CaliforniaTour for “Simple
Prosperity”
February 3-15, 2008
Ojai/ Feb 5, Santa Ynez/ Feb 6, Ventura/ Feb 7
, SB/ Feb 8, SLO/Feb 9
LIST OF DATES DETAILS FOLLOW PR
Simple Prosperity , Finding
Real Wealth in Sustainable Livestyle
Slide Show & Booksigning with
Dave Wannn
Best selling author David Wann presents 17 forms of “real
wealth” that can eradicate affluenza, a pandemic he helped diagnose in
the book, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. “When we change a
few key priorities and values, such as what we mean by the word
“success,” many of our material wants will cease to be obsessions,” says
Wann. “Instead of fidgety, addictive consumption, our lives can be filled
with the real wealth of sanity, health, hope, caring, connection,
participation, and purpose.”
Sounds too good to be true? Wann’s new book, Simple
Prosperity , Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle
www.
davewann .com
, draws on the latest research to document how social
connections, good health, contact with nature, stimulating work, leisure
time, great neighborhoods, and other forms of real wealth can build up
our immunity to affluenza. “As a result, we become less vulnerable to the
borrow-and-spend mentality that’s backed the U.S. economy into a corner,”
says Wann. “By reevaluating many aspects of daily life, including what we
eat, where we live, and what we buy, we’re starting to imagine what a
joyfully moderate, efficient, compassionate lifestyle will look like. The
good news is that curing the pandemic of over-consumption at both the
personal and cultural scale is not about giving up the good life
but getting it back.”
Simple Prosperity offers many concrete examples of how we
can have twice the satisfaction for half the resources (such as water,
energy, and materials.) By rethinking our reliance on energy hogs like
aluminum cans (which require 3% of the world’s electricity to
manufacture), bottled water (which annually consumes power equivalent to
the gasoline used in three million cars), monster houses, excessive
airplane travel, feedlot meat, and suburbs-without-stores, we can also
reduce our “ecological footprint,” a measurement of how much land is
required to support a given standard of living. In the U.S., the average
person requires about 30 acres, twice the footprint of an average Italian
or German.
Wann points to the transition Japan made in the 18th
century as a model for what America can become. “Land was in short
supply, forest resources were being depleted, and minerals such as gold
and copper were suddenly scarce as well. Japan went from being
resource-rich to resource-poor, but its culture adapted by developing a
national ethic that centered on moderation and efficiency. An attachment
to the material things in life was seen as demeaning, while the
advancement of crafts and human knowledge were seen as lofty goals.
Ritualistic disciplines like fencing, martial arts, the tea ceremony,
flower arranging, literature, art, and skillful use of the abacus all
fluorished. Most people had access to basic education and health care,
and the three largest cities in Japan had 1500 bookstores among them. “We
can make that kind of transition in America,” says Wann.
David Wann is president of the non-profit Sustainable Futures
Society, a board member of the Cohousing Association of the U.S., and a
fellow of the Simplicity Forum, an association of writers and thinkers on
the topic of sensible, sustainable lifestyles. Wann has received various
lifetime achievement awards for his work on sustainability. He’s been an
passionate gardener for 25 years and coordinates the community garden in
the neighborhood he helped design – Harmony Village in Golden, Colorado.
He’s written nine books and produced many award-winning TV programs and
videos on sustainable design and sustainable lifestyles.
California/Oregon/Colorado Book
Tour for “Simple Prosperity”
February 3-23, 2008
February 5, Ojai: Oak Grove School, Student
Center, 220 W. Lomita Ave, Ojai. 7:00 p.m. Sponsored by Oak Grove School
& the Ojai Valley Green Coalition, admission free Contact: Sara
Benjamin, 805.895.1241
benjamin_sara@yahoo.com
February 6, Santa Ynez: Roasted Bean Coffee
House, Santa Ynez, Wednesday,
6:45 p.m, admission free. Trish Hernandez
crazymiles@earthlink.net
February 7, Ventura: Artbarn: 856 East Thompson Blvd. (between Ash
and Kalorama, behind Kids and Families Together), 7:00 p.m. Ventura,
93001. Contact Lynne Okun,:
805-338-2576
lbokun@earthlink.net
February 8: KSCB 91.9 FM Sustainable World Radio , 9:00 to
10 a.m., Santa Barbara.
www.kcsb.org
streamimg live
February 8, Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner
Gallery, 40 East Anapamu St, in downtown Santa Barbara, 7:00 pm,
contact Wes 805-962-2571
lakinroe@silcom.com
Donation $5
February 9, San Luis Obispo: San Luis Obispo City/County Library
995 Palm St, San Luis Obispo, CA, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Contact: Bob
Banner, 805.544.9663
info@hopedance.org
February 10, Monterey: East Village Coffee House, 498
Washington St.,Monterey, Ca 93940. Contact: Mika Gilmer, 831-236-0204,
6:30 p.m.
mikagilmer@yahoo.com
February 12, Ukiah: The Saturday Afternoon
Club, 107 S. Oak Street, Ukiah, CA 95482, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Sponsored by
the Greater Ukiah Localization Project (GULP)
www.cloudforest.org/GULP, Contact: Cliff
Paulin, (707) 463-0413,
cliffpaulin@hotmail.com
.
February 15, San Francisco: Book signing at Books, Inc., 7:00 p.m.
2551 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA Contact: Rob Garcelon at
415-931-3633
st, 1500 Ninth Ave., Longmont, CO 80501 7 p.m.
www.ucclongmont.org
303-776-4940 Contact: Marian Parsons,
kayakers@frii.com
Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
(805) 962-2571
P.O. Box 92156, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
margie@sbpermaculture.org
www.sbpermaculture.org
"We are like trees,
we must create new leaves, in new directions, in order to grow." -
Anonymous