Video: Our Role in Education for Sustainable Development

This video is a recording of the public forum on sustainability - Responding: Our Role in Education for Sustainable Development - that took place in Regina Saskatchewan October 14, 2010.

Participants shared their ideas about how institutional practices can re-orient research and learning for sustainability.

Speakers included:

• Vianne Timmons, President of the University of Regina (forum chairperson)

• Charles Hopkins, UNESCO Chair in Education for Sustainable Development at York University

• Shauneen Pete, President of First Nations University of Canada

• Robert McCulloch, President and CEO of the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology

• Audrey Roadhouse, Deputy Minister of Education, Saskatchewan

• Gerald Farthing, Deputy Minister of Education, Manitoba

• Bob Willard, speaker and author of resources for Sustainability Champions

• Malcolm Wilson, Director of the Office of Energy and Environment, University of Regina.

The forum was hosted by the University of Regina in partnership with Innovation Place.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

Video: Retail Shopping from a Sustainability Standpoint

This video takes a look at sustainable holiday shopping. How to spend thoughtfully and reconnect with the spirit of gift giving. This video focuses on alternatives to buying things. Look at where things come from and how they are made and what they are made of. Consider externalized costs when buying something. Try to buy things that are sustainably made. One example involves buying experiences instead of stuff.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Video: Sustainable Shopping

Although the idea of putting an end to shopping may be taking the idea to an extreme, many are now acknowledging that we should replace rampant consumerism with more sustainable shopping. That means considering the footprints of the objects we buy. In this video you can learn about
sustainable shopping and simplifying holiday celebrations.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Video: The Story of Stuff

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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New Methods of Manufacturing and New Patterns of Consumption

For the Earth to survive we need new patterns of consumption and new manufacturing methods. Our planet cannot sustain current rates of consumption or current methods of production.

We should be considering ways of reducing our consumption and changing what we buy. This is a matter of buying what we need as opposed to what we think we want. It is also a matter of changing what we manufacture and how we manufacture it. Ultimately it is a question of educating consumers and creating more sustainable demand.

To help avert catastrophe we need to see more creative designs and more efficient manufacturing. We are far from where we need to be in terms of the type of demand exerted by consumers and the type of manufacturing provided by companies.

Both industry and governments have a crucial role to play protecting the environment while growing a healthy economy. If manufacturers, retailers, politicians and consumers work together with common purpose we can forge a greener more sustainable economy.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Thanksgiving Shopping: Consumption and the Earth's Carrying Capacity

Throughout the Thanksgiving shopping period, hordes of shoppers will invade malls and stores all across the America. Spending money may help grow the economy but it is undermining the ecological systems on which our economy depends. Although retailers need the business, the planet cannot sustain the number of consumers or the type of consumption we commonly see on this day. There are now 7 billion people on the earth and it is estimated that at current levels of population growth the planet's carrying capacity will completely break down by 2050. Scientists at the Global Footprint project that using current rates of consumption combined with current means of production, by 2050 we'll be 500% above capacity.

Each year our planet can produce a certain amount of resources and absorb a certain amount of use. According to the scientists at the Global Footprint Network, we had already exhausted the earth's carrying capacity for 2011 on Sept. 27, less than 10 months into the year.

This puts us 135% above the capacity of our planet to replace essentials like potable water, clean air, arable land, healthy fisheries and stable climate.

Overconsumption is desroying the ecological systems that sustain the world's economies. The population is expanding and so is consumption and this is simply unsustainable.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Thanksgiving Shopping: From Black Friday to Green Tuesday

The period after Thanksgiving is the most busy US shopping period of the year. The traditional shopping period has been extended beyond Black Friday to include several days that now culminate on what is being called Green Tuesday. Here is a review of each of the four major shopping days that constitute the core of holiday shopping maddness.

Black Friday

The day following Thanksgiving is Black Friday in the US, this day traditionally marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season. Most non-retail employees have the day off, increasing the number of potential shoppers. It is the busiest shopping day of the year. The expression Black Friday originated in Philadelphia in the 60's and more recently the term has been explained as the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black". In 2011 several retailers (including Target, Kohls, Macy's, Best Buy, and Bealls) will open at midnight for the first time. Walmart will open at 10:00 on Thanksgiving night and Toys 'R' Us at 9:00. In 2010, Sears was open on Thanksgiving day.

Small Business Saturday

The day after Black Friday, is Small Business Saturday. Started in 2010 as a day when people "shop small", in support of America's small businesses. Small businesses are trying to level the playing field to compete with the big boxes by using social media like Facebook, Twitter, and email to promote their businesses. Now American Express has gotten onboard to help support Small Business. They are providing free tools and social media help make the day a success. The tools include a facebook site, in store signage, emarketing materials including social media templates and even free advertising. There are even free buttons that will help small businesses monitor what people are saying about them.

Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday immediately following Black Friday, the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the US, created by companies to persuade people to shop online. The term made its debut on November 28, 2005 in a Shop.org press release entitled "'Cyber Monday' Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year". According to the Shop.org/BizRate Research 2005 eHoliday Mood Study, "77 percent of online retailers said that their sales increased substantially last year on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a trend that is driving serious online discounts and promotions on Cyber Monday this year (2005)". In 2006, Shop.org announced that it launched the CyberMonday.com portal, a one-stop shop for Cyber Monday deals. In 2010, comScore reported that consumers spent $1028M online on Cyber Monday (excluding travel, 2009: $887M), the highest spending day of 2010. Cyber Monday has become an international marketing term used by online retailers in Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany and New Zealand.

Green Tuesday

The day after Cyber Monday is being called Green Tuesday. The environmental organization Green American is suggesting that stores should offer specials on “green” products starting the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The non-profit environmental group is advocating that the Tuesday after Thanksgiving be dedicated to “green” shopping activities. Green America will be participating in this newly declared shopping holiday. Its Web site, GreenDeals.org, will therefore be featuring a week’s worth of green product specials starting on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011. Some of the green products that will be discounted on Green Tuesday include self-watering systems for indoor and outdoor plants and annual memberships for car-sharing or bicycle-sharing clubs. There will be approximately 15 to 20 products and related coupons featured on a daily basis between Nov. 29 and Dec. 6. All of the businesses featured on the Web site are from local and national green businesses that have been approved by Green America.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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