Why Design Now?

I went to this really inspiring exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian gallery!  The current exhibit "Inaugurated in 2000, the Triennial program seeks out and presents the most innovative designs at the center of contemporary culture".  ANd it was full of everything from the ipod to the fabrics to solutions regarding agriculture/crops/farming to.. woven coral to mimic the endangered reef beds! It was a really inspiring exhibit.  I was in aw of myself because i live in a society were we are all consumers and we all have created this world... this world were we now need to redesign our vision and reprogram our mindset so as a collective force we can save the world from the harmful effects of our generations.  Reestablishing how we think about recycling, how we should reuse and what we can do with out, how we can progress and design to the best of our abilities!  Its basic thinking but its so hard to grasp at times.  This in my mind is what makes great design when it can be beautiful and brilliant from an esthetics point of view and innovative yet simple from a practicality point!  I think you should watch this really interesting movie i say called NO IMPACT MAN!  It will get you to see the capability in the average Joe to make a conscience effort to make less of an impact .