Climate Book Club: Author Brian Belefant

Brian Belefant was a successful copywriter when his conscious made him stop marketing stuff for a living. From a well of guilt and self-contemplation, grew The Sultan of Garbage a novel about a photographer who explores the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with his girlfriend.

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Belefant who is also a photographer said the idea hit him after working on a commercial with a semi-nomadic tribe. They couldn’t pay tribe members with money since they didn’t use money and instead paid them with goats and blankets. “We gave them what they needed instead of things to use to get what they needed,” he says. 

The tribe members also didn’t want to get paid individually like normal actors, but instead the entire tribe was paid to benefit the group not an individual person. Seeing their values and beliefs play out IRL had a big impact on him. 

The commercial was a take on humorous 1980 film, “The Gods Must Be Crazy.” In this case, a suitcase falls from the sky and they see how the tribe members use it. At the end of filming, they asked the tribe if they wanted the suitcase. When they turned it down because they had no use for it, Belafant began questioning whether selling stuff was feeding into a vicious cycle of waste.

“It hit me we were selling a lifestyle. It made me question what I was doing. I got to travel to amazing places and meet people, but at the same time I felt guilty for contributing to this culture.”

It’s More Than Recycling

Belefant wants readers not to feel guilty like him, but to think about their actions.

“I want people to think. Why do we need to have a two income family just to make ends meet? What does it mean about this world that we created? Have we made progress from feudalism? Maybe we haven’t.”

Recycling is often the focus, but he says to think deeper. 

“It’s not just recycling but about the bigger picture because so many people are so dissatisfied. I don’t think we really understand why. I come to realize the issue is bigger than recycling concerns. It’s about the society we create and buy into. Consumption and waste is a big part of it. There are two things you can do. You can change how you are in the world by being conscientious as a consumer, and voting. The part that I find most promising is not just changing the way I am in the world and doing my part in changing the world, but helping people to confront the view of the society they live in.

While he isn’t perfect and isn’t trying to influence people to be, he does advocate for awareness. He learned a lot after writing his book about the impact of a consumer-focused world. His past career as a copywriter spurred deep contemplation of what it means to participate in a culture that was harming the planet. His work moving forward is about encouraging others to be aware and question their choices.

“I like stuff. I have stuff. I’m not a poster child for recycling. I’m by any means extreme.” But he says, “I wish I was better. The more you know the more horrific it is.”