Growthbusters: Hooked on Growth

with Dave Gardner

Producer/Director/Writer

January 25, 2012                7:00-9:00 PM

Big House Sports 

2660 Vickers Drive, Colorado Springs

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It’s estimated that at least 1.5 Earths would be required to sustainably support the current level of human activity on the planet, yet we continue to pursue economic growth and to avoid the topic of overpopulation. In the new documentary, Growthbusters: Hooked on Growth, filmmaker/activist Dave Gardner takes on Wall Street, the White House, and the Pope as he questions society’s most fundamental beliefs about prosperity. A long-term advocate of sustainability, Dave turns the camera on himself as he “butts heads with the apostles of growth everlasting” and explores alternatives to pursuing the “mythical pot of gold at the end of the everlasting growth rainbow.” Paul Erlich, the Stanford biologist who wrote The Population Bomb in 1968, wrote, “This could be the most important film ever made.”

Dave Gardner has been a professional filmmaker for 35 years. He has produced a PBS series, Here’s To Your Health, and award-winning business films for clients like Coca-Cola, IBM, and even Enron. A former candidate for Colorado Springs’ City Council, he ran on the platform that “growth is creating our problems; it can’t be their solution!” He also founded SaveTheSprings to promote sustainability and quality of life and educate the public about growth subsidies and the fact that there is no pot of gold at the end of that growth rainbow.

Dave Gardner will speak and present a screening of Growthbusters: Hooked on Growth at the next meeting of the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs on Wednesday, January 25th, at 7:00 pm.

The meeting will take place at BIG HOUSE SPORTS. The address is 2660 Vickers Drive in Colorado Springs; the building used to be called “Lynmar” and still has “Lynmar” painted on the side. It’s on the north side of Vickers between North Union Boulevard and North Academy Boulevard. From the intersection of Vickers and Union, travel west on Vickers for about 2/10 mile and the building will be on your right; the entrance to the parking areas is just past the building itself. From the intersection of Academy and Vickers, travel east on Vickers for about 4/10 mile and the building will be on your left; the entrance to the parking areas is just before the building itself. There are four parking areas: directly in front of the building, to its left, a small area directly behind the building, and another, much larger area just beyond the small area behind the building. The areas in front, to the side, and directly behind the building are often full, so it’s recommended that you park in the larger area behind the building; you’ll need only to climb up a short staircase and you can enter the building at the rear through the glass doors. Take an immediate right, walk down the hall and up to the second floor, and enter the door marked “Sneakers Bar & Grill.” A door to the right leads to the room in which the meeting will be held; a door to the left leads to a snack bar. Several Freethinkers are planning to meet at 6:00 pm, an hour before the meeting, in the snack bar — you’re cordially invited to join them. If all those stairs might be difficult for you  to navigate, the parking area in front of the building is on the same level as the building’s upper level, so if you enter at the front, you need only walk past the reception desk, through a glass door, and you’ll see “Sneakers Bar & Grill” to your left. There are two “handicapped” parking spaces in the front parking lot. Don’t miss Growthbusters: Hooked on Growth, Wednesday, January 25th, at 7:00 pm — and maybe you can join the group in the snack bar at 6:00 pm, too!