VISIONARIES
In Earth Keepers, we meet India’s Ashok Khosla, head of Development Alternatives, which is putting development back in the hands of local populations. He believes that if politicians show true willingness, world poverty could be eliminated within five years. We also meet Canadian “eco-designer” John Todd and his “living machines,” which mimic the cycles of nature for waste water reclamation; Todd states that we have the ability to reduce our impact on the environment by 90 percent immediately. His companion, Nancy Jack Todd, talks about the origins of their avant-garde “New Alchemy” movement. We encounter Sweden’s Karl-Henrich Robèrt, developer of the Natural Step method for managing municipalities and large corporations, based on a creative vision of the future. He believes that this scientific method is the basis for true sustainable development. We travel to Zurich, the heart of international finance, with the humanist economist Peter Koenig; we meet Marilyn Melhmann, the driving force behind the Global Action Plan. Lastly, we meet Kenya’s Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, which has seen millions of trees planted by women who are taking the future of their country into their own hands. This grande dame, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, is proof that perseverance and passion can turn a grassroots initiative into salvation for an entire people – and even, she believes, the planet itself.