In this episode, Scott Badenoch (vegan), Chief Executive Officer of Creative Citizen, emphasizes the importance of sustainability in daily life and the powerful role of global collaboration and digital media in combating climate change.
Master: They’re beautiful people today, aren’t they? (Yes.) You collect all the beautiful people. I’m so glad to know them. Thank you, Jane. It must be your attraction. You are like a magnet. (Thank You so much, Supreme Master.)
MC: Jane Velez-Mitchell: And now we go to perhaps the most beautiful person of the day, because he has waited the longest to speak. (Mr. Badenoch.) Scott Badenoch, Chief Executive Officer of Creative Citizen. Take it away.) (Wow!)
Scott Badenoch: Thank You. (Welcome.) So I’d like to, again, thank everybody for their patience. It’s obviously been an extremely informative day. It’s ironic that we’re here in Hollywood, the land of dramatic plot lines, where we happen to have the most dramatic plot line in the history of humankind. It’s quite a fascinating time to be alive. And climate change, in reality, is the most critical issue in the history of our species. And we are going to either evolve or we’re going to go the way of the dinosaur. Now, I’d rather this be in movies than in real life as well, but the fact of the matter is – and if you look at all the scientific data from the top to the bottom – this is not a 50- to 100-year horizon of a problem. This is three to five years.
So, the time to act is right now. And the time for a massive holistic change is right now. So what I’d like to say is that every single facet of our society will be rethought through the lens of sustainability. So, this is not just about being a vegan. This is about rethinking every single thing that we do, in our daily lives, in our businesses, at home, in our offices, in every single facet of our lives. And if we do not do that, we will not solve this problem.
So, what’s on the end of our plate is very important. Now, while we also have the biggest problem in the history of mankind, we also have the greatest tool in the history of mankind, which is the internet. So, this tool which brings together the ability to collaborate, mobilize and disseminate can be the “savior” for our human species. It’s in reality the greatest asset of this period of transition that we have, where working together is now easier than ever before. So, the thesis statement is that we must transition our society from one that is at odds with nature to one that is in accord with it. And fortunately, if there is a method to do that, that is through grassroots methodologies, which we’ve all forged for decades, and now we have a mechanism to really do it.
So, you look at the successes that have happened in this space. For instance, Wikipedia. Wikipedia now reaches 683 million visitors annually – twice the United States. They have over ten million articles in 253 languages. And this all took place in seven years. This is unprecedented in the history of humankind. This is real serious stuff. It’s also been proven to be more accurate than the static Encyclopedias like Encarta and Encyclopedia Britannica, because it can be updated live time. So dinosaurs are going by the wayside.
Now, we look at things like Facebook and MySpace and a lot of times they’re scoffed at as toys or kids’ things. But the ability to mobilize and unify the human species through mechanisms like those is really incredible. You look at Facebook – it has over 80 million users in the space of four years. Eighty million people in four years, this is not small stuff. Then you look at MySpace; they have over a 150 million users in five years. They have 200,000 new users every day. Two hundred thousand new users every day – this is massive. You look at YouTube. They have over 100 million videos, giving the ability to disseminate information and ideas, whole new levels of success.
So, tapping into those models was the creation of creativecitizen.com, and I’d like to call it the “Wiki for green living.” So what we’ve seen is this drastic increase in awareness amongst the public that there is a massive problem called climate change, resource depletion – whatever you want to call it. We have, as a species, outstripped the supply on this planet. So what do we do? Well, there’s lots of things we can do. So, our mission as creativecitizen.com is to provide the community at large with the tools to disseminate immediately actionable and tangible creative solutions for more environmentally friendly life.
Now, creative solutions are anything from products and services to habits that cost you nothing. So what we do is we show you the tangible benefits of these things, from turning the water off while you brush your teeth to installing solar panels and everything in between. Again, every single facet of your life can be rethought with a creative solution. So what we do is, then, also help you track, in terms of five categories: waste, water, energy, emissions and money – the real savings that result from these things, so that this whole green thing is not so innocuous to people.
It starts making real sense when you find out that turning the water off while you brush your teeth, which couldn’t be any simpler, saves 3,000 gallons a year per person. That is not a small amount. You extrapolate that times four people in a family – you got 12,000 gallons of water. This is real stuff.
Now, if you do 20, 30, 50 things like this, that cost you nothing and you end up saving massive amounts that take multiple cars off the road – more cars than you actually use in your daily lives – and end up saving you US$500, US$1000, US$5000 a year from the resources you would have been wasting. Now we’re starting to reach the demographics. So what’s been missing in this market is that there hasn’t been a way for people to reach digestible actions that they can do right now. That is what creativecitizen.com was created to do. Now, to get back to going vegan, the reality is, if you are only to do one thing in your daily life to become more environmentally friendly, that is to be a vegan, really a vegan.
To quote somebody who we all think is pretty smart – Albert Einstein: “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” This is Albert Einstein: “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” What more needs to be said? Now, there are many different means to get this information out to the public.
Dr. Tuttle’s book, “The World Peace Diet” is incredible. David Gershon’s book, “Low Carbon Diet,” is also incredible. I suggest that all of you pick up one or two of those. The reality is that meat feeds few at the expense of many. While we could be feeding ourselves and others with grain, we’re instead feeding grains to cows. This makes no sense. Some of the stats that has been said today that are really crucial, are that 16 pounds (~ 7.26 kilograms) of grains go to create one pound (~ 0.45 kilograms) of meat. That is not a good equation. The idea that I’d like people to really consider is that for every serving of meat that you sit down at your dinner table and eat, the grain and cereals that went to feed that animal that created that meat could have fed 45 to 50 people. So when you sit and look at that one helping of meal – that one burger at the one restaurant – think about 45 or 50 people with empty bowls standing around you, hungry. That’s really what’s going on. There is no disconnect anymore. The most stark fact that I think I’ve read or come across, and Supreme Master actually mentioned it earlier, in America alone, the amount of grain that is used to feed just the cows in America would feed 840 million people. That is more than the entire population of starving people on the planet.
So, let’s get real about this. Just in America, just the cows that we feed the grain would solve starvation worldwide. So the idea that what’s on the end of your plate doesn’t matter and is disconnected can’t exist anymore. So what we do at Creative Citizen is – especially for Americans – a phased approach to becoming a vegan is very important. I’ve been a vegetarian for five and a half years and grew up in Chicago. It’s really tough to not eat meat when you live in a place like Chicago. And so I phased it out slowly. And actually, it wasn’t that slow. But the reality is that I took steps to get there. And so what we have on Creative Citizen are different creative solutions that people can do in regards to eating a plant-based diet.
First is eat less beef. You don’t have to eliminate everything immediately. Eat less beef. Then the next is eat no beef. Then the next is eat just fish. Then the next is full-on vegetarian, and then finally vegan. And so this is – especially for Americans who are extremely entrenched in a meat-eating diet – this is a way that people can really get out of that trap and get into a healthy lifestyle, and at the same time save an incalculable amount of resources for the rest of humanity. This is a way to help you realize that you don’t actually need to eat meat, which is really the most difficult mental barrier for people to get over.
So, all in all, I’d like to really get us back to the reality that having dominion over plants and animals means stewardship. That is the real definition. That’s the real translation of that word. It’s stewardship. It’s not: kill it, eat it, and destroy it. And then beyond that, veganism is a very wonderful thing when it comes to the environment. But there are infinite amount of creative solutions that you can tap into your daily life. And it is time now for our human race to act. We cannot wait for governments. We cannot wait for big business. We cannot wait for our neighbors. We must begin now. And it’s time for the individual, each and every one of us, to stand up and make that change. And once we individually do that, one by one, the globe as a whole will shift.
So I encourage you all to go to creativecitizen.com and really begin to infuse these things into your life and realize that there are so many things that it is absolutely unacceptable to say, “It’s too big for me and I can’t do it.” It’s every facet of your life and you can do it. And frankly, we must.
Master: Yes, we must, we must. Just like he said, we must do it. Either that or we will perish. Thank you. (Thank You very much, Supreme Master. Thank You.)
Photo Caption: “We All Have the Same Essence”
