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An hour one day for earth hour. More and more hours in the future? What are the possibilities? This is what we'll be talking about during our hour tonight, in the dark. :-) If you will be missing it or missed it, pick another time to do your own earth hour(s). What would 10% less look like at your house?
I've never met someone who didn't care about our planet and the people and beings on it. As with most seemingly impossible tasks, "saving" the environment is too big a tackle for an individual on a daily basis. In the face of such a large task, it's easy to bury ourselves in the moments, days, or weeks, and let those good intentions for being the best environmental citizens we can give way to our habits. Here are some tips toward that desire for more sustainable living in your life:
1. Go for the 10% incremental change. So, you are not going to single-handedly save the planet this week, but if you could chip in a little more, where would it be? Pick the most unsustainable act or habit you have and want to change. Do you over-consume? Drive too many places unnecessarily? Waste too many paper towels? Is there something you must have but would like to find a way to recycle it? What would a 10% improvement look like in this area? Start there.
2. Pick a visual reminder of your intention. When I was in my late 20's I read a short story (I've been looking for this story ever since, so if it sounds familiar, e-mail me!) about a boy in a world with no plants or animals left (only pictures remain) who accidentally steps on the first living creature he's ever seen, a lizard, and is afraid he will be caught and imprisoned for his mis-step. Cheery, I know. But, I've never forgotten it.) The beauty of plants and animals, and the idea that they could vanish is my compelling reason to keep increasing my sustainable mindset. I use pictures like this magnolia blossom to remind me of the world I want to pass on to the future.
3. Appreciate the world in ways you haven't lately. Look for beauty. The "why" I do something helps me more with change than the "should." It's spring here (sorry for those of you still buried in snow). Things are opening up and blooming. My appreciation for every Spring is enough to help me remember "why" I'm going for my own 10% improvements. And, for media, there's always that 10% to help inspire you, like this video from EarthShots.org. (Hold onto your heart.)
4. Get support. Even small change can be difficult. Tell someone what you're up to. Share the Story of Stuff, or The Omnivore's Dilemma with a group of friends, spouses, parents, kids. Ask if they have ideas on creating your 10% change, or, better yet, what would they do toward their own 10%? It's more fun with friends, as usual. What are your ideas?
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If you're a new reader, welcome to HumanKind. You can get free updates here. Wonder what we're up to? Click on the links on the upper right, or scroll through the topics and archives on the left. If you're a regular, thanks for your support! Let us know what HumanKind can do to keep the media you'd like to see coming your way. You can e-mail us at chris or liz (at) humankindmedia dot com. And please do share HumanKind with your friends.
We've been exploring the meaning of sustainability lately through everything from the freeconomy and online scrabble to educating future generations and sharing homemade soup. Our friend, writer Terry Selucky, recently got to hear John Picard, a noted sustainability expert, discuss his own moment of truth regarding sustainability, and has graciously offered to share her experience here. Our thanks to Terry for this post.
Sitting in a hotel ballroom at a sales conference in Florida a few weeks ago, ready to fall into the “attentive posture, wandering mind” practice that I reserve specifically for guest speakers, my ears perked up at a compelling observation.
“We make a habit of using energy to cancel out our energy use,” said John Picard, sustainability expert, efficiency pioneer, and speaker of the day. “The lamps above us are giving off more heat than light, and that, plus the heat from the people in this room, requires us to cool the space with air conditioning.”
“Hnyuh,” I said out loud, earning a look from the woman next to me. This was a bit startling. I’ve been in so many warehouse-sized conference spaces over the last few years, and rarely have I thought about how counterintuitive business practices are. I’ve always just accepted it as “the way it is.”
I looked around the room and saw even more examples of waste: plastic cups piling up on tables, speakers that bounced sound off distant walls, and two 20-foot screens that projected video images on either side of a stage from which I was a mere 30 feet away.
All this energy use—for what? So we could sit in the impeccably controlled, sterile environment of this indoor pavilion, steps from the beach? Outside, the Gulf breeze tempered a blazing Florida sun, and an adjacent courtyard offered ideal acoustics for public speaking. I realized that all our needs would have been met perfectly, with little trouble, had we used our energy to pick up our chairs and gather outside.
Leave it to John Picard, former member of Bill Clinton’s Green White House task force, to open my eyes and ask me to reconsider how we use our resources.
Picard wasn’t always so progressive. In the 1980s, he was designing some of the most elaborate homes in the U.S., speeding around the country in sports cars (I have fun picturing him in full "Miami Vice" pastels), trying to “fill a void” that persisted despite his grand success.
On one particular private jet trip, Picard and crew spiked 52,000 feet into the air, allowing a glimpse at the smooth, gleaming curvature of the Earth. Picard’s life view shifted. Seeing the world as a vulnerable, living organism that needed to be taken care of—a “low bid,” as he puts it—he became a spokesperson for environmentally sound building practices, imparting his knowledge to organizations, corporations and design professionals, and eventually founding E2, Environmental Enterprises.
One of the most inspiring things about Picard’s vision is that he takes his philosophy a step beyond green practices and sustainability, to regenerative and restorative design. He believes that “the next new economy is a natural systems economy,” and that large corporations will begin to compete with each other to rectify negative impacts on the environment in order to earn consumer respect.
It’s fascinating to imagine corporations that aren’t just carbon-neutral, but that actually cultivate a healthy environment. Even more remarkable, the consumer is where the conversation for sustainability and regeneration all started. We’ve spoken, and many businesses are listening.
Knowing this, I consider it my opportunity to take another step forward toward being part of a regenerative society that works with nature as it is. It’s more than just intelligence—it’s intuition. Opening a window is easier for me than turning on the a/c, and ditching plastic water bottles is a huge cut to the garbage I create. They aren’t always huge actions, but they add up.
In the meantime, I (and perhaps, we) need to have faith that the little things make an impact. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way,” said Picard. “But I kept following my heart and my conscience and that’s what brought me here, to a place where I am a complete person.”
Surely, our desires to “fill the void” will lead us to live inspired, complete lives of our own.
Watch an interview with Picard here.
Terry Selucky enjoys filling the void by working as a freelance writer. As a playwright, her work has been seen in New York City, Chicago, and Portland; she also writes about food, travel and other fun things for publications like Time Out New York, nymag.com, and Not for Tourists books. She is Development Director for the awesome Girls Write Now.
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If you're a new reader, welcome to HumanKind. You can get free updates here. Wonder what we're up to? Click on the links on the upper right, or scroll through the topics and archives on the left. If you're a regular, thanks for your support! Let us know what HumanKind can do to keep the media you'd like to see coming your way. You can e-mail us at chris or liz (at) humankindmedia dot com. And please do share HumanKind with your friends.
This post originally began as an introduction to some cool "green" sustainability resources. While I was browsing and researching I came upon yet another prominent environmental site last week that I was hoping to link to, and the blog was filled with hate and anger, blame and cynicism. I imagine this person feels deep frustration and anger at the state of our planet, but for me, the rhetoric was doing nothing to inspire me. It made me feel bad about being a human and not doing enough. Now, I don't remember a word of the content --just that tone.
In response to this experience, I wrote an impassioned post about people on environmental soapboxes--not a box of environmentally-friendly soap, but the proverbial soapbox. After letting it sit a day, I recognized the irony in me writing an impassioned diatribe about people who write impassioned diatribes. This wikipedia definition of soapbox includes bloggers. So we're all on a soapbox, it appears, when we're blogging to heal the world. The question for me is: what kind of media--or soapbox--can help generate the changes we all long to see in the world?
As I was thinking about this, suddenly, everywhere I turned I heard stories of activists or advocates whose very energy--anger, disappointment, desperation, frustration--had a jarring effect (sometimes even the opposite effect) on those they wish to influence. Yesterday a friend talked about moving through a crowd of Free Tibet protesters who were nearly violent in their protestations against China to free the country we all associate with peace, tolerance, and non-violence. And, most of us have seen the footage the media is always eager to capture of violent peace protesters at one time or another in our history.
Though a serious activist might argue, especially in the west, that many of our big turning points in history seem to have come about a massive violent demonstration of will, there are Ghandi and Martin Luther King, and now the Dalai Lama, to argue against that as the definitive solution.
It's encouraging that we get angry at injustice. I'm curious about what part of me comes up that wants to be on the soapbox (even the 10% media for possibility soapbox). I think its the part of me who longs to share my compassion about using media as a powerful instrument for influencing people for postive change. Those wildly acerbic and angry environmental bloggers feel the same, I'm sure. But, when I visited a few of these sites, I felt wrong and criticized, or I felt like it was impossible for me to make the leap they were talking about for sustainability. Free speech is not the same as effective speech.
In coaching or teaching work--whether at the corporate level or the individual level, one of the most important fundamental ingredients for change is mood. People are most likely to open to the idea of change, and most importantly, take action toward change, when they feel appreciated, respected, hopeful, and inspired--and, like they belong. Also, change is not a 0-60 proposition in most cases. Long-lasting sustainable change, in my experience, happens in increments: thus our 10% more media for possibility, 10% less media about impossible problems. It's easier to make big changes in steps than in leaps, and usually, more sustainable.
That's my diatribe (quite different from the first writing). I'm hoping over the years it will become passe to rail and denigrate to inspire change--that even the soapbox people (myself included) will become ever more skillful at honoring our own longing, loving our audiences, appreciating what is happening in the world that is working, and encouraging people to make that small next shift--creative speech for the creative changes we want to see in the world. What would 10% (or another 10% if you've already begun) media for possibility look like in your life? What would 10% more sustainable living look like in your life (even if, like me, you're not the model of sustainability right now). What would 10% more of any quality or behavior you're looking for look like? Start where you are, and do what you can. Your starting will inspire others, too.
So for me, and my fellow bloggers, who are equally passionate about their ideas for healing the world, I came up with these 3 ways to share your passion.
3 Ways to Advocate and Activate
1. Find out what you're longing for under the indignance and try to speak from the longing rather than the indignance.
2. Imagine the common place you and your audience (or those you're trying to influence) share and start from "we". Try to create a mood of curiosity, trust, inspiration. "We want this, but we feel like it's impossible" is my favorite place to start.
3. Promote kind speech in your medium. The questions "Is it true, is it beneficial, is it kind?" are oh-so-useful everywhere. In many wisdom traditions, these are (more or less) the rules for speech. As a result many wise people are frequently silent. :--)
If you were reading this post really wanting some tips or ideas on more resources for sustainability, here are some I have found interesting and enjoyable. Each has doses of passion and a little railing at the machine, but mostly with their desire to make a difference showing nicely:
Eco-Worrier - I love this column from a UK journalist. Many interesting posts and she loves a good video like we do.
My friend Leah told me about Sustainablog a great blog on all things sustainable, and the "green" aggregator GreenOptions.com, where you can find your favorite "voices" about sustainability. Careful, though, you can be lost for hours (I'm blaming it for the lateness of this post--check out this cool article on what to do with jeans).
If you haven't seen YES Magazine, by positivefutures.org, I think you'll love it. Worth subscribing for its well-written articles and thought provoking series on a sustainable future.
My personal interests in sustainability are the Slow Foods movements around the country and the freecycle.org or ReallyReallyFreeMarket (read their creed halfway down the page--I love it). I'm interested in ways to step out of the cycle described in The Story of Stuff.
What pieces of the sustainability puzzle are you concerned about? If you've got some ways to add to these two lists, e-mail me at chris [at the at symbol] humankindmedia [with the dot and the com] or leave a comment below.
If you're a new reader, welcome to HumanKind. You can get free updates here. Wonder what we're up to? Click on the links on the upper right, or scroll through the topics and archives on the left. If you're a regular, thanks for your support! Let us know what HumanKind can do to keep the media you'd like to see coming your way. You can e-mail chris (at) humankindmedia dot com. And please do share HumanKind with your friends.
Until recently, the word "sustainability" didn't hold any meaning for me. I kept thinking about housing material, or recycling my electronic doo-dads--all many great actions people can take to minimize our impact on the resources that we all should be sharing on the planet. Then in a wonderful, odd convergence of experience, I came upon a more personal understanding of what it means for me. It all started wtih Alison's soup.
Two years ago my family ate better than ever when the "Mom brigade" brought us food 3 times a week during my chemotherapy. If you have to go through breast cancer treatment, it doesn't hurt to have friends who are gourmet cooks, or like my dear friend and neighbor, Alison, a chef of some fame. Alison loves food the way I imagine Michaelangelo loved stone. Though Alison is known as an experienced and talented chef of in our area, she's mostly famous at our house for being David's mom and someone with the biggest heart in the smallest body you've ever met. She is also acclaimed by our youngest son as an expert on latkes.
During those days, though, she made soup--broths, vegetable laden soups, hearty stews, whatever was fresh and in season went into the pot. Also, on weekends for something to do, she would take me to the Farmer's market. While strolling around talking about the food, she would take photos of the produce (click on the one shown here), talk to the vendors, and smell everything--adding to my appreciation for fruits, vegetables, and locally produced meat and eggs.
At the same time all this was going on, I was making my way sloooooowwwwwwllllyyyy through Michael Pollan's, The Omnivore's Dilemma. I usually am not a zealot, but, seriously, I think everyone ought to read this book--if not for the eye-opening look at the evolution of our relationship to food, then for the sheer enjoyment of his wonderfully written accounts of the mushroom hunter culture or the most beautiful description of a meal with friends that I have ever read or imagined. Anyone who can keep me reading a book over many months with paragraph after paragraph of detail about the food we eat is a genius. And, I'm not the only one who thinks so.
All at once, having Alison love me back to health with food, and reading Pollan's quest for the heart of food, I was getting a look at food in a way I had never thought of it before--as a cycle, as a system, and most of all, as an expression of love. So my definition of sustainability is love: Love for who and what sustains us--the earth, the growers, the people we share food with. Such love inevitably engenders a strong desire to love and act in a way that reminds us to care, share and preserve.
I asked Alison some questions about sustainability and food, and you can read what she had to say here.
For a great article about Alison's work introducing healthy food to a large hospital system here.
If you're a new reader, welcome to HumanKind. You can get free updates here. Wonder what we're up to? Click on the links on the upper right, or scroll through the topics and archives on the left. If you're a regular, thanks for your support! Let us know what HumanKind can do to keep the media you'd like to see coming your way. You can e-mail chris (at) humankindmedia dot com. And please do share HumanKind with your friends.
Back when the 18-year-old in my house was 2, we had such a drought in California that we saved water from baths in the bathtub to keep the trees in the yard alive. We thought that was suffering.
Now, when I think sustainability, my mind first goes to the use and preservation of water. According to the U.N., more than 1 billion people lack clean water for drinking, and more than 2.5 billion lack basic sanitation. When I think of these numbers it helps me put my own water use and access to sanitation into perspective. The very naive part of me sometimes says (to nobody in particular), "It would be so easy if we, who have so much, could just turn over enough of what we have until everyone has enough [water, food, resources, education] until there was no way to tell the haves from the nots." But maybe it's not so naive: That's what all these stories we're telling at HumanKind are about -- there are people trying to do that.
It's World Water Day on March 22, and Tap Project week beginning this weekend. I've got some stories here for you about some of the great people and projects that are using our abundance to create more water -- that most important of all resources -- for those without.
You've probably heard of the Tap Project, launched last year in New York City. It raised $100,000 in one day for UNICEF and tons of media attention for water, just by asking New Yorkers to pay $1 for tap water when they went out to eat. If you haven't heard about the Tap Project, here's the really cool, really inspiring story of how it started (the ending made Liz get teary!):
This year, it's not just for New Yorkers; it's all over the U.S., and next year, it's going global. You can read more about the Tap Project here and find out where you can participate if you're planning to go out this weekend here. Such a simple way for us to help others have enough.
Among the many "water crusaders" I found, Scott Harrison is one with a great story about finding his own longing to make a difference in the world and taking steps to make it happen. After 10 years of trendy New York life, he took a few steps to change the world, and now the world is stepping with him -- his organization raises money for wells by selling $20 bottles of water, and is responsible for digging and repairing more than 70 wells in four of the poorest countries in the world. And Scott is just getting started. I think you'll enjoy this clip of his story:
Finally, during my search, I found what I think is the HumanKind Media equivalent for media about water: Prjkt Blu Lbl is a designer, blogger, idea person who got passionate about one idea -- getting water to those billion+ people -- and is on the way to making it happen. Prjkt maintains a blogroll that's a who's who in water work. Check out the first blog or this story about the big idea. I like this blog because it's the story of someone finding and following one idea -- being so determined about it -- and it's so inspiring to watch. If water's your soft spot for helping the world, maybe you'd like to help Prjkt Blu Lbl.
And speaking of sustainability, what would 10% more water conservation look like in your life? Seeing these videos makes me appreciate that I can get it whenever I want, and it makes me realize the many ways I take it for granted and even waste it. Just researching this project has made me decide to make a few small changes in my water usage -- not because we're experiencing a lack of water at my house, but because someone else is. What are your good ideas?
If you're a new reader, welcome to HumanKind. You can get free updates here. Wonder what we're up to? Click on the links on the upper right, or scroll through the topics and archives on the left. If you're a regular, thanks for your support! Let us know what HumanKind can do to keep the media you'd like to see coming your way. You can e-mail chris (at) humankindmedia dot com. And please do share HumanKind with your friends.
From Liz
When I started saving empty jars -- jelly jars, pasta sauce jars, peanut butter jars -- it was at first because I couldn't bear to throw them out, and there's no recycling program for my building. And they were perfectly good jars! But opening a kitchen cabinet and finding more empty jars than actual food unnerved my roommate, so I got rid of most of them.
Then I finally hit upon a reason to keep them: They were perfect little storage containers for almost everything I would have put in a plastic Tupperware or in another piece of plastic wrap (things I knew would never, never break down in a landfill). Today, I've got a column for you about my trip to a landfill and my love for peanut butter jars.
To me, sustainability -- global citizenship -- is made up of many parts, and making my "garbage footprint" a little smaller is just one part. Now that I've started to see myself as a member of a worldwide community, I'm less likely to just toss something into the trash. I'm more mindful about it. I'm far from perfect; for example, I've got a stack of papers on the floor of my home office that will be recycled at some point, but I have a feeling I throw out just as much.
Coming up, a guest blogger writes about what happens when a guest speaker at a business conference turns out to be someone who's seen the Earth from 52,000 feet up.
If you're a new reader, welcome to HumanKind. You can get free updates here. Wonder what we're up to? Click on the links on the upper right or scroll through the topics and archives on the left. If you're a regular, thanks for your support! Let us know what HumanKind can do to keep the media you'd like to see coming your way. You can e-mail us at chris or liz (at) humankindmedia dot com. And please do share HumanKind with your friends.
We're in between on our posts about sustainability--more coming up soon on food, water, and Part II of My Wish for Will. In the meantime, we've been reading a lot and enjoying wonderful stories, articles and videos on the web--there really is so much good media out there. What to choose?
This week, especially when thinking about sustainability, I love Wallet Mouth. Writing from the premise that that we are showing corporate America what we care about every time we open our wallet, Bronwyn Ximm cuts through the confusion on everything "sustainable" from diapers to charity and consumerism and if you keep meaning to do the junk mail thing like me, but haven't, here's what WalletMouth says on that.
Last week I read my favorite Happiness Project post of all-time (and that's saying alot) about shielding the the joyous people in our lives. I liked it so much I sent it to my main joyous person, my husband, and several of my joyous friends. If you haven't read it yet...I suggest you do ;).
Along the lines of really great stories and good news Gimundo is worth adding to your subscription list. The site is filled to the brim with wonderful stories, good news, and special features. My favorites this week are "What I've Learned" and a their great collection of fun videos, which is how we found this video, the 3-year old explaining Star Wars, to make you laugh:
What sites have you found that represent media about positive news and possibilities? We'd love to hear about them.
If you're a new reader, welcome to HumanKind. You can get our free updates here. Wonder what we're up to? Click on the links on the upper right or scroll through the topics and archives on the left. If you're a regular, thanks for your support. Let us know what HumanKind can do to keep the media you'd like to see coming your way. You can e-mail us at chris or liz (using the symbol and humankindmedia with the dot and the com). And, tell your friends!
Happy 97th Annual International Women's Day. In many countries, it's a national holiday. It's not in mine, but I'm celebrating anyway. I hope you'll enjoy this short film on the possibilities:
Today a reminder about HumanKind Challenge #2: Help a woman, heal the world. See what's happening at Vital Voices the Global Fund for Women , Women for Women International or your favorite group or organization that is helping girls and women.
What would happen if 50% of the population rose up and had their vital voices heard? Would the weight of the world's challenges feel lighter?
"I wish that you -- you personally and every creative individual and organization you know -- will find a way to directly engage with a public school in your area and that you'll then tell the story of how you got involved, so that within a year we have 1,000 examples of transformative change." --Dave Eggers
When I read Britt's recent post in Have Fun Do Good about last week's TED Award to Dave Eggers, the first person I thought of was Will Okun. I've been sitting on an interview with Will for several weeks, because at some deep level I knew I wanted to talk about sustainability and teaching and I knew Will's story would help me do that. Then, Hooray! Dave Eggers makes his big wish for public schools and teachers, and I knew I couldn't wait. (Here's a summary of the TED Award and Dave Eggers wish.)
While I was researching Africa and our pieces about coming to the aid of children around the world, I found Will, winner of the 2007 New York Times Trip to Africa (read his winning essay). Columnist Nick Kristof selected Will, a Chicago teacher, and Med student, Lena Wen, to go on a trip to Africa with him. You can see the video the MTV interview after their trip here. Will, Lena and Nick traveled in 3 African countries, met the President of Rwanda, visited a school (where Will has the previously unheard-of experience of having 40 kids listen quietly and intently) and played some basketball.
When he returned, he continued writing as a guest blogger on Nick's column about that other foreign country, high school--at a West Side Chicago "drop-out" high school, a last-chance program for kids who have excessive absences or are failing. Will's posts paint a picture of the dedication and the difficulty experienced by one teacher, but also illuminate the hopes for possibilities paired with the frustration at some seemingly insurmountable obstacles. His stories also provoke questions we need to answer as a global citizenry about how we will provide relevant, meaningful learning at the community level to contribute to the creation of a sustainable future.
I started to try to sum up what had affected me from his stories about teaching, but I realized every story had affected me. To keep this from being a 20-page post, I'll let you get your own glimpse. So, before I continue on to Part II next week, take a stroll through Will's posts and read about a teacher, the kids he wants to help, and the challenges that Dave Eggers, with his wish, has asked us all to join in to address. Will's topics range from the first day of school to reading and relevance and a love letter to basketball and a sad dirge for the loss of "one of our own". This week's photo-essay, "Amidst", is a beautiful testament to his appreciation for his students. His blogs offer a view you've never had before of what many communities are grappling with and why Dave made his wish for public schools.
Perusing Will's photos (more about his photography later) and reading his NYT blogs are enough to make you wish we could make a million Wills, but I'm pretty sure there are many out there, equally dedicated and passionate about their students.
I must admit that reading some of Will's posts, I was caught up in a sense of overwhelm about the issues, the difficulties, the enormity of change that will have to occur to retool our educational system, get communities involved in supporting schools, and teachers like Will. But, I should have remembered--there will be many people I haven't discovered yet, working on possibilities.. The solutions always come from somewhere you'd least expect--like a novelist and a wish for more support for those dedicated teachers. I love it.
Part II of My wish for Will coming next week. Stay tuned.
If you're a new reader, welcome to HumanKind. You can get our free updates here. Wonder what we're up to? Click on the links on the upper right or scroll through the topics and archives on the left.
If you're a regular, thanks for your support. Let us know what HumanKind can do to keep the media you'd like to see coming your way. Send us a comment!
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