Brian Scott, founder of Boon Design, said in his overview of Compostmodern 09 on Design Assembly that the conference served to “connect the dots between design practice and social responsibility.”

Scott said that “Saul Griffith, inventor extraordinaire and founder of Makani Power, was by far the most entertaining and yet most frightening presenter of the day.” Griffith encouraged designers to start doing some math, and gave an example from his own life: for a year, Griffith tracked his personal energy consumption in terms of watts, and scared the Compostmodern audience with his results. You can calculate your own energy consumption by logging on to Griffith’s website, Wattzon.com.

Scott’s full article, located here, contained a more detailed look at speakers Allan Chochinov, editor-in-chief of Core77, and Emily Pilloton, founder of Project H Design. His final comment was, “ultimately, as designers we need to strike the balance between sustaining our livelihoods and sustaining the planet, especially if we aim to help as may people in need as our planet demands.”