http://maxistentialism.com/portfolio/

It’s Good to Laugh! My neighbors must have thought something was wrong, I was laughing so hard when I saw the bench! Perfect! The true approach to life! The Dalai Lama agrees! - Editor

You Don’t Need It!

Bus Stop Bench Project, 2006
http://antiadvertisingagency.com/project/bus-stop-bench-project/
http://antiadvertisingagency.com/

QUOTE
“We should thank [Stephen Duncombe leader in Artistic Activism]:
the progressive movement needs a lot more creative thinking if we’re to win over the country.”
Huffington Post, Chuck Klosterman
The School for Creative Activism
helps visionary activists to develop more effective organizing.
http://artisticactivism.org/school-of-creative-activism/

- Consumerism destroys our planet in so many ways. This new kind of advertising is great! Big thoughts can be put in simple terms. Can you get bus stops and everywhere in your town to promote a better world? Let’s get the Gore activists to work closely with the Artistic Activism people- we could evolve the entire movement! The Center for Artistic Activism has a variety of programs that if focused on climate change could make a big difference! Humor and fun can reach people! - Editor

Dream makes the case for a political strategy that embraces a new set of tools. Although fantasy and spectacle have become the lingua franca of our time, Duncombe points out that liberals continue to depend upon sober reason to guide them. Instead, they need to learn how to communicate in today’s spectacular vernacular- not merely as a tactic but as a new way of thinking about and acting out politics.
http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Re-imagining-Progressive-Politics-Fantasy/dp/1595580492
(There is supposed to be a free PDF download of this book, but the link did not work.)

“Increase sales or donations in 14 days” using a video they produced-  http://ampleearth.com/

QUOTE
“Inner wealth – human affection, human friendship, these are the most important.
Just to think of yourself, is foolish, selfish.
One company, one family, one individual who always consumes –
more greed, more greed more greed regardless of other consequences – this is a mistake.
Develop inner strength.
The person who develops inner peace –
that person develops a precious human life.
And
This is our home; we have to take care of it”
Dalai Lama

“We have a very, very urgent crisis right now just in terms of the atmosphere.
We elevate the economy above the very atmosphere that sustains us.
We’ve lost the sense of what are the really important things that keep us alive.”
Dr. David Suzuki

The Dalai Lama concluded his three-day Oregon trip by telling a sold-out crowd we need to focus more on the environment and less on the acquisition of material things.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/9f07077cd5784f37a45b38d530797e80/OR–Dalai-Lama-Oregon
and
http://ens-newswire.com/2013/05/13/dalai-lama-cultivate-inner-peace-to-save-the-planet/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ens-newswire%2FJZdj+%28ENS%29

QUOTE
“We have a vested interest in pessimism. If you believe that nothing serious can be done,
then you don’t have to do anything.
But Martin Luther King created a transformative movement with just ordinary people against huge odds when people said ‘I am going to do something.’

In the last 2 to 3 years, it’s not been like this before- something has happened.
Groups are popping up all over the country.
Big change coming out of difficulty is not at all unusual.
Pain levels are increasing.
Ecological problems are getting worse.
There’s more and more awareness that it isn’t going to get fixed in the usual way.
We are facing a systemic challenge (long trends over decades) not a political problem.

We must point to a different vision-
you can’t get off this hook.
It comes down to here and now and us.”

Gar Alperovitz’s keynote speech at “The Summit” at Appalachian State in Boone, NC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kBW3gU8ogs- a 40 minute video worth watching!

-Gar Alperovitz looks at economic systems and unites those in economic pain with those who worry about something invisible like CO2 levels. Big big dollars control politics, resulting in outrageous government support for fossil fuels, expensive health care, toxic food, and far more. We don’t have the decades that he envisages to stop climate change, but his visions are important. - Editor

Get his book- What Then Must We Do

http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/what_then_must_we_do:paperback
Another website worth visiting- http://www.community-wealth.org/

- Raising kids these days has issues that Americans have not had to face before. We had several kids watching the 350 video on April 22, and the adults afterwards tried to help them develop a spirit of empowerment. It’s still tough to know how to build strength but not worry. Here’s some advice that could help. - Editor

The book explores the various big picture scenarios our children may face as adults, and offers more than 300 proactive suggestions as to how you can help your children meet, rise above and contribute positively to the challenges coming their way.
http://www.resilience.org/resource-detail/1609938-honeycomb-kids

Fires have devastated hundreds of thousands of acres of forest in New Mexico just in the last few years, and the drought continues to dangerously suck life out of the forests. We could sprinkle fairy dust in our eyes and not see the issue because it’s a profound loss. Or we can try to understand it and face its implications.
Here in Santa Fe, a creative group is giving tours of burn sites in the mountains, which might seem a strange activity, but it makes the issue crystal clear. Not the typical tourist event! A non-profit fighting climate-destroying coal, New Energy Economy creates these very clever and important tours with a forester and did a short video of firefighters explaining these fires- do watch it. For one of the Face Climate Reality Hikes-
http://newenergyeconomy.org/events/face-climate-reality-hike-in-the-las-conchas-burn/

http://vimeo.com/41547206  and
http://newenergyeconomy.org/2012/05/04/firefighters-in-new-mexico-connect-record-fires-with-climate-change/
For their action plan- http://newenergyeconomy.org/sol-not-coal/

The local newspaper’s editorial this week asks citizens to respect any forest closures imposed, explaining what the fire risks can mean- a very tough message for us outdoor folks who want to camp as many weekends as possible. http://www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/editorials/article_f8330e82-4137-52ee-b625-b82f256cd620.html

Sand River is a cohousing project in Santa Fe for those over age 55 that is on the move about living more responsibly. The PV2EV- photovoltaic solar panels (PV) feeding (2) electric cars (EV)- is a model everyone should be following! Some of the residents have joined together and leased an electric car, which they share, and use the electricity from their Common House solar to power their car. They did a survey on how often they use their cars and calculated how many electric cars they would need. The ultimate goal is to not have any privately owned vehicles, just a smaller number of shared electric cars. All this has yet to be put up on the website but hopefully soon. (P.S. The name Sand River should give you a hint about the water situation here.)

From their website: Sand River is intent on reducing its carbon footprint. Individual homes as well as the common house are sited for solar—both passive and active—and are “green built” and so home energy use is low. Some residents have installed grid-tied, solar PV systems on their roofs to further reduce carbon output. Many in the community aspire to do even more.
http://www.sandriver.org/solar.html and http://www.sandriver.org/garden.html

Getting started is the very first thing. No one is solving everything, so just take a leap and get group empowerment going. Going from passive to active will open more and more doors. What questions would be good to ask? Here are a few. Add more as you go along.

- CHANGING HOME: What are the changes happening now or anticipated right here where we live?

- SHIELD: What are changes outside of our community that will impact our local support systems (like major increases in food prices because of droughts in the Corn Belt), and how do we prepare (local food is a great place)?

- DOUBLE DUTY: When we make changes, how do we build sustainability and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions- mitigation- into adaptation projects?

- GOING FAR ENOUGH: When we develop adaptation projects, will we look far enough into the future that we will not waste resources by making inadequate changes (like putting up a foot wall at the beach when projections indicate far higher storm surges)?

- BEGIN: What project(s) can we start now that will get our group moving forward and that will inspire others? How do we make this fun? Then DO IT!

- Here is a smaller scale project that is not hard to do and prevents a regular source of auto emissions. A good project for your town! Parents unite! - Editor

The number of kids walking to school was about 50% in the 1960s, but now it’s more like 15%. That’s a pretty dramatic change in behavior over just one generation. One of the main differences is that there’s a lot more traffic on the roads today, and these roads are not designed with the pedestrian in mind, let alone children. Most school districts don’t provide busing for kids who live less than a mile from school. We did a survey of parents that live within a one-mile radius of a randomly selected group of schools and found that of all the kids living within that radius, only about 25% of them were walking to school. We realized if we put in place a robust Walking School Bus program, we would eliminate a tremendous amount of traffic around these schools. Congestion and air pollution would be reduced as well. We have an all-day Walking School Bus workshop.
http://www.pps.org/how-to-jump-start-a-walking-school-bus-an-interview-with-ian-thomas/
and check out the Pedestrian and Pedaling Network-  http://www.pednet.org/programs/walking-school-bus.html

SLASH ENERGY USE/ END COAL: Cut your direct energy use- home, travel, office, church. Help others do the same. Share ideas, monitor your progress and make it visible and concrete. Let people know your findings- “We have reduced our energy bill by 30% because we have turn off unnecessary lighting and have stopped using the drier.” Buy solar panels. Sign up for wind. Ride bikes. So many resources- one is http://www.ases.org/solar-today-magazine/

FINANCIAL ACTIONS: Divest from corporations destroying the earth. Forget big corporate credit cards. Put your money in a local credit union or in the permaculture credit union. http://www.pcuonline.org/  Give donations to the causes that will directly reduce emissions and that will prepare us for adaptation. The large amount of money we save through simplicity then gets donated to about 60 environmental and ag organizations each year.  The climate is already hotter, threatening growing food. The organization that leads the way on saving heat-adapted food plants is www.nativeseeds.org/ and the organization that preserves farm animals for a future that will not have filthy, cruel feedlots- http://albc-usa.org/ An organization that teaches how to restore land, sequester carbon, and grow food- http://quiviracoalition.org/

FUN, NOT CONSUMERISM: Realize some calculate that 30% of our emissions are from the materials we consume- so cut your consumption. Before you buy anything, ask yourself if you really need to buy that. Did your great-grandmother think that was important to have? Could you buy it used? Can you just borrow it or rent it? Can you postpone buying? Sometimes if you wait awhile, you learn you didn’t really need that object after all. Start shifting pleasures to non-material joys- sitting with friends and laughing, having potlucks, giving and getting massages, going for walks, playing noncompetitive games, taking the time to feel sunsets. Actually, life’s real pleasures are free! Resources: http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/ and http://noimpactproject.org/

ZERO WASTE: Aim for zero waste (defined as a 95% reduction) by analyzing everything in your trash, then figure out ways to not have that trash. No disposables, please. Nothing compostable in the trash. Set up a composting system that really works. Shift your big trash container away from trash to only recyclables. No waste baskets in rooms. Get a small bag and use that for things to be thrown “away”. Try to not empty “trash” for weeks since smelly stuff is now composted, but keep the small bag.  EVERYTHING COMES FROM SOMEWHERE- mining, logging, shipping are all destructive and contribute to climate change. A dumpster is NOT “away!” THERE IS NO AWAY! Resources: http://www.onetrashcanayear.org/  and http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/
Such a long list. Begin. It’s up to us.
You are probably already a part of this transition. Have a family meeting to decide what’s next. Share this email with friends and start talking about how to transition. Take this to church and other places like schools and ask that more climate action can taken on.
Have a great, innovative New Year!! Enjoy a new life!