash per day per person. #zerowaste #sxsw
createthegood At #zerowaste, @robotchampion is talking about companies like @WholeFoods that are reducing the amt of trash they send to landfill. Saves $.
accooper1 Change the size of the compost (largest) recycle & landfill (smallest) bins to help change behavior #zerowaste #sxsw
createthegood #zerowaste is diverting from landfills… composting, recycling… – @robotchampion #SXSW
Ok, so either I was extremely captivating and no one cared to tweet, or I talked way too fast and folks only had time to tweet major snippets?
createthegood Next speaker is Beth Ferguson from Austin… Her design thesis was on solar charging stations for electric vehicles & bikes. #zerowaste
agreenerlifeorg At the #zerowaste panel being impressed with people’s ingenuity.
Blocks8 Look for the solar recharge stations that look like 1950’s gas pumps around Austin #sxsw #zerowaste
createthegood One audience member said they saw it last night and there was a line. People are digging it. #zerowaste // Now I wanna go snap a pic!
LisaRedShoesPR did not know about the retro-fitted 50s style gas pumps as solar charging stations for bikes, laptops around… #sxsw #zerowaste
sustaining Beth Ferguson’s design for a solar electric charging station incorporates 1950s gas pumps to make energy consumption visible. #zerowaste
craftyb RT @createthegood: Henry Ford’s wife drove the first electric vehicle. #zerowaste #whoknew
I chime in with an important fact that a few tweet about:
changeorder The greatest new energy source is energy reduction. #zerowaste #sxsw
Then our next speaker, Jason Aramburu, starts off with a zinger:
brianfit Clean coal? Oxymoron! #zerowaste
brookebf Rechar doing project in Houston ship channel w waste wood fr hurricane ike gen pwr & fertilizer reduce landfill #zerowaste #sxswi #housxsw
After Jason’s talk I go off on compost, which seemed to set off a flurry of tweets:
createthegood A lot of people in the room raise their hand saying they compost. Me, I’m learning. #zerowaste #SXSW
ericavandenberg “Farmers call compost black gold” #zerowaste #sxswi
KuraFire Compost is the new black gold. #zerowaste
Amy begins her part:
createthegood Next up, @sengseng (aka “Steve’s woman”) She’s talking about the girlfriend’s perspective living with someone who lives #zerowaste lifestyle
kirbstr #zerowaste victim or guinea pig 
createthegood . @sengseng’s first reaction was that #zerowaste is impossible in today’s society #SXSW
accooper1 Waste is just a bad habit not a lifestyle #zerowaste #sxsw
createthegood Even just bringing a water bottle or your own cup helps reduce the paper generated. – @sengseng #zerowaste #SXSW
createthegood Changing food habits was one of the biggest challenges. @robotchampion & @sengseng shop at farmers markets mainly #zerowaste #SXSW
LisaRedShoesPR Re-think what constitutes a meal … #sxsw #zerowaste eat things from farmer’s markets.
Amy hits the tweet bingo with the most folks re-tweeting her lines/quoting her. Then a questioneer brings up the crucial question with perfect timing and saving me from the awkward transition to it. What are the online resources for zero waste, food, etc.?
LisaRedShoesPR take note of the #slowfood movement. #sxsw #zerowaste
createthegood To find your local farmers markets or locally sourced food, one resource is http://www.localharvest.org/ #zerowaste #SXSW
LisaRedShoesPR check out eatwellguide.org for farmer’s guide market #sxsw #zerowaste
Finally, the session winds down with announcements and lots of folks with new ideas:
kirbstr #zerowaste comment on the waste of the swag bags, but they are a revenue source for smaller biz but #sxsw is cutting down on paper wastes
MelissaSavcic Great talk about #zerowaste at #sxsw There needs to be more ‘green’ lifestyle conferences!
KuraFire IFixit.com is aiming to be a Wikipedia for fixing your own hardware (like broken iPhone screens). #zerowaste
KuraFire “Reduce first, Reuse second, Recycle third. Now a fourth one: Rethink.” #Zerowaste
floridagirlindc My fave from #zerowaste panel at #SXSW: @sengseng’s “Look at the faces of people in supermakret vs people at farmers market. Who’s happier?”
the007way #zerowaste www.soldesignlab.com Been considering an elec scooter but I have nowhere to charge it at present. Just got rid of car.
The Stats
- 6 rave reviews and 2 critiques (here, here, I followed up personally with each critique)
- During the 60 minute session:
- – there were 51 ReTweets
- – 204 Tweets using the hashtag #zerowaste
- – which is 3.4 tweets/minute or about a tweet every 18 seconds
- 1 Live Streamer
- 3 Live Note Takers (by YannR, cwcinc, and benrigby)
The Ending, My Favorite Tweet
AeroSuch Lots of sandals & composters at #Zerowaste. Great insights into solar recharge, bio charcoal, and savingmoney/calories/trash #habits #sxsw
Wow!
What an exciting day in energy. Today Bloom Energy changed the game with their Bloom Server, here is why.
We all know the story that the vast majority of our energy comes from old (and dirty) power plants that use coal and nuclear energy sources. Well the hidden truth behind these “energy sources” is that all they do is heat water to create steam and move turbines. They make steam!
How ridiculous is that. We can send a robot to Mars but to power my iPhone I need some boiling water?
This ridiculous market paradigm is what Bloom hopes to exploit (and make billions in the process). They ignore the source argument over replacing coal and nuclear with wind, solar, or heat. Instead focusing on the energy process itself and applying advanced technology to wring some efficiency out of it.
K.R. Sridhar, CEO of Bloom, PhD, and former Director of Space Technologies at UofA, did just that. He found that a combination of fuel cells and natural gas can get 2x as much power as the steam process can (using same inputs). In his own words, they did it through old fashioned innovation:
“I call it R&D on steroids,” K.R. Sridhar said at the start-up’s offices. “We created an R&D platform where you continuously improve, validate and test. Learn why it broke and move on.”
That RD process has turned out one of the most promising energy technologies to date (imagine needing half as much coal). A fuel cell made out of sand and coated in a cheap metal “oxide” (they are keeping the recipe a secret). Each cell is super thin and just a few inches wide/long and capable of turning natural gas into electricity.
That is the fuel cell side to all this, although it doesn’t sound at all like traditional fuel cells.
The kicker is that this is not future technology. These fuel cells are already in place at many large business sites. Google is reported to be the first to have installed one while eBay, who hosted the press event, said to have five Bloom Servers providing %15 of their energy. A server is about 4,000 cells jammed into a black box that looks like an IT server.
That is just the beginning. This technology is so promising that everybody is joining the party. The press event was attended by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Colin Powell, Dianne Feinstein, and Michael Bloomberg (“make no mistake, when we look at Bloom, we are looking at the future of business, economy, and America”).
Finally, the VP and CEO’s of FedEx, Walmart, Staples, Google, Coca Cola, Bank of America, Cox, and eBay were on hand to explain why they love Bloom.
A star studded public relations event or the future of energy technology?
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Oddly enough I did it. I found a way that Green IT relates to Gov 2.0.
The bond too seems pretty strong on both sides. Almost as if one would be inherently weaker without the other. Read on…
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My proposal to speak at Gov 2.0 Expo in May:
5-minute rapid fire presentation
Title:
Green IT for Gov 2.0
Description (400 chars):
Green IT is building momentum as our new Executive Order 13514 from President Obama calls for increased sustainability at every Federal Agency. This presentation provides an overview of the impact of this sustainability initiative, how it supports and builds upon Gov 2.0, and the best practices being employed in the government and commercial sectors.
Abstract:
On October 5, 2009 President Obama signed into action a broad forward leaning Executive Order focused on the environment, energy, and economic performance. The driving force behind this is not only climate change but a need to lower costs.
Strangely, this push is leading us directly into the cloud and on virtualized machines. These changes represent the latest in industry standards and extremely cost effective options for Federal agencies. Add in that it meets the requirements of the Executive Order and protects the environment, and it may just be an unstoppable force.
Parallel to these efforts, the Gov 2.0 movement is gaining momentum and is a surprising ally. The drive towards citizen engagement, transparency, and web applications rely deeply on this technology. It also presents a unique sandwich for success with IT driving the push towards cost savings and users/public clamoring for more openness.
Join me as I briefly touch on the major topics of this intersection of two fields presenting a broad overview, touchpoints between the two, and best practices to keep us going forward.
**If requested, I can pull together a panel discussion with relevant members of the commercial and federal sectors.