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The UK’s Together campaign makes its US debut.
We’re pleased to see our governor continuing to lead his (otherwise backward) party in the fight against climate change by welcoming the Together campaign to the ‘States. It was kicked off with an event in New York today.
Schwarzenegger said: “By making it easier and more affordable for Americans to fight climate change, we are taking a giant step towards a brighter and cleaner future. I extend my best wishes for every success in saying ‘hasta la vista’ to climate change.”
Together makes it easy to take action and begin saving energy, the planet – and your hard earned money. What’s more, Together totals up the energy savings of all of our actions and illustrates the enormous, positive impact we can have when we all pitch in. You will be joining with millions of other Americans who are also doing simple things to reduce their impact upon the planet – while simultaneously reducing their energy bills. All you have to do is join Together, select a few smart energy saving products or ideas, and watch how your choices added to the actions of millions of other people adds up. You’ll see that all of your easy work turns into savings for our planet – and your wallet.
Ecorazzi pointed out the familiarity: “Before there was Al Gore’s $300 million WE environmental campaign, in the UK there was the TOGETHER anti-climate change campaign. Picking up on the theme here? Those with enochlophobia should definitely steer clear.”
We also appreciate the campaign’s deft use of social media to spread the message and recruit support. There is a MySpace page, which is well executed as a complement to the main site. MySpace is also an official sponsor, where you can win a SMART car. There are additional Together channels on Facebook, Digg, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and others. Each one has just started, so you can be some of the first to subscribe, friend, or follow. However, we have a couple issues with the campaign.
First, the top-line message that it’s easy to solve climate change and solve global warming is misleading at best and irresponsible at worst. “It’s easy to fight climate change if we do it together.” Yes, the little things matter. Each of us has to do our part. So the site gives you CFLs, programmable thermostats, and other tips to conserve energy and save cash. These will certainly take some strain off of the power grid and save us a couple bucks. But it’s not going to solve the climate crisis by any stretch. If that’s going to happen, the changes have to be systemic, both from the bottom up and the top down. It’s going to require bold leadership and a measure of sacrifice. The only option we have is to make that sacrifice willingly and on our own terms or to have it thrust upon us by forces beyond our control. The good news is that our sacrifices in the name of solving the climate crisis will be magnitudes smaller than those bore by our grandparents in WWII…provided we act quickly enough.
Our second gripe is how Together has bowed to its sponsor’s influence. One of the ways they recommend you reduce your carbon footprint is by recycling plastic water bottles. Who’s the sponsor of this message? Nestle, the world’s largest producer of bottled water. The correct tip is to not buy bottled water in the first place if you can help it. But unfortunately, Sigg is not the sponsor of this message, and Nestle doesn’t have the courage to say, “We produce a lot of bottle water because we can sell a lot of it. There may be times when you’re thirsty, and it’s the healthiest choice available. But if you live in a first-world nation with a clean water supply and have access to filters or reusable containers, that’s the most responsible way to get your water.” We’d respect that type of admission.
Otherwise, Together is a good and worthy effort, and we look forward to being involved.
1 response so far ↓
1 emily. » Blog Archive » Report Card Pending // Oct 27, 2008 at 12:57 pm
[...] [If we're going to solve the climate crisis] the changes have to be systemic, both from the bottom up and the top down. It’s going to require bold leadership and a measure of sacrifice. The only option we have is to make that sacrifice willingly and on our own terms or to have it thrust upon us by forces beyond our control. The good news is that our sacrifices in the name of solving the climate crisis will be magnitudes smaller than those bore by our grandparents in WWII…provided we act quickly enough… [...]
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