tagged w/ The Story Of Stuff
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Last week, Stopnoise recommended jefftego for his great and tireless environmental work. Jeff is known for his keen interested and dedication to ocean conservation, without further adieu...Jefftego.
Current Green: What environmental topics are close to your heart?
jefftego: Climate change is probably the issue I think about the most. It absolutely amazes me that with all of the scientific data, climate models and visual evidence it is still an uphill battle to lower GHG emissions and there are skeptics around every corner. And I think this is more true in the US than any other developed country in the world, although I think we are starting to make some progress. Five years ago this issue wasn’t discussed in the public space at all, now it is out there every day. I’ve been fortunate enough to be a volunteer presenter with the Climate Project and I really enjoy spending time reading all I can on the issue and giving climate change presentations to community organizations, businesses and any other group that will listen to me for an hour. I have seen a shift in the people at my presentations over the last two years. There are fewer and fewer skeptics out there. I think instead of coming to my presentations they are posting their opinions on current.com.
Another topic that is close to my heart is the oceans. I’m happy this is starting to get more attention but it is such a tragedy what we are doing to the oceans from pollution, overfishing, factory fish farming, shark finning, noise and sonar pollution, whaling, etc. And this may come back on us faster than climate change. We are killing our oceans in an unbelievably short period of time and our species cannot survive without a healthy ocean ecosystem.
Current Green: What are your go-to environmental websites and blogs?
jefftego: Current is definitely right up there. I really like reading about issues that here that I wasn’t aware of before, even issues that aren’t a passion for me. There is so much diverse information here.
Dot Earth
Environmental News Network
Real Climate
The Daily Climate
Current Green: What's the most recent green thing you learned about that "wowed" you?
jefftego: I am always wowed by people who happily take extraordinary risks to do something for the environment, whether that is direct action or raising awareness. I was just at a Climate Project summit in Nashville and was wowed by one of the speakers there, Roz Savage. I was fortunate enough to meet her and she is incredible inspiring. She is an ocean rower and uses her rowing for environmental education and advocacy. In a few days she will be starting her next journey, rowing solo from Hawaii to Australia. Yes, you read that right. Rowing solo from Hawaii to Australia. She has already gone from Europe to the Caribbean and from Los Angeles to Hawaii. Go read Roz Savage's story, its way inspiring
Current Green: Who do you recommend should be featured next week?
jefftego: julesrs007. She always posts and raises awareness about animal welfare and animal rights. I think this is an issue that doesn’t get enough weight in Western society and I think Gandhi had it right when he said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. I appreciate that julesrs007 keeps putting this out there.
Current Green: If there was no other sound left in the world other than a jet engine, a dragster, or a sports stadium filled with crying babies, which would you choose to live next to and why?
jefftego: Do I get ear plugs? I don’t know how to answer this. Maybe the babies because you’ve got to think at some point they are going to cry themselves to sleep. Or just grow up and move out.
jefftego speaks....
I wrote about some of this above but I wanted to address the climate skeptic thing again. There is a great video series on YouTube called “The Climate Denial Crock of the Week.” New videos come out every few weeks and each one goes right to the science and debunks a favorite skeptic argument.
If you follow any of my posts on here, you know I am passionate about whales. I have no idea why. This is one of those issues that found me and grabbed me. These are some of the most amazing creatures on the planet and for all we know about them, we still know little. But they have incredible intelligence and very complex social and family bonds. Most types of whales live their entire lives in one family group. They have different dialects in different regions. They are just amazing to me. And it is incredibly sad that we have decimated their numbers. Even though they are starting to come back since the ban on commercial whaling, it will take hundreds or thousands of years for their populations to get to pre-whaling numbers. And I doubt this will happen. There is growing pressure every year from Japan and other countries to lift the ban and resume commercial whaling. There is a great book, “Harpoon, Into The Heart of Whaling” that offers a lot of historical perspective on this issue. Additionally, they face challenges from climate change, shrinking food supply, and water pollution.
I could write about all this stuff hours but I want to end with something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I think as individuals we are looking for government and industry to do something about climate change and many of our environmental issues. And major action does have to come from them. But as individuals we really hold more cards than we realize in the choices we make. So much of the climate change issue, when push comes to shove, comes down to the fact that we make, consume and throw out too much stuff. I’m not saying we should get rid of modern conveniences, but what we have been doing the last few decades is quite excessive when you step back and think about it. Check out “The Story of Stuff” We are always looking for economic growth – more sales, more production, more processing, more consumption – yet we live in a finite environmental system. How can we sustain economic growth in a finite ecological system? There has to be another way, a better, more sustainable way.Last week, Stopnoise recommended jefftego for his great and tireless environmental... more
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leahl
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added this
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3 years ago
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“The Story of Stuff” is a 20-minute short film about the effects of human consumption, a cheerful but somewhat brutal assessment of how much Americans waste. The thick-lined drawings of the Earth, a factory and a house are meant to convey the cycle of human consumption, as are the pictures of dark puffs of factory smoke and outlines of skulls and crossbones that represent polluting chemicals floating in the air. It’s a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. “The Story of Stuff” exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls for the creation of a more sustainable and just world.
Includes a number of pictures, as well as the full version of “The Story of Stuff.”“The Story of Stuff” is a 20-minute short film about the effects of human... more
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The thick-lined drawings of the Earth, a factory and a house, meant to convey the cycle of human consumption, are straightforward and child-friendly. So are the pictures of dark puffs of factory smoke and an outlined skull and crossbones, representing polluting chemicals floating in the air.
Which is one reason “The Story of Stuff,” a 20-minute video about the effects of human consumption, has become a sleeper hit in classrooms across the nation.
The video is a cheerful but brutal assessment of how much Americans waste, and it has its detractors. But it has been embraced by teachers eager to supplement textbooks that lag behind scientific findings on climate change and pollution.
http://www.storyofstuff.com/The thick-lined drawings of the Earth, a factory and a house, meant to convey the... more
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What is the Story of Stuff?
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. What is the Story of Stuff?
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all... more
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