Actor, Pioneer Environmentalist, Dennis Weaver Dies at 81
Click to Read a Message from Dennis Weaver . . .Dennis Weaver, actor, humanitarian, and pioneer environmentalist, succumbed to complications from cancer February 24 at his home in Ridgway, Colorado. He would have been 82 on June 4th and is survived by his wife of 60 years, Gerry, and their sons and grandchildren. Born in Joplin, Missouri, Dennis starred in 9 television series, including Gunsmoke , for which he won an Emmy in 1959 for his portrayal of “Chester,” as well as Gentle Ben and McCloud . He also played leading roles in 40 motion pictures, including Orson Welles' 1958 Touch of Evil and the 1971 Spielberg TV classic Duel .
But it was as a humanitarian and ultimately an environmentalist that he made what was perhaps his signal contributions. In 1982, Dennis, his wife Gerry and friends founded L.I.F.E (Love Is Feeding Everyone), which fed 180,000 people in Los Angeles each week. In 1986 he received the Presidential End Hunger Award .
A passionate environmentalist, Weaver moved to Colorado in 1989 to construct his “Earthship.” This visionary, solar-powered home, built primarily from recycled materials, is recognized worldwide as an inspirational model for sustainable living.
The documentary Dennis Weaver's Earthship is available at www.dennisweaver.com.
In 1993, Dennis and Gerry founded the non-profit Institute of “Ecolonomics”—a word Dennis coined to illustrate the necessary synergy between a healthy ecology and a vibrant economy in order to create a sustainable future.
In 2003 the Institute embarked on the “Drive to Survive,” where Dennis led a fleet of alternative-fueled vehicles on a cross-country whistle-stop tour to Washington,D.C., to increase awareness of the need to reduce our nation's dependence on oil.
Recently, Dennis and singer Willie Nelson joined forces to promote the development and use of farmer-grown biodiesel as a viable alternative fuel. The Institute of Ecolonomics ( www.ecolonomics.org ), with its mission of establishing curricula in U.S. universities, continues to operate at Missouri Southern State University, an ongoing legacy of its founder.
The following article was originally published on the Web at Dennisweaver.com/personalthoughts.html dated March, 2005.
A Message from Dennis Weaver . . .
“If something isn't working, more often than not, it's because the original design was faulty. Design is the key to constructive change. The greatest percentage of environmental problems we face today is the result of bad design. If we are concerned about the wanton waste of our resources we must examine the design—of our making—which allows such a result.
“Right now we design things so that waste is inevitable. We're a throwaway society. We make disposable items, such as pens, diapers, cameras, etc. for the purpose of throwing them away. As a society we have embraced and promoted “planned obsolescence,” and the reason it has been so eagerly adopted by industries and big business is that it forces consumers to buy more. Built-in obsolescence is as American as apple pie and Mom. Just when we get the refrigerator paid for, it breaks down. It's all in the design—a design that disregards the limited resources we have on the planet, or what price we will have to pay for the damage the design will do to our environment. Our economy has always been our number one priority. Our priorities must change. Our environment and our economy are equally important. We do not have to sacrifice one for the other.
“It costs billions of dollars to clean up our pollution and our waste, and it always falls on the shoulders of the taxpayer. Even if the government fines businesses for violating environmental regulations, the business cansimply pass that cost on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. Our challenge is to design an Ecolonomic Industrial Ecosystem where government regulations to control waste and pollution would be unnecessary because the design of the system itself would produce neither.
“The model for the Ecolonomic Industrial Ecosystem must be nature itself. We might ask, “Why has nature's ecosystem sustained itself for millions of years with no end in sight?”
“Number one: It produces no waste. What might appear to be waste simply reforms its self and serves another purpose in the never-ending cycle of life. To the casual observer the falling fruit and leaves from the tree might appear to be waste, but to the tree they become nutrients on which the roots, trunk and even the fruit of the tree, that will come forth in the next season, feed and the cycle is complete.
“William McDonough, one of the truly brilliant minds of today, says, “If people are to prosper within the natural world, all the products and materials manufactured by industry must, after each useful life, provide nourishment for something new.” Those products that biodegrade, McDonough calls “biological nutrients.” If all we used were products that biodegrade easily, as certain indigenous civilizations around the world do, it would solve most of our environmental problems.
“Number two: Everything in nature is interdependent and integrated into one magnificent ONE. Everything supports something else and in turn is supported by something else. It is this interdependent quality that has allowed nature to survive indefinitely. There is one other very important item in nature's ecosystem, it is supported by an energy that is clean, inexhaustible, and economically attractive—the sun.
“We must use nature's ecosystem as our model and create an Ecolonomic Industrial Ecosystem. The first step is to develop Ecolonomic technologies, products and processes, which then can be used to establish Ecolonomic businesses and industries—those that give us good jobs and a strong economy while nurturing and protecting our environment.
Next step: bring Ecolonomic industries together to form Ecolonomic Industrial Parks where the chosen industries support each other. Where one industry's waste becomes a resource for another. Where the entire Ecolonomic park is designed as a closed-loop industrial cycle that emits no pollution. Where the power that operates the park is clean, limitless, and economically feasible [possibly solar-hydrogen]. Where the manufacturer is responsible for the goods it manufactures. Where the products made in the park either return to the Earth as biological nutrients after their useful life, or return to the Ecolonomic Park to be used again.
This may seem like a huge undertaking, but so was putting a man on the moon. The benefits will be worth the effort. Creating such a design would not only save our life-giving environment, but it would create an untold number of new jobs. The cost of not doing it will be disastrous. It would mean continuing down the path we are now on toward what the Union of Concerned Scientists have described as environmental suicide. As Pogo has said, “We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunities.” The challenge is clear. The question is do we seize the opportunity. The choice is ours.”
Those wishing to support Dennis Weaver's vision for a sustainable future may contribute to:
The Institute of Ecolonomics
Missouri Southern State University, Webster Hall
3950 East Newman Road,
Joplin, Missouri 64801HOME - FEATURES - NEWS - FROM THE PUBLISHER
LETTERS - COLUMNS - MUSIC REVIEWS - BOOK REVIEWS
PLANETARY CYCLES - CALENDAR - ABOUT TLC - CONTACT US
CLASSIFIEDS - RESOURCE DIRECTORY
ARCHIVES - SUBSCRIBE - ADVERTISE - SEARCH