Take the lead, inspire change

emily — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 06:43:07 -0700

How can you let your leaders know that you would like them to participate in solving the climate crisis? One way is to write them a letter asking them to join you in signing the pledge (another way is to write to your newspapers and magazines). We have written a sample letter below that you can use to contact your local, state, and federal leaders, as well as your business leaders, leaders of your faith community, and other leaders near and far. You can use this online tool to send the letter to your elected officials.

Mass movement

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:17:35 -0700

Miss the train? If your neighborhood is out of the transit loop, you can work to change that. Cars don't have a lock on the American Dream. In fact, 100 years ago the road to prosperity was a streetcar line. The average urban dweller rode public transportation 250 times a year and the US led the world in the construction and use of mass transit.

Host a party to benefit the earth

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 08:44:13 -0700

Research tells us that the most trusted source of information for most people is a friend. So why not host a party for your friends that combines good information with lots of fun? Make your next gathering a "Climate Party." With the right combination of setting, food, drink, dress, conversation, and even games that suit your social scene, you can create a memorable and momentum-building event.

Options and futures in renewable power

emily — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:54:29 -0700

Don't have a green power option where you live? Buy green tags (the attributes of clean, renewable power discussed in AC/DC Green Power) and then send a copy of your tag to your local utility along with this letter. Feel free to email it, but to maximize impact you also might put a letter in the mail.

Dear [CEO]:

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Word of mouth, words of wisdom

emily — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:35:27 -0700

How many times has someone asked you, "You got a minute?" They want to know if this looks good with that; if this should go over here; or, what did you think about this, that, or the other?

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Write it down!

emily — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:26:08 -0700

Have you ever wanted to express your opinions to a big audience? Writing a Letter to the Editor, whether it's in your local daily, a national paper, a church magazine, or an auto enthusiast digest, is an opportunity that is open to anyone. It's one of America's great ways to voice your opinion. And if you have an opinion about the urgency and solvability of the climate crisis and you like to write, a Letter to the Editor is a good way to express your concern, your passion, and your interest in protecting our climate.

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Vote: exercise your right

emily — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:15:51 -0700

Short summary: It's our community, it's our country, it's our world, it's our future. We should have a say.

Together we have the power to demand that our leaders effectively address the climate crisis. How can we do this? By standing up on Election Day and showing our voting muscle. Voting makes a statement that we're here, we're not going away and that politicians of all persuasions, shapes and sizes and at all levels of government must pay attention to the issues we care about.
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If you build it green...

emily — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:01:43 -0700

Now is an important time to encourage your local and state officials to adopt green building standards that reduce the energy consumption of all new construction. According to the US Green Building Council, buildings in the US are the source of 39% of our carbon dioxide emissions, almost all of which comes from heating, cooling, and electrical power use. Compared to standard construction, green buildings are designed and built with resource efficiency, energy reduction and human health in mind.

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Mixed media-the arts for climate sake

emily — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:47:16 -0700

Picasso painted Guernica to express his dismay about the ravages of the Spanish Civil War. Woodie Guthrie sang the great American folk song This Land is Your Land just a couple years later. And Steven Spielberg, who once said, "Imagination alone can save the world," directed ET, the timeless story of friendship and tolerance. There are as many ways to express your feelings about the climate as your imagination permits. For many of us, we do best through song, photographs, painting, poetry, rap, videos, sculptures, plays or other expressions of art. Think about how you and your family might express yourselves. For inspiration, click on the map to explore some of the climate expressions around America. Let us know about global warming activities in your community that are artistic and inspirational.

Expressions:
Participate in a public art project: 100 artists have recently produced extraordinary globes with climate messages using a variety of materials to create awareness and provoke discussion about potential solutions to global warming (check it out at CoolGlobes.com). This project, "CoolGlobes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet", is installing the globes along the lakefront in Chicago from June to September 2007. One artist, Eve S. Mosher, is drawing a chalk line along 70 miles of coastal New York neighborhoods demarcating a point 10 feet above sea level, a boundary now used by federal and state agencies and insurance companies to show where waters could rise after a major storm. Her chalk line is not on the beach or marsh land, it's on city streets in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Ten artists in Palo Alto created art for utility's sake by painting murals on utility boxes at various locations in the downtown area. They depict inspirational messages about energy efficiency and renewable energy through each artist's experience.

Help your kids do a climate art project. As part of the CoolGlobes project, children are encouraged to make their own globes using paper mache. Instructions for this project can be found on their website.

Do something easy and small (in size, not importance) that you can send around to your friends, classmates, and co-workers. Write a climate haiku (a haiku is a form of Japanese poetry consisting of a 17-syllable verse form comprised of three metrical units of 5, 7, then 5 syllables) - it doesn't have to rhyme! Dr. Bill Chameides who as chief scientist advises the organization Environmental Defense posts weekly haikus. Here's one he wrote called "Too Warm Winter Haiku."
Apple blossoms bloom
On too-warm winter days, then
Frost, dead. No apples.

Write a blog. Try your hand at a climate blog or include climate topics in your existing blog (even if it is normally about celebrities, baseball, or civil rights). Yes, we know there are many blogs out there, but the one your friends will want to read is the one that you write. That's the one that will share the efforts of your neighborhood, your family, your friends, your church and the information that you find important... and that's the interesting one. And if you talk about how we can solve the climate crisis together, your friends will listen.

Write a play or skit and record it on video. Make a video of the play to share with your friends or post it on your blog. Also, enter the Alliance for Climate Protection/Current.tv PSA competition.

Write a song! As Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band sang: It's not what you look like, when you're doin' what you're doin'. It's what you're doin' when you're doin' what you look like you're doin'!
Express yourself! Express yourself! Express yourself!

How to Green Your Supermarket

emily — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:14:59 -0700

It should be as simple as going into your supermarket and easily finding the climate friendly products that you are looking for. But we hear from you that it isn't that simple. Unlike natural and organic foods, which are increasingly easy to find in special sections or end of aisles in your supermarkets, climate friendly products (those that are either produced in a low carbon manner or those that help you to lower your carbon footprint) are still sometimes a bit hard to find. But you can make a difference by asking your retailers to highlight them.

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