“Chasing Sustainability”
What is the rate of energy consumption in the United States compared with the rest of the world? How much longer can we continue to use energy at the rate at which we are presently doing so? What impact are our lifestyles having on the planet and how can ordinary people implement changes in their daily lives that will actually make a difference?
Dave Chameides presents an argument in favor of practicing conservation in the broader ambition of living a more sustainable lifestyle.
His talk begins with a now famous 1999 Cal. Tech. study which determined how much energy the inhabitants of the earth used compared to how much we will eventually need, paying particular attention to how petroleum is consumed. He then proceeds to make the case that we are now at "peak oil," explaining the concepts behind “Hubberts Peak”, and setting up a discussion of conservation and alternative energy. Chameides cites the conversion of his car to run on used vegetable oil as a concrete instance of what can be done to change the way we as a society consume resources. The talk concludes with some concrete instances of how we are all playing a part in the environmental devastation we are witnessing and introduces some manageable changes which we can each commit to to start living more sustainable lifestyles.
Never judgmental and often lighthearted, Chameides relies on the facts and a no-nonsense pragmatism to persuade, confident that once people are given the right information they will choose to do what is best.
Here’s what students have said about his course -
“He explained complex issues so simply, anyone could have understood it.”
“His power points were very nice and easy to follow.”
“He was funny and kept me interested his entire speech. The time went fast!”
“He didn't preach about his own lifestyle, he made it about us. I was pleasantly surprised.”
“He is the best speaker I have ever attended at Chico State, and I have seen many!”
Dave Chameides is a freelance journalist writing articles on alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles for Edmunds.com, an automotive website that receives in excess of a million hits a month. He created and teaches a course on renewable energy and sustainability to middle school and high school students throughout Los Angeles County, has converted his car to run on used vegetable oil, and has a 2.8 kilowatt solar system installed on his house.
Since January 1st, Chameides has maintained 365 Days Of Trash which chronicles a year long experiment of saving all his trash and recycling in his basement in order to better understand his environmental impact. He has been featured on ABC News, NPR and countless web sites throughout the world, and is a regular on KROQs Kevin and Bean Show as Sustainable Dave. He also maintains Achieving Sustainability and is presently building Sustainable Dave, a website that will be a one stop shopping site for reducing individual environmental impact as well as the future home of Sustainable Dave TV (SDTV) an completely unique series of webisodes revolving around the environment and steps that we can all take to improve it. Beginning in May, Chameides will be contributing a weekly column to CARE 2 on the choices we make and their environmental impact, reaching over a million readers a month.
For the last twenty years Dave Chameides has been a director and cameraman in Hollywood and has won two Emmys, one for his work on the television show E.R. He is now using his connections in the film industry to get the word out about conservation and living a more sustainable lifestyle.
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•Hear What People Have To Say About “Chasing Sustainability”
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•Hear Dave’s Interview on UC Santa Cruz Radio
• Contact Dave About Coming To Speak At Your School Or Business