New Times Ahead, Porth, BAD BEEF & Cradle to Cradle Design

Hey there, my name's Chris Maynard; I'm Marketing Assistant under Charlie and Matt and I have taken responsibility for the Leap-design for change blog. Don't worry, I will be asking for everyone's involvement over the coming months, but for the time being, I'll be the main contributor.
As a short introduction to myself; I'm a finalist at University College Falmouth on their Journalism BA course. I met Matt over a year ago at an event at UCF called InTransition. It was concerned with the role of the designer in a post oil future and really inspired me to turn a passing interest in the environment and sustainability into the core of my imminent career. In November of last year I started a five week placement with Leap and enjoyed it so much that I put all my effort into making myself indispensable. As it happened, fate stepped in to make it so.

First a bit of news:

On 12th March Leap won the best CD/DVD category at the Media Innovation Awards in Bristol. The award was given to our interactive CD-ROM that we designed and developed for the 'Tales from Porth' Cornish Language books. Leap managed to beat off competition from Mr. B. Productions and KOR Communications who respectively produced 'Substance' a surf film in association with Wavelength Magazine and 'Doing Our Part for Our Part of the World' for Clinton Devon Estates.

Click Here for thisiscornwall.co.uk Story

Matt forwarded me this Image that Lee had sent him on his web wanderings. I think this could form one of the major facts that will shape the next phase of the green journey; the quest for Water for All. One of the biggest uses of water in our day-to-day lives is in the production of the beef we eat. In the image it says that 1,500 gallons of water are used to produce just one pound of meat. This equates to over 12,500 litres for every kilo. (Click on image to find out more) I have just finished our entry to the Carbon Positive Awards 2009. At the end of the entry form there was a section for an inspirational quote and a couple of bullet points that are important in your resolve to combat climate change. The quote that I chose came from this TED talk back in 2005 given by one William McDonough. The co-creator of Cradle to Cradle Design describes the design brief for something as 'Simple' [sic] as a tree:

"To use something as elegant as a tree. Imagine this design assignment: design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distils water, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates micro climates, changes colours with the seasons and self-replicates. Why don't we knock that down and write on it?"

Please click HERE to view the video. I also recommend the book 'Cradle to Cradle' for anyone struggling with the concept or for vindication that you're not alone in the climate struggle.

More posts soon...Peace