One of the first things that caught my eye: bystander effect!

[Pamela]

I thought I'd start off a topic about something that caught my eye in the first few chapters.

“I also stopped outsourcing the problem to the environmentalists, stopped telling myself this was somebody else’s issue, somebody else’s job.”

It kinda made me think about how we always say someone is gonna do it, a sort of bystander effect. What do you guys think? Anything else that has caught your eye?

[Stacia]

This is really interesting! I think many of us have this mentality regarding technology as well. Like "soon enough there will be some new technology that will extract all of the carbon out of the environment" or something like that. I think Naomi Klein mentioned this actually.

A few days ago I interviewed a man named LaVerne who is one of the first architects to focus on sustainable and healthful residential design in Texas. I asked him if he was excited about any emerging technologies and his reply was very interesting to me. He said that people need to stop looking for advancements in technology and rather focus on reverting back to nature and that even our technological advancements need to bring us closer to our previous relationship with the environment.

I think this sentiment can be related to your discussion topic as well. Like Naomi said, we all need to stop outsourcing our environmental problems to various people and technologies and instead focus on independent sustainable activities that we can all take part in on a daily basis that will bring us closer to nature.

[Pamela]

Stacia this is such a great point! I often find that people think that technology is gonna fix everything. And even if that could be the case, i don't believe that there are enough investments in this type of technology. This, I do believe the answer is to go back to more natural roots like using the sun to heat our houses and our water. This made me think of things people are doing around the world, such as Freiburg, where housing is being developed to fit a passive house standard! Using natural lighting and shading!

It's very interesting this man you interviewed! I think a lot of people can argue that we have become so insensitive to nature because we have completely removed ourselves from it. That is, we identify ourselves as separate entities, we are one thing and nature is another! But the masses fails to recognize how much we depend on our environment.

So follow up question; what can we tell non-environmentalists they can do besides the usual recycle and eat less meat. What can they for their local governments?

[Christine]

Hello everyone!!

I'm thrilled for our new Eco book club and for This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. Climate to be our first book to discuss! Thanks Stacia for putting this together and Thank you Pam for posting the first discussion!

I want to go ahead and say that as I'm not too far away from finishing the book, I won't be giving away any spoilers and I will most of the time wait until I see where the majority of you guys are at to post a discussion I think is interesting.

I do want to say that this book has been a HUGE enlightenment for me in every sense of my life. It has not only exposed me to some very brutal realities that I didn't know have happened in our past or happening now, but also taught me how to look at everything that is happening around us in a light of opportunity. This book travels with me everywhere and has been to many beautiful and inspiring places these past 6 months; from the banks of the French Loire river to the crystal clear Mediterranean waters in Sardegna, Italy and all the way to the West Indies, Grenada Caribbean island. Unfortunately it's seen better days and after months of travels has been split in two, cover ripped off, pages individually torn out (talk about an aggressive reader).

Reading Naomi Klein has inspired me in so many ways and has led to some beautiful in depth conversations with Louis and I... concepts Naomi brings up that Louis had already mentioned to me even before I started reading her (the French are just so smart).

So all of this is just to say that even after all of the negative news, Trumps unfortunate win, and our dumbed-down society, I still believe in us because we are the ones who will create and push for a mass movement of regular people and regular citizens who just want what everybody else wants- better quality of life, income equality, good, clean, and safe jobs and as Naomi says "dispersing the power into the hands of the many rather than consolidating it into the hands of the few."

So Pam, to answer your question, what can we tell non-environmentalists to do instead of just recycling and eating less meat. I would say the most important thing would be to tell them to GET INFORMED. Read the news, read the headlines, listen to NPR, get to know what's happening around the world that YOU live in, talk to people, start a conversation, get involved in your local government, know who and what you are voting for, step outside of your USA bubble and wake up to the fact that EVERY choice you make plays HUGE role on the thousands of lives living all over the world. You are only a speck of a person on this earth and there are 7 billion others out there. What will you do to fight for humanity? People don't like thinking that they might be misinformed, underinformed, or living ignorantly in their own world. So if you strike up a meaningful conversation with someone and they don't know what you're talking about, they will most likely be intrigued to know more and to do more research so that they can intelligently carry on that conversation with you the next time. Once people start becoming informed and start realizing their choices really matter- that is when the power of activism strikes and you notice people with the desire to act in order to make a difference.

We have to keep fighting our fight because time is running out and we are our last hope. Our work is more important than ever before now because we have the information, the data, the science, the technology and the will power all in our hands. So we won't just sit back and watch us burn to the ground in a 6th mass extinction. We are the Environmental Warriors and we will pass on our legacy to those who will continue to spread the good word. So power and strength to us all in every environmental field that we have chosen to lead because we are going to do amazing things. I can feel it. With that I will leave you with one of Naomi's inspiring quotes on page 7 in her Introduction that really made me sit and think about our future:

"And through conversations with others in the growing climate justice movement, I began to see all kinds of way that climate change could become a catalyzing force for positive change- how it could be the best argument progressives have ever had to demand the rebuilding and reviving of local economies; to reclaim our democracies from corrosive corporate influence; to block harmful new free trade deals and rewrite old ones; to invest in starving public infrastructure like mass transit and affordable housing; to take back ownership of essential services like energy and water; to remake our sick agricultural system into something much healthier; to open borders to migrants whose displacement is linked to climate impacts; to finally respect Indigenous land rights- all of which would help to end grotesque levels of inequality within our nations and between them."

Power to the People & Que la force soit avec nous!

Peace and Love,
Chriz

[Stacia]

Thanks for your comments Pam and Christine! And sorry that it has taken me so long to post my reply.

Christine, thank you for sharing your experience reading This Changes Everything. I am so glad you were able to encourage us to read the book as well. I'd love to see what your book looks like when you're completely done reading it!

Pam, regarding your previous question, I think for me, it needs to be answered in two ways. First, I think it's important for a person who considers themselves to be a "non-environmentalist" to get as much information on the ways the environment affects our everyday lives and vice versa. I also think it is very important for environmentalists, such as ourselves, to be open to discussing our beliefs while also listening to their concerns. (A great and very inspiring example of this is in "Years of Living Dangerously" season 2 episode 6 where a Texas A&M student discusses the importance of implementing a carbon tax to residents in Texas' big oil district) I believe that if we are able to openly discuss our viewpoints with people with completely opposing viewpoints we can then come up with compromises and solutions that positively work for everyone (this is my hope for our book club). I also think it's important to frame the ideology of climate change in a way that deniers will feel most strongly about. For instance, Klein mentioned that when speaking with Republicans about climate change it is most powerful to frame it as a national security issue rather than solely as an environmental issue.

For the secondary part of my answer, I think if someone is interested in ways to become an advocate for the environment it is really important to get involved with your local government, which of course will be a different experience depending on where you live. Definitely recycling, limiting meat consumption and utilizing public transport or net-zero transport is a huge way to decrease your carbon footprint but I believe the most efficient way to participate is by speaking with your local members of congress to find out where environmental work is needed in your local community.

For example, my mother and I have finally gotten the land approved to be turned into a permaculture food forest for our community. We will get volunteers and help us garden and then the produce will be open and free for anyone that would like some! This project has been years in the making and will take many more years before it is ready but I am happy that my family will be able to make a positive contribution to the environment and our community.

So, to tie this all up, everyone's role in the protection of the environment will vary but you can find out where your work can be most utilized if you become involved with your local government.

What do you guys think? :)

[Christine]

Hey Stacia,

Wow, this is such an inspiring post! I love what you and your mom did. That is incredible being able to contribute back to the environment and to your community right in your backyard! I totally agree with you, people need to find out where they can help and how they can help starting with their own community!

I also agree that we need to be open to talking to others with opposing views and be open to have smart conversations with them. This is the only way we will ever move forward as a human race. I need to finish Years of Living Dangerously!

More to follow...

[Pamela]

Sorry I am just getting to these now! I totally agree we need to be mor open to speak to anyone but also develop the skill to appeal to the general public Stacia I think it's awesome what you do! So incredible