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The Story of Solutions (Why making real[br]change starts with changing the game)

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with Annie Leonard

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Do you have one of these, of course[br]not this thing is five years old

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now everyone's got on of these.

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Can you imagine how much genius and focus[br]it took to turn a music player into

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a hand-held computer, phone, GPS, remote control[br]for everything in life in just five years.

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Seriously

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The thousands of people who made this[br]thing had to solve thousands of problems

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that literally could not have[br]been solved five years ago.

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That's what people can do when they are[br]motivated to find solutions to problems.

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But the problems we've been busy solving are[br]not the problems that most need solving.

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So much focus has gone into[br]faster, cheaper, newer.

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That we've actually lost ground on things[br]like safer, healthier and more fair.

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It is as if we are getting better and[br]better at playing the wrong game.

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And, in many ways this system is a lot[br]like a game, but with very high stakes.

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Just like a game

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our economy was designed by people to[br]get everyone to play by certain rules

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and, like a game, it comes with[br]instructions telling us what the goal is.

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Think about the last time[br]you played a new game

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Remember ?

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The first thing you did was[br]find out what it means to win

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and that guides every decision[br]you make along the way.

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So naturally the solutions most people are[br]working on pursue this games simple goal

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and that goal is more.

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More money being spent, more roads being[br]built, more malls being opened, more stuff.

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That's what economists[br]call growth.

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So we take all the money spent[br]on stuff that makes life better

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and all the money spent on[br]stuff that makes life worse

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and we add it together[br]into one big number

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called GDP.

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Were told that a bigger[br]GDP means we're winning

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So it's the number that thousands of the[br]rules and laws are designed to increase.

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But there's a big difference between more[br]kids in school or more kids in jail.

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More windmills or[br]more coal-fired power plants.

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More super-efficient public trains[br]or more gas wasted in traffic jams.

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'duh!!'

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But in this game of more[br]they are counted same.

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Now we can't change a game this dumb[br]one rule or one player at time.

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The problem is the goal itself. [br]We need solutions that change that.

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What if we built this game[br]around goal of better.

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Better education, better health, [br]better stuff.

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A better chance to[br]survive on this planet.

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That's what we all want. right?

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So shouldn't that be[br]what winning means?

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Changing the goal of the[br]entire economy is a huge task.

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Of course we can't[br]do it all at once.

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But when we focus on[br]game-changing solutions

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we gradually make it possible[br]for a new game to be played.

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To do that we have to be able to tell the[br]difference between a game-changing solution

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or just a new way to play[br]that old game of more.

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For example,

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let's look at two solutions to one[br]of the many problems we face today.

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The scourge of plastic packaging that[br]everyone knows is a disaster for the planet.

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Especially the oceans.

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And, here are two groups of people

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with very different ideas of[br]solutions to the plastics' problem.

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These guys decide[br]that enough is enough

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and they start by launching a citizen campaign[br]to ban the plastic bag in their community.

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these guys have a[br]different solution.

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They start a business

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that gives people's gift cards to buy[br]stuff if they recycle their plastic waste.

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Both of these are[br]happening right now,

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but only one if them[br]changes the game.

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The gift card solution does keep some[br]plastic out of landfills and incinerators.

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But it creates more plastic by[br]encouraging people to buy more stuff.

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Even worse,

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it teaches that more consumption is the[br]right reward for being a good citizen.

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Making it even harder to think[br]outside that old game box.

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The 'ban the bag' solution[br]is harder to achieve,

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but it's a game-changer.

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Why?

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Well, by volunteering their time,[br]these citizens are declaring that

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there's something more important to them[br]than just earning and spending more.

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To win this campaign, these citizens[br]are gonna have to team up with

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forward-thinking businesses offering[br]alternatives to throw away plastic packaging.

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They're gonna have to build power to fight[br]back against the American Chemistry Council.

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Which is lobbies for the company’s[br]that make all that plastic junk.

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And they're gonna have to get out and[br]talk to their neighbors and friends

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inspiring yet more people to[br]begin to question the old game.

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This is exactly what's happening in[br]towns and cities all across the world

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and they're winning.

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But can banning a few million plastic[br]bags transform the goal of the game.

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By itself no,

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but in combination with[br]millions of others working on

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game-changing solutions[br]that they care about,

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YES.

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Together these solutions are[br]beginning to turn the tide.

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As people build power[br]to change the game

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their citizen muscles grow.

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They work to ensure the local solutions[br]they create get copied and scaled up.

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And when they see the solutions getting blocked[br]by corporations with way too much influence

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they team up with other solutionaries[br]to fight for a real democracy

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by the people, for the people.

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Gift cards will never do that

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but thousands off citizen[br]campaigns can.

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Whenever I'm asked to join in a solution[br]I want to know if it's transformational

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will it change the goal?

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To figure it out I[br]use the word GOAL

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I want to know that it G-[br]gives people more power

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taking power back from[br]corporations to build democracy.

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O - opens people's eyes to the truth[br]that once basic needs are met

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happiness and well-being don't[br]come from buying more stuff

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but from our communities, our[br]health and a sense of purpose.

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A - accounts for all[br]the cost it creates

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including the toll it takes[br]on people and the planet

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In other words it internalizes[br]costs instead of externalizing them

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as most businesses do today.

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L - lessens the enormous wealth gap between[br]those who can't even meet the basic needs

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and those who consume way[br]more than their fair share.

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When I see solution that does all[br]that or can be redesigned to

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I'm in.

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And they're popping[br]up everywhere.

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Like the Evergreen[br]cooperatives in Cleveland.

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Where worker owners are[br]running green businesses.

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A laundry, a solar company and[br]a super productive urban farm

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that are healthy and safe.

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They provide secure jobs to people[br]that the old game has left behind.

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We all know we need to get[br]businesses out of our democracy.

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But cooperatives go even further and bring[br]democracy into the businesses.

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Sustainable,[br]democratic, equitable.

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That's a game-changer.

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Or in Capennori, a town in Italy where local[br]citizens working with businesses and governments

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are not just seeking[br]to manage waste better

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but they're questioning the[br]very inevitability of waste.

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They're promoting solutions to waste[br]not with expensive techno fixes

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but by working together as a community[br]to reclaim compost for the soil,

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to find reusable substitutes[br]for disposable products

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and then to put discarded[br]material to good use.

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They've already reduce some[br]waste streams by 82 percent

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while creating jobs and[br]building social fabric.

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And how about the new trend[br]of collaborative consumption

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formerly known as 'sharing'.

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Sharing may sound like[br]the theme of Barney song

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but think about it, it's a[br]huge challenge to the old game.

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It gets as off the treadmill[br]of 'More-More-More',

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conserves resources, gives people access[br]to stuff they otherwise couldn't afford

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and builds communities.

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what does it look like?

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Bike share programs[br]in major cities,

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online platforms that let us share everything[br]from our cars to our homes to camping gear.

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In my town the public library[br]system lends out tools.

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There's just no reason that every[br]house needs its own power drill,

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crème brûlée torch, scanner, wheelbarrow,[br]a bike pump, when we can share.

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As transformational solutions[br]like these gain traction

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we will reach a tipping point. If we[br]keep focused on the new goal of better.

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Without a new goal all the work we're[br]doing to build a better future will be

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A) not enough and B) really hard.

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Too much genius and focus will continue to go[br]to solving problems like iPhone battery life

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while the problems that threaten[br]human life spin out of control.

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Five years ago when we[br]made the story of stuff

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we started building a community of people who sensed[br]that something was really wrong with this old game.

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We agreed there was a problem.

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Now it's time to[br]build the solutions.

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Solutions that won't just change a few of[br]the rules but will change the entire game.

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Wanna help?

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Come on let's do it.

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Subtitle by - Palash