Green Tuesdays: Lectures and Films about Sustainability
Green Tuesdays: Films & Lectures on Sustainability, is the enlightening and entertaining series of lectures, films, and conversations on sustainable living brought to you by The Natural Step Monona and the Monona Public Library.
Green Tuesdays began as a four-part series in January. The programs were so popular it was decided to continue them once-per-month through August and every-other-week this fall. Each runs from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
The Green Tuesdays series is free and open to the public. It continues once-per-month through August and every-other-week in the fall. This program is supported by the Dane County Environmental Council. Go to www.tnsmonona.org or www.mononalibrary.org for more information.
The Green Tuesday series is sponsored by The Natural Step Monona
November 4, 2008"qz5w17">The Ecological Footprint (film) and Katie Ross of Seventh Generation Energy Systems. Humans are the most successful species on the planet, but are placing unprecedented demand on the planet's limited ecological resources. How can we assure our future well-being? Ecological Footprint accounts work like a bank statement, documenting whether we are living within our ecological budget or consuming nature's resources faster than the planet can renew them. Seventh Generation is a non-profit organization working with communities, grassroots groups, Native American tribes and individuals nationwide to plan, fund, develop and maintain sustainable energy systems powered by the wind and sun.
October 7 – John Reindl, recently retired Recycling Manager for Dane County, will speak about Putting Your Waste on a Diet: Reducing Garbage and Its Environmental Impact. Able to reduce his trash output to only two to three pickups per year, Reindl is an expert at ways we can reduce the impact of our use of materials and the things that we recycle or throw "away," including by consuming less and recycling more. Before this Green Tuesday take an inventory of what you put in your garbage can and recycling bin, and then compare your waste output to that of others.
October 21 – Everything's Cool (film) is a "toxic comedy" about the most dangerous chasm ever to emerge between scientific understanding and political action – Global Warming. The good news: America finally “gets” global warming; the chasm is closing and the debate is over. The bad news: the United States, the country that will determine the fate of the globe, must transform its fossil fuel-based economy quickly (like in a minute).
November 4 – Natural Connections (film). This multiple award-winning program makes effective use of interviews with well-spoken scientists, has beautiful photography and graphics, and uses original music to underline the importance of maintaining biodiversity, if we as a species want to survive and thrive on our home planet. Natural Connections introduces the basic concepts of biodiversity, and takes a close-up look at salmon, rainforests, and marine ecosystems as examples. Among those interviewed are Harvard's Edward O. Wilson, known as the "father of biodiversity"; Dr. Robert Paine, who coined the phrase "keystone species"; and forester Dr. Jerry Franklin. Many programs call for us to consume less in order to leave enough room for other species, on which our survival depends. Few do it so effectively and positively.
November 18—Tom Eggert, Senior Lecturer, UW-Madison School of Business, will offer a presentation titled, Business Risk and Reward in the Global Warming Era. The role of business is evolving in addressing pressing social and environmental challenges. Many businesses now find it profitable to position themselves as green companies. Customers, investors, suppliers, insurance companies, and banks are pushing (and oftentimes rewarding) companies for staking out a green strategy.
December 2 – America's Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie (film) tells the rich and complex story of an astonishing alteration of nature. Between 1830 and 1900—in the span of a single lifetime—the prairie was steadily transformed to farmland. The extraordinary cinematography of prairie remnants is delicately interwoven with an original score and archival images to create a moving experience about the natural and cultural history of America.