About

This was my favorite outfit in 1990.

Molly is director of Recode. She initially volunteered on research and code writing projects, then as staff researcher, and now as director. Before joining Recode she worked for four years in research and development for a founding B Corp that manufactures countertops from recycled glass. Molly reformulated their product line to meet MBDC’s Cradle to Cradle Gold Rating. Molly’s experience in lean green manufacturing led her to develop and maintain standard operating procedures. To make sure non-native English speakers were able to follow crucial operating procedures she developed her skills in visual explanations, this has led to work in a range of mediums from print and web to ceramic park signage for Seattle’s Beacon Food Forest. Molly’s work has been featured in MIT’s Design Issues, USA Today, Center for Disease Control, Smith magazine, and Sustainability Review. Molly has given talks at the Living Future Conference, Surfrider Foundation, Tiny House Conference, Oregon Onsite Wastewater Association, and the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference. Molly’s academic background includes RISD, BA from Oberlin College’s environmental studies program, and Cewas, a Swiss-based competence center linking sustainable water, sanitation and resource management with business development.

Speaking (an always incomplete list)

Getting to Net Positive Water Policy Summit. Living Future Unconference 2016.

Harnessing the Super Powers in our Poop and Pee. TedX Bend. April 23, 2016.
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Apoocalypse Now: Drop it Like it's a Hot Climate. Summer of Science. Sarah Mirk's prestigious Backyard. July 28, 2015. (35+ attenedees)

Lessons from a Failed Feminist Hackerspace. Cascadia Cyberpunk Convergence, Portland, Or. April 11, 2015. Privacy and socia_l change in the digital age. (maybe 6 attendees)

Composting Toilets and Graywater. Tiny House talk at Tiny House Conference, Portland, Or. April 18, 2015. Presented with Tiny House builder, Logan Blair Smith, on composting toilets and graywater systems appropriate for Tiny Houses. (200+ attendees)

Composting Toilets and Graywater. Tiny House PAD Workshop, Portland, Or. March 8, 2015 (40+ attendees).

Performance Based Codes for Ecological Sanitation. Surfrider Foundation, Portland, Or. March 10th, 2015 (25 attendees) with Recode volunteer Eric Youngson.

Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, Eugene, Or. March 6, 2015. (30+ attendees). Presented on the history of sanitation in the US, how it’s shaped our codes and performance based codes as a solution to environmental pollution.

Oregon Onsite Wastewater Association Annual Conference, Eugene, Or. March 21, 2014 (20 attendees) Molly Danielsson and Mathew Lippincott of Recode spoke about performance based codes and green opportunities for septic tank installers in Oregon.

Other Places Molly has talked over the years: Curiosity Club, Village Building Convergence, Living Future Conference . . . 

Press

PHLUSH, Legalize Sustainable Sanitation. July 27, 2015.

Lukens, Jonathan. “DIY Infrastructure and the Scope of Design Practice.” Design Issues.  Summer 2013, Vol. 29 No. 3: 14-27. MIT Press.

“By definition, infrastructure is an example of what Ivan Illich called a radical monopoly: a situation in which the ubiquity of a tool or service is so great that its use becomes compulsory, thus creating social control through design . . . Recently, however, some designers have begun to expose and challenge the radical monopoly of existing infrastructure” (Lukens 16).

Net-Zero Nutrition: Crowdsourcing the Next Imperative. Living Future Conference. Seattle. May 17, 2013. 2 hour session with Craig Briscoe, Director of Integrated Design, Glumac, Molly Danielsson, Designer, MDML, Recode Oregon, Harold Leverenz, Project Engineer, University of California and Pete Muñoz, Senior Engineer / Bioregional Team Leader, Biohabitats.

Designing in a Cultural Blindspot: Restrooms, Ergonomics and the Environment. Hand Eye Supply. August 7th, 2012.

Klosowski, Thorin.  How To Stick With It When You’re Learning Something New On Your Own  Lifehacker.com 2013

Stark, Kio. Don’t Go Back to School. 2013.

Foresight Alumni of the Week: Molly Danielsson. 2012

Phosphorus and Food Security: Framing a Global Sustainability Challenge Through Art. Sustainability Review. May 2011.