Lawren et al., Unfortunately, I think you may be preaching to the choir. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but if every ESA member were to follow through and commit to the 'doing something', instead of just 'talking more', what would that accomplish? Just going by the numbers, conservatively speaking, ESA membership is around 10,000 and according to the Census Bureau, the current population in the US is 312,718,825 ( http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html) So, what do we do about the other 312,708,000? I'm in the education arena and it is a question that I've been trying to figure out how to answer for a long time. I know advocacy is one way and something I work on all the time. Maybe this should be part of the focus of the 'doing something' approach. Steve
___________________ Stephen L. Young, PhD Weed Ecologist University of Nebraska-Lincoln West Central Research & Extension Center 402 West State Farm Road North Platte, NE 69101 syou...@unl.edu 308-696-6712 Website: http://ipscourse.unl.edu Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/North-American-Invasive-Plant-Short-Course/181955048542937 Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/NAIPSC From: Lawren Sack <lawrens...@ucla.edu> To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Date: 12/02/2011 09:09 PM Subject: [ECOLOG-L] What Can I DO?? Re: [ECOLOG-L] Message from Paul Ehrlich Dear Paul and others I appreciate the sermon, and those movies look really interesting, and I can't wait to see them. Still it would be super-wasteful to buy copies of DVDs and distribute them as Christmas presents. I just read that more than 30 billion compact discs are sold annually, generating enormous waste in manufacture, distribution and disposal. Anyhow, we now can download movies and software now! The film "Mother" can be streamed, but the other two recommended movies cannot yet. I just phoned the distributors to ask and I got the definite impression that if a number of people were to write to them, they could be motivated to update their web sites to allow downloads sooner rather than later. Even more importantly, sending and watching movies and talking about them might not be enough. For those people who are past conversational, and have reached the "What can we do?" stage, we might be working toward practical solutions. I just read on the website for Paul's MAHB organization that, "It's too late for talk, the only hope is ACTION! The crisis is NOW! If we act TODAY, we can sustain the future...". But, haven't found any recommendations for practical action listed on the MAHB web site. (Under "Ideas for Actions", there is advice on generating more conversation: http://mahb.stanford.edu/what-can-i-do/ideas-for-actions/ ) For practical actions, here are some other web sites with information. http://www.50waystohelp.com/ http://www.worldwatch.org/resources/go_green_save_green http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/save-earth-top-ten.htm http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/environment/0,28757,1602354,00.html In fact, there must be many great web resources with latest solutions and best practices toward environmental and social sustainability. If you have some that you especially like, please send to me and I'll send it out to the list in the New Year, in time for resolutions. It would be great to see what the ideas are! When such lists are compiled they could be posted on the MAHB web site and elsewhere. Very best wishes Lawren At 10:26 AM 12/2/2011, David Inouye wrote: >>From: "Paul R. Ehrlich" <p...@stanford.edu> >> >>Subject: GLOBAL EMERGENCY: WHAT CAN I DO?? >> >>Dear Friends, >> >>Anne and I were recently at a meeting of scientists, politicians, and >>media people in Sydney. Everyone was in agreement that humanity is >>in the midst of a largely unrecognized global emergency -- one that >>puts the persistence of civilization seriously in doubt. And there >>was no agreement on the burning question "what can I do about >>it?" That is a question that is central to the MAHB and various >>social movements, all of which are searching for >>answers. Occasionally I'll pester those on my list with things I >>think you can do -- this is the first of such pestering. >> >>There are three important films available on topics dear to MAHB's >>heart: the impossibility of perpetual economic growth >>(GROWTHBUSTERS), the population problem (MOTHER), and the lethal loss >>of biodiversity (CALL OF LIFE). You can find more about them on the >>MAHB web site at >>http://mahb.stanford.edu/media-bar/mahb-goes-to-the-movies/. Or you >>can go to their respective web sites: >> >>http://www.growthbusters.org/ >>http://www.motherthefilm.com/ >>http://calloflife.org/ >> >>What can you do? You could buy copies and send them as Christmas >>presents, arrange showings at local high schools and colleges, pester >>school boards and deans to get them included in curricula, write to >>TV stations and ask them to show them, write newspapers and ask them >>to review them, arrange showings for your neighbors/friends. The >>Ecology-Evolution group of the Biology department at Stanford will be >>showing all three in teach-ins next week, focusing on the inequity >>issues that pervade all three areas. We're doing it in support of >>the "Occupy the Future" movement on campus. I will also be >>integrating them into my courses. Let's use some of the energy >>generated by frustration with our broken government and corrupt >>financial system to actually DO something. End of sermon......P >> >>Paul R. Ehrlich >>Bing Professor of Population Studies >>President, Center for Conservation Biology >>Department of Biology, 371 Serra Mall >>Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020 >>Ph 650-723-3171 >>Fx 650-723-5920 >>https://www.stanford.edu/group/CCB/cgi-bin/ccb/content/paul-r-ehrlich >> >>-------------------------------------------------------------- >>This e-mail was sent from my e-mail list. If you would like to >>unsubscribe, send an e-mail to >>ehrlich_list-unsubscr...@lists.stanford.edu, do not write anything >>in the subject or body of the message. Please follow the >>instructions in the incoming email. >>If you would like to subscribe, send an e-mail to >>ehrlich_list-subscr...@lists.stanford.edu, do not write anything in >>the subject or body of the message. > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Lawren Sack >Professor, Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology >University of California, Los Angeles >621 Charles E. Young Drive South >Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606 USA > >Tel: 310-825-6525 >Fax: 310-825-9433 >Email: lawrens...@ucla.edu >http://www.eeb.ucla.edu/Faculty/Sack
