Headlines, tweets and status updates. Forty-five characters to tell everyone what's on your mind. For someone that is a fan of a nice quote, like me, nothing can be more addictive. This particular quote, from my friend Tom's facebook page made me laugh, even though I think he may well have borrowed it from David Brent. It read, "What does a squirrel do in summer? It buries nuts. Why? So that in winter he's got something to eat and won't die. So, collecting nuts in the summer is worthwhile work. Every task you do think, would a squirrel do that? Think squirrels. Think nuts."
When we talk about climate change it can be easy to switch off. The magnitude of the problem can seem impossible measured against our everyday lives. Will me remembering to switch the television off at the wall of an evening make any difference at all? I'd argue that yes, it will. It won't stop huge areas of rainforest being clear felled and it won't make our ice caps refreeze, but it does show a committment. A committment by myself to do all I can to demonstrate that action on climate change needs to happen. Every light turned off and trip made on a bicycle rather than a car is another of those nuts that David Brent was talking about. A nut collected against climate change.
If you have collected all the nuts you can in your neighbourhood and you're looking for something else to do how about this. Go to www.stopclimatechaos.org. The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition is the UK's largest group of people dedicated to action on climate change and limiting its impact on the world's poorest communities. Our combined supporter base of more than 11 million people spans 100 organisations, from environment and development charities to unions, faith, community, health and women's groups. This weekend hundreds of SCC supporters will be out lobbying their local MP's to do what is necessary and take action against climate change.
If I were a squirrel, i'd be collecting this nut.
I'm delighted to hear someone else making a connection between squirrels and climate change! About a year ago we set up an eco group called Operation Squirrel with the motto, "saving the planet for when we need it later", which is abbreviated on the new logo to "save it for later", with an image of a globe in an acorn cup.
This Monday I led a lobby of 12 adults and a baby to meet our MP, Jeremy Corbyn as part of the Big Climate Connection. The meeting was a great success and Jeremy agreed to help with all of our requests concerning the new energy bill and our local environmental asks. You can see a photo of Jeremy with me wearing the Operation Squirrel 'super squirrel' suit (it has wings!) here: http://j.mp/cCzuUx, along with a picture of the other lobbyists. You can also read the blog about it here: http://j.mp/9qR23S.
The point of Operation Squirrel is to show that eco-action can be fun - our meeting with Jeremy was Jeremy was certainly enjoyable and a great success - why not get involved yourself? It's easy! Sign up on the SCC website here: www.stopclimatechaos.org.
Klina
Operation Squirrel Co-Founder