Search - Big Ideas for a Small Planet: Season 1 (2pc) on DVD

The evolution of television.

Preston C. Enright | Denver, CO United States | 04/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was watching the first installment of the second-season of "Big Ideas" recently. It featured a young couple that was organizing a beautiful "green" wedding, visited Pitzer College in California which is doing amazing things to green their campus, and toured the editorial offices of the wonderful new environmental journal Plenty Magazine. This is typical of Sundance's "Big Ideas" program, which is uplifting, informative, and produced with great skill. So, I was thilled to discover that the first season of "Big Ideas" is now on DVD and can be shared with others who don't have the Sundance Channel.

When television was first developed, there were many promises about how wonderful a tool it would be for the welfare of society. How it would inform and inspire people to create a better world. Sadly, we know that tv has so often instead been used to disinform us, or divert us, or degrade us; especially the commercial tv which is owned by weapons contractors like GE and sponsored by industries that care only about expanding markets and maximizing profits.

Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky and the Media



I had largely drifted away from tv, but recently invested in a satellite dish to receive C-SPAN and the Sundance Channel. In addition to independent films, each Tuesday evening Sundance airs a program called "The Green," which includes the "Big Ideas" program, followed by a documentary on the environment. Past films have included Radiant City and Refugees of the Blue Planet (both of which are excellent). The first season of "Big Ideas" introduced me to people all over the country - in their schools, their homes, and their businesses - who are approaching various environmental issues in all sorts of creative ways - from a pastor who goes to various places of worship talking about waste and recycling and solar panels, to fashion designers who are utilizing organic cotton and fabrics that are dyed in non-toxic processes. "Big Ideas" is tv that honors people and their common decency, and that offers a perception of ourselves and our relation to our planet that has been so sorely lacking. While "Big Ideas" is sponsored by corporations like Lexus, it appears that our environmetal crises have become so severe that a growing number of once reluctant industries are now contributing to the environmental movement.Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage Once dismissed or marginalized sensibilities have become mainstream, and "Big Ideas" is a magnificent expression of that evolution.

Now, with the 1st season on DVD, the message of "Big Ideas" can reach a broader audience. This 2-disc collection is a strategic tool to overcome the despair so many are feeling about our troubled planet. We can make a difference, in our little corners of the world and beyond. And we owe the people at Sundance a debt of gratitude for reminding us of that.



A couple other resources that provide the sort of ideas we need to heal our planet, and heal ourselves:

Sustainable Industries

Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind

The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil

How to Save the World

Yes!"