ZEITGEIST: How Eco-Friendly Thinking Touches All Walks Of Life

by Thomas Pretty

Eco-friendly or environmentally-friendly have become the buzzwords for the modern age. Understandable when our effects on the planet since the industrial revolution are considered. Typically the word eco-friendly refers to products, services or even a mode of thinking that takes into account the environment at all stages of the production process.

This thinking can refer to the sourcing of materials, to the amount of packaging to holidays and the construction of houses. But what are companies out there doing to combat issues such as climate change?

Construction companies and independent builders have been increasingly looking at more environmentally-friendly ways to build houses. This solution to environmental considerations has meant thinking about processes and materials from the outset.

For example, as the production of concrete can be considered one of the most polluting processes on the planet, many people building modern houses choose more natural materials such as wood that is far more ecologically sound.

This process of eco-thinking does not simply apply to the construction of new homes. Governments around the world are looking for ways to make existing houses more environmentally-friendly. For instance, some governments have embarked on a process of providing homeowners with reduced price insulation in order for their homes to be more efficient. Hence less energy is used and the planet is better off.

Environmentally-friendly thinking does not just touch the construction world however, for many years now car manufacturers have been attempting to make their cars more fuel efficient. As gasoline is a finite resource this process has been embarked upon out of a desire to make fuel reserves last longer as well as to reduce emissions and hence the polluting effects of cars on the planet.

Some car firms have gone even further, investing in technology such as hydrogen fuel cells and high power batteries to change the way in which cars are fuelled wholesale.

Eco-friendly thinking touches nearly every facet of life today, practically every major manufacturer markets some form of energy saving technology. Consumer electronics companies have developed technologies such as televisions that turn themselves off when the watcher leaves the room, others have invested in technologies that reduce the drain on the power network; this applies from anything to personal computers to kettles.

Today we are almost certainly in a world that is feeling the effects of our industrial past. The environmental initiatives that are being undertaken by major manufacturers serve as a marker of how serious the message of being more environmentally friendly is to the world as a collective entity.

Thomas Pretty has written extensively on the subject of the environment and in this article takes a look at how major manufacturers and corporations are now incorporating eco-friendly thinking into the design and production of their goods. Find out more here: http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/1201538224713.