Conference hosts activists of all ages trying to make an impact<\/p>\n
SAN RAFAEL — Environmentalists from across the country shared their solutions for environmental and social problems at a three-day conference at the Marin Center Oct. 18-20.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe future of mankind depends on a new economic and environmental paradigm,\u201d said Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network.<\/p>\n
The 24th annual National Bioneers Conference provided a nexus for researchers, celebrities, indigenous leaders, entrepreneurs and corporations, among others, to discuss the issues facing the global community and discover ways of shifting a destructive paradigm to a more restorative one. There was a general consensus youth involvement must be a key component of the solution.<\/p>\n
Kyle Thierren, 23, investigative journalist and creator of the YouTube video series Surfing For Change, said he believes \u201ctailoring your message to who your audience is, is the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur videos are for people who don\u2019t consider themselves environmentalists,\u201d Thierren said.<\/p>\n
Thierren\u2019s videos focus on action sports while highlighting global issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we use plastic bottles, the plastic goes in the ocean,\u201d Thierren said. \u201cIt could very well end up in a different country, so I could be surfing in the same plastic bottles that I was using at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pro surfer said it is important to recognize the invisible impact of your simple, everyday decisions, but having widespread and all-inclusive institutional change is also necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cA big thing will be changing the systems, incentive-based change, so it\u2019s easier for people to get involved and change a habit,\u201d Thierren said. \u201cWorking with companies who can create that kind of systemic change is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Billy Parish dropped out of Yale in 2002 to start organizations that could affect systemic change, the most recent of which is Mosaic, a marketplace for investing in sustainable technology for as little as $25.<\/p>\n
Parish called the \u201cperiod where you know something\u2019s not quite right,\u201d but don\u2019t know how to make a difference, \u201cthe wilderness.\u201d He said it\u2019s important to break through the wilderness and \u201cfind your people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe No. 1 thing that we found was blocking young people (from pursuing their passions and working to change the world) was that they didn\u2019t know it was possible,\u201d Parish said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t have the self-confidence, in some cases, to think that they could do it, and they didn\u2019t have the role models of people who had done it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asa Needle, 18, said he had plenty of self-confidence and was making changes on a more local level working with his people, the Worcester Roots Project. The youth-run organization has detoxified 50 yards of soil contaminated with lead so far in Worcester, Mass.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re interested in creating new models of how we can relate to each other economically, that aren\u2019t based upon competition, that aren\u2019t based upon exploitation, that aren\u2019t based upon unlimited growth, that aren\u2019t based upon destroying our planet,\u201d Needle said, \u201cthat are based upon having triple bottom-line ethics, based upon not just looking at profits, but also looking at the social impacts and also looking at the environmental impact.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Conference hosts activists of all ages trying to make an impact SAN RAFAEL — Environmentalists from across the country shared their solutions for environmental and social problems at a three-day conference at the Marin Center Oct. 18-20. \u201cThe future of mankind depends on a new economic and environmental paradigm,\u201d said Tom Goldtooth, executive director of…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":88908,"featured_media":11020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"staff_name":[627],"class_list":["post-8952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-justice","staff_name-sonia-waraich"],"yoast_head":"\n