The Thought Kitchen is our effort at collective inquiry and its power to affect change. Have you ever noticed how the party is always in the kitchen? There are more walls to lean on and people are energized by the proximity to food and drink. Well, welcome to our kitchen, where we hope to tap into everything we love about that feeling—community, vivacious exchange, food for thought.
I recently spoke with Zoe Cameron, who hails from Toronto but is currently living in London. She works as an award-wining freelance journalist specializing in science, environmental, and health-related stories.
When I went to check out her blog Zoetic I found the following post pertaining to the United Nations Development Programme report: “Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World.”
Zoe contends that “there’s no better way to cut through the crap and get right to the point than with some simple statistics.” So here are some interesting numbers from the report:
Number of Earths required for everyone on earth to have the carbon footprint of the average Canadian: 9
19 million people living in New York State have the same carbon footprint as 766 million people living in the world’s 50 poorest countries.
Global average temperature rise we must keep within: 2C
Level of ambient carbon dioxide we must keep within to stay under 2C: 450pp
Amount developed countries need to cut carbon emissions: 80% by 2050
Amount developing countries need to cut carbon emissions by 2050: 20%
Therefore, amount the world needs to cut carbon emissions by 2050: 50%
Amount required to reach this goal: £800 billion/year
What is £800 billion? Just 1.6% of our global GDP
There you have it. Just 1.6% of our global GDP. Would that seriously be so difficult? But there’s one statistic that, to me, is more revealing than anything else:
£800 billion is just two-thirds the amount we spend globally on weapons every year.
Rain, flooding, hurricanes, Armageddon… What can we do?! During a football game over the holidays I saw a commercial that looked like a public service announcement about the disastrous effects of global warming, but about halfway through I realized that it was a Hummer spot. Called “Hummer Helps,” this is GM’s campaign to reposition their 6000 lb gas-guzzler as a benevolent life-saving machine and not a symbol of American disregard for the environment. It’s common knowledge that the majority of people driving Hummers don’t use them in the same way the Red Cross does, but GM hopes that by providing a website where actual Hummer drivers can send pics of themselves towing 2WD cars out of mud puddles, everyone’s karmas will be cleansed.
I think a commenter on the Thinking in Vain blog said it best: “Firetrucks help [too]… Guess I should go out and buy one.”
One of the characteristics that distinguishes humans as a species is our capacity to tell stories. In fact, we live by the stories that define our values and frame our understanding of our relationships to one another and the natural world. Authentic cultural stories are those that are told by authentic storytellers and artists who interpret the values and aspirations of our communities. In our modern age the storytelling function has been largely co-opted by entrenched power brokers – witness the “official story” behind the march into Iraq or the “official story” behind many of the post 9/11 directives in the name of national security.
It may seem to be absurdly simple, but a key to provoking positive change and re-directing our future is to change the stories we live by. Think about Al Gore and his story. He uttered an “inconvenient truth.” In fact, he uttered it time and time again to audience after audience and, in the process, opened the door of possibility to a different future. Masterful storytelling, but the job is nowhere near done. Last week’s stalemate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali is indicative of how far we have to go. But, then Al Gore showed up and told an inspiring story that conveyed an alternative narrative. It’s not yet the official story or the dominant story but it’s a story worth listening to.
Last week a friend sent me an e-mail containing “The Story of Stuff” video, a wonderful look at how consumerism shapes our worldview and the topic of Ian’s post below. After getting a major in environmental studies, I love to pretend that I’m enlightened in relation to consumerism, my eco-footprint, sustainability, and the like. While watching the video I realized that I, like most humans, need constant reminders to remember my environmental ethics. It’s the holiday season, and naturally I went out and bought stuff. Granted, I mostly bought eco-friendly gifts. I attempted to support local artists. I even tried to find things that would be useful for a long time after the holidays were over. (I’m sure my family will be sad not to receive reindeer sweaters from me this year. Who doesn’t love those?) But innately, even if I wrap things in the same cloth bags I use every year, consumption was at the center of my holiday traditions once again.
What is it about this season that can force a fanatical environmentalist like myself to buy my brother a belt buckle with a piece of a beer can embedded in it? Read on »
In this digital age, when email has replaced letter writing, megapixels have become film, and Wacom tablets are more convenient than canvasses and paintbrushes, it’s refreshing to get back to the simple, sensual act of laying down an expressive line in jet-black ink.
I was just given this hand-crafted Tim’s Pen from Portland’s Timothy Leigh Company a few days ago and love everything about it. The pen’s shaft is made from found and repurposed Birdseye Maple, long-aged and finished with oil and fine wax; the nib holder is brass pipe; the nib itself is hammered and foiled from a recycled metal can. Even the caps on the box are beautiful, carved from incense cedar.
The tool itself is handsome enough to be called art, but to hold it in your hand, dip it in ink, and actually use it—that is really special. The variation of the line that can be achieved by simply changing angles and pressure can shift from fat and powerful to delicate and fragile in one stroke.
Attempting to channel Picasso’s Don Quixote, I immediately scratched out a drawing of a surfer, thrilled at how rich the 15-minute process was: the scratch of the nib on paper, the volatile pools of dripping ebony.
Handmade, sustainable, one-of-a-kind, and designed to last a lifetime, this is perhaps the gift I’ll covet most and longest after the holiday season.
Tim Pen’s start at $35, depending on the wood used. The only way to get one is to contact Tim directly: tim at leighcompany dot com. (If you do, ask him how he started this inspiring endeavor.)
A few days ago I received an email that read as follows:
“I try not to send too many mass emails about the subject of my work, but this one can’t be missed. A friend in Berkeley, Annie Leonard, produced this video with Free Range Films. I have been anxiously awaiting it, and boy is it good. It gets a little political perhaps where it shouldn’t, but it is the first time I’ve seen the truth and consequences of our consumerism put into understandable, comprehensive terms. Please watch it online—it’s pretty short (15 mins) and you will not regret spending the time. And please send it to everyone you know. Everyone in the world (literally) needs to see this.”
There’s only one thing I’d add to that urging: Our dominant paradigm for understanding the world is based almost exclusively on a linear cause-and-effect worldview. The difficulty with this paradigm is that it provides a very limited short-term perspective for understanding how things really work. What makes this video, which is called “The Story of Stuff,” so compelling is that it goes beyond the typical linear cause-and-effect paradigm by examining patterns of behavior and the interrelationship between things. It’s a whole systems view that enables a much deeper understanding of the way things operate; an understanding that creates the conditions to make lasting positive change within the system possible.
NBC just finished their “Green Week” and the irony of a network that’s owned by General Electric telling people to turn off the lights during last Sunday’s Football Night in America wasn’t lost on us. Asking people to turn off their televisions would have been a little more of a stretch though, and even the sportscasters who explained the benefits of energy conservation had their massive plasma screens going during the minute-long blackout before kickoff.
The good news is that, once again, we’re seeing the biggest influencers of the American public raising awareness of sustainability and social issues. That’s a pretty amazing thing. When shows like Days of Our Lives incorporate environmental elements like green weddings into their stories, it may not be the answer to saving planet Earth, but it certainly will help adults across the country realize that this whole sustainability thing isn’t some radical idea spawned by wild-eyed liberals. Now if we can only get people to remember that being green should be a year-long practice…
Having a baby on the way is pretty crazy. So much anticipation, preparation, and opportunity to be a rabid consumer. It seems like everywhere my wife and I go there’s something cute, plastic, and “required” for a first time parent to buy. Changing tables, baby bathtubs, bottles, mobiles, strollers, not to mention the clothes. Even the staunchest minimalist has to admit that a tiny pair of Vans warms the heart a little.
But the thing about babies is that they could care less what they’re wearing or how they get around. They have a few basic requirements: to stay warm, dry, well-rested and fed. They grow so rapidly that they need to overhaul their wardrobes faster than a crazed fashionista, meaning that many of the clothes showered upon them at a baby shower go virtually unworn. That’s why my wife and I tried to encourage people attending our shower to give us their second-hand clothes and baby toys. It was pretty cool because a lot of my friends who already have kids had some very gently used clothing and even better, toys that had been passed along a few generations.
There are some things that can’t be passed down, though—like diapers… Read on »
Our friends at Felt Soul Mediarolled through town recently and left us a copy of the trailer for their next film, “Red Gold.” Anyone who’s even remotely concerned about wild salmon, gold mines, and the tensions in between, should watch this trailer and then wait (expectantly) for the full-length film, due out this spring.
You won’t be disappointed, and you’ll likely be moved to act. Ben Knight and Travis Rummel started Felt Soul as a way to blend their greatest passions: fly fishing, photography, and filmmaking. The two are insanely talented. Over the years their films have evolved from entertaining fish porn to some of the most inspiring short films I’ve seen (see “The Hatch“). Read on »
I recently spoke with Zoe Cameron, who hails from Toronto but is currently living in London. She works as an award-wining freelance journalist specializing in science, environmental, and health-related stories.
Having a baby on the way is pretty crazy. So much anticipation, preparation, and opportunity to be a rabid consumer. It seems like everywhere my wife and I go there’s something cute, plastic, and “required” for a first time parent to buy. Changing tables, baby bathtubs, bottles, mobiles, strollers, not to mention the clothes. Even the staunchest minimalist has to admit that a 