Thursday, October 15, 2009

Climate Change and Blogging

I love communicating with people especially when it involves great ways to help us all understand better the sustainability of the human population on planet earth.

I am regularly involved with community awareness raising projects whether they be online using social media or personal events where people really get their “hands dirty” by being connected. Whether that is planting trees, making compost or picking vegetables at places like Ark Eden (www.arkedenonlantau.com) on Lantau Island or a beach clean up with say DB Green in Discovery Bay (www.dbgreen.org). Hong Kong has amazing choices.

To me taking action is far more important than talking about it. However communicating the message so that more people become aware of the issues is really an important step so hence I am involved with groups such as Green Drinks (www.greendrinks.org), Earth Champions (www.earthchampions.org) and Clean Air Network Hong Kong (www.hongkongcan.org) which give people the ideas and support to take the action they are most comfortable with. A superb format for getting to know what issues you are passionate about is the Pachamama Alliances – Awakening the Dreamer Symposium. Check out where a symposium is near you at www.awakeningthedreamer.org

Now that you are sitting in front of your computer reading this, how about responding to this blog with your thoughts or start your own blog and help more people understand what climate change means to us all.

I wrote this posting on Blog Action Day ’09 Climate Change (www.blogactionday.org). Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. I hope my contribution to Blog Action Day 2009 will help it be one of the largest-ever social change events on the web.

Check out this suggested list of Ways to get Involved from www.blogactionday.org

  1. Sign the Tck Tck Tck campaign's "I am ready" pledge supporting an ambitious, fair and binding climate agreement in Copenhagen this fall: tcktcktck.org/people/i-am-ready
  2. Register for the 350.org International Day of Climate Action October 24: www.350.org
  3. Join the UK Government's "Act on Copenhagen" effort to promote a global deal on climate change: www.actoncopenhagen.decc.gov.uk/en
  4. Learn and act with The Nature Conservancy's Planet Change site: change.nature.org
  5. Watch and help promote Current TV's green-themed video journalism at: current.com/green
  6. Support strong climate legislation in the US by making calls to your Senators with 1Sky: www.1sky.org/call
  7. Put yourself on the Vote Earth map and upload your photos, pictures and weblinks to show the world future you want to see: www.earthhour.org/home
  8. It was a repeat of Number 7 so I suggest you stop and take a break with either a nice fresh juice or an organic beer!
  9. Join the Greenpeace cool IT challenge campaign to turn IT industry leaders into climate advocates and solution providers: www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/climate-change/cool-it-challenge
  10. Add your personal story and tell the world what you will miss the most when you lose it to climate change with the United Nations Foundation Climate Board: www.unfoundation.org/global-issues/climate-and-energy/its-getting-personal
  11. Find the latest and most popular climate change actions online at globalwarming.change.org
  12. Join the Causecast community and find new ways to get involved with organizations working to end climate change. Watch videos, read news and support one of the many environmental nonprofits on Causcast. www.causecast.org/environment
  13. Post to your blog or Twitter account about the impact of climate change on the world's poorest, and then take action with Oxfam International: www.oxfam.org.uk/climate

Enjoy your day of blogging and taking action on climate change everyday.

Grow well

Dr Merrin Pearse


P.S. who said blogging cannot take place with your mates!




2 comments:

raamenchan said...

Merrin!

Thank you for taking steps to save Hong Kong's environment!

My most vivid memory about the need to take action was once when I went hiking in the mountains.

I looked over towards the city and realized that the sky was split in two by a horizontal line. Above the line was the blue sky, and below it was a gray one along with the city. It was a shocking experience.

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As for the rest of this comment, I realize this is off topic, but I couldn't find another way to contact you!

My name is Raiman and I'm a part of XL here in Japan! I heard that you were the XL person to go to from Tamami and Shyam!

It happens to be that I'm going to visit Hong Kong later this month on the 28th, and staying for about 3 weeks. And while I'm there, I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to get involved with XL in Hong Kong! (I'm Hong Kongese myself!)

And in fact, I would love to get involved in doing something for Hong Kong's environment while I'm there as well!

Let's get in contact! You can reach me at raamen@raamenchan.com



P.S. I'm also a fan of the Kakapo (saw it on your LinkedIn). I was using the random article function on Wikipedia one day and I landed on the article about the Kakapo with my sister. We instantly became fans ever since!

Leigh Baker said...

Hi Merrin,

My particular interest is in systemic change across the whole supply system. To me this is every bit as important as the individual changes we make. And the starting point is deciding what we DO want - sustainable products that IMPROVE the environment.

Best wishes in your endeavours. Leigh Baker.