The International Youth Delegation, a group of nearly five hundred young activists from all over the world, attended the UN Climate Conference in Poznan, Poland this week. Members report that the proposed measures are insufficient to guarantee universal national survival in the face of climate change.

The youth delegates have been asking delegates from all countries attending the talks to sign a pledge promising to “safeguard the future of all countries and peoples”—and our friends at 350.org and SustainUS have been doing their part to get the word out.

Survival means doing more, faster, to curb C02 emissions. As our advisory board member Bill McKibben suggests, a target of 350 parts per million is the safe line for our global climate.

Breaking news from Bill:
“Giving the climactic speech at the Poznan global warming conference, Al Gore set the new bottom line for action on global warming, right where we’ve been suggesting: 350 parts per million. The old goal of 450 parts per million is “inadequate,” he said. We “need to toughen that goal to 350 parts per million.”

The line, which drew the longest applause of the day, was a remarkable repudiation of established targets that have driven the climate debate for more than a decade. Now the world’s leading scientific authority on global warming and the world’s leading political authority on global warming have said the same thing: 350 is the target we have to hit. Let’s get to it.”

Dispatches from the international youth climate movement have been nothing short of inspirational:over 80 countries have endorsed the “Survival Pledge.” We’re looking forward to the next year leading up to the Copenhagen climate talks.

I am so proud that schools are engaging children about global warming and taking action. In 2006, three boarding schools founded the Green Cup Challenge. It has already grown to include over 40 participating schools, and this year the program welcomes day schools to the Challenge. I was fortunate to have been invited to join the Green Cup Challenge preparation conference at Lawrenceville School in New Jersey.

Participating schools compete to reduce their electricity use for the month of February. The results are positive: every school’s total monthly usage was reduced, and the practices they’ve introduced resulted in ongoing savings.

Many of these schools employ environmental initiatives alongside electricity conservation such as recycling, composting, providing local food, using china and flatware rather than disposables, and sourcing renewable energy. This year, the Green Cup Challenge has joined forces with the Green Schools Alliance, a non-profit group of schools who commit to implementing environmental initiatives. These two groups should be praised for their efforts to address global warming while engaging our most important resource – our children.

At the conference, I spoke about carbon footprints, carbon offsets, and how to identify quality offset projects. The conference turnout was impressive, but the participation of the students and teachers was truly outstanding. They are well-informed and passionate. Overall, it was a wonderful success!

Please take a look at the Green Schools website and see if your school can participate.

–Ashley

One of the highlights of our experience at the Greenfestival in DC was asking people to pledge to reduce their carbon footprint, then trade out their old laces for green shoelaces. Some people really made a statement with their green shoelaces by doing a “carbon footprint dance.” Here are some of our favorites.

–Carolyn

We had a great weekend at the Washington, DC Greenfestival.

Greenfestival is a joint project of Co-op America and Global Exchange. It seeks to highlight green businesses and environmental non-for-profits that are actively pushing for a more sustainable future. The event is both celebratory and educational, providing a venue for individuals to learn about the burgeoning green economy and environmental movement.

Brighter Planet’s goal at Greenfestival was to to make carbon emissions a bit more tangible. First, we set up a 5-foot cube lined with climate change murals that represented the physical space of 14.24 pounds of carbon dioxide.

We brought 1000 pairs of green shoelaces and gave them out to those who pledged to work to reduce their carbon footprint. Our thinking was quite simple. If every time someone looks down at their shoes and sees their green shoelaces they’ll keep climate change at the top of their mind. Plus, we’re betting that bright green shoelaces will get noticed and spark conversation, bringing the topic of carbon footprints and climate change to the fore. People were so excited by the idea that a number of folks did a “climate footprint dance” for us!

We’ll follow up with video highlights later in the week, ‘till then you can check out the rest of our Greenfestival photos on our Flickr page.

–Carolyn and Robbie

We find farmers markets to be truly hopeful places for the climate movement. They reconnect community members with their surrounding farms, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by substantially minimizing food miles.

This past weekend, we painted a mural at our local farmers market here in Middlebury to celebrate this climate achievement. The mural is part of a traveling exhibit, started at Summit NJ’s Green Jobs Now day of action, and will be going around the country to environmental conferences and events throughout the Fall. Our mural is a carbon footprint leaved tree. Artists of all ages and ability took part by painting a footprint that highlighted a carbon reduction initiative they were planning on adopting. Thanks to all who participated, see some photos and video from the day below!

–Robbie