--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By fundamentally changing how we design…" description: "\"By fundamentally changing how we design the places and systems that enable our daily lives, we can slash emissions way beyond the immediate carbon savi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/alex-steffen-10872_because_by-fundamentally-changing-how-we-design_1787361.jpg" --- # By fundamentally changing how we design the places and… ![“By fundamentally changing how we design the places and systems that enable our daily lives, we can slash emissions way beyond the immediate carbon savings - because our own personal emissions are just the tip of a vast iceberg of energy and resources consumed far from our view.” quote by Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/alex-steffen-10872_because_by-fundamentally-changing-how-we-design_1787361.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/alex-steffen-10872_because_by-fundamentally-changing-how-we-design_1787361.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/alex-steffen-10872_because_by-fundamentally-changing-how-we-design_1787361.jpg) > “By fundamentally changing how we design the places and systems that enable our daily lives, we can slash emissions way beyond the immediate carbon savings - because our own personal emissions are just the tip of a vast iceberg of energy and resources consumed far from our view.” [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Redesigning everyday environments can dramatically cut indirect emissions, far exceeding direct carbon reductions. **In simple terms:** Changing design cuts hidden emissions. Key Takeaway Focus on systemic design changes. Themes sustainability design systems climate action Mood optimistic urgent Type inspirational strategic When to use this quote - architecture - product design - policy making - personal lifestyle choices Key Concepts Systems thinking carbon accounting urban planning Questions to Reflect On - How can we incentivize systemic redesign? - What barriers exist in scaling these changes? A Different Perspective Implementation costs and political resistance can slow redesign efforts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Because](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/because/) [Beyond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beyond/) [Carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon/) [Carbon Savings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-savings-1916245/) [Changing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Consumed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumed/) [Daily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daily/) [Daily life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daily-life/) [Daily lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daily-lives/) [Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) [Emissions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emissions/) [Emissions Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emissions-way-783942/) [Enable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enable/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far/) [Fundamentally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentally/) [How](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/how/) [Iceberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iceberg/) [Immediate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immediate/) [Immediate Carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immediate-carbon-1916246/) [Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just/) [Lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives/) [Our](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our/) [Own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/own/) [Personal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal/) [Personal Emissions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-emissions-1916247/) [Places](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/places/) [Resources](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resources/) [Saving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saving/) [Savings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/savings/) [Slash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slash/) [Slash Emissions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slash-emissions-551261/) [Systems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/systems/) [Tip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tip/) [Vast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vast/) [View](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/view/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [The world needs to slash emissions by tens of billions of tons annually, which categorically requires government investment and government regulations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lowrey/the-world-needs-to-slash-emissions-by-tens-of-billions-of-tons/) [Annie Lowrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lowrey/) > [The most difficult thing for us to do is to mitigate and offset our agricultural emissions. 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It didn’t help that Slash’s check was made out to “Stash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duff-mckagan/they-had-to-call-a-bunch-of-people-including-the-accountants-at/) [Duff McKagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duff-mckagan/) > [To cut and slash are two different things. Cutting, whatever form of cutting it is, is decisive, with a resolute spirit. Slashing is nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miyamoto-musashi/to-cut-and-slash-are-two-different-things-cutting-whatever-form-of/) [Miyamoto Musashi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miyamoto-musashi/) > [To be honest, I've only been to one concert, and it was Aerosmith. Aerosmith and Slash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-mendes/to-be-honest-i-ve-only-been-to-one-concert-and-it-was-aerosmith/) [Shawn Mendes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-mendes/) > [Slash is one of the greatest guitar players I've ever heard, and it's amazing when you hear about all the crazy stuff he's done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-goldsmith/slash-is-one-of-the-greatest-guitar-players-i-ve-ever-heard-and-it-s/) [Taylor Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-goldsmith/) > [“And she looked upon the mirror that was given as a gift. She hated everything about it, from the circular size of it, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/and-she-looked-upon-the-mirror-that-was-given-as-a-gift-she-hated/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [Because Slash is such a well-known performer all over the world, it definitely helped with the awareness of Alter Bridge. People come up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myles-kennedy/because-slash-is-such-a-well-known-performer-all-over-the-world-it/) [Myles Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myles-kennedy/) > [I got the name Slash because I used to work in a grocery store and I was in charge of reducing prices for really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slash/i-got-the-name-slash-because-i-used-to-work-in-a-grocery-store-and-i/) [Slash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slash/) > [“Far fewer people know that Slash is also a world-class Russian crouch-down-and-kick-your-legs-out dancer. And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duff-mckagan/far-fewer-people-know-that-slash-is-also-a-world-class-russian-crouch/) [Duff McKagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duff-mckagan/) > [“scrub oak trees. Kieran was leaning against him, pinning him to the tree, and they were kissing. Cristina hesitated a moment, blood rising into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/scrub-oak-trees-kieran-was-leaning-against-him-pinning-him-to-the/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) ## More by Alex Steffen > [If mass media, social isolation in the suburbs, alienating workplaces and long car commutes create a bunker mentality, the Internet does the opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/if-mass-media-social-isolation-in-the-suburbs-alienating-workplaces/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [By looking at climate change as a clean energy generation problem, we're setting ourselves up not to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/by-looking-at-climate-change-as-a-clean-energy-generation-problem-we/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [Cities generate most of the global economy, and most of its energy use, resource demands and climate emissions. How we build cities over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/cities-generate-most-of-the-global-economy-and-most-of-its-energy-use/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [You don't change the world by hiding in the woods, wearing a hair shirt, or buying indulgences in the form of 'Save the Earth'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/you-don-t-change-the-world-by-hiding-in-the-woods-wearing-a-hair/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [There are a lot of different ways of building a prosperous society, and some of them use much less energy than others. And it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/there-are-a-lot-of-different-ways-of-building-a-prosperous-society/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [The brutal reality is that newer, more sprawling suburbs - and especially the cheap boom-years exburbs - aren't just a bit unsustainable, they're ruinously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/the-brutal-reality-is-that-newer-more-sprawling-suburbs-and/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [Cities are responsible for the vast majority of the creation of the economy. They're also places into which we pour the vast majority of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/cities-are-responsible-for-the-vast-majority-of-the-creation-of-the/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [It's not that hard to imagine the natural world recovering it's health in our absence: it's more difficult, and more necessary, to imagine it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/it-s-not-that-hard-to-imagine-the-natural-world-recovering-it-s/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [There's no law of physics that says we have to be an unsustainable society - in fact, quite the opposite. The planet's ready to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/there-s-no-law-of-physics-that-says-we-have-to-be-an-unsustainable/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [We don't know yet how to build a society which is environmentally sustainable, which is shareable with everybody on the planet, which promotes stability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/we-don-t-know-yet-how-to-build-a-society-which-is-environmentally/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [Cabbies in particular seem to like discussing the fate the Earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/cabbies-in-particular-seem-to-like-discussing-the-fate-the-earth/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [I think there's a gigantic generation gap in terms of how people understand the Internet and how much they think technology is an important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/i-think-there-s-a-gigantic-generation-gap-in-terms-of-how-people/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [Climate change is not a discrete issue; it's a symptom of larger problems. Fundamentally, our society as currently designed has no future. We're chewing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/climate-change-is-not-a-discrete-issue-it-s-a-symptom-of-larger/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [We have to craft new political realities, not only in places like India, Afghanistan, Kenya, Pakistan, but here at home as well. Another world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/we-have-to-craft-new-political-realities-not-only-in-places-like/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [It is very possible to have lives that are just as prosperous, and nicer, that use 5 percent of the fossil fuels and virgin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/it-is-very-possible-to-have-lives-that-are-just-as-prosperous-and/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) [Explore all 63 Alex Steffen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) ## More Because quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. 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