Brita Subvertisement: a gift that dropped into our laps tonight!

Please don't let me interrupt the conversation happening on the previous post. I've been reading your comments, even though I don't really have time to respond right now. But I just had to jump in and tell you about a wonderful gift that the Take Back The Filter campaign received today.

First, have you seen the Brita filter ads discouraging bottled water that go "X minutes in/on the.... Forever in the landfill"? For example, a woman on a treadmill with a disposable plastic water bottle that goes, "30 minutes on the treadmill. Forever in a landfill." If you haven't, it might be worthwhile to check them out here.

First, I am not disparaging Brita's campaign. If it's helping to slow the sales of bottled water, I am all for it. But as you know, the plastic Brita filters are also not recyclable, which is why we started the Take Back The Filter campaign to urge Brita to create a way to recycle the filters, as the original Brita company is already doing in Europe.

(Wouldn't it be nice if Brita would make a public announcement that they plan to have a take-back program in place by a definite date? Hint to Brita PR people who might be reading this blog.)

Well, today, independent videographer Jeph Foust of Studio Freshh Audio Video Storytelling gifted us with a brand new "subvertisement" that he and his wife Dorothy put together this morning in support of the campaign. It's already up on YouTube. You can view the YouTube version embedded on this page, or you can visit Studio Freshh's blog to view a higher resolution version.



This video was a complete surprise. While I was at home this morning, taking my shower, feeding the cats, watering my plants, Jeph and Dorothy were at work creating this beautiful gift for our campaign. Of course, it's going to go up on the Take Back The Filter web site this weekend when I do an update, but I just couldn't wait to let you all know about it. Wow. I'm just so grateful and amazed at how our actions can ripple out into the world.

So feel free to forward the video on, embed it in your web page, e-mail it, stumble and digg and whatever it is that you do to let people know about cool things. AND please leave a comment on the YouTube site in support of the campaign!

Then continue with the awesome conversation that's been going on since yesterday. Clif, I laughed at your sleep comment because, in fact, that's exactly what I'm trying!
 

 

Activism, Religion, & Despair: What Would Jesus Buy?

Last weekend I finally saw the documentary What Would Jesus Buy? on DVD. It follows the crusade of "Reverend Billy" and the "Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir" during this past Christmas season as they traveled cross country spreading a message of anti-commercialism, support for local businesses, and hairspray. Well, the hairspray was more method than message, but I digress.

Say what you want about environmentalists taking on the language of the Church to make their points, (and by the way, there's been quite a bit of debate about that very issue this week on the Green Bean Dreams and TallgrassWorship blogs) Reverend Billy's evangelical escapades, offensive or not, grab attention and draw converts to the cause. He exorcises shopping demons from Wal-mart and Disneyland. He gets himself banned for life from Starbucks. He's been arrested more times than his wife Savitri can count.

But flamboyant showmanship aside, what spoke to me as an activist was the group's persistence in the face of a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Americans love to shop. The opening of the documentary shows footage of customers trampling each other at midnight on Black Friday in their race to get the best deals before everyone else. Everyone wanted either a Wii or an X-Box374rt43gh-something-or-other. And if they couldn't bring it home THIS CHRISTMAS, they might as well not come home at all.

And yet there was Reverend Billy and his choir preaching in the midst of the chaos, singing revised versions of Christmas carols, and smiling at those who would deride them. What does it take to be that kind of person? Balls of steel? A white suit and an entire can of Aqua Net every day? It was hard enough for me to dress as a BRITA filter for the Bay to Breakers, an event where participants are expected to be outrageous. Now, I'm thinking about wearing my costume to the BART station to gather signatures during evening rush hour. Do I have the guts? What will it take to pull it off?

There is a scene in the film which was particularly touching to me. Billy and his wife are alone in their hotel room (except for the camera crew, presumably) feeling exhausted and overwhelmed after a particularly intense action at Wal-mart.

Savitri: [Looking like she's ready to break.] I just don't know if anyone hears us. Or if they do hear us, they so don't want to hear us.

Billy: You look pretty tired.

Savitri: I feel I need for what we do to have an impact on someone. Soon.

Back in November, I left a comment on the No Impact Man blog that Colin Beavan copied (with my enthusiastic permission) as a post a few days later. The title of the post was, "On Caring Without Despairing," and in it, I said:

My dad asked me the other day how I can blog day after day about plastic and not get totally overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the problem. I think part of my coping strategy, and it might be yours too, is selective attention.

I guess I allow in as much information as I can stand in order to understand the problem and then shut it out and focus on what I can do and how I can have the biggest impact and do the most good I can without caving under the pressure.

Not my most articulate moment, but sincere. My feeling at the time was that if I allowed myself to become overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem, I'd just curl up under the covers and do nothing but drink and eat bon bons. Shortly afterwards I received an email from No Impact Man reader, Brian Morton, who begged to differ with me. He actually sent me a very long essay explaining why despair is valuable and why we should all allow ourselves to feel our despair fully and completely. Here's the last paragraph of his essay. I'd love to know what you think.

A time of black despair is coming, and if you feel like you are drowning in despair be comforted. Despair is a GOOD thing, when it functions properly. Swim in your despair, master it, use it for what it is good for. Use your despair to let go, and set new humbler goals. You are less rich, and less powerful than you think you are, than you are used to being. But you are not without any wealth; you are not without any power. Each breath is riches; each moment is wealth; each choice is power. All work is using our power. Do what work you can, plan, set new goals, and do what good you can. Despair, but do not drown in it, despair to clear a place for humbler goals. Your despair is in reality a valuable friend, helping you to re-prioritize your life, even when doing so is painful and difficult. Despair hurts, but it is a virtue in disguise. The pain of despair is the pain of healing, and adapting to humbler circumstances. All Americans will soon become acquainted with despair. Be assured, despair is a gloomy ally, but it is not in the end your enemy.

So, the question is, how do you cope? What keeps you going in the face of massive problems? As an activist (and I believe that everyone reading this blog is an activist in some way, whether you call yourself that or not) what makes you think you can make a difference? What gives you hope? And what is the role of despair in your life?
 

 

Blue Vinyl: A Toxic Love Story

I was sick as a dog this weekend and spent all day Saturday on the couch watching videos. Many readers, after reading about my purges (here and here and here) of #3 PVC containers and a MultiPure water filter system containing PVC, recommended Blue Vinyl to me. But I just never had time to sit down and watch it until I was too sick to do anything else.

Wow. Thank you to everyone who recommended this film. And for those who haven't seen it, run out NOW and get it. Rent it from Netflix, buy it directly from Docurama films, borrow it from the library or from a friend who has
it, or come over to my house and see it with me! I just ordered my own copy, as this DVD is one piece of plastic I hope to get a lot of use from. (And no! This is not a paid advertisement and I have not received any free stuff... although if anyone from Blue Vinyl is reading this, I'll be happy to take and distribute as many copies as you want to send my way!)

Watching this film gave me such hope for what we can do as individuals if we put our minds to it. It's the personal story of the filmmaker, Judith Helfand, who reveals right from the start that she's had a hysterectomy from cancer linked to drugs her mother took while pregnant. Right then, I felt I had a certain bond with this uterine-free sister woman. When her parents decide to replace the rotting wood on their house with blue vinyl siding, she begins a years-long campaign to learn as much as she can about the hazards of vinyl and finally convinces them, after they've already finished the house, to actually remove the vinyl siding and replace it with reclaimed wood.

Along the way, we travel from her home on Long Island, NY to Louisiana, where most of the PVC in the U.S. is produced and many workers and residents have been made sick; Venice, Italy, where another huge PVC plant has made workers sick; to the SF Bay Area where she searches for the least toxic building materials to replace the vinyl. Throughout the film, major points are illustrated with charming animations by Emily Hubley, who also animated another of my all-time favorite movies, the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. And Blue Vinyl is peppered with Judith's own sense of humor, as she carries her one piece of vinyl siding along with her everywhere she goes.

I call it a toxic love story because the film is not just about an environmental issue, but also about the relationship of a daughter with her parents and the push/pull that happens in families. Her story reminded me so much of myself and my own parents. How she tugs on them to change their minds, and how in the end she has to learn to let go and let them be who they are. Just the fact that they actually allowed her to pull off the siding and replace it was amazing to me, despite the ironic epilogue which I won't spoil.

When you do watch the DVD (and I just know you will because it's so great and I'm telling you to) be sure and watch the extras, including the short video about Greenpeace's non-toxic Habitat for Humanity home built in Louisiana. (It's on the second "page" of extras so you need to click "Next" to get to it.) It will leave you feeling inspired and hopeful for the future.