One of our favorite scene's in all of movie history is in The Graduate when Benjamin, played by Dustin Hoffman, is standing at his graduation party and Mr. McGuire a friend of his father says:

Recently in London, Mr. Cameron, the leader of the Tory party suggested the installation of a "smart grid." The rub? You might ask, is that Mr. Cameron has pitted the smart grid against investing in Heathrow's airport expansion. 

One of the most interesting events that occurred in this american political season was the insertion of "Green" technology into the political arena. At The Functionality we think that just because it's green doesn't make it good. These technologies, like any other, have impacts far beyond their immediate utilization. Investing in infrastructure should be far more thoughtfully examined.

In the same paper, David Adam, writes about the impact that paint could have on our carbon foot print. Isn't infrastructure investment kind of like investing in plastics? The raw materials and processes that make the actual item are often harmful but the impact of that research has great effects. 

Could we have imagined a world where, as we have seen from the posts below, plastic is being researched, reconsidered, and reused in everything from military Body Armor to reusable water filtration like the Lifestraw.