Welcome to another article series I’m testing: Sustainable Brain Candy. This series will bring you tasty thought snippets, gathered from events and other sources of inspiration.

Today’s batch of goodies is the aftertaste of Sustainable Practice Network’s “Green Consumerism as Paradigm Shift” discussion. I’ve included info on the panel’s topic and participants at the end of this article. In the meantime, here are some summaries to savor:

• “Buycotting” instead of “boycotting” to use your money to support what you want to see. [Marisa Guber]
• Advertising hasn’t taken responsibility for the problems resulting from the products the industry helps market. Since advertising and design have the power to exacerbate these problems, they also have the power to ameliorate them through the transmission of knowledge. [Jeff Cooper]
• Move from “citizen activist” to “consumer activist” because government doesn’t move as quickly as the market could. [Wendy Gordon]
• “Titanic Model,” a term coined by the Jamie Cloud of the Sustainability Institute, refers to the attitude that if we’re all going to go down, we might as well go down in style. [Marisa Guber] It’s a concept useful in considering why some individuals choose not to change their consumer behavior in response to climate change science.
• Green choice is becoming the smart choice. People will act because energy prices continue to increase. [Wendy Gordon]
• Consumerism is not in fundamental opposition to sustainability. Some products are simply necessary and are even using cradle-to-cradle design. [Jeff Cooper]
• Consumption varies by, and is reinforced by, culture. Americans use paper towels, whereas many other cultures use cloth towels. Can Americans return to using more sustainable cloth towels?

I hope you enjoyed the tasty tidbits I shared; feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. If you ever want to attend events like these, be sure to check out what’s on return on good’s calendar.

Sustainability Practice Network

Green Consumerism as Paradigm Shift

Overview:

Lately, everything seems to be “going green” - from TV ads touting eco-friendly products to news articles on carbon offsets and magazines that glamorize low-impact living. It is said that 16% of U.S. adults belong to the $208 billion market segment known as LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability). But at the end of the day, are we becoming a truly conscious society, one that will eventually live in harmony with nature? Or are we simply finding a “guilt-free” way to continue our consumerist patterns. Robert Reich, author of Supercapitalism, claims that the problem partly lies in our own modern self-conception as consumers, rather than citizens. Evan and Freda Eisenberg, in their New York Magazine feature “Greener Postures,” describe some eco-chic products that are hilariously useless. Others argue that we’re witnessing a sustained and meaningful change: authors of The Cultural Creatives say there are 50 million people who seek “deep, integral change” in the cultures of industrialized nations. This panel will discuss the role of consumers as “green” - are they an oxymoron, or are they leaders on the path to sustainability? Not only will we list steps individuals can follow to reduce their environmental impact, we’ll also provide skeptics with business and personal reasons to do the same - so, bring along a skeptic!

Moderator: Michael Block

Panelists:

Jeff Cooper, Partner and Creative Director at Groundswell

Wendy Gordon, Founder of National Geographic’s Green Guide

Marisa Guber, Curator/Shop manager, ABC Home & Planet

“I Am Generous,” my friends and I sang out to the waitress. We weren’t professing our own positive traits; we were actually using self-affirmation code to get us to some yummy guac. It was a good thing too, since I decided “I Am Elated” would go well with a side of guacamole. Aside from my enjoying my “elated” enchilada, I was experiencing a quirky approach to a triple bottom line business.

With my first visit to San Francisco this past weekend, my former New Yorker friend from high school recommended we go to Cafe Gratitude–a place that was “so San Francisco.” With at least three-fourths of our table New Yorkers, it was understandable we would squeeze out a few giggles as we ordered California-grown raw and vegan cuisine, chiming menu item phrases we imagined Rhonda Byrnes might concoct.

Though we had fun mocking the menu and our tabletop game (one card asked us to imagine receiving a parking ticket and then being thankful for said ticket), I was truly impressed with the restaurant. I enjoyed my appetizer, entree and dessert; knowing the ingredients were primarily locally-sourced and entirely organic left an even better taste in my mouth. The wait staff seemed genuinely happy to be working there and were exceptionally knowledgeable. Finally, as if the food served wasn’t already enough to reduce the establishment’s carbon footprint, Cafe Gratitude takes green eating a step further with compostable to-go containers (right down to the cornstarch labels!) and with deliveries by bio-diesel trucks.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any food porn while I was there. The beautiful shot here I snagged from the New York Times review, which is also a fun read on the restaurant. It was really quite the experience.

And actually, I do believe gratitude can be a powerful force and an important human expression, so I was fascinated by its dining incarnation. During our visit, we were also asked the question of the day, “What is good in your life?” Admittedly, I did do some reflection and was happy to (internally) report I had a big list.

After much anticipation, I finally feasted at Back Forty. While I won’t be providing a review of this Greenmarket-inspired spot, I did want to point out something my beer-lovin’ taste buds had apparently been missing. Literally standing out from the rest of the beers on tap was an extra special beer…um, I mean, Extra Special Bitter…from Blue Point. I asked the bartender why this beer stood alone, and he explained it was a cask ale, meaning it was unpasteurized and “live.” A sucker for new experiences, I ordered one up and was rewarded with full-bodied flavor and a pleasant mouthfeel.

Since that transformative pint a few days ago, I cannot get cask ales out of my mind. I began thinking about the benefits of other unpasteurized products like the probiotic nature of yogurt and wondered if beer could have similar benefits. Some quick Google research yielded that drinking beer like this could actually save the world. In fact, CAMRA, the UK-based Campaign for Real Ale claims just that. CAMRA’s Chief Executive states on their website:

We’re all becoming more environmentally conscious and drinking a local real ale in a pub is one way of making a small but significant contribution to save the World and promote local economies in a food and drink market dominated by global companies. Draught real ale means no wasted beer cans or bottles and if you choose a locally brewed beer, you’ll help reduce unnecessary beer miles.

The article further describes the social and environmental returns as mentioned above, a few of which I highlight here:

• local economy-based job creation,
• reduced carbon footprint due to fewer “beer miles,”
• reduced packaging waste resulting from reusable casks (which last up to 20 years!)
• reduced energy usage since the beer is not served at unnatural “superchilled” temperatures and require no electricity for handpulled serving

According to Chris O’Brien, self-proclaimed beer activist and author of Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World, these benefits fall under a sustainability model called “bioregionalism.” I haven’t read the book, but his article in The Guardian gives a nice overview of how microbreweries are leading the way in locally-driven sustainable business. If you want to break it down further, I would say it’s about “Drink Local, Act Global.”

And on that note, I think I will join the festivities of Blue Point’s upcoming Cask Ale Festival (see my Good Events calendar in the sidebar for more info on this January event). Who knows? I may be inspired to craft a few brews of my own…

Saving the world never tasted so good.