Recently, Lacoste was recognized for being the first international brand to support the “Save Your Logo” campaign, headed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank and the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUNC).  Participation involves:

• Funding projects that will safeguard the endangered crocodiles, alligators, and caiman or gavial species
• Helping to conserve the animal’s biodiversity in regions such as China and the Amazon

Over the last few weeks we have examined how sustainability has become a significant focus in the creative arts and within our national and global culture. Our overall goal was to examine how the media has facilitated a transition into a sustainable culture. As a group, we focused on larger media trends, but individually we each chose to focus on one aspect of sustainability in arts and culture in order to provide specific examples of how sustainability is portrayed through different forms of mass communication. The areas we focused on within arts in culture were music and dance, visual arts, architecture, advertising, celebrities, and fashion.

One of the trends we found evident in each of our blogs is the new definitions of community created by the internet. Websites, blogs and video content have the potential to create communities beyond geographic constraints for those interested in sustainability in arts and culture. For example, we found in Savannah’s blog, Come On Let’s Dance! that the Sustainable Dance Club is an innovation favorable not only to its native area, Rotterdam, Netherlands, but also to other countries. People internationally are united through their dance club interest and desire to create a more sustainable environment by conserving energy and are able to communicate that interest on the website. In Brooke’s blog Sustainable Living for the Stars, she illustrates how readers have created a relationship through blog contributions where they post what new contributions various celebrities are making in the environment. This blog establishes new conceptions of community because a range of people are discussing similar interests. In Chelsea’s blog Energy Sculpture she illustrates how Strobe magazine creates a new community as the first journalistic art source entirely based off reader submitted content in the form of articles, blog posts and video. Commentators gather from across the country, and the globe to create a commentary on in the art world that is both reliable and accessible.

The concept of globalization was a key trend examined in the majority of the blog posts. It became quite evident through the analysis of various sources from varying media outlets that sustainability in arts and culture is taking hold in the global community. In one of Catherine’s blogs she examined a project called Earth Hour that aimed to unite people in a global effort to promote sustainability. Participants were asked to turn their lights for one hour between 8:30-9:30 in recognition of the global effort towards creating a more sustainable world. The campaign for Earth Hour was mainly promoted to a global audience through the internet which emphasizes the way in which the mass media is able to cross geographic boundaries. Joshua’s blog on Earthship Biotecture also provides a great example of globalization; not only in the media coverage but also in the entire scope of the Earthship movement. Earthship holds conferences all over the world, and has been featured in many media sources in countless countries.

Overall, through the collective entirety of our group’s blog we came to the realization that the media coverage served more as entertainment and promotional outlets than informational channels. In different media sources the same ideas were commonly presented in similar ways, with little difference in the content of the information. We feel that this is because the information being presented was being targeted to the same general audience. Overall this audience was one who is considered to be in a higher social standing than the populace audience. This trend is most evident in Kelly’s blog – individuals who are concerned about fashion and have the discretionary income to invest in eco-conscious labels are a niche audience. No matter the medium, eco-fashion is discussed in a similar way because this niche audience is reading a majority the material written about the subject. In conclusion, this also offers a commentary on the channels of information which the general audience find accessible, and therefore will utilize more often. In the case of websites and blogs, information, although the same as offered in government and academic sources, were usually less informative and less in depth than intellectual publications. However, because these sources offer more entertainment and visual content, they are more widely consumed. The overarching conclusion of our blog is that sustainability has become a dominant trend in art and culture throughout our society due to its prevalence in multiple channels of mass media.

Far from its roots as a small festival in California “Burning Man,” as the event has come to be known, draws 48,000 people from every walk of life.  The event takes just one week, but a team of volunteers will stay after, and at the end of one month, there is no trace of  the city that was, for a short time, the most populous town in the entire county. Art has become a necessary part of the experience, as artists from around the United States to create giant instillation art work celebrating the environment. The art is installed in the desert, and then deconstructed and recycled, as a symbol of man’s responsibility to the environment. The entire festival itself is green, including running the event’s generators on bio-diesel, and powering the Man Pavilion and the Man’s neon with a massive solar array (the panels donated to and installed for the Gerlach School and Pershing County Hospital).

 For the purposes of this blog I reviewed two final sources, to comment on one larger aspect of the trend I found in each source in my exploration of the trends in mass communication: “new definitions of community.” The internet’s development as the main channel of communication has brought people from around the world together in new definitions of community. In the example of the Burning Man festival, 48,000 people gather from across the country because they have discovered they share a common interest of a passion for art, community, and the environment.

 Whereas in previous times, you may participate in a a community fair, town hall meeting, or neighborhood cookout, through the internet people feel linked on a global scale through common interests. People have become communities based on interests, not geography. 

So what is the role in the media in these new communities? We have begun to see a rise in the convergence of media, as average people have taken to the internet to post content, direct blogs, and in the case of the burning man festival, reach an ever growing audience.

What does this mean for traditional forms of media? The traditional forms of media, with its editors, gate-keepers, and large corporations will need to adapt to the proliferation of communities and become more varied and diverse to reach an every changing audience. As consumers become united by interests on a global scale, so to will corporations have adapt and work globally. For example, an article listed on the state of Nevada website, an official government source, will likely be visited less than the website of the actual festival. When observing both sources, it will likely be the more specified sources of media that will win audiences in the end.

Advertisers have successfully incorporated sustainability into almost any form of advertising. Cars, detergent, clothes even businesses have all become more “sustainable.” Consumers think twice before buying a product. If there is a sustainable alternative chances are they will choose this alternative and in some cases even pay more for it. We see sustainability as our global responsibility to save our environment and create a better one for generations to come.

Consumer must be careful that they are not being fooled by false sustainability claims. Research conducted by the University of Sydney claimed that companies feel the ”pressure to change” into more sustainable entities due to consumer expectations. This pressure can lead to false or fluid claims. An article in Promo Magazine list specific criteria that consumers should examine to see if companies are adverising legitimate sustainble claims.  http://promomagazine.com/othertactics/environmental_concerns_marketing_report_0301/index.html 

Even the EPA (environmental Protection Agency) a government funded agency have created standards to judge the quality of products that claim they are environmentally friendly. A few of their objectives are:

• Establish the guiding principles for developing sustainability/environmental performance standards
• Identify existing and developing sustainability/environmental performance standards (US and abroad)
• Determine gaps and need for additional sustainable/environmental performance standards

  An editorial in The Badger Herald by Jim Allard was highly critical of the term sustainability. He claims people see sustainability as conserving energy and other resources that we believe will eventually run out. Allard asserts that instead of focusing on reducing our energy consumption by reducing our use of traditional methods of energy production such as fossil fuels we should be focusing on producing new forms of energy all together.  http://badgerherald.com/oped/2008/10/08/sustainability_the_e.php Perhaps the media is not playing its watchdog role as effectively as we may think and failing to examine all sides of the movement towards sustainability. We should be concerned about the state of our environment and watching our resource consumption, but perhaps there are better ways to do this.

 Another idea to consider when focusing on sustainability in advertising and the media, are the various ways in which this issue is portrayed. An article in the CSR Perspective by Kevin Moss discusses the concepts of environmental and social sustainability. Social sustainability focuses on sustainability within the community such as providing jobs and long term customer care. This type of advertising focuses on the way a company sustains a place or community instead of the environment. http://www.csrperspective.com/2009/01/issue-advertising-and-role-of.html

Research on advertising and sustainability done by the Univeristy of Sydney also discusse the relationship between human sustainability and ecological sustainability. http://www.oxha.org/knowledge/publications/Sydney%20Dialogue%20Summary%2020%20Oct%2008%20-%20%20Final.pdf

Regardless of the intention of sustainable advertising, people need to be careful to look past the jargon and see the issue. New concepts of news such as the information we receive through the television in magazines and in radio can often make it easier to receive shallow information without a lot of supporting facts. We see celebrities build sustainable homes and soccer moms in the latest Wal-mart advertisements buy sustainable products. It is easy to mimic these actions and follow their lead but we should be careful that we are really heading in the right direction.

Picture 1 http://organicmania.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/clorox-bleach.jpg

During the course of this blog, we’ve  charted the portrayal of sustainability through music and dance. 
A short article promoting a children’s album titled This Green Planet epitomizes the media’s coverage of sustainability through music. The Mother Earth magazine characterizes the album as “a playful, jazzy collection of children’s music that will appeal to audiences of all ages.” Though associated with environmentally friendly habits, articles on music festivals, bands,and concerts all became one big advertisement for the event/product at stake. This doesn’t take away from the particular eco-friendly group that is discussed, but indicates how personal accounts throughout the media coverage often create just as much pubilicity for the person as the sustainability cause.There were exceptions to this, including articles on sustainable instruments like green guitars that were more informational in nature. Additionally the blog, “Give Me Songs or Give Me Death,” indicated how some cultures depend on music as an informational source to promote their personal sustainability. However, many music videos like the LWA Sustainability Club are more entertaining in function and present the environmental problems, but lack thorough, in-depth solutions. Morever, the portrayal of musical events promoting sustainability attempted to define new communities by combining music lovers and environmentalists alike.

The use of dance for sustainability purposes is more commonly captured through the Sustainable Dance Club or Floor and the idea of “eco-clubbing.” In his article, Josh Sims causally states that one can save the planet by dancing, an idea mentioned in previous media coverage. However, this notion lacked a certain seriousness each time an author mentioned the idea of dancing to save the world. Information about the dance club was generally supplemented with the idea that the innovation was only a small step to creating a more sustainble environment.

The media also added the downsides to the Sustainable Dance Club:

•  Building a sustainable dance club isn’t always practical 
•  Expenses are high
•  The amount of energy that  must be produced to sustain a club is extremely high, and dance movement can’t generate all the energy the club needs

Though journalist painted the eco-clubs as an interesting invention that has created a fun way to dance, conserve energy, and help the planet, these same reports also noted that essentially, you cannot look towards a dance club to eliminate major problems that our environment is facing.                                                                     

Photos- Will Kahn, Dots and Lines LLC, http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:_TJRD5hjUT4J:www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/2008-08-01

Justine Brokie, Popular Science, http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2009-02/green-guitars

Music of the Gulf Coast, http://www.museumofthegulfcoast.org/perm_ex_musichalloffame.html

Bort Productions, www.singingfourstars.com/index-4.html

• Earthship n. 1. passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials 2. thermal mass construction for temperature stabilization. 3. renewable energy & integrated water systems make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills.
• Biotecture n. 1. the profession of designing buildings and environments with consideration for their sustainability. 2. A combination of biology and architecture.

Earthship Biotecture designs and constructs single family residences, residential developments, commercial structures, as well as conducting disaster relief projects. They aim to slow down and ultimately reverse the negative impact of human development on the global community. 

Earthship Biotecture specifically designs and constructs building that:

• use solar/thermal dynamics to heat and cool buildings
• use the power of the sun and wind to power buildings
• harvest water from rain and snow
• contain and treat sewage on site
• produce food inside the home
• build with natural and recycled materials

Earthship Biotecture uses various media to spread their message including:

• publishing books
• producing dvd’s
• hosting seminars
• global demonstrations

Earthship Biotecture has also been featured in a recent bio-documentary entitled Garbage Warrior. “The epic story of radical Earthship eco architect Michael Reynolds, and his fight to build off-the-grid self-sufficient communities.”  By taking a look at their media resume, you can see that they have been featured in countless exibitions, awards ceremonies, lectures, television programs, books and various other publications. 

In ‘Earthships: Building a Zero Carbon Future for Homes,’ Mischa Hewitt and Kevin Telfer describe important lessons for the design of sustainable architecture and examine the legislative and regulatory culture that has an impact on the construction of earthships. The book charts the building of the first earthships in the UK and their relevance to home building and architecture generally. 

‘Earth to Spirit’ by David Pearson is a  provocative volume for anyone interested in design, designing or building which integrates the lessons of the past with today’s technology to create structures where the land, the home, and the spirit coexist harmoniously. Which is exactly the idea behind the Earthship Concept. 

It is obvious that the Earthship Concept is definitely beginning to take hold in the global community. With the constant spread of the idea through workshops for contractors and architects, and books on the subject, thousands of people all over the world have built their own earthships. 

An interesting youtube video about Earthship Biotecture can provide a good overview of the Earthship Concept and provide some good visual partnership to the idea.

         As you can see from the video, many celebrities take time out of their busy schedules and support various environmental organizations.  Stars like Orlando Bloom, Penelopee Cruz, and Adrien Grenier attended the Global Green event.  As I discovered in my research there are numerous celebrities supporting sustainable lifestyles. 

         However, one key issue that multiple articles covered, whether they were journalistic or institutional, was which ones are sincere?  The big question I have to ask myself at the end of this project is: are these celebrities attending these events, buying hybrid cars, and wearing ‘Go Green” apparel because they genuinely care about the environment? 

         The majority of the journalistic articles I read informed me of the celebrity’s contributions and then questioned the celebrity’s sincerity.  They inferred it was the media’s agenda setting and framing that created the stars to look like they were living a sustainable lifestyle.  Even though some articles covered this issue, I did not see the point.  Whether they are genuine or not, I think it is noble that celebrities are using their status to encourage other citizens to partake in environmental actions too. 

       As a result of several media effects created by the media the viewers are set to believe that these celebrities are the environments number one fan.  Due to the trend new definitions of news, the public is informed about the environmental issues as well as being entertained because they are watching their favorite celebrities do a variety of sustainable actions.   Cultivation is positively played out in this situation because the viewers see all of these high profile stars supporting environmental organizations and are hopefully inspired to also participate in this popular lifestyle.  The popular green trend has created the trend new conceptions of community because they friends and neighbors can relate to one another.  Whether they attend a benefit for the environment or share recycling tips, they are forming a new kind of relationship.  So who cares if they are genuine, get inspired by these celebrities who are helping save our environment!    

In The Day After Tomorrow, (that earned $187 million in 2004) the antagonist is the mankind that has ignored the greenhouse effect and global warming. In the end, the audience believes any wrath the planet dolls out on the human race is all but earned. Watch the full length movie of The Day After Tomorrow (provided by youtube.com).

How does Hollywood compare to the scientific community in regards to the battle between man and planet? Does the disaster movie genre move beyond the realm of entertainment to actually inform the general population of the effects of global warming?

For the purposes of this entry I compared an article appearing in the journalistic source of the Fall 2007 issue of Moving Pictures magazine by  J. Rentilly entitled “Disaster Films in the Green Age,” with an academic article by Edward A. Page entitled “Fairness on the Day after Tomorrow: Justice, Reciprocity and Global Climate Change,” appearing in the March 2007 issue of Political Studies.

This discussion brings up many themes and trends of mass communications, specifically in

• new definitions of news
• media purpose
• the economic imperative
• media affects

New Definitions of News In regards to the film industry, the media channel of film has the potential to inform a wider audience than an academic journal, bringing up the concept of the new definitions of news. Movies have become a source of scientific information, as content production techniques and channels of presentation blur the distinction between information, persuasion, and entertainment, altering our perceptions about “the news.” View this trailer for Sunshine, and see if you become concerned about the issues it raises regarding energy.

Although the academic community may perceive this as an adverse effect of the ever-growing influence of visual media, the discussion around popular disaster movies has audiences questioning. For example, The Pew Center on Global Climate Change was established in 1998 as a non-profit, non-partisan and independent organization.  In an article published shortly after the release of the film, the article The Day After Tomorrow: Could it Really Happen? attempted to answer the questions the film raised amongst its viewers.

Although the Pew Center is  supported by a range of individuals and charitable organizations, calling into question its economic foundation of private and corporate support (and the influence this may have the studies the Center conducts and publishes) it illustrates how film may impact the scientific community.

Media Purposes range from diversion, entertainment to persuasion, information to surveillance. In the case of Rentilly’s article, the article, and the films it discussed were designed primarily to entertain, however, also managed to inform. Page’s article was intended purely as information.

The Economic Imperative refers to the necessity of each form of media to make money through an economic foundation( circulation, vs advertising, vs subscription, vs government support, vs corporate support). The article appearing in Moving Pictures magazine emphasized the necessity for a disaster film, although involving themes of sustainability, to create a profit through advertising and ticket sales. Conversely, the academic source of is dependent on supplying credible information in order to sell subscriptions to an highly educated and professional client. Page’s article makes use of interviews with Professors of earth sciences at well known universities, statistical analysis provided by government organizations, as well as references to published sources.

Media Affects, The Scary World Theory is one theory of media induced behavior, and may be one result of the disaster movies released today. As the public views a disaster movie, they may walk out of the film feeling that global warming is a topic to be afraid of, rather than to rationally address. One example may be The Happening, written and directed by the master of horror, M. Night Shyamalan.