cool! someone's reading this...

And I thought no one was looking ... check out this response to my post, "exploring ecotourism," by none other than STA travel buzz. COOL!

it's called "smart growth"

Paul Krugman's NY Times column yesterday, "Stranded in Suburbia," highlighted the need in the face of rising gas prices - never mind climate change - for Americans to change our lifestyles - our neighborhoods, our driving habits, etc. I'm with ya pal. It's a concept called Smart Growth, and it's nothing new. There's just finally a real incentive (with a $ value) for it to catch on.

I never thought that I would be giving a little environmental policy lecture in this blog (thanks to my ENSP102 professor I know this stuff), but I think that changing our style of living goes hand in hand with popular culture in that these types of neighborhoods and cities are only going to be built and lived in if the idea gets ... POPULAR, so here it goes. The principles of Smart Growth are as follows:

• mixed land use (allow for residential aka homes, "industrial" aka workplaces, and "commercial" aka shopping in the same zoning areas)
• strengthen and direct development towards existing communities
• take advantage of compact building design (not necessarily all small structures, but houses that are closer together, that use space efficiently and that are are efficiently built)
  
• create a range of housing opportunities and choices
• provide a variety of transportation choices
  
• create walkable neighborhoods
• foster a distinctive sense of place
  

The reason that the first few concepts are bold is because they are exactly what Krugman is writing about - and exactly what our communities need to shift towards if we are going to create a sustainable future. Mixed land use is really the key, especially when it comes to driving less. Think about living on a college campus - minus all of the crazy drunk 18-20 year olds - but for a different stage of life. Everything is pretty close together, and there are pedestrians on every sidewalk. You've got your shopping and you're workplace, and you really don't have to leave too much. And if you do, there's accessible public transportation - at least on my campus - to get you places.

So what does this all have to do with popular culture? Well, if popular culture is an expression of our everyday lives, then what does it NOT have to do with popular culture? Suburbia arose as a popular phenomenon, fueled by affluence and cheap oil. The idea of the LOCAL - community based living where we don't have to drive to the nearest sprawling parking lot / shopping plaza to fulfill basic material needs but can walk there, bike there, take a bus there, bump into our neighbors there, this is where our communities need to be heading. But in order for these communities to be built, people have got to warm up to the idea. And as Krugman points out, maybe our suburbanocentric culture isn't ready for it yet. But if not now, when will the tipping point come?

Check out the trailer to the documentary, "The End of Suburbia." It basically says what I just said in a much more entertaining way.

check out MTV switch

MTV, historically at the forefront of bringing together social movements and popular culture, has created a new global climate change campaign: "Switch" . This website is interactive and overall just pretty awesome. Check it out!

tune into green

I wrote about the green stylings of the green music world in some earlier posts. But now I want to get into another aspect of green music: the music itself. As the quote by Jack Johnson in an earlier post so aptly put it, there's just something about music that can bring people together and get the message across. It's a way to get people thinking about current issues in their everyday life, even if the message is subtle.

Well, there are certain songs that have connected to my inner greenness, and either got me thinking about environmental issues or in some way inspired me to keep fighting the green fight. So here's a playlist with some lyrical analysis for your green listening and literary pleasures ...

Track 1: All At Once - Jack Johnson

In his interview with Treehugger, When asked whether any songs on his new album are specifically in reference to the environment, Jack Johnson responded:

"They talk more about the emotions that I think people are going through right now with sort of the worry of tomorrow. I don't know that there is anything we specifically talk about, you know, environmental issues ... I think a lot of them use a lot of imagery of nature to try to explain things better whether it's anybody could understand, you know. And they make you feel like when I sing one of these they make me feel like wanting to do something positive and so I guess in the end that's the goal. I don't set out writing the songs for any purpose besides just getting ideas out of my head. I hope they have a positive impact on people."

Well, it definitely had an impact on me. When you're out there trying to get people to care about climate change, trying to get them to recognize the value and necessity for lifestyle change, life can get pretty disempowering. So this song really struck a chord for me (I can't help it - I LOVE PUNS), because it seems to be all about feeling overwhelmed by the problems of the world but being about to do something about it. Take a listen:

Track 2: Sleeping In - The Postal Service

... And then last night I had that strange dream
Where everything was exactly how it seemed
Where concerns about the world getting warmer
The people thought that they were just being rewarded
For treating others as they like to be treated
For obeying stop signs and curing diseases
For mailing letters with the address of the sender
Now we can swim any day in November ...

This song makes explicit references to global warming, and they're pretty hard to miss. To me it's a song pointing out how it's so easy to just close your eyes to the problems in the world, and live in a dreamlike state where you don't have to deal with the complexities of life. If only climate change were really as simple as swimming any day in November.

And as I mentioned in an earlier post, The Postal Service records with Sub Pop Records, the first green-e certified record label.


Track 3: Union - Black Eyed Peas

While this song is mostly about abandoning war for peace, for me, sustainability isn't just about the environment. Peace is central to the concept of sustainability, the whole concept behind interconnectivity. And to me, the words, "Realise that you can change the world by changing yourself" can apply to anything.

And the Black Eyed Peas performed at Live Earth.



Track 4: With My Own Two Hands - Jack Johnson Feat. Ben Harper

I think this one pretty much explains itself.


Any song suggestions? I'll be building on this playlist as time goes on. Comment and give me some ideas!

ecotourism in Costa Rica and Madagascar

Here are some clips about the effects of ecotourism projects in Costa Rica and Madagascar. Take a look!

exploring ecotourism

Here's my green-confession: I love traveling. Last year, I spent 9 months exploring Israel, during which I took a week-long seminar in Poland, and afterwards I hopped on over to France and Spain for 2 weeks before finally landing in the US - and unfortunately due to insufficient funds I've been stuck here since then. The big problem with my favorite hobby? It is oh so not sustainable: taking long flights adds a big chunk to this aspiring-to-be-climate-friendly adventurer's carbon footprint.

So, when the highlight of my e-mail update from the student travel website STA Travel was entitled, "Eco-Friendly Travel" I got pretty excited - after all, here are my two greatest passions wrapped up in one sustainable world exploring package! And then, of course, I got a grip on myself and thought... wait a minute, what exactly is this "ecotourism" and how green can it really be?

I'd heard about ecotourism before, but I'd never really thought too critically about it or even investigated what it's all about. (Considering that it encompasses my two favorite things, I have no idea why this was.) While it is pretty broadly defined, essentially, the whole idea behind it seems to be to travel in a low impact way while remaining conscious and taking responsibility for of your environmental footprint and the effects of your presence on the social welfare of the host country. According to the International Ecotourism Society, ecotourism is "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people," (TIES, 1990). The guiding principles, according to TIES are:

"-minimize impact

-build environmental and cultural awareness and respect

-provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts

-provide direct financial benefits for conservation

-provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people

-raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate."

This all sounds great, and I'd certainly rather hear that when people are traveling they are making an effort to be more conscious of their impact, but I had also heard that ecotourism has it's vices, so I wanted to investigate them too. Ironically even ecotourism has an environmental impact, simply by virtue of the fact that getting to these natural destinations involves planes, trains and automobiles.

A recent article by the Seattle Times cited the calculations for greenhouse gas emissions resulting from REI Adventures, an ecotravel program through REI (the outdoor gear and apparel retailer that is attempting to go carbon-neutral): nearly 1/3 of the company's emissions came from the travel program. So what's better? have people travel without a care for their surroundings, stop travelling completely, or travel ecofriendly and reconnect with the environment while seeing a different part of the world?

If we're on a carbon diet, instead of starving people of their everyday pleasures, why not offer a light option? Ecotourism is just another example of how green popular culture can be a happy medium, breaking people in to the movement without forcing it down their throats, and letting us have out carbon-guilty pleasures in a less harmful way.

Jack Johnson - green extraordinaire

Jack Johnson is probably my favorite musician alive. Let’s just put that out there. So it’s only fitting that he also happens to be one of the greenest musicians out there, and this post is dedicated to him and all of the work he has done/is doing not only to bring the green movement to the masses but to be green himself. Because if you haven’t noticed, I think that if you are going to trying to be one of the prophets of the ecological revolution by bringing a culture of sustainability to the masses, you’ve got to practice what you preach (more on this later).

Well Jack Johnson certainly does just that. His most impressive feat is the creation of his solar powered recording studio, in which he recorded 100 percent of his new album, Sleep Through the Static.

The album materials are also made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper, and the concert tour that kicks off June 13 in Noblesville, Indiana will - thanks to Reverb! - be seriously eco-friendly as well. (I’ve signed up to be a volunteer in the Village Green outside the Mansfield, MA concert, so cross your fingers that I get this amazing opportunity to take part in this genesis if green popular culture).

But beyond what Jack Johnson is doing to spark green fire through his music, what sets him apart from a lot of those who are hopping on the green-band-wagon (which I still think is great), is that he seems to really care about the issues that we’re dealing with when it comes to “going green” - climate change, environmental degradation, etc. I think that one of the problems with the proliferation of green popular culture is that the message of the whole idea - sustainability, no-impact living - is lost somewhere along the way. But I could tell from his interview with the Wall Street Journal about the eco-concert tour, that Jack gets it, pointing out the inconsistencies of using megaevents like the Live Earth concert (they said "Live 8" in the interview but I think they meant Live Earth because the interview was in 2008 and "Live 8" hasn't happened since 2005) last year to spread the eco message:

WSJ: You participated in Live 8 last year. How do you feel about the effectiveness of those high-profile and, in a way, celebrity-driven events?

Mr. Johnson: I have mixed emotions with those things. They give you their word that they're doing everything as green as possible and I try to be optimistic about that. Half the battle is making people feel like it's cool to support things like this. But it depends on what angle you look at. People were flying in on private jets. And there's the oxymoron of a gigantic event meant to fight the impact of gigantic events...

"Half the battle is making people feel like it's cool to support things like this." Jack's on the money with this one. I think that this is the role that green popular culture plays: as a stepping stone towards a culture of sustainability in which it is taboo NOT to care. But in doing so, it's pretty hard not to be hypocritical as many venues of popular culture - music, fashion, marketing - are entrenched in wastefulness. So creating a green viral message in popular culture takes big changes in the traditions of those aspects of the culture - like eco-friendly concerts - themselves.

And of course using celebrity power to get people involved. Jack Johnson just created the All At Once Community on his website, where members can connect with nonprofit organizations and are encouraged get involved with "your actions" - in social action by volunteering, "your voice" - getting politically active, and "your choice" by being smart consumers. There are also interactive discussion boards where members can connect with and learn from each others' actions and ideas.


When asked in a Treehugger interview why he uses music to reach people, Jack Johnson replied:

"It's kind of obvious in the sense that it's about the best thing for gathering a crowd and you know, everybody comes together and we are all seeing those same words. People sing along. It's a really neat feeling when you feel that you are in a room or you are in a place, whether it's outside or inside, you are in a place where everybody is in agreement on something.

You know, whatever the song is about, it's like you come together and it feels nice to feel like you have the same feelings as other people, so connected to people. And when you have that connection it feels like with this amount of people having this connection we can do a lot to make change, you know.

And so that's the nice thing about touring and trying to apply all these nonprofits to it, and the change aspect. It feels like you can do a lot when you are on tour and you see all these people kind of getting together for a common cause. It’s nice.”

(above: Jack Johnson performing at Live Earth in July 2007).

Stay "tuned" (sorry couldn't help myself) for my next post about the message in the music - how the music itself can serve as inspiration to get involved, and stay involved.

music to my green-ears

Just because green is a color, who says you can't hear it?

Though I'm no expert, with all of the people and products, flashy lights and booming speakers and sound systems at concerts, the high-tech process of recording, and the materials that go into the production of CDs, IPods and home-sound systems, it doesn’t seem too likely that the music industry is TrueBlue Green … or so one might think.

It turns out that its seemingly high-energy/high-emissions nature has not stopped the determined from greening the music industry. In 2006, Sub Pop records - producer of some awesome bands that I love including Fruitbats, the Postal Service, and The Shins - was the first record company to go green by offsetting all of its emissions with carbon offsets to support renewable energy solutions such as wind and solar. Green Owl Records, a new entirely green label, has initiated green changes from production to packaging and has even recently come out with a special compilation CD to benefit the Energy Action Coalition. In July 2007, the Live Earth concert series rocked out under LED lights.

But in the spirit of sustainability, the organization that really sparks my interest in green-music is an entire community of artists come to go green together. Reverb , founded by Lauren Sullivan and Adam Gardener (of Guster - another one of my all time favorites) is a non-profit organization dedicated to "educating and engaging musicians and their fans to promote environmental sustainability." They partner up with musicians to provide on-site "greening services" at concerts, set up a festival-like "eco-village" green fair at the entrance to every show, coordinate a program to offset the carbon emissions from fans' commutes.



And it's not just the Sheryl Crowe's of the world who are hopping on this green-band-wagon (but of course Sheryl is, too). Over the past year, Reverb has worked with a lot of mainstream musicians from diverse genres including Kelly Clarkson, Linkin Park, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and even the show Blue Man Group. In the process, they have as of today "greened" 50 tours, 754 events, reduced 37,619 tons of CO2, and have reached their message to at least 4.6 million fans!

This to me is the most important statistic. Of course spreading the message without practicing it would be ridiculous, and this is why I love the idea that masses of people are getting this green message at actual green concerts (I still wonder how many of these musicians have minimized their exorbitant lifestyles, but at least they are starting somewhere). I especially love that these musicians' audiences are chock-full of young people, and that is where the revolution needs to take root. People emulate celebrities, and these celebrities deserve to be and should be looked up to. (Below: Guster performing in Boston.)

Eco barbie?

As many in the green blogosphere have commented on, Mattel recently hopped on the greenwagon releasing Barbie BCause collection. The items are all made from re-purposed fabric that the toy company would otherwise have thrown away. But from lead paint to underpaid workers, Mattel doesn't exactly have a true green history.

" 'Barbie is always a reflection of current cultural trends and issues, and girls are increasingly aware of making a green statement,' said Richard Dickson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Media and Entertainment, Worldwide, Mattel Brands. 'Barbie BCause is for eco-conscious girls who believe that being environmentally-friendly is the right thing to do, and we are thrilled to give extra meaning and extra style to what was once just extra Barbie doll fabric.' "

Smells like a load of greenwash, but the framing of the company's motives with the controversial product line are interesting. Shaping young minds is an important aspect of creating a culture of sustainability, but encouraging this kind of green consumerism doesn't seem like the right direction.

More sustainable style

I think this guy is hilarious.