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About Me

Entrepreneur, Do-Gooder and Designer, Graham enjoys variety although now finds his future happily confined to social entrepreneurship. Past businesses include forays into fashion, web-development, viral email and plant-based air filters. In 1995, with his cousin, he started and grew the web-developer, SiteWerks, to 60 people doing work for large companies such as Microsoft and sold it to a New York company in 1998. He currently focuses on pushing sustainability into the mainstream through TreeHugger.com, which in 3 short years had become one of the most respected and trafficked environmental sites on the web and was sold to Discovery in August of 2007. Additionally, he owns a product business that sells a New York souvenir he designed a few years ago into 300 stores including MOMA. Graham has a Bachelor of Architecture with distinction from Carleton University in Ottawa and did advanced studies in Industrial Design at E.C.I.A.D, Vancouver. Graham has lived all over the world and his biggest eco-sin is air travel (offset of course). He speaks English, French, German and Spanish and is addicted to squash and kitesurfing.

Location:
United States, New York, NY
Current organization:
Discovery Planet Green
Past organizations:
TreeHugger.com, Sitewerks Interactive, wearehappytoserveyou.com, LifeEdited.org
Current role:
Founder, TreeHugger.com, VP Interactive
Gender:
Male
Areas of expertise:
Web, Green
I am:
Athlete, Designer, Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, World traveler
Languages:
English, French, German, Spanish
My website links:
TreeHugger, Discovery's Planet Green, Ceramic Greek NY Cup
Universities:
Carleton University, Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design
TED conferences attended:
TED2014, TED2013, TED2012, TED2011, TED2010, TED2009, TED2008
Member Picture

TEDCRED 100+ TED Attendee

More About Me

I'm passionate about

kitesurfing. squash. do-gooding. design. small business.

An idea worth spreading

campaign finance reform.
longer term thinking.
bicycles.
takoyaki.

Talk to me about

behavior change.

People don't know that I'm good at

Backspins.

Comments

  • TEDCred score: +175.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • A reply on Talk: Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

    Oct 6 2011: Absolutely! Sharing systems are a big part of LifeEdited...in fact critical. Check out The Mesh by Lisa Gansky and Collaborative Consumption by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers. With the sharing systems of the future, we can store less stuff at home, have more/better options, save cash and reduce our footprint. In 15 years, ownership of most things will be for suckers.

  • A reply on Talk: Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

    Oct 6 2011: Dual purpose furniture is often more expensive. But if you get two or more functions out of one space then if you think about it that way, you're often getting a real deal!

  • A reply on Talk: Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

    Oct 6 2011: Clearly, when you add more people/pets etc you need more space. As I say at the end "I'm not saying everyone has to live in 420 sft". We plan to do a slightly smaller one for a bachelor and a larger one for a couple with kids.

  • A reply on Talk: Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

    Oct 6 2011: actually, i think it's around 39 square meters.
  • +2

    A reply on Talk: Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

    Oct 5 2011: I think this idea is mostly about being conscious of the decisions you make. You may still elect to have a bunch of x stuff, for example I love kitesurfing and will have a bunch of gear tucked away. Art is important to society and ideally should be part of every apartment. I'll definitely get some in there!
  • +1

    A reply on Talk: Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

    Oct 5 2011: I heard a great quote from, I believe, a Toronto architect: "Small fridges make great cities.". In other words, when people have to get out to the market, they interact more regularly and it makes the city more vibrant.

    Absolutely agreed on backpacking or travelling in general. You can pack light and then still realize that you didn't use a bunch of the stuff.

  • A reply on Talk: Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

    Oct 5 2011: We're conscious of cost and while this one was a bit expensive, we learned a lot and plan to do the next one much, much cheaper. It's a learning process, for sure.

  • A reply on Talk: Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

    Oct 5 2011: You could do that and it'd be positive. But reducing the space should reduce the upfront cost/rent, the maintenance, heating, cooling, lighting, cleaning, insuring etc..

  • A reply on Talk: Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

    Oct 5 2011: We have some pretty good ventilation through a Zehnder heat recovery ventilator and windows so we're hoping that what you suggest won't be the case!
  • +1

    A reply on Talk: Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

    Oct 5 2011: Agreed. We live in strange times. In nyc, at roughly $1k/sft, 180 sft would be $180,000. The transforming furniture cost a small percentage of that. http://www.resourcefurniture.com
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