The Fearless-themed TEDxAustin event last Saturday provided quite a rollercoaster ride. Well-polished presentations on divergent topics topics made us think, question, and be hurtled through a wide range of emotions. I'm grateful that I was able to attend. I feel like my own work will be impacted from this day of expanded thought and connections with some amazing movers and shakers.

A short selection of highlights specifically relevant to my work (and perhaps other sustainability oriented folks) were:

1) Robyn Metcalfe visual map of the miracle of a PB&J and all of its source inputs. It's a wonder that any of us eat the way we do. I'm particularly excited to parrticipate in the digital open source map of Austin's food system that the Food Lab at UT is taking on. I want to make sure the materials flow of food is part of it- especially what happens with all the leftover food. 

2) The Wire – proposed urban cable system. Picture ski-lift technology with enclosed gondola capsules strung around town steadily moving at a predictable pace, unaffected by traffic at any time of day, not taking up any existing lanes and built for a fraction of the cost of urban rail. The Round Rock City Council has invited a presentation on The Wire… I think Austin should be at least asking for a presentation as well. 

3) Musical instruments made from trash in developing countries make up recycled orchestras and a program called Landfill Harmonic. I am again reminded that landfilling trash is such a waste and that recycling creates more jobs and reuse creates…. MANY more jobs, and beauty! We were treated to a concert on a violin that had been flown in to demonstrate the magnificence that is possible from trash, and it was deeply touching. See this wikipedia page about reuse for more inspiration.

The day was rich with other topics less directly related to my work but no less important to the world or our souls.

I was deeply disturbed, to the point of feeling nautious, while they played the TED.com video of Marc Goodman's Vision of Crimes in the Future. I grasped our total loss of privacy and our real vulnerability to so few hurting so many in so many more easily accessible ways. Not ideas I want to see spread.

I was grateful to be brought back to a more heart-filled space with the playfulness of Jia Jiang's taking on Rejection Therapy by making daily audacious requests for 100 days, and the inspired music of Graham Reynolds and Bill Burgess.

In general I encourage you to spend a little of your weekly screen time watching some of the TED talks. I've heard you can get an Ivy League education watching them. You cen get some inspiration as well!  Check out this one that we also watched on Saturday featuring Regina Dugan, then director of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Resaerch Projects Agency, who reminds us to be nice to nerds and asks "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" I realized I would start aksing more people in high places to participate in my projects and include many more people who don't think like me. 

If you know of some intellectually curious and/or leader type middle school or high school students you should encourage them to apply to attend the TEDxYouth@Austin event taking place March 30th at the Westlake High School Auditorium.  Whether or not they choose me as a speaker to talk about Food Waste I know it will be an excellently produced event.