Big Ideas for a Small Planet: Season 1 (2pc)

I was watching the first installment of the second-season of "Big Ideas" recently. It featured a young couple that was organizing a beautiful "green" wedding, visited Pitzer College in California which is doing amazing things to green their campus, and toured the editorial offices of the wonderful new environmental journal Plenty Magazine. This is typical of Sundance's "Big Ideas" program, which is uplifting, informative, and produced with great skill. So, I was thilled to discover that the first season of "Big Ideas" is now on DVD and can be shared with others who don't have the Sundance Channel.
When television was first developed, there were many promises about how wonderful a tool it would be for the welfare of society. How it would inform and inspire people to create a better world. Sadly, we know that tv has so often instead been used to disinform us, or divert us, or degrade us; especially the commercial tv which is owned by weapons contractors like GE and sponsored by industries that care only about expanding markets and maximizing profits.
Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky and the Media

I had largely drifted away from tv, but recently invested in a satellite dish to receive C-SPAN and the Sundance Channel. In addition to independent films, each Tuesday evening Sundance airs a program called "The Green," which includes the "Big Ideas" program, followed by a documentary on the environment. Past films have included Radiant City and Refugees of the Blue Planet (both of which are excellent). The first season of "Big Ideas" introduced me to people all over the country - in their schools, their homes, and their businesses - who are approaching various environmental issues in all sorts of creative ways - from a pastor who goes to various places of worship talking about waste and recycling and solar panels, to fashion designers who are utilizing organic cotton and fabrics that are dyed in non-toxic processes. "Big Ideas" is tv that honors people and their common decency, and that offers a perception of ourselves and our relation to our planet that has been so sorely lacking. While "Big Ideas" is sponsored by corporations like Lexus, it appears that our environmetal crises have become so severe that a growing number of once reluctant industries are now contributing to the environmental movement.Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage Once dismissed or marginalized sensibilities have become mainstream, and "Big Ideas" is a magnificent expression of that evolution.
Now, with the 1st season on DVD, the message of "Big Ideas" can reach a broader audience. This 2-disc collection is a strategic tool to overcome the despair so many are feeling about our troubled planet. We can make a difference, in our little corners of the world and beyond. And we owe the people at Sundance a debt of gratitude for reminding us of that.

A couple other resources that provide the sort of ideas we need to heal our planet, and heal ourselves:
Sustainable Industries
Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind
The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
How to Save the World
Yes!

I show an episode of this series to my high school students once a week. It is an excellent introduction to the green movement and has opened their minds to new and positive ways of thinking about our environment and how we affect it. This series is not a doomsday downer but offers a whole range of solutions to take positive steps.

I highly recommend this for the classroom or home.

The program shows how it is possible to geenovate with enough time to each subject that you can think about it. However it is in sound bite form and bounces back and forth in place of a consistent narration. The content is more like preaching than a how-to presentation. The program is worth watching to see what is going on. However you are left out of any opportunity to interact. There is no reference to any companies you can contact. Or how to apply the things learned to your private life. I hope they keep it up and maybe in the future the can talk more technical or how one can apply the information.
Season 1, Episode 1: Fuel
Season 1, Episode 2: Build
Season 1, Episode 3: Cities
Season 1, Episode 4: Wear
Season 1, Episode 5: Eat
Season 1, Episode 6: Drive
Season 1, Episode 7: Furnish
Season 1, Episode 8: Create
Season 1, Episode 9: Kids
Season 1, Episode 10: Paper or Plastic?
Season 1, Episode 11: Sports
Season 1, Episode 12: Work
Season 1, Episode 13: Pray
Season 2, Episode 1: Power
Season 2, Episode 2: Decorate
Season 2, Episode 3: Water
Season 2, Episode 4: Gen Y
Season 2, Episode 5: Episode #2.5
Season 2, Episode 6: Fashion
Season 2, Episode 7: Episode #2.7
Season 2, Episode 8: Episode #2.8
Season 2, Episode 9: Transport
Season 2, Episode 10: Live
Season 2, Episode 11: Business
Season 2, Episode 12: Gadgets
Season 2, Episode 13: Animals
Season 3, Episode 1: Music
Season 3, Episode 2: Design
Season 3, Episode 3: Edibles
Season 3, Episode 4: Creatures
Season 3, Episode 5: Architecture
Season 3, Episode 6: Energy
Season 3, Episode 7: Habitats
Season 3, Episode 8: Companies
Season 3, Episode 9: Art
Season 3, Episode 10: Leisure
Season 3, Episode 11: Communities
Season 3, Episode 12: Games

Who Killed the Electric Car?

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