Gareth's Blog - Terra Infirma

Innovation, Failure & Sustainability

23rd July 2012

It is one of the most repeated clichés in business: The man who never made a mistake never made anything. Sustainability requires innovation, innovation implies...

Are Investors Bothered About Sustainability?

20th July 2012

I was sat in the foyer cafe of one of the most impressive corporate headquarters I have ever visited, formalising a business relationship with the...

Playing To Your Employees’ Strengths and Interests

18th July 2012

The standard attitude to raising awareness of sustainability with employees can be parodied as: "OK, these people are pig ignorant and uninterested in sustainability issues....

Any colour you like as long as it’s green…

16th July 2012

On a visit to friends of our who have two small boys, a squabble broke out over colouring pencils. “Josh, you’ve got loads of pencils,...

Zeroing in or losing focus?

13th July 2012

I'm reading John Elkington's new book The Zeronaughts, which I'll review in whole in due course, but there's one thing about it which is really...

Circular Economy or Web of Life?

11th July 2012

As a nature lover, I thoroughly enjoyed Chris Packham's BBC series The Secrets of the Living Planet. Having been on our screens in my youth,...

Taking The Extremes Out of Sustainability

9th July 2012

Last week, political broadcaster Andrew Neil (right) hosted a debate on climate science. He invited libertarian polemicist James Delingpole and Friends of the Earth campaigner...

Reframing the environment vs economy argument

6th July 2012

In my keynote speech at the Energy & Environment North East 2012 conference, I argued that the question was not low carbon or growth, but...

Is the team key to creating a culture of sustainability?

4th July 2012

What can a single designer do to change the life cycle environmental performance of a complex product, say, a car? If they're really clever (or...

Gareth’s Blog