No Impact Man

Thoughts I come back to when thinking about environmentalism 2.0

1. Happier planet = happier people.

2. You make a difference.

3. Our culture is broken.

4. The personal is political.

5. Economic growth ≠ Life satisfaction growth.

6. Jobs are paramount but we should work to make our planetary home better not worse.

7. The concept of zero sum game is for people with zero sum brains.

8. There is a better, happier system out there.

9. If thine eyes (or thine economic system) offends thee, pluck them (or it) out.

10. It’s not about having less. It’s about having more. The question is: more of what?

11. There is dis-ease in our culture. People yearn for something better.

12. People are trustworthy and altruistic and good and will do the right thing if you let them.

13. This does not deny the fact that normal people act abnormally in abnormal situations.

14. Love and good company, the chance to be of service and to matter, connection to something bigger, the use of our most prized talents—these things make most people happier than stuff.

15. Being responsible for the world is not a burden. It is freedom from victimhood!

16. My happiness cannot be complete unless you are happy, too.

Progress

The Guggenheim Museum in NYC asked me to write something on progress for one of their exhibitions:

2009 had cooler cell phones than 2008. 2010 has cooler cell phones than 2009. 2011 will have even cooler cell phones than 2010.

That won't be progress. Year in, year out, we have cooler cell phones. If it's the same year in, year out, how can it be progress? Because it's not actually progress. It's more of the same.

Ho hum. Another year goes by. Ho hum. Another year where some of the human race's best minds concentrate on making better cell phones.

What would constitute real progress?

Far away from us, one billion people in the world have no access to clean drinking water. Because of this, far away from us, a child dies of diarrhea every 15 seconds.

If I could choose, I would give up my Blackberry Curve and any other cell phone I've had or will have if it would mean no one died of thirst. I think most people feel that way. People have big hearts.

Ask the average person: Do you want to watch TV on your cell phone or save the world's children from dying of diarrhea? I know what they'd say. People are good.

Yet: The people we are proud of for having the smartest brains work, not on water, but on bringing us still better cell phones.

What would be real progress?

When we find a way to put our brains where our hearts are. When we find a way use our big brains to facilitate the desires of our big hearts.

When we find a way to concentrate on bringing clean drinking water to the billion people who don't have it instead of looking for a way to bring better TV reception to our cell phones.

That would be progress.

What it feels like to go No Impact

At least according to one No Impact Week participant...

For more, go to Paige's Facebook page by clicking here.

Flash mob: Sell out the Union Square farmers' market by 3PM on Saturday

Saturday is give back day in the No Impact Week and the group who just did it decided their way of doing something positive would be to support local farmers by trying to sell out the Union Square farmer's market by 3PM. Join in!

Eco groups! Wanna screen No Impact Man on Earth Week?

Stephanie, my colleague at the No Impact Project, asked me to draw your attention to the fact that we are having a screening series of No Impact Man during Earth Week in April.

The idea is to bring people together to watch the movie--call it candy--and then to get them to take environmental action--call it saving the planet!

The program is still in the works but we're designing a complete screening action kit to help you do everything from organize the screening to catalyzing your group to meaningful environmental action in celebration of Earth Week.

For more info, click here.

Who do our political parties really care about?

Yesterday, I read about the deadlock in Congress over dealing with our deficit and I felt just sickened. I twittered:

"I've begun to think that both parties care more about institutional survival than our national and planetary survival."

This, in turn, got fed to my "status" on my Facebook page, where lots of people started commenting. Eventually, a comment came from Joseph Romm, who writes Climate Progress. Joe is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Democratic think tank started by Bill Clinton's chief of staff, John Podesta.

Here is the comment that Joe left on my Facebook page:

"Uhh, 90% of one party want a climate bill and 90% of the other doesn't even believe it's a problem. So how can you equate them?!"

But apparently Joe doesn't realize what it looks like to a regular citizen when a party doesn't do something meaningful about something it claims to care about.

Joe doesn't realize how demoralizing it is for the average American citizen to see federal politicians of any complexion making compromises with our planet's future ability to support us well.

He doesn't realize what it is like to hear the words "clean coal"--a term made up by the coal industry lobbyists--on the lips of the party we thought would be aggressive on climate--the Democrats.

So this is what I wrote back to him on my Facebook page:

I'll tell you, Joe, someone who gives you hope and never lives up to the promise feels more like a betrayer sometimes than someone who never gave you hope in the first place.

When the Democrats actually had a chance, when they owned the Senate, they gave us a lackluster climate bill in the House. One might argue, therefore, since they *believe* in climate change, that they are more culpable.

They believe in it, yet they strived for what they believe is politically possible instead of scientifically necessary. Where was the leadership from the White House? The Democrats pandered as the bill worked its way through the House and you know it.

I'm not saying that individual Democrats didn't bleed to push through a bill on climate, but as an institution, the Democratic party let us down.

And honestly, US performance in Copenhagen--where we held the recent international climate talks--under Democratic leadership? Abysmal.

To say we shouldn't be disappointed in the Democrats and feel that they don't put the people first and haven't acted as leaders on this issue because the Republicans would have done worse is disingenuous.

I really respect your work, Joe. I take a lead on climate from you. But not on politics. You can argue with me, but you're a party insider. I am a voter who is passionate about saving this planet's ability support us well. And I am disappointed by the Dems.

You can't in good conscience tell me I'm wrong on this because you know I'm right.

And the reason it is important to say this out loud is because--while I will continue to vote for the party with the best climate policy and suggest others do the same--I also know that we the people have to find a way to move beyond passive dependence on corporatized federal politicians.

The people have to take charge. We have to change our lives, change our business, change our city governments, change our state governments, change our culture.

We have to work together to find and implement a way to have better and happier lives that use fewer planetary resources. We know now that even a blue flush in the House, Senate and White House won't do the trick.

We need to use politics but move way beyond it at the same time. And for a party insider like you to say otherwise would only prove my point.

And that is why I say that I think the parties care more about their institutional survival than about the people or the planet.

I'm sorry to go on, but the politics of Washington are defunct. The Democratic politicians want to beat the Republicans. The Republican ones want to beat the Democratic ones. They are, like the rest of us, scared for their jobs!

But the American people? We just want to get along with each other and solve problems. We want happy lives and to be kind to our neighbors. We want leaders who care about us more than their own careers.

I'm sorry. I say this as no one special. I'm just another voter. But as another voter, I have to say the politicians of the United States are letting us down.

The good news is that we're better than that. So how do we, the people take charge of our country, fill it with the love we have in hearts and take care of ourselves, each other and the whole world in a way we can be proud of?

What if we create better world for nothing?

Thanks for this to the Empress of Dirt.

What if there is no human-caused global warming?

A long time ago, someone wrote to me and asked me what I would do if I was wrong about climate change? I answered him like this.

Just the other day someone else wrote to me. He went on about liberals and how they complain and a bunch of other things he doesn't like about them. Then he said:

"But you're right about one thing. We need to take care of our planet. I don't even know if I believe in global warming. But the thing is, if it doesn't exist, it's even more important that we take care of the place we live."

Because we're going to have to live here for a long time.

Working for the good instead of complaining about the bad

The world's easiest first step into growing your own local food

Sprouting.

It's cheap, easy, nutritional and you can do it even if you have no access to other forms of local food. Isabella, my little girl, loves sprouting because she gets to grow sprouts herself and then eats them by the handful.

Start with lentils.

Take a cup or so. Put them in a bowl. Rinse them several times. Drain them but make sure they're still moist.

Next day, rinse them a couple of times and drain them so their moist. Don't let them ever dry out.

After about three days, they're sprouted and you can eat them by the handful.