The Parable of the Totaled Saab

the parable of the totaled saablessons on sustainability

ignite columbus 1

Flickr photo by mattdesmond

Two years ago I crashed my ‘92 Saab 900

ACCIDENT

RETURN HOME

5 hrs, 250 mi

headlamps: $1000 body realignment : $2000(labour)new bumper: $300new hood: $500total repair cost: $3800

nada value: $5000

+ almost seized engine + 6 months = nada value: $2650total repair cost: $3800

two senses of 'totaled’too costly to fix (american)too hard to fix (indian)

the many senses of

sus·tain (sə-stān') tr.v.   sus·tained, sus·tain·ing, sus·tains To keep in existence; maintain.To supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for.To support from below; keep from falling or sinking; prop.To support the spirits, vitality, or resolution of; encourage.To bear up under; withstand: can't sustain the blistering heat.To experience or suffer: sustained a fatal injury.To affirm the validity of: The judge has sustained the prosecutor's objection.To prove or corroborate; confirm.To keep up (a joke or assumed role, for example) competently.

[Middle English sustenen, from Old French sustenir, from Latin sustinēre : sub-, from below; see sub- + tenēre, to hold; see ten- in Indo-European roots.] sus·tain'a·bil'i·ty n., sus·tain'a·ble adj., sus·tain'er n., sus·tain'ment n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

sus·tain·a·ble (sə-stā'nə-bəl)adj. 1. Capable of being sustained. 2. Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment: sustainable agriculture.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

sustainabilitynounthe property of being sustainable

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

so what totaled my car?

sustainability is cultural

sustainability depends on continuous maintenance

sustainability depends on continuous production

sustainability is infrastructural

it wasn't the economics

spare parts

sustainability depends on scale

it wasn't rarity

independence

sustainability is a knowledge practice

sustainability depends on collaboration

sustainability is creative

is culturaldepends on continuous maintenancedepends on continuous productionis infrastructuraldepends on scaleis a knowledge practicedepends on collaborationis creative