image courtesy of Victor Bezrukov

Over the weekend, I finally got around to reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver’s book about her family’s quest to eat locally, growing most of their own food and eating with the seasons.

What a great read—I tell you, that woman can really write about a vegetable! I loved reading about the joys and pains of gardening, the hard work of preserving food, and the satisfaction of seeing dozens of mason jars sparkling like jewels in the pantry at the end of autumn. I’m more excited than ever to work on my own little garden here in the ‘hood in Pittsburgh.

Kingsolver also spends a good portion of her book describing what is wrong with the food system in America. These ills have been well covered in the last several years—see Food Inc., Fast Food Nation, and most of Michael Pollan’s work. Our agricultural system is rather insane, and we have a lot of work to do to make it rational and sustainable.

But in Kingsolver’s work, and in that of many other writers and activists, there is something that bothers me: a confusion between technology and how it is used. She spends a good amount of time cataloging the evils of genetically engineered food, specifically going after Monsanto and showing how their practices limit choices and profits for small farmers, driving many of them out of business.

I wonder, though—is genetic engineering inherently such a terrible thing? Or is the problem that Monsanto is an unethical and short-sighted company?

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Alex Steffen is one of my heroes. His work on Worldchanging (the book and the website) is some of the most important work being done today, so I was stoked to find this hour-long video of a talk he gave at Yale this past spring. In it, he shares many of the ideas—already in play—that can create the bright green future we want to live in.

Right now, he says, there are 2 choices for the billions of mostly young people in the developing world: they can either stay poor and frugal, which no one wants to do, or they can become rich and wasteful like us, which would be an environmental catastrophe. What we need is a third choice—a new kind of prosperity that raises standards of living without trashing the planet. And those of us in the developed world have the resources to create this third choice, which makes it our responsibility.

In this talk, we learn how we are getting there, piece by piece. Dense and vital cities, smart power grid technology, economic and political power for women, thoughtful consumerism, and transparency in industry and government are all on the rise. And they interact in subtle, powerful ways to create new waves of innovation and freedom.

The G20 is meeting today in Pittsburgh, and I can’t help but wish they’d watch and discuss this talk. But part of building a bright green future is each of us taking on responsibility, here and now, to educate ourselves and bring these fresh ideas into our own circles of influence and care. I hope you will take the time this weekend to learn about what’s possible and, indeed, what is already happening, so that you can be part of it.

What if you could do some good while waiting on line at the grocery store? The Extraordinaries want to help you help the world by giving you chances to volunteer via their iPhone app.

The project is still in its infancy right now—there were only about 10 active projects when I looked at the app the other day, and most of them were requests to tag photos in big image libraries. And of course there are limits to what can be done in a few minutes on an iPhone, but there’s tons of potential here. I envision volunteers answering questions from school kids, documenting buildings that need to be weatherproofed, reporting on neighborhood meetings for community sites, assisting non-profits with online research ... No doubt as The Extraordinaries build their pool of volunteers and tasks to be done, more and more good opportunities will emerge.

Crowdsourcing has produced some of the best resources available today—like Wikipedia itself—so why not apply the same idea to doing a bit of good? In this short video, co-founder Jacob Colker explains what The Extraordinaries are up to. Want to be a part of it? Get the iPhone app here.

In this TED Talk, science writer and founder of AskNature Janine Benyus explains Biomimicry—the process of looking to nature for sustainable solutions to design problems. As she says, “We live in a competent universe. We are part of a brilliant planet, and we are surrounded by genius.”

During the talk, she reveals dozens of new products that take their cue from nature with spectacular results. Take a look: 

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Yesterday I spent some time catching up on my RSS feeds and came across a beautiful piece by sustainability consultant, writer, and musician Alan Atkisson about the Tällberg Forum, conference that looks into the question “How on Earth can we live together?” I read his six-part account and felt myself very moved by his experience. The problems we thought were very bad are actually much worse. And yet so many people are creating new solutions, new ways of seeing, and new methods of working together in response. Even with the incalculable challenges we face, the attitude toward making it right was, as one speaker said, “I certainly think we can, we must, and we will.”

In his speech, Amory Lovins made reference to a TED talk entitled “Willie Smits Restores a Rainforest,” which I’d like to share with you today. Using an integrated plan of clever plantings, high-tech monitoring, permaculture, and co-operation with local peoples, Smits and his team have been able to revitalize an almost-barren area in Borneo. Not only is the land now thriving, full of wildlife and biodiversity; it also supports the food, water, and economic needs of hundreds of families in the area. This reminded me of a speech given at the 350 Conference by Kevin Conrad, Special Envoy and Ambassador for Environment & Climate Change, in which he said that slowing climate change depends largely on increasing the economic value of a standing forest so there is no incentive to cut it down.

Smits’s story is compelling. The most amazing thing to me is the sacred responsibility he took upon his shoulders to care for the land, the animals, the people, and the planet all at once. I hope you enjoy it, and that it sparks ideas for you, as it did for me, about how much more responsibility you can take on, and how much useful, integrated beauty you can create in your own part of the world.

image by Caveman 92223

For 6 weeks a group of us here in Stockbridge, MA had worked to put on an event we called the Berkshire Extreme Green Expo and May 23rd was the big day. We were originally inspired by a vision for our county to be a net-zero energy community. The event consisted of several parts. First was a number of displays. One depicted the history of energy—from the big bang through to elemental energies of the earth, like vulcanoes and geysers, and yes, animals and humans too—to our county being one of the first in the US to have centralized electric power generation (hydro) towards future technological possibilities.

Another display showed examples of national and international pioneering projects: net-zero energy communities, like the city of Masdar that is being built near Abu Dhabi; projects like Teal Farm, which is a trail blazing experimental permaculture farm in Vermont; and passive houses in Europe, which do not need any external energy input.

We also showed short films, both about technological break-throughs as well as deeper philosophical context and background for being activists—Brian Swimme was represented, as was Duane Elgin and Mary Evelyn Tucker.

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When I saw that Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars was available as a free Kindle download, I snapped it up (it’s still available, btw). I’d read this book several years back, and it amazed me. Reading it again now, in the context of what we’re trying to do on this website, is an even richer experience. Much of what the Mars pioneers face parallels what we Earthlings are facing right now: how do we handle ecological, political, and economic complexity? What stars do we navigate by?

Set in the near future, Red Mars tells the story of the first hundred colonists’ arrival on Mars, and the first half century or so of history to happen there. As the colonists spend time on the planet, their ideas on where it should go diverge. Some—the Reds, led by Ann—want to treat Mars as a park, studying it with minimal alteration to the landscape. But most others want to terraform the planet to make it more hospitable to life—partially for the scientific challenge of transforming the planet, and partially so that at least some of humanity can escape an increasingly tapped-out Earth. Over the first few years of Martian settlement, the argument grows in ferocity, and it finally comes to a head in an epic showdown between Ann and Sax after dinner one night.

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This week on The Sunny Way we looked into our core concept—how changing ourselves is a vital component of changing the world—from a variety of perspectives:

• Monday, I wrote about my experiments with optimum nutrition and exercise and how the walls of what-I-thought-I-knew are crumbling.
• Tuesday, Esther updated us on the project she’s involved with to build bridges between Israeil and Palestinian women—powerful stuff!
• Wednesday, I described how my brain exploded, in a good way, from reading Naomi Wolf’s Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries.
• Thursday, I wrote about and signed up for the Truth Squad’s its mission to get radical climate awareness on the agenda in newspapers, magazines, and blogs around the country. We also launched our email subscription feature!
• Today, one of my favorite blogs, Tiny Choices, ran a survey I filled out!

Today’s post is all about the Waxman-Markey Bill currently swirling around Capitol Hill. It will create a cap-and-trade system aimed at dramatically reducing carbon emissions over the next few decades. What is cap-and-trade? Good question, and Hank Green from Eco-Geek (a remarkably level-headed green technology blog) has created this short video to answer it.

Once you’ve got the basics from this video, check out some of the more in-depth links here. And contact your Congressperson to let them know that you want a strong bill that doesn’t have loopholes or giveaways for big energy. We need real change, not just another law that armies of lawyers can find a way to weasel out of!

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This is the second part of my recap of the 350 Conference at Columbia on Saturday, May 2nd. Read Part 1.

The afternoon of the 350 conference started out with a panel presentation on Climate Law, Policy, and Economics. First up was Michael Gerrard, an environmental lawyer and director of the Center for Climate Law at Columbia. His speech centered on legislative and regulatory responses to climate change. His view differed from Dr. Hansen’s in that he thinks that neither a carbon tax nor a cap and trade scheme are enough—both can be easily made porous, and both leave out large segments of the economy.

He supports massive regulation to close the holes that will inevitably open up in carbon taxing or cap and trade: technology standards, efficiency standards for appliances and other machinery, utility regulation, road use pricing, a floor price for gasoline, land use regulations to end sprawl, agricultural regulation to end soil-degrading practices, and, most controversially, regulation on advertising that encourages high levels of consumption. We have limits on advertising for harmful things like cigarettes and liquor, he said, so why not put limitations on ads for big cars, cheap imported stuff, and other environmentally harmful products? He showed this famous image and suggested that the U.S. Government put together a program to promote thrift and efficiency.

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image by Sugar Sweet Sunshine

Last Saturday, I attended the 350 Conference at Columbia University with Sarah and Rich. Organized by students in the Masters Program in Climate and Society, the speakers looked into climate change from many different angles. Most were scientists, focused on the facts.

NASA’s James Hansen—the outspoken climate change researcher who the Bush administration famously tried to silence—started off the day with an overview of the data that led him to the conclusion that we need to keep CO2 levels at or below 350 parts per million in order to preserve the climate in which we evolved. This is a far lower goal than many suggested levels, but Hansen’s research shows that around 450 ppm, ice melts and cannot refreeze, leading to a sharp rise in sea level and massive catastrophe around the world. He argues for a simple carbon tax—about $1 a gallon, with all the proceeds to be rebated to the American people—to change behaviors and get us off fossil fuels.

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image by √oхέƒx™

A few months ago I started to observe the moon every night as part of an assignment for a science education class. The instructions were to watch the moon daily, at the same time, from the same location for about 5 weeks and record all observations in a journal. This seemed straightforward enough, fine, let’s see how it goes. I decided to set my cell phone alarm to 11:30 p.m., because I knew I would forget.

At first, it was hard to pull myself away from my computer or get home a little earlier just to observe the moon. I wanted to stay inside, writing emails or reading. It was too cold—why bother watching it? I can just look up the phase online, I thought.

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Storage under stairs to loft

Today is Part 2 of Victoria’s exploration of Ahalani, an owner-designed and built eco-friendly home in Long Island. Read Part 1 and Part 3.

Campbell and Catherine served as general contractors for the building of their home, Ahalani, with Catherine directing the building for the last several months when Campbell returned to his teaching position. In the process of researching, designing, and building, they found 7 primary challenges in constructing their home. These principles highlight the interconnectedness of the whole house into an integrated whole.

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image by Roberto Garcia-S

Yesterday I signed my business up for the Berkshares, meaning that my Pilates studio in Stockbridge, MA (in Berkshire County) will accept this local currency. It works just like a dollar, and because 100 US Dollars are worth 105 Berkshares, the customer receives a 5% discount simply by using them. Several hundred businesses participate in this scheme and millions of Berkshares have circulated through the local economy. And that is the point: to strengthen businesses and trade in this area.

Alternative currencies or trade systems have existed in a large number of places all over the world, ever since 1934, when the WIR Bank was founded in Switzerland. There are a lot of different approaches, some using actual currency, some, as time banks, crediting people for the hours they spend working for others that they can then trade in for services they need. One of the better known systems here is LETS, as well as the Ithaca Hour (worth 10 dollars) or the Toronto dollar. In economically tough times, these alternative methods of payments or barter systems make particular sense, connecting people without work but skills to offer and people without dollars but the need for help.

And as a sign of just how well accepted these concepts can become: Ithaca has the first credit union now accepting an alternative currency as mortgage payments!

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an I Heart PV letterwriting party

11 Questions is an ongoing feature where you, the reader, tell us all about a project you are working on to create a more functional, just, and beautiful future. Then we share your project on The Sunny Way. To tell us about your project, either fill out the survey, or copy the questions below and email your answers to us. We look forward to featuring your good work soon!

What are you creating with this project? What are your goals?
I Heart PV aims to make New York the solar power (photovoltaics) capital of the East Coast. The way we’ll get there is by implementing long term, focused policies that create financial incentives for solar adoption until the technology can compete with fossil fuels on cost. The experiences of other places that have implemented aggressive solar incentive programs—such as Germany, Japan, California and New Jersey—has been a more rapid decline in costs as a result of local industrial evolution and increased competition. We need to move New York onto a similar track.

Solar advocacy has existed in New York State, but nothing that has effectively engaged a large number of voters in the action. I Heart PV will continue to act on this end of things: educating and mobilizing constituents to deliver feedback in support of pro-solar policies to relevant elected state officials.

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image by Roberto Garcia-S

Inspiring news from across the fronts…

Medicine first…
The United States is just beginning to move ahead on stem-cell research while other countries, like India, are far ahead. A couple of winters ago I met Amanda, in Aspen, CO,  a passionate skier who had been a paraplegic for 15 years due to an accident on the mountain. She refused to be victimized by her disability and founded a charity that helps others with disabilities enjoy mountain-sports. For the past year and a half, she has been traveling to India to receive stem-cell treatments. The results are extraordinary – she is able to feel her legs again, can control her bladder and she began to walk assisted by braces and a walker. Here is a video of her tackling the streets of New Delhi.

While there are still a lot of open questions about stem-cell research and its safety, especially in the long term, it is hard not to marvel at the miracle of this technology…and Amanda’s guts to be a pioneer.

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