Activism

“The Future of Fashion: Merging Style and Sustainable Social Impact”

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100 people gather in NYC to discuss sustainable fashion

Greenspaces and Be Social Change hosted a terrific ecofashion panel on Tuesday 11/29/11 to discuss how we change the way fashion is produced to reduce the negative impacts on both the environment and workers. The panel was organized by professor Carmen Artigas who teaches Ethical fashion at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and Parsons. Speakers included Summer Rayne Oakes, ecofashion pioneer and model, author of the book “Style Naturally,” and Founder of Source4Style. She shared the importance of helping designers find sustainably produced fabrics, and also pointed out that some big name brands like Levi’s are actually doing their part to increase trace-ability of fabrics down the supply chain.

David Radparvar, Holstee, spoke about his upcycled clothing company’s unique attitude about selling– their website encourages people not to buy items they don’t really need. Deirdre McGuigan, Indego Africa, spoke about her work with connecting women designers in Africa to well known stores in the United States. Erica Wolf, Save the Garment Center, spoke passionately about supporting goods that were made right here by talented workers in the garment district of New York, where clothing manufacturers, somewhat surprisingly, still do exist.

Beth Fiteni & Summer Rayne Oakes

See: greenspaceshome.com (a shared office space for eco-minded entrepreneurs in NYC)

source4style.com (Source4Style 2.0 is about to launch december 2011!)

shop.holstee.com

indegoafrica.org

savethegarmentcenter.org

carmenartigas.com

 

Dr. Melanie Joy Speaks on “Carnism”

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Dr. Melanie Joy

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock in Manhasset, NY hosted a presentation by Dr. Melanie Joy, a social psychologist and author of ”Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows.” Clearly a provocative topic, I salute the UU for creating this forum. Dr. Joy’s main theme is that most people who don’t live on farms don’t think about the killing that goes on to produce their food, and in fact this is partially due to the fact that it is hidden (somewhat intentionally) from most of us. Many people who are trying to be more conscious are switching to more “humanely raised” meat. However, she made a good point in asking audience members if they would feel ok about eating their golden retriever after a few years because it had a good life, running around, doing dog things. But this is what happens to other animals, and it is culturally accepted. With gentle warnings, she showed a few brief clips of scenes from factory farms, and discussed the idea of “carnism” (a term she coined), or meat-eating as “normal” and “necessary,” as we are raised in the western world to believe. Being that her own father is a commercial fisherman, Dr. Joy also spoke about the cultural and familial aspect of our dietary history. My kudos to the crowd of 75 people who held a thoughtful, positive, and respectful discussion afterwards. It gave me hope for our ability to become more aware even on very uncomfortable topics, and for the human mind to evolve towards less violence in the world.

Conservation Commissions Hold Conference on the Environment

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Oct 21-23, 20011– The NYS Association of Conservation Commissions (NYSACC) held their annual meeting in Rensselearville, NY (near Albany) and I was invited to participate in a panel on climate change. It was a very smart and conscientious group, including some students who were given scholarships to attend. It was a fact-filled conference, with many from around the state sharing stories of their efforts to reduce their town’s greenhouse gas emissions. A compelling lecture was offered by Michael Gerrard, a well-known expert on environmental law from Columbia University. He spoke about the fact that when scientists talk about the effect of excess carbon dioxide, they have already taken into account all the natural background contributors, such as volcanoes and sun activity. He noted the widespread doubt being fostered by conservative news outlets and politicians, however there really is no scientific doubt anymore. Robert Moore, Environmental Advocates, spoke about hydrofracking and some of the other campaigns their organization is working on. I think everyone gained a lot of information that will assist them in going back to address the work that is clearly cut out for us. See www.nysaccny.org.

Mark Lowery, NYS DEC conducts workshop

Greater Long Island Clean Cities, Advancing the Choice

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The Greater Long Island Clean Cities held its annual Advancing the Choice Conference on October 14th, 2011 at Bethpage Park. This event highlights alternative fuel vehicles, alternative fuels, and all the people locally who are helping to make them a reality here on Long Island. Peter Scully, Regional Director of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) addressed the crowd with facts about climate change to remind the group why their efforts are so important. He pointed out a scary fact– because we are releasing so much carbon into the atmosphere that is binding with oxygen, there is now actually less in oxygen in the atmosphere. On the positive side, it’s therefore always inspiring to hear about successes with fleets being converted from conventional fossil sources of fuel, and to actually see cutting edge vehicles on display. See GLICC.org.

David Schieren, Empower Solar, loves his new Chevy Volt
Peter Scully, Regional DEC Director speaks at GLICCC event

Tribute to Professor Wangari Maathai (1940-2011)

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(Excerpted from the United Nations Environment Programme tribute)

Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, founder of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement and patron of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Billion Tree Campaign, died 9/25/11 in Nairobi. She was 71 years old. Professor Maathai was one of Africa’s foremost environmental campaigners, internationally recognized for her commitment to democracy, human rights and conservation. She founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, encouraging women in rural Kenya to plant trees in order to improve their livelihoods through better access to clean water, firewood for cooking and other resources. Since then, the Green Belt Movement has planted over 30 million trees in Africa and assisted nearly 900,000 women to establish tree nurseries and plant trees to reverse the effects of deforestation. In 2004, the Nobel Prize Committee recognized Professor Maathai’s lifelong commitment to environmental sustainability and the empowerment of women by awarding her the Nobel Peace Prize. She was the first environmentalist and the first African woman to receive the honor. In December 2002, Professor Maathai was elected to Kenya’s parliament and appointed Assistant Minister for environment and natural resources. [Read more…] about Tribute to Professor Wangari Maathai (1940-2011)