THU. 6/11: “NO IMPACT MAN” & ECO-CARNIVAL MAKE THESE FUN AND EASY “NO IMPACT” PLEDGES

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On Thursday, June 11, Rooftop Films and The Fledgling Fund will present the fascinating documentary No Impact Man. The film is a local family drama with global implications, as the inspirational (and controversial) No Impact Man (and family) challenge themselves to make no environmental impact for one year. As part of Rooftop Films core goal to engage audiences in unique and interesting ways, Rooftop and The Fledgling Fund invite you to join the challenge.

THE SCREENING WILL GO ON RAIN OR SHINE, EITHER INDOORS OR OUT, SO GET YOUR TICKETS NOW.

All in attendance will be welcome at the after-party at Matchless Bar, with free drinks courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner.

Before and after the screening–rain or shine–the lawn (or auditorium) of Automotive High School will host a celebration of environmentally-friendly activities, as Rooftop Films and The Fledgling Fund utilize the screening of No Impact Man to engage audience members in making environmentally-friendly lifestyle commitments.

Just Food will get people involved in their “make bee keeping legal in NY campaign”, the Greenmarket will do a local foods cooking demonstration, The NY Office of Recycling will do a “what can you recycle/what can you not recycle” game, the LES Ecology Center will demonstrate how to use a compost kit, Artistic Evolution will bring their “bike blender” to make environmentally friendly lemonade, and the students of Automotive High School will demonstrate their bio-diesel cars and distribute organic produce grown on school grounds. Audience members who make personal pledges to change aspects of their lifestyles will be entered into a raffle to win various prizes.

The Hungry March Band, New York’s legendary political street brass march band, will help create a festive atmosphere as they perform in the anarchic style that has become their trademark.

This promises to be one of the most crucial Rooftop events ever, so come on by!

The pledges Rooftop, Fledgling and No Impact Man himself are asking you to make are:

1. Save the world by improving your dietReally! All you have to do is stop eating beef.
Worldwide, beef production contributes more substantially to climate change
than the entire transportation sector. Plus, a diet with no or less beef is
better for you. The carbon footprint of the average meat eater is about 1.5
tons of CO2 larger than that of a vegetarian. Cutting beef out of your diet
will reduce your CO2 emissions by 2,400 pounds annually.

2. Get your drinking water for free. You can save money and your
environment by giving up bottled water. The production of plastic water bottles
together with the privatization of our drinking water is an environmental and
social catastrophe. Bottled water costs more per gallon than gasoline. Plus,
the health consequences of drinking water from plastic are not clear.

3. Observe an eco-sabbath. For one day or afternoon or even
hour a week, don’t buy anything, don’t use any machines, don’t switch on
anything electric, don’t cook, don’t answer your phone, and, in general, don’t
use any resources. In other words, for this regular period, give yourself and
the planet a break. Keep your regular eco-sabbath for a month. You’ll find that
the enforced downtime represents an improvement to your life. Every hour per
week that you live no impact cuts your carbon emissions by .6% annually, commit
to four hours per week that’s 2.4%, do it for a whole day each week to cut your
impact by 14.4% a year.

4. Tithe a fixed percentage of your income. Currently, many of our societal
health and welfare services are tied to consumer spending which, in turn,
depends upon planetary resource use. But the idea of buying stuff to help
people is crazy, especially when you consider that our consumption is harming
the habitat that we depend upon for our health, happiness and security. If you
want to help, don’t go shopping. Just help. Commit to tithing part of your
income to the non-profits of your choice. If an average family contributes 1%
($502.33) of their annual income ($50,233) to an environmental non-profit, they
could offset 40.7 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

5. Get there under your own steam. Commit to getting around by
bike or by foot a certain number of days a month. Not only does this mean using
fewer fossil fuels and creating less greenhouse gasses, it means you’ll get
good, healthy exercise and we’ll all breathe fewer fumes. A city with
pedestrian and bike traffic is a lot more pleasant to live in than a city
filled with vehicles. If you can stay off the road just two days a week, you’ll
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 1,590 pounds per year.

6. Commit to not wasting. Wasting resources costs the
planet and your wallet. Don’t overheat or overcool your home–a few degrees
make a huge difference. Let your clothes hang dry instead of using the dryer.
If your old cell phone works, consider not getting another. The list goes on
and on. In the summer, for every degree above 72 F you set your thermostat, you
save 120 pounds of CO2 emissions per year and if you wash your clothes with
cold water you can cut your laundry energy use by up to 90%.

7. Build a community. Play charades. Have dinners
with friends. Sing together. Enjoying each other costs the planet much less
than enjoying its resources. Let’s relearn to joke around and play in ways that
cost nothing to our pocketbooks or our planet. It’s hard to put an exact number
to this but the benefits are priceless.

8. Take your principles to work. The old adage “the cost of
doing business” can no longer hold true. We must act as though we care
about the world at work as much as we do at home. A company CEO or a product
designer has the power to make a gigantic difference through their business,
and so do the rest of us. In commercial buildings lighting accounts for more
than 40% of electrical energy use, a huge cause of greenhouse gas production.
Ask your employer to consider installing motion and occupancy sensors, which
can cut this use by 10%.

9. Dedicate a day’s worth of TV viewing to
eco-service each week
. The average American watches four and a half hours of TV a day.
Take one day off from the tube each week and joining with others to improve our
planet. Voluntary eco-service is a great way to find community who support your
values and a great way to learn about environmental issues and the quality of
life issues that go along with them. Spend three fewer hours each day sitting
in front of your plasma television and you will reduce your carbon emissions by
550 pounds each year.

10. Believe with all your heart that how you live
your life makes a difference to all of us
. We are all interconnected. We make a difference
to each other on many different levels. Every step towards living a conscious
life where we consider the consequences of our actions provides support to
everyone else–whether you know it or not–who is trying to do the same thing.
We are the masters of our destinies. Let’s act as though it is so.

COME SEE NO IMPACT MAN AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE AND WORLD, WHILE HAVING FUN DOING IT.

GET TICKETS NOW.
No Impact Man

Venue: On the lawn of Automotive High School 
Address: 50 Bedford Ave. @ North 13th St. (Williamsburg, Brooklyn) 
Directions: L to Bedford Ave. or G to Nassau Ave. 
7:30: Eco Carnival: A celebration of environmentally-friendly activities, including bike blenders, raffles, prizes.
8:00: Sound Fix presents live music by The Hungry March Band.
9:00: Film 
11:30-1:00: After-party: Free Radeberger Pilsner at Matchless 
Tickets: $9 at the door or online at going.com 
Presented in partnership with: The Fledgling Fund, Cinereach, New York magazine, IndiePix, Shooting People, Council Member David Yassky & Automotive High School 

BUY TICKETS | PROGRAM NOTES | MAP | SOUND FIX | THE HUNGRY MARCH BAND | NO IMPACT MAN BLOG 

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