In harmony
with nature.
In peace with
each other.

The ideas

1. 1

   Reduce Waste in New York City

   NYC produces 12.000 tons of waste every day. Only 17-20% gets recycled. 75% of the waste New Yorkers throw away is made of materials that could be recycled or composted using existing city programs. My goal is to reduce the waste sent to landfills to close to zero.

   How do I suggest doing this?

   • Identify packaging materials
   • Find recyclers for these materials
   • Eliminate from the waste stream non-recyclable materials through policy and action
   • Further eliminate waste from trash by
     • Composting all organics
     • Collect e-waste regularly for recycling
     • Establish repair/reuse centers for furniture and other repairable items - this creates workplaces for locals and provides cheap furniture/household items for those in need.
2. 2

   Protect the Rainforest from further deforestation

   Earth’s rainforests are in danger. The Amazon is on the brink of becoming a CO2 emitter instead of drawing down CO2 from the atmosphere. Deforestation also causes the climate in the Amazon area to change from tropical to savannah, which will further reduce its water retention capability.

   75% of all rainforests experience degradation daily. Only 25% remains intact. It is time we step up and treat rainforests like world heritage and protect them from further degradation. Reforestation is of utmost importance where possible.

   How do I suggest doing this?

   • Establishing Rainforest Guardianships along the geographical borders of the remaining rainforest, including governments, indigenous communities, NGOs, the UN, and private companies, with the goal of:
     • Maintaining the rainforest intact needs to yield more for owners than clearing it.
     • Good examples exist. We must learn from them and disseminate working practices: Indigenous Guardianships, Agroforestry, and Sustainable Forestry, for example. We need practices that are truly sustainable and are not greenwashing, like RSPO, for example.
3. 3

   Eliminate Plastic in the Ocean

   Plastics leaking into the ocean have to come to an end. We also need to deal with the tremendous amount of plastic in the ocean, like the island in the middle of the Pacific.

   How do I suggest doing this?

   With the help of Google Earth, main leakage points can be identified. By involving local authorities, action can be taken to stop plastic from leaking into the ocean through legislation, incentives, and control.

   Collaborate with and enhance the work of ocean-cleaning organizations, establishing a partnership to eliminate the plastic island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and slowly but surely clean up our oceans.

4. 4

   Reforming Current Unsustainable Agriculture into Regenerative Food Production

   Current agricultural practices and intensive farming deplete the soil and put toxins into the environment and our food. At the same time, agriculture is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. This doesn’t have to be. Agriculture, which feeds us all, can and should be sustainable and follow best practices for people and the planet.

   How do I suggest doing this?

   The methods exist for sustainable agriculture that provide better food and protect the soil. Even cows can be part of the solution to climate change by putting CO2 into the soil if kept free-range on grass. Agriculture needs to be reformed, and factory farming has to come to an end. This requires lobbying, negotiations, and a strong consumer movement.

5. 5

   Put Climate at the Forefront of Policy

   The economy is at the forefront of policy. The economy drives our policies, not sustainability. Sustainability needs to be the driving force behind the economy because, in the current state of the planet, we don’t have any other choice. Building green infrastructure fuels the economy and creates jobs and opportunities for sustainability to grow.

   How do I suggest doing this?

   Policy changes and incentives are necessary; so is a paradigm change in public opinion, which is already on the horizon. With more people gaining consciousness about the state of the planet, their consumer choices will change. Our job is to make their choices obvious and abundant for them, so they can opt for the more sustainable alternatives and change their consumption habits. However, sustainability isn’t only about consumers’ choices.

   Sustainability for companies needs to be incentivized, third-party reports mandated and vigilantly monitored with benchmarks and KPIs that are set by an agreement of government agencies, consumer protection NGOs, sustainability consultants, and best practices from around the world.

6. 6

   Homelessness

   Homeless people are on the streets of every city. While economists want us to believe it’s their fault, if you listen to their stories, it becomes clear that most of them fell out of the system through no fault of their own. Low-income housing, preventative care, job opportunities, and social networks are all necessary to prevent this phenomenon. Healthcare, dignity, and options to get off the streets are essential services every city and state should provide to help people reintegrate into society. For those who can’t or unwilling to do so, alternatives must exist.

   How do I suggest doing this?

   Using worldwide best practices, establish shelters with the goal of resocialization into society. Job opportunities through sustainability initiatives, such as city farming, repair centers, and recycling, can provide incentives for people to participate in society. Low-income housing and resocialization by social workers are necessary to support people on this journey.

7. 7

   Social Justice

   Climate change and social justice are deeply connected because an environmental crisis worsens existing inequalities based on income, geography, race, or gender. While climate should be considered behind everything we do, we cannot start acting without thinking of social justice. The most important ongoing conflict of our time regarding social justice is in the Middle East. I’m not talking about Iran; I’m talking about Israel and Palestine/Gaza. Reconciliation of that conflict will have a domino effect on war conflicts all over the world.

   How do I suggest doing this?

   I wrote my second thesis in 1999 on the peace process in the Middle East. I was able to encounter students and other people on both sides of the conflict as part of a German social pedagogy student group visiting Israel and the West Bank in 1998. Neither side was able to do that, so they relied on the picture that was portrayed about “them” instead of having met each other face to face. In my thesis, I describe a program that would help strengthen the peace process. Recruiting students from 6 universities (3 Israeli and 3 Palestinian) to spend 2 weeks together and work together over the following 6-9 months.

   In the first week, the students will get to know each other and their history, narrative, and personal stories. They become one group through experiential pedagogical methods over the weekend, and next week the students form workshops around their personal interests. In those workshops, they work out a plan for the next 6-9 months and start working with an NGO/organization which will mentor them and help them to execute their plan. The goal is outreach to society with projects that enable peer encounters, exchange views, and change mindsets towards a peaceful coexistence. The thesis was written in 1999, and a lot has changed for the worse since. I still do believe that peace is possible and the 76-year-old conflict can be solved. My plan is not enough, though; we need a wide range of representatives of both societies who also believe that peaceful coexistence is possible and are willing to work on it.