Pre-Amble: This is a follow up to Twitter, transparency, and CSR I thought I’d post an excerpt from an article that I’ve been working about “the great reset” that is going on in the world. It is germane to the discussion of consumer / social media / and the impact on sustainability for individuals, families and even business.

When the price of gas pushed $4/gallon last summer I started noticing a return to family time, home time, and family dinners. I remember conversations on the news about how surprised people were by the quantity of time they were saving by not driving all over the place shuttling their kids or themselves to activities. Not only were they saving money on gas – they were saving time, quality time – They were, in some cases, saving their families.

Now, I was having this conversation at Milwaukee’s Green Drinks where I shared an aha moment that I had had during a conversation with my father last week on his birthday.  Dad was sharing about his time during his year after college and the Navy. He was talking about driving cross country in a rebuilt vintage roadster, how he rebuilt that engine, bought a car in a box (one that literally was in pieces in a bunch of boxes, rebuilt a motorcycle, and by the end of the story was working on an airplane. This was all in one year’s time and it was not his work. Understand, my father is a workaholic 10-14 hour days are not unusual for him.

WHEN did he have the time to do all of these major projects?

Answer: In his spare time?

WHAT spare time?  Then I got to thinking – When he was doing these massive projects – television was not ubiquitous and unlikely for single, just out of college, person to own? Also, the internet didn’t exist, much less twitter and facebook.

How much of your “free” time is spent in front of the computer?  How much of your “free” time is spent in front of the television? Now consider, how much time you would add to your sleep (and your health) if you were not mesmerized by these two devices. What would you be doing?

As I relayed this story to my fellow Green Drinkers, I remembered this  fascinating presentation that I ran across last summer when I was thinking about gas and family time.  It is by Clay Shirky and he talks about the sea-change that occurred last century and that is occurring again right now.  It is called “Gin, Television, and the “cognitive surplus”” presented at Web 2.0. The transcript can be found here.

As we struggle to find our new place in the world. As we individually reset our living standards, our values, our expectations, new opportunities are emerging.This presentation speaks to the new thinking that is and needs to continue to be generated as we awaken from our long sleep.

The question is not Where will we find the time?

The question is now that we have the time, how will we choose to use it?

Or, the better question is – Where is the mouse not? “every place that a reader or a listener or a viewer or a user has been locked out, has been served up passive or a fixed or a canned experience, and ask ourselves, “If we carve out a little bit of the cognitive surplus and deploy it here, could we make a good thing happen?”

What new ways are we thinking up to be more sustainable?

What are the opportunities to be discovered?

Will we create new products that reflect simplicity,  lower energy consumption, and our values?

This work is excerpted from an article on “The Great Reset”
Copyright © 2009 Matthew Rochte, Opportunity Sustainability℠. Share with full attribution.

Matthew Rochte is an experienced, operations-based sustainability consultant working with company management to navigate and realize the opportunities in taking their company green, leading through corporate responsibility, and growing sustainably.
www.Opportunity Sustainability.com