Believing that one of the most powerful tools for change are our interactions with people, Pop Sustainability began producing live events, which build community and a new cultural conversation for sustainability.

Pop Sustainability’s April Fools Fundraiser at Nublu a Smart Success
April 1, 2004 New York City

New York, NY April 1, 2004 – Pop Sustainability’s fundraising efforts have once again had great success at connecting sustainably minded individuals at a party hosted by Nublu this April Fools Day.

Over 50 participants showed their support of Pop Sustainability by attending a night of revery, jokes and prizes. “I couldn’t have been happier with the results of the Nublu event,” grins Kim Heismann, Executive Director of Pop Sustainability. “Events like this prove that our organization is loved, wanted and needed in today’s world.”

David Fullner, a Pop Sustainability volunteer, acted as “Sir Prizes,” jokester and prize giver of the night. “I was astounded by the connections that people formed in the course of the evening. Everyone knew they were supporting something amazing, something that could really make a difference. That support drew people together that never would have a chance to speak to one another before. It was very gratifying to see.”

The highlight of the evening came when unannounced special guests, Wax Poetic, headed by Ilhan Ersahin took the stage for an impromptu set. The band played an intense and lively set while “Sir Prizes” delighted the audience by awarding Wax Poetic CDs to a few lucky observers.

For more photos of the evening, please Click Here for the Nublu Party Photo Gallery. Please be patient while it loads.

The Building Blocks of Sustainability: Carving Out Leadership for the 21st Century
July 2003 in New York City
Answering fundamental questions about how leaders get the job done in a responsible way, guest speakers from government, business, and non-profit worlds shared insights and best practices.

• Irvin Barash – President, Vencon Management, Inc, a "new era" venture capital firm, an AIESEC Alumni
• Dean Steven Cohen – Director, School of International and Public Affairs and Earth Institute at Columbia University
• City Councilman Eric Gioia – one of New York City's youngest City Council members from District 26, Queens
• Osiris Duval James – President and Founder of Urban Mentor, mentoring the next generation
• Anderson Toney – President and Founder of Image & Etiquette, image strategy and business etiquette

Pop Sustainability had two partners for the event including AIESEC, is a network of students dedicated to fostering international understanding, cooperation and leadership and Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century (DL21C) an independent organization of young, progressive New Yorkers.

Spin, Interruption and Pop - A screening of the NBC News Profile “Bernays: The Father of Spin” aka. the founder of the term “public relations”
June, 2003 in New York City
With Host Amanda Cooper, Media Relations Manager, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and Special Guest Peter Yost, Co-producer of “Bernays: The Father of Spin” and co-founder of traveling East Films, the evening provide a subtle but rather shocking perspective on the media. The film delved into the life ad accomplishments of Edward Bernays and how he honed the science behind public relations. Amongst his lifetime achievements he is credited for setting consumer style trends, making smoking popular amongst women and influencing wars. Peter Yost’s film brought out these fascinating facts in this made for NBC special that never got aired. The audience responded adamantly that the film should find a public venue. Pop Sustainability partnered with Social Enterprise, LLC, interrupción nyc to bring this event to our shared audiences.

The Interdependent Film Series
October 8th–November 5th, 2002, New York City
Produced by the New York Affiliates for Sustainability (NYAFS), the Interdependent Film Series was a 3-evening series of highly educational and entertaining film with guest speakers and a full house each night. Just under 500 people attended these three events and donated advertising reached an estimated 3 million readers. The series brought to light themes such as the impact of U.S. and other foreign economic agendas on the lives of several Jamaicans - with special guest speaker Anna Lappe, author of “Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet” (J.P. Tarcher/Putnam 2002). The second evening featured The Shaman’s Apprentice, an epic film about preserving the ancient wisdom of the Shaman in the Amazon with speaker Mark Plotkin, writer and filmmaker. Recently hailed by Time magazine as an environmental “Hero for the Planet,” Dr. Plotkin is an ethnobotanist who was educated at Harvard, Yale and Tufts. The closing event featured the film Blue Vinyl, a sometimes hilarious and always picaresque lesson in the production and toxic properties of polyvinyl chloride - also known as PVC - with the co-directors Judith Helfand and Daniel Gold as special guests.

CommoNature
May 2001, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Students at Erasmus University were the first to take Pop Sustainability’s campaign tool and develop their own campaign. The first European sustainable concept party “CommoNature" engaged the students of the "Art and Sustainability" class lead by Professor Hans Dieleman and attracted the interest of students campus wide. At the culmination of the campaign—an on campus party—students visualized the concept of sustainability, using various art expressions such as music, movies, slide projections, and a group painting. Pop Sustainability traveled to Rotterdam several times in support of the planning of the campaign.

"Desfile de Moda Sostenible"/Sustainable Fashion Show
November 2000 in Barcelona, Spain
The Pop Catalunya team proved once and for all that sustainability can be fashionable by producing a fashion show of designs created from ecologically freidly and recycled materials. Six local fashion designers showed pieces from their collections and nine students from the Escola Profesional de la Dona learned about sustainability by developing their garments for this show. Hotel Rivoli, Barcelona's first green hotel provided the luxurious space in their location near the Ramblas. The media turned out in full force and the local station BTV created a one-minute report about the event.

Pop Party 2000
November 2000 in New York, London, Barcelona, Ulaanbatar, Hartford, San Francisco
A worldwide event that raised money and awareness about the leadership role of youth in democratic societies and the evolving democracy in Mongolia. Thinking globally and acting locally, each city's party host used the occasion to support a local charity in addition to the Zorig Foundation in Mongolia which advances democracy in the country. The result was an event that connected young people from all locations to ThinkPop.org and a variety of sustainability-related organizations all using the night to celebrate the powerful role of youth in democratic societies.

"What's Love Got to Do With it?" Film Festival
June 2000, New York
"What's Love Got to Do With it?" was a one night only short film festival developed to connect the nature of human relationships with the goals of a sustainable planet. Empowerment, equality, community, respect, enduring, friendships and soul mates, children, family and happy homes, abusive relationships, battered wives/husbands, co-dependency were all topics for consideration. Selecting from the best short films of the international festival circuit, Pop Sustainability promoted the works of top emerging artists. The Pop Choice Award winner of $5000 was elected by the audience and went to filmmaker Jim Hoppin for "A Cup of Tea", a parody on interactions between people in modern "boxy" living quarters.

Global Halloween Party
October 1999, Barcelona and New York City
A global Halloween party connected mega-nightclubs in Barcelona and New York City through the internet to share the American holiday that most epitomizes the celebration of expression, diversity and creativity-the Halloween parade in the east Village of New York City. Spain also celebrates this day but very differently. During the live transmission, experts spoke with guests about sustainability, the social and environmental aspects of costumes, and the spirit of the holiday.

Youth AlienNation Film Festival
June 1999, New York City
This three-night film festival included several highly acclaimed shorts, features and documentaries by the best of the new underground, street and mainstream independent filmmakers. Issues of urban youth, their perspectives on life, family, relationships and future opportunities were interspersed with spoken word poetry by several local youth. The festival proceeds benefited the nonprofit organization, The Door, the most comprehensive youth development center in New York City for young people ages 12-21 which provides accessible health care, counseling, education, legal services, as well as arts and recreation programs.

Recycladelic
October 1998, New York City
A retro Halloween party featuring reduced, reused, and recycled costumes, Recycladelic celebrated the come back of reused garment trend. Guests had the opportunity to compete for one of four prizes: the "use less, have more fun" most reduced costume, the Austin Powers Award for the "grooviest reused costume", the "hippest costume made of recycled materials", and the "That's not your mother, Baby, that's a man" award. Pop Sustainability distributed prizes provided by several local sustainable product producers including Terra Verde, Planet Hemp, and Cheap Jack's vintage clothing.

The Essence of Sustainability
June 1998, New York City
In the shared interest of promoting the health and environmental benefits of organic products and foods, Aveda and Pop Sustainability co-produced an organic food and wine tasting. Nine Manhattan organic restaurants accompanied exhibitions of Aveda's herbal essence products. Twelve varieties of organic wine were sampled. A presentation by sustainability expert Terry Gips explained the benefits of consuming organic products. The live DJ provided a sustainable groove in Aveda's beautiful demonstration site in Soho. This premiere event attracted major press and internationally renowned celebrities.

© 2002 POP SUSTAINABILITY