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Today’s Barter Economy: Meet Snap Goods

10.12.11: When you hear the term “green collar job”, you most likely think solar panel installer, energy efficiency expert, Tesla car dealer. But there are also companies that on the surface are not branded with the mark of “Green”, but at the core of how they do business or what they hope to achieve, are environmentally progressive.

Producer Makeba Seargeant speaks with Ron Williams, the CEO and Co-Founder of Snap Goods, the peer to peer startup that let’s you use or test out a product, tool or piece of gear for short period of time at a low cost. Think the power drill you need to hang a framed painting or the 15 martini glasses for next Saturday night.

It’s a service that falls under the emerging trends of collaborative consumption and what Ron calls the “access economy” – communities and networks opening up to share resources.

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Music: Wilco, Andrew Bird
Photo: flickr Guerilla Futures
Resource: Collaborative Consumption
Resource: Access Economy

Tubing, Lilies & Cattails: Occupy Wall Street’s Dishwater

10.7.11: It’s been three weeks since Occupation Wall Street took over Zuccotti Park in Downtown Manhattan. The park has been transformed into a small village that includes not just a broadcast center and a press desk, but a barber, a medic, a comfort station, a library and most importantly, a kitchen. After all, you get hungry railing against the man.

Producer Ben Pomeroy visited the park this past Thursday and discovered a handmade greywater bio-filter to help mitigate the dirty dishwater produced from the mountain of plates, pots and containers used to feed the occupants of the park.

He spoke to Lisa Depiano, the designer of the mobile water treatment plant and Alex Drewchin, a volunteer dishwasher.

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Photo: Makeba Seargeant
Resource: Mobile Design Lab
Resource: Bio-Filter Wiki