John de Graaf on Time and Sustainability

Author and award-winning television producer John de Graaf will give a talk, "Time and Sustainability," at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 14, in Ferris Lounge, Seymour Union, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. The talk is free and open to the public.

De Graaf will also show excerpts from his recently completed documentary, "What's the Economy For, Anyway?"

The lecture is sponsored by the Knox College President's Task Force on Sustainability and the Cultural Events Committee. It is part of EquiKnox, a campus event series that promotes ecological sustainability.

De Graaf is the co-author of the best-selling book "Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic," executive director of the organization Take Back Your Time, and national coordinator of "Take Back Your Time Day." On its website, Take Back Your Time describes itself as "a major U.S./Canadian initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment."

For the past 26 years de Graaf also has worked as an independent producer of television documentaries, including programs on work and consumerism -- "Affluenza," and "Running out of Time" -- and others on environmental topics, including "For Earth's Sake: The Life And Times Of David Brower"; "Beyond Organic"; and "Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger." His documentary, "The Motherhood Manifesto," was introduced by then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama at its 2006 premiere in the U.S. Capitol.

De Graaf has won more than 100 regional, national and international awards for film-making, including three Emmy awards. The de Graaf Environmental Filmmaking Award, named in his honor, is presented annually at the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival in Nevada City, California.

De Graaf says that his lecture will look at both economic and environmental problems. "Improved technology and stronger regulations, while necessary, are insufficient for the United States to become sustainable, reverse global warming and leave a livable planet for the next generations," he says. "Our lifestyle is unsustainable and it's not a healthy or ultimately, happy, one either. The time has come to begin trading gains in labor productivity for time instead of stuff. The new economic crisis offers an opportunity to move in a different direction that will not only be more sustainable, but will also be healthier and far more satisfying."

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 47 states and 48 countries. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.