On Earth Day many people are looking to environmental organizations to help them understand how they can reduce their consumption, stop global warming, and other efforts to improve the health of our Earth. These are important issues to tackle, but I find it even more exciting to discover organizations that are making additional strides to address environmental and social justice at the same time.
The Oakland Food Connection, is an environmental justice organization in the Bay Area that brings together practical gardening, food security and nutrition to urban schools. One of their projects includes creating a rooftop vegetable garden at a local elementary school. I found out about this project on RyanIsHungry.com, where Ryanne explains, “These vegetables will serve as more than just a healthy meal, they’ll help educate kids and their parents about the possibilities that exist beyond processed, packaged foods and the often limited variety of produce sold in stores.” It’s my hope that they will also be turned on to issues around industrial agriculture and its negative consequences that spans economic, labor, and the environmental issues. Check out the video to hear from the director of the Oakland Food Connection and learn more.
Other environmental justice organizations that focus on green jobs are also receiving more attention as the climate justice movement is growing. In the extra from the Everything’s Cool Activist DVD, Green Job Revolution , Van Jones who is the Founder and President of Green for All explains that there is only one solution to the ecological and the economic crisis: we need a green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Green for All is at the forefront of the national movement to building an inclusive green economy.
Check out the Green Job Revolution video below to hear more of what Van Jones has to say and see what the Chicago-based organization Growing Home is doing to provide job training and create employment opportunities for homeless and low-income people in Chicago within the context of a non-profit organic agriculture business.
Solutions are rooted in every city and town in America. Today and all year long – since Earth Day is everyday – let’s support and celebrate efforts for environmental justice.
From time to time Working Films finds interesting news articles we want to share with you.
Check out this article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution about the testimony of experts witnesses who shared their concerns about the impact of global climate change with Congress. Also take a look at the responses of Congressional Representatives who don’t believe the scientists. This article reminds me how much work there is to do. Like the global warming messengers in Everything’s Cool we all have to keep up the pressure to make sure that more of our leaders understand the reality of global warming.
Scientists warn of global warming doom; skeptics scoff By BOB DART The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 04/27/07
“Mexican butterflies fluttering around Austin, Texas, could be harbingers of a global apocalypse caused by climate change, scientists warned a congressional committee Thursday.Global warming is reaching a point at which flooding, pestilence, fire, disease and starvation could threaten human existence, academics told the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
Earth is approaching “tipping points of the system with the potential for irreversible deleterious effects,” said James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies…”]
Working Films is always on the lookout for new developments in the news about global warming. This is the first in a series of future posts highlighting interesting news articles we think you might like to have a look at.
Increasingly a diverse set of constituencies is lining up to fight global warming, and one of these constituencies is the world’s Catholics. At a recent Vatican conference on climate change Pope Benedict said that scientists, religious leaders, and political leaders should “respect creation” while “focusing on the needs of sustainable development.” To find out more about how the Catholic Church is responding to global climate change read this article that we found in London’s The Guardian newspaper.
Protect God’s Creation: Vatican issues new green message for world’s Catholics John Vidal and Tom Kington in Rome
Friday April 27, 2007 The Guardian
On Sunday, April 15th Everything’s Cool co-director Judith Helfand and Robert West, co-founder and executive director of Working Films, participated on a panel at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival about using film to support the movement to end global warming. Working Films is coordinating the two-year audience and community engagement campaign for Everything’s Cool. The panel was sponsored by the Fledgling Fund and moderated by Fledgling’s founder Diana Barrett. Diane Weyermann and Lisa Day of Participant Productions were also on the panel speaking about An Inconvenient Truth.
The panel emphasized the need for filmmakers to listen to the needs of organizers in order to form a campaign that will effectively support the movement. Robert and Judith illustrated Working Films’ methodology for the audience by discussing their partnerships formed around the Everything’s Cool world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.
Audience members asked: What comes first, the film or the movement? The panel made it clear that it has to be a reciprocal relationship. Robert said, “the environmental movement – like all strives for justice – needs the skills of filmmakers, crafting the stories that will incite and ignite audiences. Film and video hold unique power to move audiences to action.” Judith explained that it is helpful to get feedback early on in the production process in order to create a movie that can be used as a tool for the movement. By working in close partnership with the organizations and activists on the ground, filmmakers are able to connect their stories to current campaigns and initiatives which take the film and audience to another level of engagement – action.
In support and recognition of Step It Up events happening nationwide on April 14th, Working Films and Toxic Comedy Pictures compiled the Everything’s Cool activist preview DVD for Step It Up organizers and volunteers.
This limited release activist DVD features selected scenes and characters from EVERYTHING’S COOL includes Dr. Heidi Cullen, whistle blower Rick Piltz – and very cool coverage from Sundance, including news casts and behind-the-scenes footage of the 1000 school kids’ aerial message that launched Step It Up.
Everything’s Cool will premiere in the Southeast on April 13th at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina. After the screening, Step It Up organizers will be inviting the audience to participate in the Raleigh event on the state capital ground. In addition, the filmmakers and Wroking Films will also present a panel with The Inconvenient Truth on Sunday, April 15th at noon: “Reaching Out on Global Warming”. Wondering what to do AFTER your Step It Up event? Work with EVERYTHING’S COOL and keep the momentum going – Order your copy of the ACTIVIST PREVIEW DVD now!
In order to share more of our Sundance world premiere experience with everyone, Working Filmsand Everything’s Cool producer Chris Pilaro have created Flickr photosharing accounts. If you have any relevant photos, you can create an account and tag your photos with Everything’s Cool Sundance to make them searchable with ours.
Bish Neuhauser, a character in Everything’s Cool, was motivated to make biodiesel for his car, and eventually succeeded in pushing the ski resort where he worked to run their vehicles off of biodiesel. After a special screening for high school students, Bish made a visit. Check out what was catalyzed:
Working Films teamed with John Quigley of Spectral Q to direct a human aerial image encouraging the growing community concerned with the perils of global warming to take immediate action by stepping up our responses. This event launches a two-year audience and community engagement campaign organized by Working Films for the Sundance Film Festival film “Everything’s Cool.”
Approximately 1000 middle and elementary school students, along with the production team of Everything’s Cool and some of the main characters in the film, formed a message with their bodies, spelling out “Step It Up.” The image contains a circle with bear paws, representing carbon neutral footprints and a word in Inuktitut meaning: “I hear you and I am doing something about it.”
Park City’s students were sending a message back to the Arctic Inuit Community, where, as captured in Everything’s Cool, residents and activists on Earth Day 2005 lay on the Arctic Sea ice in 30 below temperatures sharing the ancient wisdom of their elders and warning the world about the devastating impact the melting arctic will have on the rest of the world.
“The themes and messages of this film arrive at such a critical moment in our struggle to see action on the issue of global warming,” said Robert West, co-founder and executive director of Working Films. “The image we’re created today demonstrates that each individual is a necessary part of the chain for change; by linking together, we can create a call to action.”
Working Films, Spectral Q and Cucolaris – who specialize in social messaging –jointly coordinated the event. This is part of a series of aerial images linked to the STEP IT UP Day of Action; the next will be created in Greenland in May of this year to encourage individuals and corporations to go carbon neutral.
Photo credits: top left: John Quigley, Spectral-Q; middle right: Working Films and Chris Pilaro
Activities surrounding Sundance are keeping us busy! Keep posted to find out what’s going on and how you can be involved! Check out our video of audiences taking action to counter global warming:
Can’t see the video? Download Quicktime 7 Video by Jeremy Levine, music by Atwood As the curtains close after Everything’s Cool screenings at Sundance, audience members are signing postcards to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid – urging Congress to STEP UP their commitment to address global warming. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Energy Efficiency Tip cards are being distributed with over a thousand IKEA compact florescent light bulbs.Everything’s Cool and Working Films are also offsetting over 300 pounds of the carbon emissions generated from travel to Sundance – Cool Tags are being sported by each Everything’s Cool audience member. To counter the CO2 emitted by the cars, planes, and other transportation used to get to the festival, Clif Bar Cool Tags represent an investment in the Alaskan Native Village Wind Project.Take the next step and offset your own carbon with NativeEnergy.
