Has the hype outgrown the cause?

October 15 is Blog Action Day, a day where all the world’s bloggers are called on to write about one same subject.  The aim is to spark discussion around an issue of global importance.

This year the subject is a slightly unsurprising but useful “climate change.” 

Bloggers are invited to talk about climate change with the specific goal of raising awareness ahead of the big Copenhagen summit in December.

At the time of writing, over 8,000 blogs had been officially signed on to the www.blogactionday.org website from 144 countries around the world, touching a public of almost 12 million readers.

The website, which states that the day is “powered” by Change.org, offers useful tips for those bloggers who would be at a loss as to what to write about when it comes to the vast subject of climate change.

8 Great Climate Change Resources for Your Blog Action Day Post gives you 8 tip-offs.  They go from Google’s new site where you can “explore the potential impacts of climate change on Earth and find out about possible solutions for adaptation and mitigation, ahead of the UN’s climate conference in Copenhagen in December;” to The Top 100 Effects of Climate Change with its first listed consequence as “saying goodbye to Pinot Noir wine.”  Now that I know that, I am definitely going to stop piling up the air miles.

This year the world has seemed overflowing with climate change actions, initiatives and campaigns.  How useful are they really?

“On the one hand it’s good because it’s raising people’s awareness, but I also feel that everyone knows about climate change anyway by now,” says Daisy Daker, Vita Europe’s environmental blogger.

Is the hype surrounding climate change not really helping then?

“The danger is that this makes it out as if climate change is separate from all the other environmental issues, and instead it’s just a part of everything else we are doing to the planet,” answers Daker.  Any good initiative she can come up with?

“Well very simply if everyone starts making a conscious effort in their every day lives rather than just talking about finding a solution – that would be the best initiative.”

Makes me feel a bit guilty about that wine comment…

 

Go to Vita Europe interview with Paul Hilder of Avaaz.org on Climate Change actions and flashmobs