our group of friends here in LA just threw a fund raiser to plant our own forest in ethiopia. the event was 1 block from my loft (so i didn't even have to fire up the car!). a publication called World Changing (who created the book i gave jimmy for christmas) did a story on us. turns out ferris' friend is the writer on the article. they even lifted the description i wrote for the project/party invite. cool, huh? i'll copy/paste here:
Throw a party, plant trees -- for a Green World!
On Sunday night, at a super chic downtown sushi bar, Soulicious, a group of burning man afficionados organized on Tribe, threw an amazing party for the Green World Campaign to help reforest Ethiopia.
Incidentally, the art theme for burning man this year is "Green Man" -- more on that another time.
Here's what the organizers wrote on the invitation on Tribe:
THE PROJECT: Through fundraising and our incredible ability to manifest all intention, SOULICIOUS is raising money to grow a forest in Ethiopia. By planting over 400,000 trees, we will become the first carbon-neutral Burning Man camp in the history of the event. We not only intend to remain carbon-neutral for many years to come, but also to inspire other groups to offset their own carbon greenhouse gas emissions.
The Green World campaign is amazing. Mission: People plant trees, everywhere. Not too different than our local favorites Tree People, whose work has been leading the pack for decades. Green World is doing it with a global focus by replanting trees in villages in areas of desertification and clearcuts -- always involving local people.
The best way to learn is to simply watch the 2-minute video on Green World's site. If you liked that, check out this slighly longer, but very inspirational video.
At only 10 cents per tree, if you raise $1,000 for planting trees, then you can plant 10,000 trees -- a small forest. In a generation, 10,000 trees can totally transform the experience of a rural town or village.
I like the program: Throw parties, raise money to plant forests, and restore ecosystems so plants, people and animals are happy.
As an investment advisor, I like those returns!
3 comments:
i've been on the fence too. yes, it's a controversial campaign, which is a good thing. we're talking about it, aren't we? and not just about fashion, but also about the issue of the environment. so, from that perspective it's a success in my opinion. not to mention, diesel is actually doing some interesting things about the environment, when other brands sit back, afraid to take any stance at all.
and as far as the katrina thought goes, well, katrina happened. it was tragic. people died. diesel is projecting into the future, where no one has lost a life due to a tragedy.
let's consider the campaign from diesel's POV:
they're working with leonardo di caprio on his new film about the environment:
http://www.leonardodicaprio.com/leonardo/news/article.php?articleID=44
they have a foundation for charitable causes:
Only The Brave Foundation; Diesel owner Renzo Rosso’s new charity which aims to explore new and revolutionary approaches to global charitable causes.
they link to this site:
http://www.stopglobalwarming.org
and al gore's movie
here's their statement regarding their current "global warming ready" campaign:
Over the years, Diesel's ad campaigns have touched on several global issues in a signature over-the-top, irreverent, often surreal way. 2007 opens with a campaign that highlights the risks awaiting our planet due to global warming. We are only a fashion company and do not think that - with just one campaign - we can save the world, but if our unconventional tone of voice and the reputation of our brand can grab and hold people's attention a little longer than a news feature can, make them think twice about the consequence of all our actions and realize our individual responsibility, then something at least will have been accomplished.
– The Diesel Worldwide Team
so, i'm still a bit confused about the imagery and the glamorization of it all, but i'm impressed with the reach of their message.
(from Kevin Raich, 2/20/07)
great point about katrina. if climate change were viewed with the urgency that katrina demanded, i think you would hear a lot more controversy around this campaign.
i think there has to be some sort of trade-off between the lack of compassion that this campaign engenders and the value in raising awareness. i think the component of the campaign that sticks is that image of nyc submerged, and that leaves me thinking about climate change. though, the diesel solution (buying $100 jeans) is not exactly what i take away from the ad. i really doubt that those folks are just saying "f*** it, as long as we still look good who cares." awareness is often overlooked by those who subscribe to a certain thought or belief. it is easy for me to forget that there are many people who don't care, don't believe, etc... especially living in boulder.
kev, i love your ideas! i truly believe that it's going to take fusing 21st century lifestyles with climate action to produce penultimate change. creative marketing, and bottom-up enthusiasm could go a long way in stimulating natural capitalism and climate action on a global level.
-jimmy
interesting points on the diesel campaign. i'm curious what you see as "lack of compassion", when these are hyperbolic images. not much different from the hollywood film The Day After Tomorrow, which showed NYC under 40 feet of water. or even any hollywood film showing someone getting blown away by a gun or getting eaten by a zombie. it's entertainment. it's 2 dimensional. it's a piece of film and a leap of imagination. no one is really dead or suffering. well, perhaps those who paid full price to see The Day After Tomorrow, like me. waste of $14.
so let's look at it this way:
• do we want 1/3 of the state of florida to be underwater and have people out on the streets as suggested in An Inconvenient Truth? no, not really.
• do we believe that diesel's images are representative examples of what's going to happen in the real world? i don't believe so. i don't believe that the great wall of china will be covered in sand or that mount rushmore will be submerged up to the nose of george washington.
my take is that these kind of images can help bring the issue to the round table much more quickly and to a wider audience. i'm glad that it sparks this much discussion. hopefully people are talking about it worldwide. that's when a real-world solution will start at a grassroots level.
okay, off to test drive a Hummer in my new diesel jeans. man, i look sharp.
(Kevin Raich)
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