hey all.
thanks for your comments, and i will do my best throughout this post and future ones to answer all of your adoring fan mail.
maybe i will do a little segment at the end of each post where i draw a question from the comments, and think about it out loud.
for now though, i guess we move onward to the first official post of legit thoughts…
this past weekend was witness to the LARGEST worldwide concert/gathering in the history of our existence… the “07-07-07 s.o.s. live earth” concert series presented by al gore and company. it was an incredibly cool concept, where for 24 hours, across all 7 continents (yes, even antarctica!), more than 100 musical acts performed in front of 2 billion people… yes, this was a biggie.
this is part of the multi-year campaign to build awareness AND action for climate change in our world. audience members paid (at least in the US, which means prices were comparable at all of the other locations) between $53, $83, $173 and $348. not a cheap price… but can you put a price on saving the earth’s life? (this is one of those questions where if you say no, then you have said the right answer, and if you say yes, you look like a jerk…)
i am not going to go into all of the different acts and their 20 minute sets to woo the crowed, but i must admit that i did watch some of it… it did, however, bring about lots of questions that may have been left unanswered for a reason:
- how much more electricity was used during all of the concerts?
- how much more paper was used for advertising, tickets, programs, etc.?
- how much more oil was used to transport all of those artists via airplanes, trains, buses, and cars?
- how much more trash was created by making more food/drinks for mass amounts of people?
- how much less creative could they have been in an important task?
ok. so maybe i am being a bit harsh. but lets stop to think about it: could they have been more creative with this? couldn’t they have sponsored something that was completely in-line with their philosophy and mission? what about an event that didn’t use THAT MUCH MORE electricity, paper, oil, or trash? i don’t know what it is, but there are plenty of smarter people out there than me that would know how to put these events on. any ideas?
the way i see it, one of the major problems with the way people are treating the earth is with over-consumption… in other words, people constantly buying MORE stuff. STUFF STUFF STUFF. and people need to get it out of their heads that over-consumption is a westernized phenomenon and an isolated occurrence. it is happening everywhere. yes, i am sure the US is a guilty, guilty, guilty participant, maybe even the guiltiest, but so are many other places. anyway, the concert series asked all of its viewers to do these things:
- to change 4 light bulbs at home to CFLs (compact fluorescent lights; used less energy; last longer)
- to shop for energy efficient electronics/appliances
- to shut off and unplug equipment when not using it
- to carpool or use public transportation one or more times per week
- to forward the live earth email to 5 people
i think that these things are great. they are small, manageable ways reduce everyone’s individual impact and footprint on the earth. collectively, it makes a difference. in fact, i love this message: start small, change your habits slowly, and hopefully they will keep progressing to the point that your lifestyle might change and make things better for all of us. they fit in line with malcom gladwell’s ideas in “the tipping point”, which i loved (major trends and changes don’t always result in big, swooping changes, but rather smaller things that can really made a difference– thanks to ken T for the book 2 years ago, still one of my favorites today).
but i think that there is more that we can do, and i wish the s.o.s. live concert series had addressed it since it had 2 billion people in front of them. going back to the idea of more more more, over-consumption, over-consumption, over-consumption, people need to just stop buying/using stupid shit. i can be just as guilty of this, too, but i am working on it. for those of you who know me, i really don’t own that many things. all of my life’s possession fit nicely in a room that is 9 feet by 8 feet… and that is including a desk, a queen size bed, a bookcase, and a dresser. and even with everything that i own in this world in this room (with the exception of my car), i still feel like i own too much, and want to get rid of more things. i want to keep giving things away that i don’t need to someone who may need it, and can’t afford it. so if i can find places in my life to do it, surely you can to.
we just need to stop being so wasteful.
ask yourself: do you really need to buy everything that you think you might want? do you really need to replace everything that you have with the newer version? just stop. borrow things from people. i know, crazy concept… share.
this idea of reducing one’s impact/footprint is hard, i know. kermit said it well, “it’s not easy being green”. and if you forgot how difficult it is, check it out here: kermit’s “it’s not easy being green” video.
here is some more information that you should definitely check out:
- live earth >> more about live earth, and what you can do to help in the climate change crisis
- earth day quiz >> what is your ecological footprint?
leave your comments. check in next week. and be well.
http://www.newdream.org/index.php
The New American Dream is also a useful site to check out if one is looking for more information/resources about environmental sustainability and social justice issues. The section about consumerism is also interesting…check it out!
http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=7
Scroll around on Chris Jordan’s website and look at his art. It will give you a good visual image of what over-consumption might look like.
Having just visited Kenya, I feel like I have expanded my world ten-fold in just two weeks. Perhaps not, but it was fascinating to be in a place that spans technology in such a broad way: one is as likely to see a Lexus on the streets on Mombasa as one is to see a cart being pulled by one or two men. Everybody has a cell phone, but virtually no one has a landline, as the infrastructure for telephone poles, etc. was never developed in the third world. I think a staunch environmentalist from the US would keel over to see the piles of burning trash and immense amount of litter on the street. These are visible modes of pollution. Obviously, the environmental ‘footprint’ of the average Kenyan is nothing compared to an American, but it is interesting that some people believe environmentalism is a cause for those who can afford to be concerned with it. The overwhelming impression that stays with me from the trip has been an effort to redefine what I actually need. Mary Pat and I expected to see many people in Kenya with extraordinary needs – what we found was a window into the excesses of America, and not the deficiencies elsewhere. This is not to downplay the medical, economic, and educational needs of a country like Kenya, just to help us re-envision our lives with a more global outlook, as Tung suggests.
Yeah…but at the same time, think of all the good buzz generated about being Earth-conscious. That affect may outlive the damage the event did in the first place…
Hey buddy,
I have to agree with Elliot. Sometimes you need to make a song and dance (no pun intended…. well maybe a little!) to get people to stand up and take notice. As long as the message sinks in to people, if everyone watching carried out the things they asked the amount of energy used against the amount of energy saved over the next few years would be tiny. The only thing that did bug me about the whole thing was Madonna turning up in her Range Rover then telling people to car share and be kinder to the enviroment. And here was me thinking it was only the Yanks that didn’t get Irony!!!
hehehe
Just kidding all!
take it easy!