Bill Nye the Science Guy is coming back to TV

While I no longer own a television, a deplorable percentage of my childhood was spent in front of the television despite my mother's best efforts. One show which kept me engrossed well into my high school years was Bill Nye the Science Guy, recently profiled here. He taught us about simple science by doing fun, wacky experiments in a bow tie and a lab boat.

Well, he's back. Discovery Communications has brought a new network on the air, Planet Green, which touts itself as "the first and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network with a robust online presence and community." According to Treehugger.com (great site!), Bill Nye will host "Stuff Happens," a new show premiering in early September that examines the origins of our consumer products.

Bill Nye is going to examine, in his bow tie and lab coat, the chemical and scientific elements of our household consumer items. I think we can imagine what he might find...

According to the network's site, the premiere show will be on "Breakfast," however, according to Treehugger.com, the sister site of the Planet Green network (I think it's there "robust online presence"), the premiere episode is about the bathroom. [despite the report on the network's website, the network's schedule agrees with Treehugger.com editor's note: A preview airs tonight, August 26, at 9pm Eastern on Planet Green, which focuses on breakfast.]

While I think that the nature of television continues the thoughtless consumer culture that has evolved in our society, the fact that Discovery Communications feels it is in their economic interest to create a television network dedicated to programming about sustainability and ecologically sensitive development shows the consumer demand is rising. Ultimately, the consumer is responsible in a market economy to accept or reject products--for better or worse, corporations can only be expected to produce what we demand. As the demand for ecological sustainability increases, the corporate structure will need to refine and reform accordingly in order to survive. Take, for example, T. Boone Pickens, who is investing the two-thirds of his $3 billion dollar energy empire in wind (which he clearly sits to profit from handsomely, since he owns the largest wind farm in America--an oilman can change to a "windman," but a profiteer is a profiteer).

Traditionally, business has been about growth and consumption. This has ultimately led to a depletion of resources and environmental abuse that is amounting in worldwide catastrophic effect. Yet, even by assuring the good ratings of this network and this program, we can make an inevitable impact.

I can't believe I'm writing this, but, watch your TV and turn your channel to Planet Green!
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Some healthy competition

The Huffington Post is reporting a totally new take on "beating the jones'." Neighborly competition may be a highlight of human nature. We've all seen those people who build a bigger extension, put up more Christmas lights, buy a nicer car, anything to out-do the neighbors. But now, Bill Nye (the Science Guy, of former child-TV fame) and Ed Begley, Jr. (with a TV and film resume too long to list) have entered into a friendly, neighborly competition that should serve as a model for that competitive bug that resides in every human. Find out what it is...

Ed Begley, Jr. has long been an activist for clean green living. He is a former owner of the GM EV1 (watch "Who Killed the Electric Car?"), has a line of green cleaning supplies and is one of the more outspoken voices in Hollywood against climate change and has been so for at least two decades, long before the green-fad was upon us. Ed Begley and Bill Nye reside in Studio City, CA and when Bill Nye moved in two years ago the two began a "greener than him" competition. The article at The Huffington Post lists all the specs of each actor's green abode, and it is impressive.

Clearly one needs lots of cash to create such a home in today's world, but they can be a model for us all on rethinking competition. Furthermore, some of their improvements, like collecting rainwater for cleaning and watering plants or growing simple garden foods like herbs and greens, are things we can ALL do to reduce our "carbon footprints."

So, while we may not all have the financial ability to challenge our neighbor to a "greener than thou" spat of competition we can each challenge ourselves to make small changes. Bring your own reusable bags to the store to carry off your locally grown produce, re-use your plastic goods instead of sending them to the recycling plant and assume it's all ok (for a good, but out-dated read on the problems with traditional recycling, look here), use green businesses when you can and there's more.

I, for one, encourage the competition between Mr. Nye and Mr. Begley and encourage us all to reduce our own carbon footprint.

Thank you, Bill Nye and Ed Begley, for being a model of healthy competition.

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