Conscious Consuming brings big ideas to small groups on a monthly basis. For details on more of our Boston metro events, click here.”
UPCOMING EVENTS :
Voluntary Simplicity Discussion Group!
Voluntary Simplicity Discussion Group
Sundays, May 18 - July 13
Natick, MA
A Voluntary Simplicity Discussion group starts Sunday, May 18th from 3-4 in Natick Center. The group will meet weekly for 8 weeks, with members taking turns facilitating the discussion and (if desired) hosting. The discussions will be based on the essays in the North West Earth Institutes's course books, which cost $23. There are also several people who would like to participate in a group but can't do Sunday afternoons. If interested, please contact the group facilitator, Anne Lafluer.
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BALLE Conference
June 5-7, 2008
Boston University
The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) organizes independent businesses across America to green and strengthen their local economies. The 2008 conference in Boston will feature Bill McKibben, David Korten, Judy Wicks and Majora Carter, as well as other sustainable business leaders. Visit www.livingeconomies.org to learn more, or email info@livingeconomies.org.
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Green Roots Festival
Sunday June 8 (Raindate June 22)
12:00-5:30 pm
In the park in front of the Stoney Brook T station, Boylston St, Jamaica Plain, MA
Join Conscious Consuming and Bikes Not Bombs at the first annual Green Roots Festival! Everyone is welcome to attend, share and learn about sustainable urban living and environmental issues. Come out to enjoy live music, food, speakers, workshops on environmental issues, information booths by environmental groups, children's activities, and a keynote speech by Bill McKibbon. For Bike-A-Thon riders, this festival is an afterparty for your ride!
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Slow Food Boston's Terra Madre Fundraiser
Sunday, 6/15/2008 @ 3:00 pm
The Meeting House, Tiverton Corners, RI
Cost: $50
Join Slow Food Boston for a wonderful dinner of seasonable, local foods procured and prepared by farmers, fishermen, chefs and brewers from Massachusetts and Rhode Island! The price is $45 all inclusive, payable via Paypal or check, and attendance will be limited to the first 100 people. Children 12 and under are free, and those between the ages of 12 and 18 are $25. The event will raise money to send two local food producers to Slow Food's Terra Madre in Turin this fall. Learn more here: http://www.slowfoodusa.org/events/terra_madre_info.html
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"The Story of Stuff" screening
Date: TBA
Third Sector New England, Boston, MA
Join Conscious Consuming and Third Sector New England for a Boston screening of "The Story of Stuff" with Annie Leonard. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever
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Boston Going Green Expo
February 2 & 3, 2008
7:00pm Potluck (bring a dish to share!)
Annual Boston Going Green Energy & Living Exposition
"Taking Green to the Mainstream"
Bayside Expo Center, Boston, MA.
Admission: $10.00 Adults
Children Under 16 free
The “Going Green” Energy & Living Expositions are intended to provide a forum for citizens and small businesses to learn more about how they can begin to make the transition to a more active and sustainable consumerism and a better future for ourselves and our planet
The Expositions will provide an opportunity for vendors to address consumers directly, providing them with information, demonstrations and resources for making decisions about enhancing the sustainability of their own personal footprint.Consumers will have a chance to learn about local purveyors of solar technology, lawn and garden products, and organic/locally grown foods.See 'ya there!
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ANNUAL EVENTS :
Take Back Your Time Day
Last Week of October
Take Back Your Time Day is held during the last week in October to signify the nine weeks extra that Americans work until the end of the calendar year compared with their Western European counterparts. Educating the public about the costs of overwork and time poverty allows us to press for the national "Time to Care" agenda, which would guarantee paid child care leave, one week of paid sick leave, and guaranteed paid vacation leave, among other things.
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Gift It Up!
December and Holiday Season
Our signature event is Gift It Up!, held each December in Boston and on-line during the holiday season. This Alternative Gift Fair affords holiday shoppers the opportunity to make donations to a range of non-profits in the name of a family member or friend. Shoppers receive a certificate that they present to their loved one outlining the type of items purchased in their name. Alternative gift fairs like Gift It Up! reduce consumption of material goods for those who already have enough, and allow people to give gifts that really make a difference to those in need. . You can buy alternative gifts securely on line via the Gift it Up! website or other alternative gift sites. While ordering on-line is easy, nothing beats the community building feel of actually coming down and talking to the non-profit representatives at the fair itself. Hope to see you on December 1st! _________________________________________________________
One Earth, One Climate Rally
April
The One Earth, One Climate Rally on Boston Common (2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.) will send a message of inspiration and hope while drawing attention to the urgent need to adopt a new energy path defined by conservation and renewable energy. We invite everyone in the greater Boston area who is committed to halting global climate change to come and join us at the Parkman Bandstand. If you are planning a local action on April 14, we hope you will consider holding your action in the morning and come join us in the afternoon. As part of the rally, we plan to form a human chain across Boston Common to mark Boston's future waterfront, if polar melting continues unchecked. In addition, young people from dozens of schools will work in the months preceding the rally to produce images and text that express their love for the planet, which will be displayed on Boston Common. The rally will also feature music and live entertainment.
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TV Turnoff Week
Last week of April
In April we celebrate TV Turnoff Week by sponsoring an event at a local café with music and an "open mic" feature. We educate the public about how television has become a vehicle for selling a commercial, consumer culture, and how outcomes for children who watch excessive television are grim:
- Increased Obesity
- Poorer Academic Performance
- Desensitized to Violence
- More Alcohol and Drug use
DOWNSHIFTING WEEK
JULY 7-13th
CONSCIOUS CONSUMING & THE UK’S SUSTAINABLE LIVING WRITER/BROADCASTER TRACEY SMITH LAUNCH CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA'S FIRST "NATIONAL DOWNSHIFTING WEEK"
The USA will soon be celebrating its first National Downshifting Week, an awareness campaign sponsored jointly this year by Tracey Smith, the founder of National Downshifting Week in the UK, and Boston non-profit Conscious Consuming. National Downshifting week is scheduled for July 7-13, 2007 and is designed to help participants “Slow Down and Green Up” with our printable The Downshifting Manifesto USA - slow down, eco-friendly, sustainable living tips and help us spread the good, green word!
To downshift means to cut out unnecessary expenditure and cultivate a simpler lifestyle with time to do more of the things you want to do. Data from the mid-90's from the Trends Research Institute shows that about 10% of Americans identify with downshifting, voluntary simplicity, and simple living. While there is a definite trend toward voluntary simplicity, too many Americans sacrifice themselves to their work. According to Lisa Steubing, Executive Director of Take Back Your Time, more than half of Americans will take less than a week's vacation this year.
Smith says, "Downshifting can leave you excited, encouraged and upbeat and can reduce your stress. A positive approach to living with less helps you re-think ways to enjoy time with your loved ones without reaching for your wallet; changes to your spending habits should happen because you want them to."
Donohoe notes that the dates for National Downshifting Week (July 7-13th) were chosen to coincide with the birthday of America's most famous downshifter, Henry David Thoreau (born July 12, 1817). "Modern downshifters don't have to move into a cabin in the woods to simplify their lives, but would to well to stop chasing money and material things. Happiness depends on knowing when you have enough, and spending time doing the things you love to do," says Donohoe. "Downshifters can live deliberately, leave a lighter footprint on the earth, and have even more time with their families and friends."
National Downshifting Week’s slow down top tips are targeted at individuals, companies, and children and schools, and include things like cutting up a credit card and planting a garden. During the UK's 3rd National Downshifting Week in April 2007, almost 11,000 people from 96 countries and 24 American states visited the website. Over the past 3 years, many thousands of visitors have used the Downshifting Manifesto, an inspirational printout, which allows individuals to track their progress on the road to leading a simpler, happier life. For further details see www.downshiftingweek.com
OTHER EVENTS :
We also host monthly potlucks with speakers or film screenings on relevant topics. Click here for a list of our other upcoming events.
Don't see an event that you think Conscious Consuming should be doing or involved with? Suggest it, or better yet help organize it!
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