Climate Ride 2008

The goodfocus team has just returned from five days of shooting ClimateRide2008. It was a singularly engrossing five day event involving over 1o0 cyclists riding their bikes from New York to Washington, D.C. to bring awareness to the growing climate crisis and the possibility of mitigating said crisis with non-carbon-emitting forms of transportation - specifically, you guessed it, cycling.

While we would have loved to have trekked the entire distance on bicycles, we still found ourselves reliant upon our trusty Prius production vehicle for most of the trip. We did spend about an eighth of the ride trekking through the coutryside on our xtracycle, with producer Doug Stradley pedalling madly while DP Daniel Stephens perched precariously atop the bike's rear deck, camera in hand. And while Daniel preferred shooting from the back of the bike to sticking his body out the side window and back hatch of the Prius, Doug found the hilly terrain a bit, well, hilly. Next years ride will hopefully find us making the entire journey via bicycle alone (sorry Prius) now that we've learned a great deal about the logistics of bicycle touring.

But what is most interesting is that we were able to realize, first hand, and document with video the reality that one need not rely upon four wheels and an engine to motivate one through space and time. Yes, it seems convenient. Yes, it seems easy. Yes, it keeps one's hair and toes dry during rain showers. Yes, it keeps one's body warm and toasty in cold weather. Yes, it seems a good way to move things from point a to point b. But the reality is that if we simply change our expectations, our lifestyles, our dependencies, we can rely solely on two wheels and our own food-powered bodies to get from here to there. And in the process it can be more convenient (parking isn't a problem), incredibly easy (traffic is less an issue), dry (waterproof clothes), warm (pedalling keeps the core nice and toasty), and it can move everything from gear to passengers from point a to point b - with no emissions other than breath (ok, some CO2) and heat.

The key is to change our expectations of ourselves and others - to allow us the time to enjoy the ride and in the process begin the healing of our planet. If we don't start now - and I mean now, today, this moment, we won't have a beautiful, lush, incredibly diverse little orb to appreciate. And once that is the norm, does it matter if you are on time, dry or warm?

The question is, do we really need packaging?

HP has just released a new series of notebook computers that ship in recycled material messenger bags instead of conventional cardboard and foam boxen. The idea being that the packaging becomes its own product that, instead of being thrown out, or at best partially recycled. But, will new HP laptop owners use the mod-styled plastic-y messenger bags? Perhaps if they're 20-something-ish or particularly environmentally conscious. However, how many of these "packaging products" will ultimately find their way to a landfill? I would guess quite a few, though perhaps with less impact than more traditional packaging - a life cycle impact assessment would be of use here.

Ultimately the question becomes: how does a company that produces a physical product get that product from its manufacturing center to the consumer without any packaging. No package production.

September 4th

It's still September 4th, 2008, for a few moments longer. While the date is not necessarily auspicious, it does mark the first of what I hope will be a long series of writings to document the creation of our new sustainable (production) company. We are small in number but large in ideas and more-so in the belief that there exist innumerable stories of individuals, organizations and corporations doing what is right and necessary to reduce our species' impact on our planet. With that belief firmly in hand we set out to challenge the methods and messages that are used to inform the population about the products, services and ideals they choose to support with their purchasing habits and their collective voice.

As I write this I am overly conscious of the idea that the words on the page seem less a statement of concrete idea and more a consideration of contemplative ideal. The ideal is the message, however. And I write this as much for myself as for anyone who might read it. It is the beginning of a road-map to aid in the discovery of a new method of visual communication that is already nascently extant.