SHARE 350.0

The main environmental problem that we seek to address is not EXACTLY environmental! To quote Bill McKibben, it is that “we believe too firmly that we, each of us as individuals, are the most important things on the earth.” This cultural programming is driving the destruction of the planet.

We are promoting a sustainability education platform that places human existence in a context of interconnectedness with an ecosystem at a regional level. All of our projects seek to address facets of that interconnectedness and explore ways that can tweak our systems to become balanced in that overall system. The process we use to do that exploration is collaborative design and artmaking, which provides a tangible experience of community activity that isn’t based on individual genius.

It is perhaps only art that can shape culture, and without a cultural change, environmental policy and activism cannot stop the destruction of the planet. So, we call our mission The Sustainability Revolution, and we envision, inspire and manifest it.

Contact Us

Please fill out the form below to contact Randy Jewart (randy [at] austingreenart [dot] com) for more information.

Weblinks

• Bill McKibben - Bill McKibben is an American environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering.
• Derrick Jensen - Derrick Jensen is the author of The Culture of Make Believe, A Language Older than Words, Listening to the Land: Conversations about Nature, Culture, and Eros, a USA Today Critics Choice for one of the best nature books of 1995, and Railroads and Clearcut
• Holmgren Design Services - The source of permaculture vision and innovation.
• Integrative Design Collaborative - Assisting clients to move beyond sustainability.
• Paul Hawken - Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author.
• Slow Food USA - Supporting good, clean and fair food.
• The City Repair Project - An all-volunteer grassroots organization helping people reclaim their urban spaces to create community-oriented places.
• Wiser Earth - Toward a just and sustainable world create by community.
• World Changing - Change your thinking.

Local Resources

• Austin 350 - Global Warming. Global Action. Global Future
• Austin CarShare - The freedom of driving with cars on demand.
• Edible Austin - Edible Austin magazine is a quarterly publication celebrating local, fresh foods in Austin and Central Texas. Comprehensive online resource for local food-related sources (for growing and buying), eco-resources, and events calendar.
• Green Life Eco-Consulting - Living green is easier than you think.
• Sustainable Food Center - Creating a Food Secure community by improving access to local, healthy, and affordable food for children and adults in Central Texas.

Recommended Reading

• Blessed Unrest - How the Largest Movement In the World Came Into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming, by Paul Hawken
• Deep Economy - The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, by Bill McKibben
• Endgame - Endgame Volume I: The Problem of Civilization, Endgame Volume II: Resistance, by Derrick Jensen
• Natural Capitalism - Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken

Who thanks individuals for taking GREEN action?

We are providing a frame-work that allows individual action to be contextualized within a continuum of GROUP action, and recognized and rewarded.

Soon you will be able to log your green actions on your profile.  Items on the profile will be used to collectively quantify the group’s good.

Why 350?

Research indicates optimum community structures of 250 to 500 people. When 350 Austinites register for this program, it will represent HALF of ONE-TENTH of ONE percent of the regional population of this supposedly GREEN city.

When those 350 people reach the threshold of ACTING together, their impact will be SIGNIFICANT, measurable and inspiring.

350 is also a conscious symbolic connection to Bill McKibben’s 350.org project. 350 parts of CO2 per million parts of atmosphere is the scientifically proven threshold to prevent global warming. We’re already at 387. Participating in SHARE builds a model that can proliferate internationally to combat global warming.

When is the game over and when does registration close?

Our framework is always open. We don’t have all the answers. Sustainability is a never-ending process based on the CREATIVE contributions of all community-members. Once we reach 350, we’ll start our second module.

What does it cost?

Participation will SAVE you MONEY! Participation will also contribute to BUILDING a community that can RESIST national recession, peak oil, natural disasters and political turmoil.

Eventually, a sustainable CULTURE is also based on richer self-fulfillment by PARTICIPATION in edu-tainment opportunities as opposed to consumption of the culture industry.

The Sustainability Matrix maps sustainability as a process. We may not know what sustainability is in practice yet, but we know what its elements are, and that enhancing connectivity between these elements continually increases sustainability even as those changes must continually adapt as natural conditions vary.

Sustainability Wheel:

• a conceptual map of sustainability as a process
• a community map of organizations
• a tool to assess sustainable progress for any entity
  • Food
  • Transit
  • Green Building
  • Water
  • Waste
  • Art
  • Wildlife Habitat
  • Native Plants
  • Economy

Individuals and community share:

• learning
• restoration
• stewardship
• relationships
• growth

• every citizen should be a sustainability steward
• every site should have a sustainability assessment and development plan
• community groups should be aware of and participate in enriching a sustainability matrix