Climate Local Now: A Festival of Solutions

by Mary Morgan & Mark Haubner

Drawdown Festival – Tools for Regeneration: Forums! Fun! Films! blankets the weekend from January 21-23, 2022 with talks, workshops and films on “actions we can all take to regenerate our earth and reverse climate devastation.” 

The festival presenters are climate activists in the newly-formed Southampton-based Carbon CREW who highlight a recent international study: “Did you know the U.N. has found that 2/3 of all greenhouse gases originate from decisions made at the household level? The choices made by each of us make all the difference!” 

Co-presenters include Drawdown East End, a group inspired by the science of Project Drawdown to guide local climate solutions and host Southampton Arts Center, offering the festival free or with a donation.

As of today (1/5/22) the festival is slated to be held virtually due to the Covid-19 situation, but in in-person attendance is a possibility if conditions improve. We will update this post with any changes.

Friday for Future: 2040

“Join the Regeneration” says Damon Gameau, writer, director, filmmaker of the upbeat climate film “2040” and guest of honor on Friday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. Regeneration, defined by Merriam-Webster as “renewal or restoration of a biological system (such as forest or ocean) after injury,” is expanded by Mr Gameau to include the renewal of Planet Earth. 

The film “2040,” available on streaming sites (WhatsYour2040.com) imagines what life would be like for a four-year-old (Mr. Gameau’s real-life daughter) in 20 years, if the inventions and initiatives already in practice were more broadly adopted to a scale where they would reverse melting ice caps and ocean rise. In the film, young children talk about their ideas for a cleaner, safer, more equitable world. 

Based on Project Drawdown’s mapped and measured 80 solutions to reverse global warming, “2040” points out a practical, achievable path of reversal and gives us a hope that change is possible.

The January festival updates the now 2-year old “2040” film, offering current science along with practical, tip-filled and local climate solutions.

From Electrify-Everything to Climate Cuisine

Saturday’s packed agenda will feature talks on Electrify-Everything, Soil Sequestration and Carbon CREW will explain their “fast track” program. There will be a lunch break, followed by talks on Sea Sequestration, Climate Cuisine, Women and Girls and a special interview with the designer of the newly released SOLUTIONS game.

We two co-authors of Climate Local Now each are moderating a panel. If you are a foodie, you will want to check out Climate Cuisine: Meet the Chefs, Farmers and Foodie Climatarians on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 2:25 p.m. 

Southampton private chef Ellen Greaves of “Must-Go Soup” fame and Orient compost-enthusiast and climatarian Mary Morgan co-moderate “to inspire the audience with some tasty food talk and conversation about food as a climate solution that can regenerate the planet.” 

Climate Cuisine is defined as a cuisine with a low climate impact. Examples from around the world include Vietnamese, Indian, Venezuelan and Mediterranean diets – which all emphasize local and seasonal foods, perennial crops such as lentils, nuts, olive oil, and tree fruits and foods grown or raised regeneratively (think farmed oysters or grass-fed grass-grazed meats). 

A Climatarian enjoys similar cuisine choices, and also, importantly, is dedicated to lowering food waste, as 40 percent of food in the US is wasted, resulting in unnecessary and mammoth polluting emissions. 

Tom Geppel, owner of 8 Hands Farm, a 28-acre livestock and produce farm’ farm store, cafe and butcher shop in Cutchogue and Chef Jason Casey, a private chef based in Southold and author of “The Shelter Island 36,” will join as panelists, promising  a delicious discussion.

On Sunday – Towns, Communication, Consumption

Sunday, Jan. 23 offers panels on Model Towns, Web Resources for Regenerators, Communicating for Changing Times, Protect Nature, Fashion & Plastics and Financial Impact for Regeneration.  

Moderator Mark Haubner presents Consumption Be Done! on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. 

Worried about waste? With the amount of waste at an all-time high, we are coming face-to-face with the high cost and consequences of our consumption. Not to worry, there are plenty of actions for us to take at every level of our lives — from personal efforts in the household to redesigning packaging at the international level (Hello Creatives!).

Taking a “systems view” of the world will help us all to realize how our daily consumption choices can also offer amazing opportunities when we make the “circular economy” a reality in our lives and communities.

Thousands of groups, hundreds of corporations and a growing number of governments have awakened to the critical need for a change in the degenerating, business-as-usual model to systems that mimic the regenerating biological world. It’s a worthy effort to effect this change now, as the outcomes will amaze us in their sustainability— lasting many generations for people yet to arrive in our midst. (Hello fellow great-grandchildren!)

Thanks to the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and the North Fork and the North Fork Environmental Council for their support. Check Southampton Arts Center’s website (southamptonartscenter.org) for a full schedule, updates and registration information.

Climate Local Now is a partnership between the East End Beacon and Drawdown East End, whose mission is to inspire local solutions to reverse global warming. |  DrawdownEastEnd.org

Former Locavore now a Climatarian, sailor, beachcomber Mary Morgan lives in Orient with her husband Tom, naturalist and mushroom forager, early founders of the East End chapter of Slow Food in 2004. Two years ago Mary co-founded a grassroots effort, Drawdown East End, to inspire local solutions to drawdown and sequester carbon. DrawdownEastEnd.org. Mark Haubner has been recycling newspaper since 1965, and not seeing his example being followed by everyone on the planet, started learning Science Communication in earnest about six years ago. He got a Certificate in Sustainability and Behavior Change from the University of California at San Diego (the daily commute was grueling) and now writes Community Based Social Marketing programs for the various nonprofits with which he is involved.