Excerpt from Franke James keynote “Who are you going to be?”

Artist and author Franke James speaks at Bates College Sept 5, 2009

So, thinking that one of the best ways to inspire the Bates students is to show other students making a difference… I started by showing photographs from the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali. The first photo shows students asking for hard caps on emissions. They did a great job of finding a symbol (hard hats) to tell their story, visually. (My thanks to environmental activist and speaker David Noble for the Bali photos.)

The “Act Now” photo shows people creating an image of the world, with half of it submerged in water due to rising sea levels from climate change.

Students at the 2007 conference were frustrated that they did not have a voice at the negotiating table. And they found a memorable way to communicate that message to the cameras.

During my talk, I also pointed students to 350.org for ideas on what they can do and how they can organize an action for October 24th. The Great Barrier Reef, Chinese Universities, the Swiss Alps — these are just three of the many actions planned for October 24th, in over 100 countries.

Brainstorming 350 actions

So, do you remember at the beginning when I said I’d been inspired at the dinner the night before my talk? During dinner we brainstormed ideas for worldwide actions on October 24th, which included using performance art techniques.

Bates College French professor, Kirk Read told me about Frozen Grand Central, an improvisational acting piece that took place in New York City. It is a brilliant example of live street theater at one of the busiest stations in the world, Grand Central. Over two hundred people suddenly stopped — frozen — caught in the middle of various ordinary activities (picking up papers, eating a banana, looking at a map, kissing) as if in suspended animation. The on-lookers didn’t know what to make of it. Why were the people not moving? What was wrong? You can watch the YouTube video below to see their stunned reactions. After 5 minutes, all 200 actors snapped out of it, as though nothing had happened.

So how does this relate to climate change?

Getting the world’s attention on climate change is tough. You need a strong hook. Frozen Grand Central offers that hook in a fun, easy way. I can see the opportunity to use this dramatic “Frozen” act for a Flash mob 350 demonstration on October 24th. And so I wove it into my talk at Bates the next day… Now I don’t know if anyone will use the idea — but if you do — please let me know!

Freeze to Protest Inaction on Climate Change

Stage a Freeze Flash Mob: Gather a team of 350 people. Have all of them wear t-shirts, buttons, or hand-made labels, with the 350 message. Gather in a busy (and safe) public area. Take video as your team freezes for 350 seconds (about 5 minutes). Watch the stunned reactions of passersby… When they snap out of it explain the meaning of it: To protest the glacial pace of action on climate change. Of course, don’t forget to upload the video to YouTube and send it to the news media, with a press release.

Curious what Bates is doing for October 24th?

Bates Buzz on 350
Bates is buzzing with activity… The 350.org group (which includes on campus and local people) has multiple arts and sports projects planned for October 24th. While I was on campus, I met with Julie Rosenbach, Environmental Coordinator at Bates and Emily Grady, a Senior student. Emily is developing an environmental leadership program and is involved in organizing 350 students to cycle in support of 350.org.

Ryan Dean, a 2009 Bates graduate working with the 350.org group, shared with me his Bird’s Eye View project. Ryan is hoping the idea will spread internationally, from rooftop to rooftop.

“The Bird’s Eye View is a network of recycled art installations, constructed on rooftops, in collaboration and support of 350, an international grass-roots organization for the reduction of carbon emissions. Images of the installations will be taken to be spread by use of the media to the general public, raising awareness about global warming. The images send a message of green peace, global solidarity, and a broadened human perspective.” Ryan E. Dean

I think of the Bird’s Eye project like horizontal billboards on rooftops — but shouting their message to air traffic, satellites flying overhead — and of course, the all-seeing eye, the news media. With Google Maps, and a little Photoshop artistry, we can imagine what Ryan has in mind…

Excerpt from: Who are you going to be? © 2009 Franke James, MFA

CREDITS:

My thanks to Bates College and Holly Gurney, Associate Dean of Students, for the opportunity to address the incoming class on September 5th!

Writing, illustrations and photographs © Franke James except as noted:
Frozen Grand Central video by ImprovEverywhere.com
350 Angel: Photo by John Quigley / Spectral Q;
Hand-written “Who are you going to be?” illustration by Franke James.
Press photo of Franke James for billboard art show, by Ken Villeneuve.
James Lovelock © Sandy Lovelock.

My thanks to environmental activist and speaker David Noble for the Bali photographs:
Media Scrum and Hard Caps © Robert vanWaarden
Act Now © Avaaz
Silent Youths © Maia Green
The Great Barrier Reef, Chinese student, Swiss Alps, cookie cutter: All istockphotos.com (blublaf, wrangel, tradigi, juniorbeep)
Bird’s Eye 350 concept illustration by Franke James. Google Map © Google Inc.
Bates Bobcat logo © Bates College: used with permission.

350 RESOURCES:

Ryan Dean’s 350 project: The Bird’s Eye View

350.org How to Register an Action for October 24th: The 9-step Organizing Plan

INSURANCE INDUSTRY SOURCES:

Lloyd’s of London 2009 Climate Change and Security report

Cool-Planet Goal Shared by Large Polluters, Insurers
by Jim Efstathiou Jr., Bloomberg News, July 10, 2009

Co-operators Becomes 1st Insurance Company to Join Ceres
“The insurance sector, the largest industry in the world, has been hit hard by climate change impacts, and is a critical part of the climate change solution,” said Ceres president Mindy Lubber.

My Green Beauty Action Plan

1. 1. I Will Use Safer Hair Dyes: I will ask (insist) that my hair salon use hair dyes and shampoos from the 1290 companies that have signed The Compact for Safe Cosmetics which includes six common-sense requirements.
2. 2. I Will Move To A Green Salon: Bad habits are hard to break. Salons (and uninformed clients) have been abusing our natural environment for years. Even though I love my salon, I am prepared to switch! Check out Clover Earthkind Hair Salon in Vancouver, as one example of a green salon. With a little effort (and pressure from clients), salons can use safer hair dyes, recycle foils, recycle empty dye bottles, and take other green actions to minimize their toxic and carbon footprint.
3. 3. I Will Stop Building Foil Mountains: Recycling hair foils is a bit of a challenge but not impossible. Smelting appears to be the best way. Clover Earthkind Hair Salon used to wash their foils but now they are selling them to a scrap metal company. When I called Turtle Island Recycling and spoke to co-founder Louis Anagnostakos, I learned that anyone can drop off bags of foil at no charge (they discourage small numbers of bags but will accept larger quantities). They would sell the foil to smelting companies in North America. I then called North America’s leading recycler of foil from curbside collection programs, Connecticut Metal Industries. Interestingly, neither company had recycled hair foils — yet.

   Green Circle Salons is a new business launching in Toronto that promises to help local salons clean up their act and go green. They have their work cut out for them. Let’s hope they can do it!

4. 4. I will NOT be intimidated by long chemical names: I will understand what I’m putting on my hair and skin by looking up the chemicals (and the products) at Skin Deep.
   
5. 5. I Will Buy Fragrance-Free Cosmetics: I will reduce or eliminate products from my beauty regimen that contain “fragrance.” A loophole in Canadian and U.S. government regulations allows cosmetic companies to refuse to disclose what chemicals are in their fragrances on the basis that it’s a “trade secret.” Fragrance is used to mask or hide the odor of chemicals, but many contain phthalates which have been linked to hormone disruption.

Key Health Reports for You:

Environmental Working Group:
Teen Girls’ Body Burden of Hormone-Altering Cosmetics Chemicals
“Laboratory tests reveal adolescent girls across America are contaminated with chemicals commonly used in cosmetics and body care products. Environmental Working Group (EWG) detected 16 chemicals from 4 chemical families – phthalates, triclosan, parabens, and musks – in blood and urine samples from 20 teen girls aged 14-19. Studies link these chemicals to potential health effects including cancer and hormone disruption. These tests feature first-ever exposure data for parabens in teens, and indicate that young women are widely exposed to this common class of cosmetic preservatives, with 2 parabens, methylparaben and propylparaben, detected in every single girl tested…“

US Breast Cancer Fund:
Policy and Research Recommendations: Cosmetics and Personal Care Products:
“Because the U.S. lacks a pre-market screening program, shampoo, deodorant, make-up, lotions and other products that consumers use every day contain chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other serious health problems. Major loopholes in federal law allow the $50 billion cosmetics industry to put chemicals into personal care products with no required testing, no monitoring of health effects and woefully inadequate labeling requirements….“

New York Times: A Simple Smooch or a Toxic Smack?
The debate seems to resurface every few years. Do some lipsticks contain lead? If so, is the amount so negligible that consumers have nothing to be concerned about? Or will all those years of applying lipstick several times a day add up to a worrisome accumulation of a dangerous substance?

Good green reading to get started:

Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry by Stacy Malkan, reveals the toxic truth about the personal care products used daily by women, men, teenagers and children – and how activists are forcing the industry to clean up its act. Author Stacy Malkan is also co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products and Services in Canada by Adria Vasil. Her book features a Top Ten list of beauty product ingredients to avoid, including DEA, Parabens, PPD, Toluene, and Phthalates.

Writing and illustrations © 2009 Franke James, MFA
Franke James on Twitter

Thanks go to Ontario chemistry secondary school teacher Anthony Corvinelli who helped me in my hair dye research. Anthony also collaborated with me on Sparking a Green Conscience.