(Wildlife creatures) A Tale of Two Commemorations
No commentsBy Eric Eckl
You probably don’t know that February 3 is World Wetlands Day — a day of proclamations, press releases, ceremonies, festivals, newsletter articles, and t-shirts all clamoring to raise awareness about the vital role of these vital habitats.
World Wetlands Day is just one of many well-meaning efforts to create a commemorative occasion to call attention to some particular environmental topic. Here in the United States, World Wetlands Day shares the calendar with annual events such Earth Hour, Earth Day, World Water Day, National Environmental Education Week, Endangered Species Week, International Migratory Bird Day, National Rivers Month, National Wildlife Refuge Week, National Fishing Week, National Parks Month, and National Birdfeeding Month.
Just to name a few.
So heres a key question: Do these commemorative occasions attract enough attention to meaningfully raise awareness about all these various worthy causes? At least in the case of World Wetlands Day, the answer seems to be no.
These days, Google searches, Twitter trending topics, and other online activities provide some insight into public interest in various issues. And World Wetlands Day seems to leave rather few electronic breadcrumbs. The number of U.S. citizens who search for World Wetlands Day is too low to register at all. The number who conduct Google searches containing the term wetlands peaked in 2004 and has slowly but steadily eroded ever since. This even though the volume of news coverage of wetland topics has actually risen slightly over that same time frame.
So at least by this one measure, World Wetlands Day comes and goes each February without moving the needle on the ambient level of public interest. And this is the pattern for almost all of the commemorative occasions I mentioned in the first paragraph.
With one sharp exception: Earth Hour, the Johnny-come-lately of the eco-commemorative events. Earth Hour is about global warming, and in its brief history, the event has produced two sharp spikes in Google search activity — two sharp spikes in public attention to global warming.
Clearly, the organizers of Earth Hour are doing something different from the people who bring us World Wetlands Day. And the difference between these two events boils down to two words, awareness and action. World Wetlands Day is an effort to raise awareness. Earth Hour is a call to action.
Symbolic action, to be sure. World Wildlife Fund, which sponsors Earth Hour, wants you to pledge to turn off your lights for an hour to send signal to officials that you want action on global warming. Even massive participation in Earth Hour would produce only the most negligible dent in global warming directly. But thats actually beside the point.
The savvy organizers of Earth Hour know that everybody who turns their lights off for an hour will tell ten friends about their deed — and that is the real payoff for the effort. Marketing professionals and researchers who study human behavior note that word of mouth almost always begin with a personal experience or act. People talk about products they have tried, they talk about places they have been — and they talk about the conservation actions they have taken. They are far less likely to talk about things they simply read or see on TV.
The organizers of Earth Hour could have picked from any number of energy saving actions to promote, but they have wisely chosen to focus their efforts on one - a simple, symbolic act that everyone can do and everyone can explain. And for good measure, the deed is visible to those who pass by a darkened house. Doubtless, the organizers spent considerable time and effort wrestling the list of possible behaviors down to a single one, but they did — and the trend data shows the reward.
Can the wetland conservation community do the same thing? Can we scrap World Wetlands Day as we know it today — an incoherent spray of awareness-raising proclamations, edicts, press releases, events, fact sheets and other materials that share only the loosest thematic unity — and instead select one single behavior to promote heavily?
When the topic is wetlands, it is a challenge to come up with something that everyone can do, everyone can explain, and that others can see. But the organizers of Earth Hour faced the same dilemma, too, in the beginning.
So here, in no particular order, are some thoughts. We could urge supporters to tie a green ribbon around a tree in their front yard. Or to stick a sign in the yard proudly proclaiming it is fertilizer and pesticide free. We could ask them to wear a sticker saying they had eaten organic and local today, or that they had made the call to Congress about finally getting that Clean Water Restoration Act moving.
Inspired? Got a better idea? Great — visit my blog to share your thoughts. Stumped? I understand. But until we get collectively un-stumped, we can expect that downward dwindling trend wetlands interest to continue, and the uphill battle to protect this vital resource to get slowly get steeper.
Eric Eckl is an expert in environmental writing, and the author of the environmental communications blog Water Words That Work.
Learn About Outdoor Creatures In Wildlife
Get a Green Job after getting a Green Degree
By greenjobsready.com
Getting a job when the economy is still groaning under the pressures of recession can be quite tough. You might have to sacrifice a lot in terms of income or accept a lowly position until the winds of recession pass. Instead of compromising your finances or ethics, why not go with green employment and get a green job after getting a green degree?
With growing pressure by environmentalists including Greenpeace to shift towards greener alternatives of generating power, governments have begun to look at various sources such as the sun and wind to help generate additional power. There is also a sinking feeling amongst experts that fossil fuels could run out within the next 40 to 50 years. With growing energy needs, solar and wind generation offers not only a clean and green source of energy but also offers a wide range of job opportunities for competent people that are also passionate about preserving the environment.
You will need to upgrade your existing skills in some areas if you want to go in for a green job. For example, solar power generation requires people that have skills in installation and mounting of solar panels, wiring, plumbing, servicing, and repairing. If you already are an electrician or a plumber then you will simply need to fine-tune your skills to match up with the related requirements. Similarly wind power generation too requires installers, electricians and service/repair technicians. There are also general jobs that the solar and wind generation industry requires such as those in marketing, delivery, accounting, inventory, etc. However, each job needs to understand the requirements of the solar or wind farm industry so as to adapt to those requirements.
You can get a green degree and easily get a green job since this rising industry has a higher demand as compared to supply. A green degree or certification program along with adequate on-the-job training or apprentice program will help you to get familiar with the workings of the solar or wind power generation industry. You will first need to choose the field that you wish to work in. Next you will need to seek out training and certification programs that are on offer for your particular field of work. You can search on the Internet or even get useful information from the US Department of Energy if you are located in that country.
Various schools and colleges have started offering solar and wind certification courses to their students. You can opt for a green degree that stretches on for more than a year, or go in for a 6 month certificate course or even attend a short online course to get your certificate. It all depends on the type of job that you desire and the qualifications required for that job. In simple terms, the higher level of green degree that you achieve, the higher will be your post in your green job and consequently, the higher your pay. Since the solar and wind power generation industry is growing at a very fast pace, the chances of getting absorbed and moving up the job ladder are quite bright.
With environmental protagonists raising the battle cry against polluting methods of generating power, people and governments too have become environmentally sensitive towards generating power from green and renewable sources. With subsidies luring many manufacturers towards the solar and wind power industry, you can now piggyback your way to success with green employment by getting a green job after getting a green degree.
For additional information on
green jobs visit the online portal to Environmental jobs, internships, education, courses, and articles.
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 11:25 pm and is filed under environmental. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
