This Sunday's climate change actions will see the greatest number of recorded protests in a single day in world history.
Peter RothbergActress Ellen Page is getting to work on climate solutions this October 10 as part of the 10/10/10 Global Work Party organized by 350.org and hundreds of partners around the world.
Let her explain:
Join Page and tens of thousands of other concerned citizens of the world this Sunday by attending a Global Work Party, or staging your own. The emphasis is on both ‘work’ and ‘party’. As my colleague and esteemed environmental report Mark Hertsgaard wisely noted in a recent piece on 10/10/10, "Taking action is the surest antidote I know to the despair that tempts anyone who gazes unflinchingly at the climate challenge."
So, in Auckland, New Zealand, they’re having a giant bike fix-up day, to get every bicycle in the city back on the road. In Kampala, Uganda, they’re going to plant thousands of trees, and in Bolivia they’re installing solar stoves for a massive carbon neutral picnic. There are currently more than 6,449 events (and counting) planned around the world.
This burst of action will set a record. As 350.org founder Bill McKibben explained in a recent email, the 5249th event registered set the record for the greatest number of recorded protests in a single day in world history. It was organized by Biljana from Serbia, who plans to take a group of second and fourth graders on an "eco field trip" to volunteer at an sustainable farm, participate in green workshops, and do a trash clean-up, after which they’ll be finish up by forming a big "350" for a group photo that they will send into 350.org.
Jamie Henn of 350.org was kind enough to refer us to some of the other spots around the world where he expects some exciting events to take place.
They include:
The goal of all these many actions is not to solve the climate crisis one project at a time, but to send a clear political message to the political class: if average citizens can get to work combating climate change, then you get to work too–on the legislation and the treaties that could literally make the difference in keeping the planet habitable.
As McKibben told The Nation in an email interview, "The one thing that really matters, in the end, isn’t screwing in a new lightbulb. It’s screwing up your courage to organize, organize, organize for the next two years, until we’ve built a movement big enough to take on big energy."
That’s why it’s so important that everyone do something on October 10. Join a local event on Sunday, or organize your own.
Peter RothbergTwitterPeter Rothberg is the The Nation’s associate publisher.