Greening Media

CMS 323John Cabot University

Prof. Antonio Lopez

Defining Problem

“This is more than an environmental crisis: it's an existential threat, and it should be treated like one, without fear of sounding alarmist, rather than covered as just another special interest, something only environmentalists care about.”

A Convenient Excuse,Wen Stephensonhttp://thephoenix.com/boston/news/146647-convenient-excuse/#ixzz2C7hgtXbx

Remember: We have one planet but we are consuming 1.4 earths

1960

1970

2000

The Math

• ppm = concentrations of carbon dioxide parts per million

• 350 ppm = Safe level for humanity

• 392 ppm = Current level (rising two pmm annually)

• Raise of two degree celsius is accepted limit (we’re at .08)

• We have a “budget” of 565 gigatons of CO2 to burn by 2050 to remain at safe levels

• 2,795 gigatons of CO2 in fossil fuel industry inventory

Source: 350.org; http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719

Perceived Boundaries

Oikos: HouseholdRoot of

economics/ecology

“Household management”

Technological Sublime

Mechanism

Externalities/Sacrifice Zones

NIMBY:Not in my back

yard.

Media’s Ecological

Footprint

Media gadgets in the US (2013):

78% of teens have a cell phone

37% of all teens have smartphones (up from just 23% in 2011)

23% of teens have a tablet computer

95% of teens use the internet

93% of teens have a computer or access.

Pew Research Center (2013)

Mining rare earth minerals contributes to civil war and loss of biodiversity

Conflict Minerals

Cloud computing mainly powered by coal

Cubitt, Hassan, & Volkmer (2011)

E-waste

Planned obsolescence

Media’s Ecological “Mindprint”

Media are Environmental Education

In 2001 63% of people got their information about the environment from television. Coyle (2005)

In 2005 $971 in ad dollars were spent per capita in the United States Brulle, Robert J. and Young, Lindsay E. (2007)

Ads promote pseudo-satisfier, dissatisfaction-manufacturing and convenience-constructing discourses. Stibbe (2009)

Space, time and place

Regenerativemindprint:

EmpathyConnectionCoordinationStorytellingEducation

Solution

Humans are culture/organism/environment combined

Green Cultural Citizenship:

Embodying sustainable behaviors and cultural practices that shape and promote ecological values within the interconnected realms of society, economy and environment.

Enduring question:

What constitutes a healthy media ecosystem?

Problem: Separation,

division, isolation

Solution: connections, relationships,

systems