http://www.becominggreen.co.uk Becoming Green Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:51:52 +0000 http://www.becominggreen.co.uk en http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/Best-things-in-life http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/following/becominggreen.co.uk/Best-things-in-life Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:51:52 +0000 Becoming Green 3254928 <img src="http://payload47.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/3254928/TheBestThingsInLife.jpg" width="490" height="405" width_o="490" height_o="405" src_o="http://payload47.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/3254928/TheBestThingsInLife_o.jpg" data-mid="16679795" border="0" align="left"/> Just a quote from Art Buchwald. He also gave us gems like: 'It's easier to find a traveling companion than to get rid of one' and; 'If you attack the establishment long enough and hard enough, they will make you a member of it.' http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/Rodriguez http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/following/becominggreen.co.uk/Rodriguez Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:45:36 +0000 Becoming Green 1206395 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/1206395/Rodriguez.jpg" width="480" height="339" width_o="480" height_o="339" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/1206395/Rodriguez_o.jpg" data-mid="16679311" border="0" align="left"/> Sixto Rodriguez released 'Cold Fact' in 1970s America, it is a masterpiece, but it was almost completely forgotten in his home country. Weirdly, via a bit of success in Australia, he ended up becoming a cult icon in South Africa. The lyrics he sings on this album are just awesome. Here are some of my favourite lines: From Like Janis 'And you measure for wealth by the things you can hold. And you measure for love by the sweet things you're told. And you live in the past or a dream that you're in. And your selfishness is your cardinal sin.' From Rich Folks Hoax 'So don't tell me about your success; Nor your recipes for my happiness. Smoke in bed; I never could digest. Those illusions you claim to have going. From Establishment Blues 'The mayor hides the crime rate; council woman hesitates; Public gets irate but forget the vote date.' http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/Bonfire-of-the-Brands http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/following/becominggreen.co.uk/Bonfire-of-the-Brands Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:18:27 +0000 Becoming Green 1206393 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/1206393/bonfire-of-the-brands.jpg" width="300" height="221" width_o="300" height_o="221" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/1206393/bonfire-of-the-brands_o.jpg" data-mid="16678804" border="0" align="left"/>In Bonfire of the Brands, Neil Boorman lets go of consumerism. Being rather extremist, to illustrate a point, he decides to burn all of his branded possessions and take a new brand free life. It's a true story. It is a well researched and enlightening book to read but in no way academic. The resultant extreme drop off in material consumption is the reason why this is a great piece of education for sustainability, that hardly mentions the environment or social justice at all. In his post-brand life Boorman learns that the best things in life aren't things. They could make a cheesy feel good film about this (I hope they don't). http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/The-High-Price-of-Materialism http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/following/becominggreen.co.uk/The-High-Price-of-Materialism Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:06:46 +0000 Becoming Green 3135104 <img src="http://payload41.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/3135104/HighPriceMaterialism.jpg" width="670" height="378" width_o="1371" height_o="775" src_o="http://payload41.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/3135104/HighPriceMaterialism_o.jpg" data-mid="16678263" border="0" align="left"/> Alongside 'Psychology and Consumer Culture' and his work on Common Cause, Tim Kasser's 2002 book The High Price of Materialism has had a powerful impact on the sustainability movement. He teamed up with The Center for a new American dream to produce this animate summarising his work. It is a great starting point for getting people interested in this most important debate. http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/A-moment-of-silence http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/following/becominggreen.co.uk/A-moment-of-silence Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:59:07 +0000 Becoming Green 3254573 <img src="http://payload47.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/3254573/LetsHaveAMoment.jpg" width="500" height="510" width_o="500" height_o="510" src_o="http://payload47.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/3254573/LetsHaveAMoment_o.jpg" data-mid="16678022" border="0" align="left"/> Don't really need to say much about this... http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/Theory-U http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/following/becominggreen.co.uk/Theory-U Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:29:14 +0000 Becoming Green 2742234 <img src="http://payload22.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/2742234/theory-u-in-practice1.jpg" width="670" height="502" width_o="720" height_o="540" src_o="http://payload22.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/2742234/theory-u-in-practice1_o.jpg" data-mid="13906665" border="0" align="left"/> Theory U is too complex to describe in a couple of paragraphs, but I will summarise as best I can. It is a theory of creating change that learns from the future as it emerges. Through a process of participatory learning, related closely to action-research, those going through the U-movement vision, crystallise and prototype new ways of working and looking at problems, until they find new ways of operating that become the new norm. Involved in this is the process of presencing, letting go of old frames and old habits and resisting the temptation to 'download' lessons from the past. It is about overcoming the voices of judgement, cynicism and fear and having an open mind, heart and will to let in new ways of being. Learn more at Otto Scharmer's website. The graphic here is particularly useful in thinking about how to put Theory U into practice. http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/The-Man-Who-Planted-Trees http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/following/becominggreen.co.uk/The-Man-Who-Planted-Trees Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:33:59 +0000 Becoming Green 2355636 <img src="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/2355636/ManWho.png" width="670" height="483" width_o="1112" height_o="803" src_o="http://payload2.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/2355636/ManWho_o.png" data-mid="11837530" border="0" align="left"/> The Man Who Planted Trees is a 30 minute animated film version of a book by Jean Giono. It tells the story of Elzéard Bouffier a French peasant who set about re-foresting a desolate region of the Alps near Provence. It's a beautiful film to show to illustrate the joy of creation, biodiversity, modesty and the power of nature to shape human life. The story also helps to show how an ecosystem develops, sustains and flourishes. I'm very grateful to Ian Culbard, a colleague at Waste Watch who introduced this to me. http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/People-Things http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/following/becominggreen.co.uk/People-Things Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:31:50 +0000 Becoming Green 2181029 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/2181029/people_things.jpg" width="500" height="345" width_o="500" height_o="345" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/2181029/people_things_o.jpg" data-mid="10894960" border="0" align="left"/> This came to me via Facebook, I don't know whose image it is, so apologies for the lack of credit. Great conversation starter. People were created to be loved Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in CHAOS, is because things are being loved, and people are being used. http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/A-cautionary-tale http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/following/becominggreen.co.uk/A-cautionary-tale Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:01:15 +0000 Becoming Green 1615267 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/1615267/gold-apple.jpg" width="450" height="328" width_o="450" height_o="328" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/1615267/gold-apple_o.jpg" data-mid="7917287" border="0" align="left"/> This is a cautionary tale I read about in the NEF book 'The New Economics' The legendary Gold rush in California in the 1850s was a bitterly disappointing and brutalising experience for many of those taking part. But for a few, it meant a fortune. One of those, carrying his gold home with him on a ship that foundered in the Pacific, became the subject of a cautionary tale by the great Victorian critic John Ruskin a few years later. He described how the passenger, who was carrying 200 pounds of gold with him, was loathe to abandon his hard won wealth when the ship disappeared beneath the waves. He therefore strapped as much as he could to himself, and jumped over the side. Once in the sea, the gold dragged him down to the bottom. ‘Now as he was sinking’ asked Ruskin rhetorically ‘had he [got] the gold, or had the gold [got] him?’ You can follow NEF on twitter http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/Go-by-train http://www.becominggreen.co.uk/following/becominggreen.co.uk/Go-by-train Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:40:33 +0000 Becoming Green 1550462 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/1550462/betjemen.jpg" width="500" height="332" width_o="500" height_o="332" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/1/58102/1550462/betjemen_o.jpg" data-mid="7588959" border="0" align="left"/> People's backyards are much more interesting than their front gardens, and houses that back on to railways are public benefactors. (John Betjeman) Before embarking on any sort of travel I'd heed the advice of Alain de Botton and have a good think about WHY we travel. And, like Satish Kumar teaches us, the journey is an end in itself and should be taken mindfully. Once you have decided to set off somewhere, it is environmentally and spiritually nearly always better to do this travel overland. For long distance travel, cars and bicycles are versatile but tiring and coaches are plain hardcore (I once travelled to Bratislava via Vienna from London on a 24hr Eurolines coach, it was cheap but grim). Trains remain, for me, from all angles, the best way to travel; full stop. However, for us Europeans, booking cross continental train travel has, until now, been a bit of a nightmare, Loco2 travel changes all that, hopefully for ever! Through Loco2 you can book a journey from anywhere to anywhere within Europe; as websites go, that is quite an achievement in itself. So, no more searching for badly translated webpages of Spanish regional rail companies; no more frustration at the nightmare of RailEurope.co.uk; and no more excuses for jumping on a cheap Sardine Airlines flight.