Blog Action Day 2009 Climate Change

October 15th, 2009 Posted by Suzy Ogé

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web.

One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.

As a parent, the future for my two small children is my primary concern. The damage has been done and the alarming effects of climate change continue to reveal themselves, like the recent Swiss warning on the dangerous levels of (now banned, like dioxin and DDT) toxic chemicals from the 70s being released as the Alpine Glaciers melt.

Let’s focus on the good news about climate change. Is there any good news, other than the Dutch beaches on the North Sea will be sizzling like St. Topez? Yes, awareness is a bright spot.

Climate Change is an issue with skyrocketing momentum! Thanks to Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth, the connection between our actions and the detrimental impact we have on our environment was seared into our global consciousness. Fan or not, the controversy of the film took the conversation mainstream. The level of awareness achieved in the past 3 years, relative to the previous 30 years is astounding!

The current generation of children growing up in the “Post Inconvenient Truth Era”, are well informed and the environmental issues are in the forefront, not an afterthought! For example, my students at New Business School Amsterdam aim to incorporate CSR into every project and business plan as a core component. Unlike some of the conservation messages of my youth, where pollution just caused things to be “less beautiful”, today the consequences are clear!

I thought it would be fun to share with you the most prolific voice from my childhood on the topic of conservation. Woodsy the Owl and his slogan “Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute” playfully promoted the role each of us plays in safeguarding the environment. The video below is a classic and demonstrates that Woodsy the Owl was ahead of his time advocating everyone’s favorite way to offset carbon emissions- tree planting!