Matt Atwood (left) and Michael Kang of Our Future Now at the Chicago Green Festival, April 2007.
Photo: Xiao Guang Tse
August 2007 | Choice News
Our Future Now
Almost nothing produces more landfill fodder, waste and general pollution than a fully-loaded concert or arts festival. From his vantage point on stages across America, fiddler Michael Kang of The String Cheese Incident has witnessed this large-scale consumption and waste all too often. So this summer Kang and two friends, artists, David Fulton and Matt Atwood, launched Our Future Now, a non-profit designed to counter the impact delivered when revelers gather by the thousands.
“The potential of these concerts is to reach 10,000 to 90,000 people at once,” said Kang, who’s spending his summer interweaving the values of Our Future Now into String Cheese’s tour schedule. With cooperating festival producers, Our Future Now will actively promote carpooling and bicycling to events to reduce carbon emissions, help erect “recycled art” projects and compelling renewable energy demonstrations, install solar- and wind-powered generators, purchase compostable cups for drinks, and serve food made from organic and local ingredients.
“We want to bring this message to people in a way that makes them feel good and want to be a part of it,” Kang explained. “The waste generated by most festivals is astonishing, and I honestly believe that once most people make the connection between the trash and the problems it creates, they’ll want to help correct it.” So far, Our Future Now has added a shade of green to mass gatherings like Lollapalooza and the Virgin Festival in Baltimore; this month it will participate in greening Burning Man.
Instead of the heap of trash most tours leave behind, Our Future Now seeks to leave a greater legacy in the communities it touches. “The goal is to instill our message in millions of people who will take it home and put it to daily use,” said Fulton. “This needs to go way beyond the festivals.”
Learn more or contribute to the cause through ourfuturenow.org.
— Alastair Bland
Rethinking How
We Communicate
As television’s most uninspired age ambles on, Americans sit in front of screens across the country consuming prodigious amounts of “reality” shows, consisting of programs that pit participants against one another in tests of Machiavellian cunning. Gordon Ramsay, Chef on FOX-TV’s Hell’s Kitchen constantly barks things like, “All I want is a fucking chicken — move your ass, you fat useless sack of yankie dankie doodle!” The Apprentice, American Idol, Survivor and so many others cultivate a culture of competitive, underhanded communication that we tell ourselves is just entertainment.
Meanwhile, roughly 50 percent of marriages in the U.S. fail per year, 18 percent of Americans over eighteen are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, and the National Institutes of Health reports that one out of every four kids will be verbally or physically abused by another youth.
Might these statistics have something to do with the way we communicate with one another? Much has been written about America’s — and many would argue, the Western world’s — predilection for “violent communication” — interactions using judgments, intimidation, coercion, guilt, and blame to get what we want.
Dr. Marshal Rosenberg’s practice of non-vionent communication (NVC) offers an alternative, providing a way to re-think how we communicate, along with practical tools to achieve empathic connection with others. Also known as “Compassionate Communication,” this practice delivers a skill set that allows us to get to the core of people’s behaviors, responding according to their needs and our own. “It may take five minutes or it may take five years, depending on the situation,” says Jeff Brown, a certified NVC trainer who gives workshops around the country and has yet to come across a situation where this method of communication has not been effective.
Myra Walden, an NVC counselor in Chicago’s West Suburbs, clarifies that “regardless of the way people may communicate, NVC teaches us to hear the needs underlying any words or actions.” A dialogue would include the four components of NVC: observations, feelings, needs, and requests, resulting in a more meaningful, connected exchange.
The NVC model can be extended into the school, the workplace, and even the political arena. In Israel, the Ministry of Education is making NVC mandatory in schools. There are trainers currently in Sri Lanka bringing dialogue to warring parties.
Local NVC trainers and workshops can be found through Jeff Brown, heartfeltcommun
ication.com, Hema Pokharna, journeysoflife.org, Allan Rohlfs, hometown.aol.com/allan rohlf and Myra Walden, allianceforNVC.org.
— Jessie Tierney
Photo: Jeff Conant
First U.S. Social Forum Meets in Atlanta
Imagine a country built on peace and social justice, on racial and gender equity, on ecological and economic security for everyone. Imagine a culture that excludes no one, marginalizes no one, and leaves no one behind. Imagine another world … a better world … a world made of many worlds … Imagine a country called hope.
For those who were able to attend the first US Social Forum (USSF) June 27-July 1 in Atlanta, Georgia, a glimpse of this country appeared on the horizon. When organizers of the World Social Forum (a global gathering of activists that began in Brazil in 2001) pointed out the key role of U.S. policies in the problems people face worldwide, the seed of the USSF was planted — hence the USSF slogan, “If Another World is Possible, Another U.S. is Necessary.”
Years in the making, the USSF brought together over 10,000 people to dream, plan, strategize, and act on the notion that if you want peace, you must work for justice. The gathering took place in Atlanta, birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because, as W.E.B. Dubois said, “As the South goes, so goes the Nation.” By coming together to strengthen their movements — in the words of Kai Barrows, an organizer with Critical Resistance, “to turn many movements into one Movement that really moves” — participants in the USSF hope to bring about long-term, radical social change.
Over 900 workshops, cultural events, and lectures took place over 5 days, touching on issues from immigrant rights to environmental sustainability to abolishing prisons. The overwhelming majority of presenters and participants were young people of color, affirming what 21-year-old Julián Moya, a representative of New Mexico’s Southwest Organizing Project said: “As youth, we are not the future, we are the present.”
Tom Goldtooth, Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, pointed out that, as the first people of this land, native people need to be at the forefront of any movement for social change, while Ed Ott, from the Central Labor Council of the AFL-CIO reminded the crowd that immigrants come to the US for the same reason migrants everywhere cross borders — to work for a better life.
Given the presence of so many youth, the plethora of cultural events, and the strong will of everyone present to learn from each other and work in unity, the spirit was wildly exuberant. Still, while the goal of the USSF was to envision the road to positive change, it remained painfully clear that with 2 million people in prison, over 85 million lacking health coverage, and a war with no end in sight, we have a long way to go. Nonetheless, the crowd roared when Eli Painted Crow, a Yaqui woman from Arizona who has become a voice for peace after serving twenty-two years in the military, reminded us that “Peace is not something you demand — it is something you become.”
Look for a global week of action next January, and regional social forums happening across the country until the next U.S. Social Forum in 2010.
— Jeff Conant
CCX: Innovative Solutions to a Global Crisis
It’s shortly after 7am on the trading floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, and the traders are already shouting and gesturing hand signals in their method of communication called open outcry. As home to multiple trading floors, including the world’s oldest futures and options exchange, market trade is nothing new to this city. And now Chicago has placed itself on the leading edge of trade, this time answering a new outcry — reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
While the federal government consistently backs away from formal commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions like the Kyoto Protocol, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) is offering a viable alternative. CCX is an international reduction and trading system that works with Members to strategically reduce their environmental footprint. Based on individualized plans, Members are annually allotted a set amount of Carbon Financial Instruments (CFI) or “credits”, the currency of the carbon-trading world. If Members reduce emissions below their allowance, their credit surplus may be sold or banked; if their allowance is exceeded, Members must purchase more credits to offset the difference. In essence, those who exceed their allowance must “pay to pollute.”
CCX membership is voluntary, but the commitment to reduce emissions is legally binding; more than 250 Members from various sectors of the global community have signed on. The CCX Member list includes states, cities (Illinois and Chicago included), electronic companies such as Motorola and Sony, consulting organizations like the Rocky Mountain Institute, universities, transportation services, and many more. CCX estimates that between 2003 and 2006 Members reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 130 million metric tons, comparable to nearly a year’s worth of emissions from the largest coal burning company in the U.S.
Despite this progress, critics argue the voluntary program isn’t harsh enough on those who exceed their limits, claiming a mandatory program is needed. Douglas Scott, Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, shares that individual states are beginning to develop their own mandatory emission control programs to meet this need. “The Chicago Climate Exchange is helpful because it gives us an example of how a trading system can work,” states Scott. Still, Scott notes, “the hope is that we will get it [an emissions control program] nationally.” A national mandatory system is ideal, but until then, CCX Members are voluntarily reducing our country’s footprint, and Chicago, once more, leads this powerful trade market.
For more about CCX, including how your organization can become a member, visit chicagoclimateexchange.com.
— Brooke Bailey
Extending Self-Improvement to All
“I call it my Alzheimer’s therapy.” Deborah Cullen isn’t referring to Sudoku, but rather time she spends volunteering with the University of Illinois Extension program in Cook County. Cullen teaches children in the Pilsen area and individuals with special needs how to grow and sustain gardens. But the rewards aren’t one-sided: “I’m teaching them about how they can take care of these large gardens, but they’re teaching me about their culture and communities. It’s just been the best [experience].”
As a land-grant institution, U of I is federally mandated to make higher education available to more people. Land-grant institutions were originally created in protest of classics-based higher education, which seemed inadequate for a primarily agricultural community. Extension programs were developed to extend research from schools to serve the people of the state.
With approximately 90 offices throughout Illinois, Extension spans all 102 counties in some form. Each year, more than 2.5 million people participate in Extension programs statewide, reaching over 500,000 through Extension in Cook County. Extension online draws close to 10 million page views from over 200 countries each month.
Although still commonly associated with horticulture, Cook County Extension is growing to meet the needs of a 21st century economy and taking a more holistic approach to community development. As a sampling, Extension in Cook County offers smoking cessation classes, cross-cultural parenting discussion groups, small business workshops, men’s health forums, refugee training and award-winning online curricula for educators (urbanext.uiuc.edu/schools).
According to U of I Extension’s AmySue Mertens, the scope of Extension in Cook County is changing because our world is changing. Extension programs seek to inform residents of major social and economic shifts and how they can learn from each other so Chicago remains a global leader. “A lot of it is about self esteem and self assurance and building a person and a community from the inside out,” states Mertens, “and Extension programs support that.”
To learn more, visit extension.uiuc.edu/cook.
— Brooke Bailey
Don’t Get Mad, Get Active
Stop BP from Dumping in Lake Michigan!
The towering BP oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana has been exempted from state environmental laws, allowing the company to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of sludge into Lake Michigan every day!
Conscious Choice has reported on BP’s record as one of the worst environmental polluters in the world (see Stealing Green, December‘06). BP has maintained an intensive marketing campaign to green their image of moving Beyond Petroleum (while 99 percent of their profits still come from oil and gas production).
The Whiting plant has been approved to expand so it can refine Canadian crude oil, which requires more energy to process (contributing to greenhouse gases) and is dirtier than conventional methods, meaning industrial sludge — full of concentrated heavy metals, and ammonia, which promotes algae growth and kills fish — gets pumped right into the lake we swim in and rely on for drinking water.
Contact BP Writing Refinery’s Public Affairs — ask for Tom Kyleman, 219-473-7700.
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