Have you been looking for a way to start a conversation about sustainability and engage your fellow colleagues? Hosting a brown bag lunch is a great way to get people thinking, and it’s as easy as choosing a couple of TED Talks or a documentary, grabbing some snacks, and gathering everyone together to watch, listen, and discuss.
The FAS Green Program hosts a Brown Bag Lunch event each month that highlights different sustainability topics ranging from climate change and green design to food systems and renewable energy. We have curated several discussion topic examples from past lunches below for you to start hosting your own event and engage with your fellow staff, researchers, and/or students.
Each collection of talks and clips below is under an hour in runtime. Pick the collection that you feel will be most engaging or create your own. Be sure to leave time for discussion and conversation, and to ask for input on your next topic.
COEXISTENCE (53 MIN)
- Jane Goodall: How humans and Animals can live together (22 min)
- John Kasaona: How poachers became caretakers (15 min)
- Andras Forgacs: Leather and meat without killing animals (9 min)
- Munir Virani: Why I love vultures (7 min)
WASTE (34 MIN)
- Eben Bayer: Are mushrooms the new plastic? (9 min)
- Capt. Charles Moore on the seas of plastic (7 min)
- Fiorenzo Omenetto: Silk, the ancient materials of the future (10 min)
- Story of Stuff: Story of Bottled Water (8 min)
FOOD (56 MIN)
- Tristram Stuart: The global food waste scandal (14 min)
- Graham Hill: Why I'm a weekday vegetarian (6 min)
- Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat (20 min)
- Carolyn Steel: How food shapes our cities (16 min)
WATER (36 MIN)
- Michael Pritchard's water filter turns filthy water drinkable (10 min)
- Anupam Mishra: The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting (17 min)
- Rob Harmon: How the market can keep streams flowing (9 min)
ENERGY (47 MIN)
- Jason Aramburu: New energy (5 min)
- Dan Nocera: Personalized Energy (22 min)
- Amory Lovins on winning the oil endgame (20 min)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (52 MIN)
- Majora Carter: Greening the ghetto (19 min)
- Van Jones: The economic injustice of plastic (13 min)
- Carl Safina: The oil spill’s unseen culprits, victims (20 min)
CLIMATE CHANGE (46 min)
- Vicki Arroyo: Let's prepare for our new climate (15 min)
- Gavin Schmidt: The Emergent Patterns of Climate Change (12 min)
- Naomi Oreskes: Why we should trust scientists (19 min)
GREEN BUILDING AND DESIGN (54 MIN)
- Dan Phillips: Creative houses from reclaimed stuff (18 min)
- Bjarke Ingels: Hedonistic sustainability (22 min)
- Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture (14 min)
REPAIR (58 MIN)
- Allan Savory: How to fight desertification and reverse climate change (22 min)
- George Monbiot: For more wonder, rewild the world (15 min)
- Willie Smits: How to restore a rainforest (21 min)
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING (42 MIN)
- Kamal Meattle: How to grow fresh air (4 min)
- Wolfgang Kessling: How to air-condition outdoor spaces (12 min)
- Martin Rees asks: Is this our final century? (17 min)
- Bill Davenhall: Your health depends on where you live (9 min)
Who to contact, partner with, etc:
Contact anthony_michetti@harvard.edu if you have any questions or suggestions!
