Burn Calories, Not Kilowatts

Seen in Boston...

Climate Reality Leadership Training, part 1

From July 30^th to August 1^st, I was one of 1500 people from 70 different countries in Chicago for Climate Reality Leadership training.  I was there being trained to raise awareness of climate change, its impacts, and what we can do about it.

Climate change is happening, it’s by us, it’s serious, but there are tons of solutions, and there is enormous hope.

Every major scientific society in the world in the fields related to the study of global warming, the National Academies, and 97% of climate researchers endorse the scientific consensus: the need for urgent action to address human-induced climate change is now indisputable.

We have to adapt, but we also have to prevent changes that are impossible to adapt to.

What compelled me to go to put my job and family aside for three days to go to Chicago?

The climate crisis resonates with me.  It is too important to ignore, and I think I can use my skills and passion to help.  I cannot imagine losing what is so precious about this earth.  I want to protect the things I love, but we are making the world more dangerous every day, and these things are at risk.

http://climaterealityproject.org/whatilove/

At the training, when asked what inspires him, Al Gore said: “it is a rare privilege to be alive when the future health of this beautiful planet is in the balance.”

The time will soon be here when my grandchild will long for the cry of a loon, the flash of a salmon, the whisper of spruce needles, or the screech of an eagle.
But he will not make friends with any of these creatures and when his heart aches with longing, he will curse me.
Have I done all to keep the air fresh?
Have I cared enough about the water?
Have I left the eagle to soar in freedom?
Have I done everything I could to earn my grandchild's fondness?

- Chief Dan George, Tsleil-Waututh (1899 - 1981)

It's been a while since I posted, but I plan to blog more regularly about my journey on my renewed purpose of the climate crisis.  Stay tuned.

Wish List for Transforming the Planet (in a good way)

I attended a Going Greener forum last Thursday by the Council of Ontario Universities. It was inspiring to hear from people like Sandra Odendahl, director of corporate sustainability at Royal Bank of Canada. Here are a few points from her wish list.

• Price externalities (using the environment should not be free); still don’t have a real price on polluting, no price on carbon (still), no price on generating tons of packaging; it has a cost on the environment and someone should pay for it.
• Knowledgeable consumers: people have to make the link between stuff and pollution; everything you buy is going to be in a landfill someday; do you really need more stuff?
• Multidisciplinary education: Take your passion and embed it in your field that you work in; we need everybody to have a basic understand of how their lives impact the environment and it doesn’t matter what field you are in.

Minister of Environment John Wilkinson said that biggest thing that we can do as a government is to embed sustainability into the curriculum in all of our schools. It will be the young people who get us out of this mess we've created.

Here I am with my kids on the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail. Being out in nature engages all of our senses.

Earth Hour 2008

photos: Woodbridge lantern walk









Hats off to Earth Hour



by Chris Winter Executive Director The Conservation Council of Ontario

It's fascinating reading all the griping and sniping about Earth Hour,mostly around whether or not it has any significant impact and why it didn'tchallenge us all to go deeper.

But hey, we just witnessed (and likely participated in) the biggestenvironmental event the world has ever seen. The initial estimates run up to100 million people worldwide. Yes, it was the eco equivalent of the world'slargest human wave, but by comparison the Live Earth concerts pegged only amere 1 million people as concert-goers. Both events were equally successfulin garnering media attention and raising public awareness around the globe,but Earth Hour just blew away all previous records for mass participation inan environmental event.

As one whose focus is on movement-based social marketing and eco campaigns,I truly have to say I am in awe of what Earth Hour accomplished.That said, let me offer my perception of the design weakness of Earth Hour:it is unconnected, save to the World Wildlife Fund.

To be effective, "simple action campaigns" must not only achieve widespreadparticipation, they must also support the development of deeper action,either through policy action or by building capacity.

Our Doors Closed <http://www.weconserve.ca/doorsclosed/> campaign wasdesigned to promote a simple action - close your door when running an airconditioner. It also supported three retail conservation programs that couldhelp stores and restaurants make an even deeper commitment to conservation.

And it provided municipalities, retail associations and community groupswith material they could incorporate into their own activities. Awareness,simple action, deeper commitment and capacity building all rolled into asingle positive social marketing campaign.We have far too many simplistic public awareness campaigns at a time whenpublic awareness has never been greater.

If Earth Hour is to happen again next year, and I for one think it should,there are a few fine-tuning tweaks that would make it an even bettercampaign:

1. 9:00 o'clock, not 8:00 when the sun is still setting.

2. On or around April 22nd to link Earth Hour with Earth Day.

3. emphasize the symbolic celebration of our commitment to the planet(as opposed to the actual one-hour savings)

4. link the symbolic commitment to deeper commitments. This applies topolicy inititiatives as well as to voluntary measures by businesses,municipalities, and individuals.

5. Make it shareware, in particular to encourage donations to localgroups involved in promoting or delivering climate change solutionsEarth Hour was the right event at the right time this year.

It clearly struck a chord with governments, businesses and people the world over. Butlisten to the voices of the critics. and just about everyone I've talked tohad something critical to say (we are hard to please aren't we).My advice is simple, and yet difficult to heed: Think like a movement.

What Happens after Bali?

Bali Global Climate Protection Compact lays down challenge for rich and poor nations to join battle against global warming (Nusa Dua, Bali, December 14, 2007).

"If we place a price on carbon, that will spur development of technologies and dissemination of technologies by which we might be able to save different parts of the world from some of the more serious effects of climate change that otherwise we would encounter."

May Jeong, Canadian Youth Delegation member to Bali and co-author of Option 13, believes it's now or never."I am 20 years old and would like to come back to Bali with my children someday and not find it underneath a rising sea. The time to act is long overdue. Use this plan, or come up with something better, and do it fast."

To download the full report: http://www.option13.org/Option13.pdf

For further information: In Bali: Toby Heaps, 62 859 3532 5134 May Jeong, 62 819 360 85562 Toronto Headquarters: (416) 203-4674, toby@corporateknights.ca www.corporateknights.ca

Consumerism explained

North Americans are working harder than ever before to buy stuff they don't need, and have less leisure time to enjoy life. Plus this materialism is destroying our planet.

Check out an interesting 20 minute video here:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Bali: Canada voted worst in world!?

Right now, a major UN summit in Bali has just a few days left to hammer out an agreement on stopping catastrophic climate change. But instead of helping out, Canada is actually sabotaging the talks! On Saturday, experts gave us the global "fossil" award for being the worst country in the world on climate change. There's still a few days left to save Canada's reputation -- and the climate -- but we need a massive democratic roar to remind our Prime Minister what Canada is all about, and stop him from blocking the world at Bali. Click below to sign the petition, which will be advertized with the number of signatures in an ad campaign across Canada this week. The goal is to get 25,000 people to sign in the next 3 days -- before the ads run. After you sign, forward this email to all your friends and family right away:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/another_canadian_climate_crime/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Prime Minister Harper's short-sighted, big oil-driven policy on climate change is damaging the world and destroying our image as a good country. We're supposed to be the nice guys, who try to do the right thing in the world. The vast majority of Canadians are hopping mad on this issue -- we can win this. We just need to show Harper how serious we are that he change course. Sign up now and forward this email to everyone you know - we've got just 3 days to hit 25,000 signatures!

Here are links to some more info on this:

David Suzuki (the Nature of Things) calls the government's spin on climate change "humiliating" and "ludicrous" http://www.thestar.com/News/article/283829

The former editor-in-chief of CBC news discusses the damage done by Canada's climate policy to our international reputation: http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_burman/2007/12/canada_flounders_on_issue_of_c.html