User:Yeahvle: Difference between revisions

My name is: Johan Löfström

"Buy less crap – work less – live more – feel richer"

I am:

Industrial Designer & Product Developer

Artist (painting, experimental electronic music, writer)

Graphic Designer

Extremely creative mind with speed, positivity and cris-crossing between many different interesting topics at the same time. Trying to live extremely green and with a minimum carbon footprint. I am having a devoted "green focus" and trying to replace obsolete and inefficient products. Extremely extreme in my green and anti-consumeristic living pattern. I am part owner of a design shop that makes products from second-hand-clothing and old flea-market-stuff and so on.

I have some personal web pages, my design company : [1] (in swedish only)

my photo gallery with some of my art and some prototypes that is handmade : [2]

my experimental music project: [3]

my page with photographs and many public sculptures that are in my home town of Gävle, Sweden: [4]

Some things I have done to improve my life:

I sold my car in 1999. (I used to have a need for a car when I was younger and working a lot) My apartment building is heated with a centralized citywide system of bio-fuels. I try to be way below the average numbers on all aspects of my carbon footprint and climate impact. I always walk or ride bicycle within the city. I work from home. I eat more and more vegetarian food. Eat a lot more fish and very rarely meat. I have developed several methods of smart cooking that use much less electricity. I very rarely buy and boil groceries that need long boiling times like potatoes, rice, pasta. I never buy or store any frozen foods at home, so I have turned of my deepfreezer. I have drastically reduced my electricity bill, and the energy company is generating around half of its power from hydro-power-plants, about 35-40% nuclear power and only about 5% from coal and diesel.

One whole year I did an experiment when I only bought food (2007 was my personal Buy-Nothing-Year) I recycle extremely carefully, already when I choose products in the shops. And as a result I have changed my habits and reduced my total garbage waste to 1-2kg per year.

I am very careful with my clothes so that they last longer, and try to keep them clean so I do not have to wash them too often. When I wash I use only low-temperature programs. I do not have any telephone anymore. It was just a waste of time and money. I never buy a new object on impulse. I very rarely buy new presents for other people, I try to create something unique and special, it gets more personal that way. And I have told my family and friends many times that I do not need new and expensive gifts for christmas or birthdays, it is enough with eating food and enjoying their company.

Now, if someone will claim that my extensive computer use is a waste, i can argue that my current computer have replaced all of the following objects (and services) from my life : TV, Cinema, DVD-player, CD-player, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, Books, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Maps, Games, Telephones, Typewriter, Calculators, Mail, Paying my bills, Musical Instruments. Google Earth and Panoramio and Flickr have reduced my vacations and travelling by a lot. I do not travel anymore to other cities to go to concerts or art exhibitions. (it is much more marvellous to watch TED-talks, Discovery Channel and GreenTV online than it is to fly to Thailand one week each year) And, this computer is only the third that I ever bought. And I spend a bit more money on them, so that they will last longer. My previous Apple G3 worked perfectly for more than 11 years. I now have a Apple Mini that is extremely small and energy efficient. I still use the same monitor that I bought in 1996!!! (but i am looking for a new one that will be most energy efficient and last many years)