The Unlikely Activist

Shop 'til we drop...or, cogs in the wheel of consumption

As I pinball my way through the sustainability game, I wrack up points and pointers but rarely hit the big bonus. This time, though, I think I did.

For all the focus on cars and gas and coal and electricity and on and on, we tend to lose sight of one thing that drives them all--consumption. I know I touched on it earlier in posts about our unsustainably wasteful industrial processes and the like. And I've waxed sentimental about how we disregard our planet's natural cycles and are slow to learn its lessons. But then, waxing is not nearly as interesting a way to make a point stick as is...entertaining...right?

That's where Annie Leonard comes in. She tells a story that needs to be told and does it with a creative flair that had me entranced. And agitated. And defenseless to resist the urge to blog about it. The 'it' is The Story of Stuff, her 20 minute expose/lesson on the material economy and all that it superbly hides from our view. But wait. How about hearing it in the words of her site itself...

"The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever."

To this I would add that while many have You-Tubed effective and snappy sustainability messages, few have wrapped them in an enlightening and resource-full web site of its own. Kudos to Annie, her various partners, and the creative folks at Free Range Studios for bringing us their good stuff. My eConsciousness is most grateful, and yours will be too.

p.s.: The Story of Stuff clip and graphic shown here is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 Unported License. Thanks Annie.

Meet a leading edge learning center that's turning eConsciousness into eMotion

It is only fitting that I end my posting sabbatical with a piece highlighting education--especially since I kicked off my break musing on the eco-inspiration I took from a recent college reunion. What makes this an especially encouraging entry is that it is about something very real, a slice of the proverbial pie in the sky that has landed right in front of us, today!

Just down the road, tucked away on a wooded campus within eyesight of the Boston skyline is the Cambridge School of Weston, justifiably proud creator of the new Garthwaite Center for Science and Art--proof living that not only do art and science belong together, but also that enlightened green design belongs, and fits seamlessly, in the progressive campus of tomorrow. The Garthwaite Center is a state of the art, 21,000 square foot LEED Platinum certified facility that appears to have left no stone unturned in its embrace of sustainable design and functionality.

Its passive solar design, wood pellet boiler system, composting toilets, and green roof enhance this remarkable building's efficiency and minimize its ecological footprint. It features an enthalpy heat recovery wheel that "captures and recycles up to at least 87 percent of the heat that would otherwise be lost". Storm water runoff is diverted to underground chambers and slowly returned to the aquifer, and things like waterless urinals, triple glazed windows, and low-flow faucets deliver additional benefits. There's lots more too.

But equally intriguing is the way the Center has been designed to serve as a teaching tool, a process that began even well before its construction. Students have a live model of sustainable living and learning--including an mini-wetlands area in the building's atrium--in which they can measure and manage the performance of its openly accessible systems.

In the words of Kevin Knobloch, President of the Union of Concerned Scientists and keynote speaker at the Garthwaite Center's official opening last month, the building is "a model of sustainability for academic centers across the U.S.." And the school appears to welcome the chance spread the word.

p.s.: I owe thanks to both Jill Burrows and Lelia Elliston of the Cambridge School for turning me on to this happening. The photos are courtesy of CSW as well.

p.p.s.: CCW has posted a nifty little time-lapse movie of the entire Garthwaite construction project. Nicely done.

Thinking about building your own? Check out this offering at NEXUS.

There's good news if you plan to take on a green building project in or around your campus, home, or office. The Green Roundtable is featuring a Green is Affordable showcase at its NEXUS Green Building Resource Center in Boston...date: Thursday, December 6th, from 2 to 6 pm. The event is free, and you can get the details on exhibitors and speakers here.

Renewing your energy...lessons from a hill in Vermont

College Hill is what they call it. It probably had a settler's name once, and a native American one before that. For me, though, it will always be...College Hill.

It stands like a beacon--drawing me, every five years to be precise, to a reunion of souls who come like moths drawn to brightness, and who briefly alight in a transient gathering. But in the short time there, a remarkable thing happens. Squinting a bit harder at nametags than we used to, dusting off memories, sharing a laugh and taking in the fleeting magic of this granfaloon of a community--remember Vonnegut's 'balloon without its skin'?--we then turn back to the here and now. We find ourselves seeing the future just a bit more clearly.

For me, the clarity comes from many conversations, and snippets thereof, about sustainability. With former classmates now in teaching, the arts, business, or at non-profits--representing dozens of different viewpoints. Yet almost all seemed attuned to the issues we face, and aware of the grappling taking place on many fronts with climate change, pollution, waste, and finite resources. Some are active themselves, and others more indirectly affected.

At this year's gathering, some of us were fortunate to mix it up with Bill McKibben, and John Elder, who inspired with their stories--delivered in styles that were miles apart yet somehow connected by a passion for informing and activating. We learned of the subtle but inexorable changes brought by global warming to the declining Vermont maple sugaring industry--far more than just a livelihood for this state. And of the power of a few young minds to rally the masses for the recent Step It Up campaign.

Between encounters and miles of hoofing it back and forth across this hilltop, I came to realize that there's an entirely different kind of renewable energy in the air here. It's the energy that fuels our understanding and fills our spirit, and enables us to work towards solutions--and not become mired in inevitability.

I look out over the surrounding town and farmland, reaching to purple mountains in the west and green ones to the east. I close my eyes briefly to capture the snapshot that will sustain me the next five cycles. I turn to take it all in one final time, and then head off to do my work. Knowing that eConsciousness is alive and well and at this moment moving in a hundred different directions from this place is more than I could have hoped for. Peace.

Beauty in the Beast...remarkable global warming photos

Nick Cobbing is a photojournalist and photographic artist living in the U.K. He works extensively in the Arctic region, and his startling photos have been viewed widely in books, magazines, and on the web. I'm extremely grateful to Nick for allowing me to feature his work in this piece--though I had to promise hime to steer your eyeballs to his web site (which, of course, I had every intention of doing regardless). Thanks, Nick.

Nick's photos, particularly his Ice series, have a very interesting effect on me. On the one hand, they hit me like a sledgehammer. On the other, they subtly engage my eConsciousness. I see beauty as well as very scary imagery. They are images that stick. That make me want to think quietly and scream aloud at the same time. "Stop"

Whether hanging out the door of a 'vintage' helicopter, or standing precariously in a small boat just feet away from a frozen behemoth, Nick has truly gone to great lengths to bring us these photos. Each has its own story, and they are, altogether, both inspiring and informative. Just below is his look at the village of Narwaq, in Western Greenland:

Here's the takeaway from all this for me. Though I can regale you with all the facts and figures and interplay going on to push the climate change agenda forward, nothing I say will likely stick in your mind as well as a picture. So visit Nick's site. Pick one for yourself. And think of it...often.

Here come the enviroGrammys?

Here's a quickie. From a post on my new favorite sustainability advocates web, called compassnetwork, comes word that Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall, Part II' has been masterfully remastered into a real catchy enviro music video. Says something to me about the way we're starting to use all channels of communication to get the word out--especially to a generation with a lot less gray and a lot more energy than I have.

Swedish DJ and producer Eric Prydz's 'Proper Education' was released recently, and you can see and hear it here. Coincidentally, I just heard from my undergrad daughter that yet another friend of hers has opted to take up the sustainability cause when she graduates in May. Nice to see that eConsciousness has no age barriers.

Can art save the planet?

Art is an amazing thing. If we open our minds to it, it can move us greatly. And if we let it move us, it can further expand our minds. So it goes for environmental art, or ecoArt, or land art. Some who create and study it, and who know much more about it than I, define such boundaries. But by whatever name you call it, take a little time to get to know it.

With this post, I'm opening a new door for exploring the interconnected world of sustainability. I invite you to see for yourself. And if art in some way fuels your eConsciousness, do share your thoughts with us. A while back, I was awestruck by some photographic images I saw on a web site recommended by a friend. What I saw has to this day inspired me. It's called Forests Forever, and if you visit, make sure to linger amongst the Baobab trees--it's well worth it.

The Green Museum is a fantastic place to start an exploration of art and the environment, all on line. Links to exhibitions and featured artists provide a broad palette of styles, media...and interpretations about our relationship with the natural world. The site is a great resource for books and writings as well, and tools for educators and others who see the place for environmental art in your schools and communities.

As Tricia Watts, art curator and founder of a non-profit organization called ecoartspace observes in the online journal LANDviews, "Who is better equiped than artists--thinking outside the box, employing their creativity and resourcefulness, and a love of beauty--to envision a more sustainable world?" Ecoartspace is the vehicle for bringing us the contributions of these artists, through exhibitions at established museums, and by undertaking various artist/community programs.

Again quoting Tricia Watts, "Ecoartists can be thought of as midwives for the earth, facilitators of environmental education, consultants for environmental restoration and visionaries for transforming ecological communities." Both the LANDviews and ecoartspace sites will connect you with a wealth of fascinating and thought provoking examples.

When I finally had to call it a day and stop following links to artists' sites and showcases, I was overwhelmed by the power of art to grab and engage on such a vital topic as sustainability. I felt as though I better understood something very basic, and that art, rooted in the expressions of our early cave dwelling ancestors, is an essential part of our creating a healthy relationship with our planet.