Climate change is all too often an intangible concept. There is the simple fact that the culprits of climate change - greenhouse gases - are invisible, emitted without sight or economic consequence. Its effects, such as severe drought and flooding, higher sea levels, stronger storms, loss in bio-diversity, are couched in the far off decades of 2030, 2050, 2100. Its solutions, such as cleaner energy sources or a smart grid, are in many cases years away from being cost competitive with the status quo. We believe the effect of this intangibility is a degree of inertia around climate change, whether it is on an individual, business, or political level.
Here at Brighter Planet, we’re spending a great deal of time trying to make the issue of climate change both more approachable and more apparent. It’s with this in mind that we created the “Live, Learn, and Experience Climate Change” prize for New American Dream’s Break the Bottled Water Habit campaign. We strongly encourage you to check out the campaign and take the pledge to stop hitting the bottle (the disposable one that is). Then spread the word and get others to take the pledge, so you can win our sweet prize.
Live: If we are going to confront climate change, all actions, large and small, will matter. If millions, or even better, billions of people make conservation a cornerstone of their life, we will do more to reduce our environmental impact than all the wind turbines in the world ever could. Brighter Planet will help get you started with a bike, outfitted with baskets and lights, for commuting and doing errands.
Learn: “Knowledge is power”, and when facing the grizzly beast of climate change, we need all the knowledge we can get. We’ll help build your climate change library with books from these luminary authors: Bill McKibben’s “Deep Economy”, Jon Isham’s “Ignition: What You Can Do to Fight Global Warming and Start A Movement”, Michael Pollen’s “Omnivore’s Dilemma”, and Alex Steffen’s “Worldchanging: A Users Guide for the 21st Century”.
Experience: All around the world, the effects of climate change are already apparent. You don’t have to travel to the melting Arctic or to the dying coral reefs in our equatorial waters to see the impact. Weather is changing here in our own country, too: unique ecosystems are threatened, and annual snow-pack is lessening. Perhaps, nowhere is this more apparent than in Glacier National Park. If you visit the park today in the height of summer, you’ll see a virtually glacier-less park with those remaining in rapid retreat. We want you to see what remains of these glaciers and experience first-hand the changes wrought by a warming climate. You’ll meet with leading researchers on the issue of climate change, while, hiking, walking, and relaxing in one of America’s greatest natural treasures.
So what are you waiting for? Take the pledge and start spreading the word.
-Robbie
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