Greenpeace Goes Grey!

We all know Greenpeace from their mediagenic actions against Walehunting and other environmental crimes. Over the last couple of years, the activist multinational has gone a new way with some own business initiatives where they take responsibility for the issues they target.

It is part of a trend where nowadays activists have grown up and have become eco-entrepreneurs. But who will tackle the dirty businesses when the most professional activists have moved to the business table? Can Greenpeace still be as sharp in it's critics when it is part of the same game?

In Germany, Greenpeace Energy offers us "honest" energy. Let's be honest then. Alltough Greenpeace promises that we as customers can take part in building new, clean energy power plants, the reality is that this only counts for a very small part of the energy, as one can easily read from their website.

The largest part of this German Greenpeace Energy comes from hydro powerplants in Austria and Norway. Some of those powerplants are older than Obama, so where's the change, really?

Is hydro power energy from abroad really the solution, Greenpeace? I've seen a lot of hydro power plants fucking up with nature, and although it is preferable above nuclear or coal, it is still an industry that's disturbing our nature. And what guarantees are there that the Norwegean energy I buy from Greenpeace is not exchanged with German nuclear power to a Norwegian costumer, in the end?

A wave of critics on eco-energy in the media is coming along with a comeback of nuclear energy in Europe. This kinds of critics does not really help us forward to clean energy either, but the only way to keep the green movement alive is to keep it trustworthy. So in this case it is better beating the critics than ignoring them.

As the German newspaper Zeit argues in a critical article, just buying certificates from abroad does not necessarily bring anything. The fact that half of The Netherlands changed to green energy because of a taxbonus did not do anything to the 85% dirty energy.

Okay, it is complicated for an independent eco-energy businesses to offer German produced eco-energy in Germany because of a complicated system of renewable energy support. But since the rise of a market for eco-energy it has brought us all but the promised rise of green energy. In the end we seem to be greenwashing our own energy bills.

We, conscious consumers, are mislead and made stupid. In the end, joining the international trade of certificates or byuing clean energy from abroad is maybe a handy means for governments or business to polish their green image, for Greenpeace it should be different.

I just want to have honest clean energy, Greenpeace. If you think you're big enough to get me that, well, go ahead and offer me that über-honest energy. Locally produced and sourced energy, possibly supporting a system where cities and municipalities become responsible for their own energy production. Without mixing and trixing. It's time to move forward...

In the meantime, I would suggest Greenpeace to sell that Greenpeace Energy and come over to the other side: to get on the barricades for a more honest and cleaner energy policy without being part of the tricks that keep consumers stupid.

Or should we some day come to Greenpeace and chase them with banners and ships and all?

A critical consumer of "green" energy

Berlin Citizens Discover Direct Democracy

Mediaspree Versenken from Pappsatt

A group of activists against privatisation and gentrification gathered the highest amount of signatures so far for a public voting in Berlin for their call to have the Berlin river Spree for everyone. While the local government is selling out the whole river area in the district Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain in favor of a "Media Spree" filled with glass house offices and hypermarkets, the public has the change to vote against the sell out of their living area.

All political parties, including the greens and the socialists, oppose the initiatives wishes for a publicly accessible riverbank and ignore the call for protection of the very lively scene culture around the riverside.

Relatively new forms of public voting allow Berlin citizens to bring up topics for a public voting, and different initiatives to bring up a public issue saw the light. We have had a public voting over brilliant issues, such as the rename of a street to give it the name of the '68 student leader Rudi Dutchske (result: pro Dutschke), a voting over the closing of the famous Berlin airport Tempelhof (result: pro closing).

In the case of the Mediaspree voting, it can become a case example of new forms of public involvement and grassroots organization against a too commercial sell out of public space. A relatively small group of activists get's the chance to oppose such a hundreds of millions megaproject. And rule over their politicians. Let's see what the people will vote.

Day of vote: 13 July 2008
More info: ms-versenken.org and Mediaspree eV

Carrotmobs: Flashmobs of Consumer Power

Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.

If shops and corporations do not react fast enough on our demand for ethical products and environmental responsibility, we will organize our consumer power to demand it. Well, that's what is really happening, and when we realize what difference that can make, the effect gets much stronger and we can really change things for the better.

Carrotmobs are actions we are going to hear more of. They organize consumers on a certain time and place to buy in a certain way for a special cause, may it be demanding more fair trade products or an energy or waste reduction. In The Netherlands the group Stoerevrouwen, a hip collective of women, is organizing 'shopmobs' to demand fair trade and organic products in the shops. Their shopping army suggests our cause of ethical consume is not less than a warzone.

Actually a few people are enough to get a large mob going. Since my personal experiences with political flashmobs in 'last dictatorship of Europe' Belarus I am convinced of the strong tactical power of flashmobs and other forms of smartmobs where new technologies, grassroots organizing and hipster coolness go side by side. Let's use these tactics to change the products in our stores. Or for whatever good cause. Smartmobs are going to be back, back, back.

Carrotmobs via: Goodtruebeautiful
Image: Stoerevrouwen in action

Sounds of Sirens: How to Link Consumerism and Holistic Principles?

For some time I met Lars Schmidt, together with his partner Steffa Roth running their project Art & Ecology Education. Because of the name I guessed there was a connection with Grass Routes, as we work with creativity and sustainability as key values. We have been exchanging ideas and vision a few times, and for me it is interesting to confront our projects with ideas deriving from deep ecology and permaculture. It forces to think more precice about consumption again: can we really consume just better? Is that the whole solution? LOHAS or simple living? Organic cotton from Africa or locally sourced textiles? We will continue this dialogue and plan to make some workshop or event out of it.

Lars is also running a nice blog in English and a bit of German: Sound Of Sirens. The blog deals with topics from the areas of sustainable living and management, Corporate Social Responsibility, De-Branding, the environment and culture: "one of the main questions being if, and if yes: how, modern lifestyle and consumerism can be linked to holistic principles." A few nice interviews such as with the people behind the Sustainable Dance Club.

New Report by Clean Clothes Campaign: Sportswear Brands Still Violate Workers Rights

Unlike all new attems of companies like Adidas to become a "responsible" company, a new report by the Clean Clothes Campaign, published today, states that in the sports wear industry the situation is still inhuman.

The CCC report shows that the addressed companies have gained enormous profit growth during the past few years. The profit of Nike and Adidas in 2007: $2,199,900,000 and $1,088,393,584.

The question is always: what can one do? Most companies have created a nice looking CSR and brands like Nike and Adidas come bring some cool "sustainable" products to the market. But with these enormous profits, and the described excesses, it's clear that they have the financial power to change the working circumstances a bit. If they really want it. Well, why not just do it?

Based on interviews with sportswear workers in four countries, the report Clearing the Hurdles shows that violations of worker rights is still the sportswear industry norm, including in workplaces producing for Adidas, sponsor of the Beijing and London Games and numerous national Olympic teams, and other key companies in the sector, such as ASICS, Puma, Nike, and New Balance.

Read the full report here

Wave of Social, Green and Political BarCamps from Berlin to Tibet

When I first heard about BarCamps, I had a clear image of some bearded men with beers, hanging around a campfire. Very campy, but the idea of a BarCamp is hanging around for more reasons than campfire and beer.

BarCamps are a new phenomenon that are boosting a wave off grass roots social change through new media usage. Now the Bar Camp concept is implemented for a broader range of social issues. The barcamps started as an informal form of knowledge sharing in progressive use of computer technology, such as the development of open source internet applications. The methods used are connected to the informal hackers meetings and the Open Space methodology. According to BarCamp.org , a Barcamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. "It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants."

According to Wikipedia, The first BarCamp was held in California in 2005, in the offices of Socialtext. It was organized in less than one week, from concept to event, with 200 attendees. Since then, BarCamps have been held in over 31 cities around the world, in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Australasia and Asia. In 2006, BarCampEarth was held in multiple locations world wide.

The BarCamps, either focussed on social issues or not, are a great and easy form to spread and exchange knowhow and come to new ideas and common vision.

Upcoming Social BarCamps:

Social Camp in Berlin, Germany
German NGO's, netfreaks and social innitiatives gathering in Berlin
GreenCamp in Frankfurt, Germany
meeting of LOHAS experts, green entrepreneurs and environmental activists
Lhasa Bar Camp in Tibet
Don't know how serious or underground that one is
BarCamp Caucasus
the largest new media and blogs event in the Caucasus, powered by Soros
BarCamp Asia in Bishek, Kyrgystan
MediaBarCamp Belarus / Lithuania
EcoCamp - Conversano, Italy
PolitCampGraz - Graz, Austria
CommunityCampBerlin - Berlin, Germany
CreativeCamp - Kilkenny, Ireland, Europe
Health2.0 Unconference Amsterdam - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Social Innovation Camp in London, UK

for more BarCamps in your area visit the BarCamp Wiki

Artistic action pushes climate negotiations on Bali

Activists from Avaaz and an international coalition of youth organizations, along with local and national NGOs, created a human body activist art project on Kuta Beach in Bali.

Artist John Quigley organized the crowd of over a 500 people to arrange their bodies to form an image of the world being washed away by the rising tide. Above this image, more people spelled the words "Act Now," a message designed to target the UN Climate Negotiations at the beginning of their critical second week.

I am philosophizing a lot these days if the ecological crisis we are heading towards will only hype more green consume, or that we as humanity will be able to establish a new political elite driven by the concern of and respect for our planet?

Picture by: Step it Up

Switching off the light on global scale: join Earth Hour on March 29, 2008

It's night and the sky is... orange....green...or pink. In a large part of the world real darkness is unknown, caused by electric light pollution from cities, street lamps and green houses. Researches shows that unlighted highways are as safe as lighted, and offices and green houses can also function without lamps at night. There is more and more awareness for the topic, and some great initiatives to turn of the light.

During Earth Hour on Saturday, March 29 at 8 pm, cities across the globe will be powering off electric light for one hour. Lights and unnecessary electrical items will be turned off from San Francisco to Bangkok. 24 cities, thousands of businesses and millions of people are expected to participate.

And if we can organize this successful for an hour a year, why not do it a bit more often?

Romantic nights stop global warming
The event takes place from 8 pm-9 pm local time, regardless of the location. There is no reason for not joining. The only thing that could happen to you is paying a bit less on your energy bill. A good opportunity for romantic candle light dinner and a moment where people on global scale will be aware of the energy they use. With all the attention for climate change, this event has a huge potential.

sources: Grist Magazine, Triplepundit, Earthhour.org

Virtual activism: plant a tree in facebook or second life

It is a lot of tree planting actions these days, and I am wondering where all these forests are growing. Cleaning up our emissions, or just filling up the empty spaces of cut down Amazon forests?

The latest sprout on the tree planting hype is The Virtual Forest campaign by UNION FENOSA. The idea is simple, you plant a virtual tree in the virtual community Second Life, and for every second participant they plant a tree in reality.

But behind this campaign seems to be an energy company. Other virtual forests I recently read about were from a bank, the so called Facebook Forest Group where you plant a tree with every fifty new members, and the German online community Utopia, planting a tree for every new member.

I am really starting to wonder if all those planted trees are making a difference or just green wash our 'green sins'? Are we planting faster than we cut? Is there any serious research on this jet?

through: ecostreet

German social fashion contests by Armed Angels and Fairwear.de

Armed Angels are a young, trendy social fashion label from Cologne. They are conquering Germany with just a few simple shirts. Only selling over the internet, or through friends and friends of friends of friends. 3,33 Euro per piece of clothing goes to charity. For their innovative business concept, Armed Angels recently won a German innovation price. Check these guys out, we will hear more of them!

Angelface 2008
Armed Angels organize open contests on both their designs and models. More than 200 models have already joined. It's actually quite fun to have the chance to choose a model for a clothing brand. They also have style-of-the-month voting, where people can send in their designs and vote two shirt prints per month into the webshop. I just wanted to comment that they should also put a vote for their charity projects, but they already do...

Streetwear & social activism
Also the crew of the German ethical fashion webshop Fairwear.de organize a shirt print contest. You can send in your print design, graphics and creative impulses until the 8th of Februari 2008. The best designs will be printed, the deisgners get 50 Euros and discount in the webshop. I like the Fairwear guys because they connect their site to both streetwear styles and social activism, and seem to stay close to their ideals. They have a nice mix of fair fashion labels including Kuyichi, Tudo Bom?, Epona, THTC, Machja, and No Sweat. Just on question, where are the German ethical fashion brands?

picture: Armed Angels

NVOHK: eco-fashion managed by the people who wear it

All these new, green eco-fashion brands. They are soo cool, soo green, soo georgeous. A serious fashion event can't do without them. And there we are. Sometimes I wonder, why all activists, all creatives, all green thinkers are capitalist entrepreneurs nowadays. Do we really believe consumption can save the planet? Concurrence will make us more friendly to each other? Fashion brings enlightenment?

In this light, initiatives that strive to create a different company model are rather interesting. There is a growing a amount of network / community based social companies. Although they are pioneers, they also set the trend in an era dominated by web2.0.

Fashion 2.0
A good example of a community managed company is the eco-friendly surf brand NVOHK. They recruite members through what they call a "crowdfunding business" to develop and launch a new lifestyle brand that blends social responsibility and financial performance.

Based in Los Angeles, Nvohk is recruiting 20,000 - 40,000 members to contribute $50 a year to develop and shape the nvohk brand. Members will make major business decisions including logo design, web design, product design, advertising, etc. Members will also receive a free member t-shirt, 35% of nvohk's net profits in the form of reward points that can be redeemed to purchase products, and 25% off all nvohk products. nvohk will donate 10% of net profits to environmental organizations selected by its members.

I just heard from my partner Cecilia that she already is a member. I am curious...

Source: www.projectnvohk.com

Think Green, Live Green Challenge

Bring green to your screen! JuntoVenture, a video activist collective and non-profit environmental organization, is hosting a multi-media challenge entitled “The Think Green, Live Green Challenge.”

JuntoVenture created the interactive challenge to build a community of dialog about the challenges of eco-friendly living. Participants are encouraged to submit their responses using a digital homemade video to win 'green' prizes. The video submission deadline is February 28, 2007.

The challenge is geared towards building a community-based discussion about “going green.” JuntoVenture seam to be cool crew of young creative activists based in California. They are using digital media to inspire, educate, and empower people to live a more sustainable lifestyle. www.juntoventure.org

Act local, find local

A mysterious group called I-local campaigned in The Netherlands with a radical activist approach, the slogan "act local! find local!" and statements like "globalization is over".

They spread more than 10.000 of their orange balaclavas, extreme YouTube videos and all around the country they glued slogans at the outward roads of villages and cities, calling car drivers to go back home. With the background idea: most things you can find in your own neighborhood. So why go somewhere else? A rather radical but interesting reaction on the enormous traffic jam problems in this overstuffed country.

Off course, this mysterious action group of radical anti-globalists turned out to be an internet company offering a local search engine, now good for 1 million visitors a month in the Benelux. Guerillia marketing is still on it's rise, but this example is remarkable. Especially for a country that lately has been in the picture for it's anti-European sentiments. And for the real anti-globalists this might be a bit of an image-problem. I wouldn't be surprised if the I-locals will infiltrate anti-G8 and WTO demonstrations with their orange balaclavas and slogans like: "Act local! Ami go home!"...