Earth Day Network Interview

[00:00:00]

When I was 10 years old, I remember my friend and she invited me to her place and told me that today was a special occasion. And she said that we were gonna sit in the dark for one hour because she said this was a special day that she called the Earth Hour or the Earth Day. And she told me that right now, in this very moment, people from all around the world are shutting out their electricity and are sitting in the dark with only candles to bring light into their homes. Now, the Earth Day started 50 years ago back in 1970, when around 20 million Americans went out to speak out for them. Balmond and Earth Hour has been a tradition since I was brought up with that tradition. And I always struggle to remember what day is staff day, which was a bit strange because it’s always happen. I didn’t know it was going to happen in the autumn or in the spring. And now today I have found a smart way to remember when Earth Day is coming out. And I want to share that with you. So I always remembered Halloween that Halloween was the celebration where you lit candles, and that happens at the end of October each year. And now I know that Earth Birthday is happening almost exactly half a year later, six month later or more precise at the 22nd of April. You light a candle for Derf. So if I remember Halloween on the autumn, an Earth Day on the spring, and it’s quite ironical that I that I remember Halloween because Halloween, if you compare to Earth Day, is much more earthy is Euge. And today, the reason why I’m talking about the Earth Day is that we have invited the vice president from the Earth Day network, sue some bass, who are here to help us understand what it is that this huge non-profit organization are actually doing because they’re doing so much more than just hosting Derf Hour. So let’s say, Sue, some warm welcome to this interview today. How did you like this introduction and where your energy level today?

[00:02:31]

Great. Well, thank you very much for having me. And I’m really excited to be with you today because we are just about to, as you mentioned, celebrate our fiftieth anniversary. And we are really trying to engage millions around the world. We mention our first Earth Day in 1970, reaching 20 million people, which was about 10 percent of the population of the US.

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Well, we are lifting to reach about that amount of the global population because today, unfortunately, the challenges we face are global climate change, toxics, plastic pollution. So we really need a global movement to take on these challenges.

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That’s impressive. And I read that the mission would be to build the world’s largest environmental movement. And I’m guessing that’s already achieved in a sense tonight. It’s more a matter of using this movement.

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Well, I think people are in different places in the movement. And as a recruiter, we call ourselves the world’s largest recruiter for the environmental movement. We’ve created a plan that we use the acronym say to describe it. And we have different pathways of engagement because people are a part of the environmental movement from different ways. So the safe dance for us is for science. A is for activism.

[00:04:01]

He is for volunteerism, for education. So we have projects on citizen science. We have activism, opportunities, volunteerism and education. And that way, everyone, friends, fulfills in the faith leaders, the mayors, the corporate leaders in all have an opportunity to participate.

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Could you go through the safe again?

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Yes, a quick science activism is activism, volunteerism and education. So the citizen science project is called Earth Challenge. And we will be launching mobile apps that’ll help people do citizen science projects in their communities and help us track plastic pollution, water pollution and insects and other environmental challenges. The activism is

our Earthrise campaign. On April 22nd. Twenty twenty one. Everyone to get out on the streets will have their voices heard or their leaders unfund may be its volunteers. We have a great global cleanup that people can sign up for. And finally, if this nation is for teachers and campus leaders, if you kids so that they can participate in learning and engage in civic action that way.

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So that’s an acronym really sums up a huge part of what the movement are focusing on now. The theme of today, as I said, is or you didn’t say it, but I’m saying now it’s climate action.

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And if you go to the Web site, you can actually see a countdown or a countdown. So where you’re collecting climate actions, people are taking action. Could you. Could you help us understand? How do you counter Sando? What kind of action are we talking about?

[00:06:00]

Absolutely. Absolutely. We launched our billion acts of green campaign rhetoric quite a while ago because we found it was a really effective way for individuals to show the impact that an individual can have in the aggregate and that we offer, again, different opportunities to act. So you could register an active fee, for example, by planting three with their energy project or you’ve been do something in your personal life.

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There’s different ways, for example, getting involved in our in plastic pollution campaign and making a choice in your personal lifestyle. You keep getting beat by an enact active green related to climate transportation.

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And we also have a really exciting plant based diet.

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It’s been increasing people from left knee and office buying a plant based diet. So we offer people a lot of choices in the way that they can do it.

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That’s excellent. You’re already taking out tours. The goal will be before April to us April the 22nd. Three point five billion actions is the goal right now, right, to two point six billion?

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Absolutely. Absolutely. But we have some other people’s. You know, we want to get millions of people involved.

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Have 500 million people involved in our eating. We want to get, you know, millions involved in our Earthrise climate states. We want to get also people burning trees. We wanted to plant seven point eight million trees. And we’re working with a number of life partners to do that. But planning is so important not only for the carbon offsets, but in communities. It helps provide income and nurserymen and other economic and technological benefit. So there are, as I said, a lot of different ways people can tackle this problem of climate change.

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Since we’re on the topic of Cannonball A. and engagement, I’m guessing there will be multiple, as you said, multiple ways where people can join in support in any way, sir. Is there anything that you are excited about when people are really young people want to contribute? Anything that excites you to people listening to this might want to contribute.

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But, sir, so we’ve lost our maps on our Web site or say got or. And what’s really exciting is to see not only on the campus, but as the events on the maps that people are going to be doing. So whether you’re organizing a climate site or Kona or some other activity for Earth Day, we encourage you to go to Earth a dot or register your face, because that’s showing the world what’s happening. But it’s also a way where you can attract other volunteers and others to join in your effort.

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So you’re actually offering people.

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People or any way you’re going to do this, you just upload their events and then they could get support back.

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Absolutely. So it helps us show the world what’s happening, but it also helps them recruit other volunteers and get

people to sign up for their bed again. So whether it’s a clean up or fine state, there’s lots of different ways that, you know, people in so their communities with what’s me get the attention that they need to make their event successful.

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One day a year. It’s than that, sir. For example, you would have their first hour. I’m guessing you said something about. So you want people to go out to do climate actions on the street. Some kind of activism. Earthrise. Was that it?

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Yes, absolutely.

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And that’s like we did in 1970. And I think that’s what really made a difference, politically sloppy politically in convincing our legislative and executive branch to really move forward on environmental legislation. Any day we do that again, we don’t have the laws and the policies and the political will. Right. Hopefully they can find.

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Casey, we’re saying a really vital part would be advocacy and then change some of the legacy legislation.

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And I think it sends a signal not only to our government leaders, but also to our business leaders and other leaders who have an impact on climate. It’s such a complicated issue that we really need to have not only government leaders, but we need our business leaders to see that that is a priority and that the public really wants business to take a stand and participate in how.

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So naturally, the twenty second of April, there will be a lot of things if you want to engage.

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And just be a part of that day. Then it would be almost hard to not see what you can do, right? Absolutely. How about we spend some time to talk about that or days of the year? I’m guessing the Earth Day network is doing other things as well outside of just the specific day. Could you elaborate a little bit on that?

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Sure. So as I mentioned, for example, we have a plant based diet campaign and a plastic pollution and a others campaigns are active year round.

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And now we have all four of the eight to help improve improving their lifestyles. We have calculators, for example, that look at how much plastic waste each generate and everything that in plant based diet.

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We have ideas of how you make the transition and the learn from other people about the impact and the connection between me and find it. So all of these acts of Breen’s. It doesn’t. It’s how people do it on Earth Day. We need for them to be adaptive, year-round. And so our resources are available for everyone to download.

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I mean, I think.

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Have I understood it, the concept correct them? Earth Day could always be C.M.A count down clock. So the whole year we’re counting actions that it’s adding up to that final day on April. And then from after April 22nd, you would reset that clock and then you count for the next year.

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Yeah, I know that. That’s a great way to look at it. Thursday is a day of accounting and it’s also a great day to make new commitments or things traditionally been an opportunity for, for example, for local political leaders.

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Now the middleman says the same thing. It’s like me years when you make the resolution and be a day away.

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You take a look at what impact my having on the planet and what I do in the next year really make a difference and make a flood. Another big thing that we’re looking at for this year is voting for the Earth. People’s vote. Political vote has an impact. Will you vote for.

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So this year there may less. I see. Around the world. And of course, there is elections every year at the local level. So people really need to think about how is my vote this year going to impact the planet?

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How my candidate. Tell you the about that.

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I love that metaphor. Earth Day is a climate new year. It really says a lot. And how is my vote this year going to impact the environment? I also like that one tree.

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Now, is there anything that you think most people don’t know about either Dumar Mentor are network that you would like for more people to understand.

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Well, I think people don’t realize that there is an organization, an amazing organization behind Earth Day, and it’s a network, it’s a tool network. We have a headquarters in D.C., but we have organizations all over the world and they’re doing an amazing job.

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We have people in, for example, in India, in 40 states in India, and they’re working with faith leaders in India because it exists.

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Birthday is something that’s already on the calendar. But there are a lot of people working on the ground to really activate all of these things.

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So the concept of the network is so it’s not just individual as individuals together. And as such, that could be a play.

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And we want everyone to join not just environmental organizations, but any kind of civic organization, any group in organizing, clean up or teaching. You don’t have to be an expert in the environment to participate in our sampling.

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So you’re saying actually we’re getting closer down, so I don’t want to elaborate too much, but. Yes. Are you saying that if I work at a company and I would like my company to do more for them Arment, I could somehow connect my company to this organization?

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Absolutely. You know, you can look at our resources and share them with your colleagues. And we have campaigns that tie all sorts of organizations.

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And if we don’t let us know and we’ll create them by having one. As I said earlier, our goal is to get it instantly builds the movement and to bring in new people.

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And we’re always looking at, as I say, for new ways to connect, whether it’s through mobile technology or other different ways of communication. We even did a game at one point with Angry Birds.

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Eight new audiences. Fine.

[00:17:18]

Thank you so much for taking time out today. For about to finish here. And I would like to give you the last opportunity if you want to say something. I’m going to reinforce that the Earth Day daughter work. If you go to Earth Day, daughter get that will be the Web site that we’re talking about. So, Susan, anything you want. And this into us.

[00:17:41]

Sure. Thank you. I just want to say April 22nd is a really pivotal moment for the family. Everyone will raise their voices and participate in a meaningful way.

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And I think we really appreciate the individual acting. And people should not underestimate what they can do as individuals to help the planet.