Posts Tagged ‘green photography’

Earth Keeper’s Hero Tackles Both Social And Environmental Issues Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 The global awareness social media platform, Changents, “connects Agents of Change with a fan base of ‘Backers’ around the world, enabling them to create change together.”   Uniting storytelling with social networking, Changents, partnered with Timberland and EarthKeepers, to promote these praiseworthy environmental ambassadors (and their adventures) in the hopes of gathering supporters from around the globe.  Earth Promise has been privileged to have interviewed some of Changents’ environmental Heroes: Christopher Swain  and Andrea Bakacs .  Now let me please introduce, Sami Nerenberg: Sami Nerenberg  (a.k.a. the “Impact Designers”) is creating break-through, environmentally friendly design solutions for impoverished and low-income communities. Sami, the youngest adjunct faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design, developed and taught the advanced studio, Design for Social Entrepreneurship (DeSE) to juniors and seniors. As an Earthkeeper Hero, she is designing high impact, green “makeovers” for environmentally challenged homes as part of a community project with inner city youth. Sami grew up in San Francisco and was constantly reminded with every light switch, faucet, and toilet flush of our world’s limited resources. The comfortable neighborhood she grew up in was a block away from the Projects, which also reminded her everyday of our world’s social inequalities.   Earth Promise: What changes, or Earth Promises as we call them, have you made in your lifestyle to be greener?  Changes in home, travel, work, and your community? Sami Nerenberg: One very small thing I do is carry around a spork from Bamboo so I can avoid plastic utensils whenever possible. EP: Were you “green” as a child? SN: I suppose you could call it that. My mom and I used to compete around the house to see who could be more efficient. She once gleefully showed me how she dried her paper towel and then reused it. I followed suit and was always very resource conscious and pro-active in high school in getting friends to pick up after themselves and recycle. EP: What was your first, “aha!” Green moment? SN: There have been several aha moments throughout my life. There isn’t just one thing we can do to magically become sustainable. Everything is interconnected. I’m interested in how the environment affects people and the inequalities therein, because really- the Earth will be fine without us, it’s ourselves we’re trying to save. An aha moment was when I found the “Environmental Justice” movement which talks about the disproportionate distribution of environmental burdens on low-income often minority communities. Something I think the larger environmental movement is just starting to get comfortable talking about. EP: Sometimes if a message is played over too much, consumers will tend to ignore it after a while or tune it out or turn against it.  How can green Evangelists be more effective in making sure we are relevant but not overbearing?  This includes sites like Earth Promise and others as well as people in media, music, advocacy, politics, education and more. SN: Well, I think the first step is to not see it as evangelists. People can take it or leave it. There are scales to being green and you have to meet people where they are at. Recycling might be a huge step for one family, while others may have a living machine in their backyard. A message would be very different to those two families. The Environmental Movement also tends to use guilt to persuade people. I think we can come up with more effective means of communicating a message- making it fun, exciting and engaging. EP: What are some of the things that anger you or drive you crazy that you see people do that hurt the environment? SN: I try not to get angry anymore because that just leads me to judging people. I don’t want to judge people because I can no longer see them for who they are. My goal is to provide opportunities of engagement for those that are interested in learning more about social and environmental sustainability. All I can hope for is that people question their assumptions. EP:  Tell us about Grain Designs? SN: Grain is a sustainable design collective started by me and fellow RISD alum. It’s an umbrella for all of our projects that are socially and environmentally driven. We do anything and everything from modular furniture, vinyl free shower curtains, to prefab housing and educational programs. EP:We hear you made it to be a finalist in the reality show, Room by Room.  Tell us about this exciting project. SN: Room by Room is a pilot healthy home make-over show with inner city teens that I developed. This summer, 10 students went through 6 weeks of eco-design boot-camp to learn about environmental threats within the home such as lead, mold, pests and toxic cleaning products and then were trained on interior design and making principles to make-over their own rooms. The whole program was video recorded and we are currently working on editing the footage. We were a finalist on the ideablob competition in the spring. We didn’t win but luckily we ended up getting funding from the Recovery Package, Brown University, and in-kind services from the Rhode Island School of Design. EP: I read that you are the youngest adjunct faculty at RISD, (Rhode Island School of Design).  What do you teach?  How has this impacted your drive the make your environmental green statements? SN: I had the great opportunity to develop and teach “Design for Social Entrepreneurship” which aims to cultivate social entrepreneurial designers by investigating the power of products, systems and services to create positive social and environmental change both internationally and domestically. The studio was a great success. 1 in 4 of the students has continued with their projects and are currently working on developing them into businesses including my fellow Earth Keepers Hero Nate Bastien! EP: How did you get involved in Timberlands Changents program? SN: As I recall, Changents contacted RISD to get wind of any exciting change agents on campus. RISD’s media partners had seen my studio’s final critique so they recommended me among others. We had an over the phone interview and I sent Changents some more info about me along with a home made video. I guess they liked it and chose me as one of the Earth Keepers Heros! EP: What message would you give others who want to spread their eco-ideas? SN: It can be paralyzing and intimidating to think about all the problems in the world and all that is being done that may or may not work. All one can do is try and keep the momentum going in the positive direction. Otherwise we will collectively fall. Think about what you enjoy the most and what you are best at and there you will find your way of giving back to the community. EP: When travelling and taking part in a myriad of lectures, have you taken any steps to green your travelling routine, including getting around, and equipment in general? SN: Ya! Actually in fact, just recently, when offered a flight from DC to NYC for an upcoming conference, I instead requested a train. I love trains and this has a much smaller carbon footprint than flying. EP: What is the one Earth Promise you are going to make in the future that you have not done yet? SN: I’d like to start a company one day that employs designers to work on socially and environmentally sustainable projects to systemically problem solve some our country’s hairiest issues. Right now, most of the work being done is on a volunteer basis, but I believe we can use market forces for the greater good. EP: I’m sure all of the projects you have accomplished have a special place in your heart, but was there one that was more personal? SN: Well there were a couple of special moments this past year. One of them was while teaching at RISD when I had a student take the bus for the first time to reach her nonprofit partner. This for me was a great indicator of getting RISD students out of the RISD bubble. I also just loved having one:one time with my students. I remain friends with most of them today. The other was my summer program Room by Room. Working with the high school students was great and it was amazing to see some untapped creativity that the students didn’t even know they had come out! EP: Where will the next designing social change project take you? SN: Hopefully to grad school. I’m currently applying for MBA programs. I’ll also be co-teaching a “Design Futures” course in the Design Management program at Pratt this coming winter and then plan to travel in Asia come spring. I am currently scoping out interesting projects to work while abroad on and am always open to suggestions. EP: Thanks so much for taking time to share with us! Tags: agents, carbon footprint, change, Changents, changes, climate change, earth, earth promise, earthkeeper, earthkeepers, earthpromise, eco-friendly, energy, environment, environmental, environmental footprint, environmental issues, global, global warming, green, green challenge, green changes, green future, green living, green photography, green practice, green practices, green revolution, green tips, heroes, organic, photography, recycle, reduce, reuse, sami nerenberg, social network, timberland Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

An Interview With Eco-Hero, Andrea Bakacs Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 Today’s post is an interview with photgrapher, Andrea Bakacs.  She is one of the many inspiring Timberland EarthKeeper Heroes from the global awareness website, Changents .   Andrea Bakacs is harnessing the power of photography to deliver eco-messages. At just 29, Andrea is pointing her camera at amazing pockets of nature worth saving and a host of green projects sprouting from nooks and crannies across New York City. Ever seen Manhattan’s eco-friendly composting nuns? How about a farm complete with goats and chickens and cherry trees smack in the middle of the east village—on a rooftop? What about the green movement’s equivalent of graffiti artists—guerrilla gardeners? Andrea is taking the public along for a ride on her visual story of green NYC. Andrea is a photography graduate of Parsons School of Design and has experience as both a photographer and photo editor. For the past two years, she’s authored a blog about other photographers’ environmental work.  Andrea recently started working with the Majora Carter Group to help amass and edit a photographic and video library mapping its green course across the world. In the past, she’s campaigned for better paper use at Martha Stewart Living and Seventeen magazines, encouraged local photographers to “green” their shoots, started recycling programs across multiple departments, and began conversations with heads of print production to make them aware of the most cutting edge green technologies available to them.   EP: I read that you are originally from Romania.  How old were you when you moved to the U.S.? Andrea Bakacs: I am Hungarian from Romania, born in Oradea (or Nagyvarad as it’s known in Hungarian) until I was 7 years old, leaving 1 year after my parents escaped communism during the Ceausescu regime in 1986. I am part of the Hungarian minority, from a section called Transylvania. You might have heard of it? EP: Were you “green” as a child? AB: My parents gave up everything they had, everything they knew, everything they ever were and potentially were, to leave Romania, to give my younger brother and I hope for a better and more opportune future in the west. Leaving behind not only their material possessions but also their network, and in the case of my father, even the notoriety of his degree and career (the US will not recognize a Masters in Civil Engineering from Romania), we grew up extremely frugal, similar to that in Romania, where frugality was a given, only in that you had no choice. Goods simply weren’t available there, whether or not you had the money to pay for them. My parents particularly taught me about using things well into if not beyond their life cycle. How many people do you know that have had the same washer and dryer since 1988? Ok, they finally broke down last year after repair after repair (on behalf of my father– thank you very much) became dangerous to the house and to them (the heat on the dryer wouldn’t turn off and would therefore risk fire.)  But that’s not to say I didn’t have things or opportunity. My parents definitely valued experience over materials things however. I played every sport I could’ve imagined and traveled all over the world. That’s when I started to think about the environment. Not necessarily that anything was wrong, or that it needed my help, but more that I truly loved being a part of it and having access to its never ending wonder. Since I probably still haven’t really answered your question, I should add that my household growing up was only green in the sense that we never had the thermostat above 68, didn’t have AC, only drove used cars, and took bottles back to the store to collect the deposit. Other than that, nobody including me had any clue. EP: Being a photography graduate of Parson School of Design, as well as having various jobs as a photographer and photo editor, was there an “aha!” green moment that changed your focus? AB: People often ask me if I’ve always been green, or if there was ever that “aha” moment. I think it’s much more gradual than that. It’s hard to pin point a specific time or event that triggered a huge change in thinking or behavior. Certainly, training in a career that involves ridiculous amounts of expendable supplies (you don’t even want to know how much film and paper and chemicals we went through in school just to be chucked away at the end of the day) it definitely happened in the past 5 years or so. I had been working as a photo editor and my eye is trained to notice things. Sometimes these are absolutely regular and ordinary things most people over look, or are normal and therefore unconscious. I started noticing the amount of paper in the recycling bins, my recycling bins, in the printers that would go unclaimed, in the garbage, now soiled, doomed for the landfill. And I began reading. I’ve always been more of a non-fiction reader, and as a few years ago I began to take more interest in food, agriculture, and eating a healthier diet some of the books I read on this subject happened to directly relate to environmentalism. The more I read, the more I wanted to read further. I became consumed and passionate like I had never been about something before. Because here was something I truly felt I could be a part of, have a voice in, and create positive change for. EP:  Sometimes if a message is played over too much, consumers will tend to ignore it after a while or tune it out or turn against it.  How can green Evangelists be more effective in making sure we are relevant but not overbearing?  This includes sites like Earth Promise and others as well as people in media, music, advocacy, politics, education and more. AB: Wow this is a tough one. I’m certainly guilty of this myself! To be honest, I’m not sure I have the answer. Except I know that we can’t stop, just because we think it may not be working. I’m not saying keep preaching so-to-speak, but don’t give up on the message and don’t give up the fight. I really think to make a change it has to come from the top. But in order to create change in government it takes us down here on the ground voicing our opinions and creating a movement. The more people involved in the movement the stronger our voice and the more power we’re creating for our voice to be heard and listened to seriously. That said, say it with kindness. And a smile. A smile usually works. EP: What are some of the things that anger you or drive you crazy that you see people do that hurts the environment? AB: I just blogged about this yesterday! I saw a superintendent of a building in my neighborhood take 2 bags of folded sweaters and dump them in a curb-side trash can. Don’t even want to get into it! Most of my friends know me to be pretty hardcore when it comes to recycling, so when I see people at Whole Foods read the signs that clearly show (with pictures too!) what should be thrown in each individual tub and then completely get every single one of them wrong—well, it kills me. And not because some of the stuff is now contaminated, even if people are sorting it on the back end, but mostly because I know that probably means they don’t care. Ok sometimes it means they don’t speak English! But it definitely makes me sigh. Obviously there are much larger issues that both anger and frustrate me, if not cause me to question humanity and our society as a whole. Whoa. Definitely don’t want to get into it on that one. EP:  At some of your past positions, for example at Martha Stewart Living and Seventeen magazines, not only did you partake in your “regular” duties, but you provided some “green” guidance.  Can you elaborate? AB: My greenness, if you could call it that, certainly took  hold of me during my 5 year stint at Martha Stewart. At some point, alarms would go off in my head when someone a few desks down was throwing out folders and I’d immediately run over and ask if I could take them off their hands. I was going to reuse them, whereas they were going to use new ones. I wasn’t the only one however that began noticing the regular mixing of our pre-sorted recyclables and garbage late at night. Besides some of these detective roles I played which thankfully led to positive solutions, I also began some conversations about better and more sustainable paper practices both in the printing of the magazine as well as with regards to our general office duties. At Seventeen, which occupies a floor of the LEED certified Hearst Tower, we transitioned from a highly paper wasting production process to an almost completely paper free one. Hearst wanted Seventeen to be the model for the rest of the publishing house, and therefore also the guinea pig. I worked with a fantastic department who were excited about contributing ideas on how to implement the program, and posted tips and suggestions on cubicles. Paper tracking software installed by the business department showed paper use had gone down drastically, and it was just the beginning. I also began conversations with the well known cafeteria in the building after I noticed that the fish at the sushi station was not labeled with place of origin and catch method like other fish at nearby stations. After I learned the sushi fish was coming from places like China, India, Japan, Brazil, etc. I began discussing alternatives with the head of the cafeteria. EP: While we are being hurt by the climate crisis right now, the next generations are in big trouble if we don’t take action.  How can people inspire others to be involved and help the environment? AB: I think the best way to inspire others is to use the skills and talents that each individual inherently has, and channel them for the cause. I’m not a solar panel engineer, nor a project manager for an NGO, I’m a photographer and a photo editor who is using what I know and the skills I have to put out an important and urgent message. Use your notoriety and expertise for the greater good. I seriously think most people who aren’t yet convinced or aren’t yet involved simply do not understand the gravity of the current environmental crisis, the sheer scale of it, nor the urgent danger we are in. EP: Your photography and love of travel takes you all over the world.  How can the people in United States bring green awareness to help 3rd world nations?  What do we need to accomplish? AB: We have to start practicing what we preach! For one, who are we to tell others what to do if we won’t do it ourselves? How do we set an example our children, to other countries, to our leaders, if we refuse to take responsibility for our part in this? And that’s a big part. We throw away enough food to feed the entire planet. Yet roughly 14% of the world is hungry and suffers from undernourishment. We have only 5% of the world’s population but we account for 25% of the energy used. That means, if every family in the world lived like the average American family we would need 5 planet Earths to sustain us. We don’t have 5 planet Earths people—wake up!! And no, it is not ok to think you deserve to live like this but millions of other people don’t. Right now, in the States, we have an amazing opportunity. An opportunity to act, as a nation, collectively, for the greater good, and for the future of our entire planet. We have the technology, we have the know-how, and I believe we have the will power, we just have to do it. Imagine that our grandkids will be saying that we were part of the generation that saved the world vs. the generation that let this happen, and knowingly. To do this however, we have to convince our government, because they are the only ones that can implement the change we need on the scale that is required. EP:  Tell me about the Majora Carter Group and how you got involved? AB: A friend, John Mundy, is the Project Manager there and recounted the inspirational story that led him to apply for a job there. At the time, I had left Martha Stewart, and was well into the freelance world. I was also looking to make my way into the green industry somehow, but hadn’t yet found my niche. I wanted to target companies and organizations I both cared about and believed in, and those I felt I could contribute to in a unique way given my background and expertise in the photo industry. I came on board to track and down and acquire photographic content from various events that Majora has attended over the past few years, along with video footage, to begin a media library of sorts, accessible for PR purposes, presentations, etc. I worked mostly with the VP at MCG, James Chase, although I do want to say Majora is absolutely every bit as inspirational in person as she is on television or radio. EP: Earth Promise is about connecting and sharing ideas for change with others.  What things have you done professionally that you can share with our community of members who are now making changes in their lifestyle? What have you done to raise awareness?  AB: Treehugger said it best last week when they wrote if we all just made 2 changes in our lives, just 2, we could truly help solve the climate crises. Stop eating meat and sign up for green power. I do both of those things, along with the usual stuff like only buying all natural beauty and cleaning products, drinking only from the tap, unplugging appliances when not in use, shopping seasonally at the farmers market, buying milk in reusable glass bottles, recycling my textiles, etc. On the professional side, I have gone digital, which has replaced enormous amounts of chemicals used in the making and processing of film. I upgrade my computers instead of purchasing new ones, soft proof when I edit to avoid using paper, when necessary to print do so on 100% post consumer recycled paper, opt out of all credit card offers and junk mail, cancel yearly paper phone books, etc. I do have a sticker on my door that shows I support and subscribe to 100% wind power, as I think it’s one of the most effective, if not easiest choices you can make to greening your home, office, or business. That said, beginning and continuing discussions on how to incorporate sustainable business practices is a must. EP:  When travelling, have you taken any steps to green the process, including getting around and the photography equipment you use? AB: Yes, I’m all for train travel whenever possible to avoid unnecessary planes, and love to master the public transportation in any city I’m in. As far as equipment, I am now digital which makes me greener when I travel, in that I’m no longer carrying hundreds of rolls of film which later must be chemically processed. I was recently on a shoot where the location van, or RV, was green. Solar panels, full on recycling, souped up fuel efficiency—it was amazing. EP:  In your blog, Photography for a Greener Planet, your intention is to unite photographers and environmentalists; a great place for artists to learn from one another.  What have you learned? AB: I’ve learned a great deal both about photography and about environmentalism. In researching for appropriate photographers to write about I inherently also find out about their backgrounds, why they’ve gone into environmentally related subject matter, and of course about the issues at hand which they’re exploring. For me it’s a great way to submerge myself in both worlds simultaneously. That is, the photo/art world and the green world. EP: Looking at your photography and other environmental artists’ works, I can see that art is a relationship between people and their environment.  Regarding your environmental works, you truly focus on what the true problem is:  neglect, greed, selfishness, gluttony. What are your thoughts on this? AB: I have certainly also focused on the positive, not just the negative. For example I began a photographic project on Jamaica Bay, specifically the salt marshes there which are classified as official wild life refuge, right next to JFK airport. I focused on the beauty and unique habitat and ecosystem these marshes are providing, yet always with the underlying urgent message that they are in danger, in that they are sinking too rapidly for conservation and rehabilitation efforts to keep up with. I also produced a body of work called “Natural Containment” which questions taming and containment of both man and nature and lies on the positive spectrum. However, I’ve also photographed my fair share of work on the problems you highlighted. I do not want to shout doom and gloom, but sometimes you’ve got to see the negative before you can imagine a positive solution. There is a certain beauty to decay and the message can be easier to read. For me it truly depends on the subject matter and how I approach it personally before I decide how to approach it photographically. EP: What is the one Earth Promise you are going to make in the future that you have not done yet? AB: I’m going to start composting in the next 6 months. And that’s an earth promise! EP: Thank you! Tags: agents, Andrea Bakacs, carbon footprint, change, Changents, changes, climate change, earth, earth promise, earthkeeper, earthkeepers, earthpromise, eco-friendly, energy, environment, environmental, environmental footprint, environmental issues, global, global warming, green, green challenge, green changes, green future, green living, green photography, green practice, green practices, green revolution, green tips, heroes, Majora Carter Group, martha stewart living, ocean habitats, organic, parsons school of design, photography, recycle, reduce, reuse, Seventeen, social network, timberland Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »