I have been feeling the weight of the world lately.  Last week my friend, Maggie, was diagnosed with serious breast cancer—she is 29 years old and an amazing force of joy in our group of friends.  Needless to say, it has been a tough week for me and I have found myself staring at the screen of my computer, clicking the key board not knowing what I am writing.  I was writing to an organizer in Vietnam that other day and when signing off the email I wrote: "Good work.  Hang in there, I hope you are finding spurts of lightness and happiness in your day. xo Love you, HBOX."  As I re-read before sending I was like—whoa, WHERE is my brain, that wasn't what I meant to write, but I couldn't get myself to delete and just say my usual - together we are gonna save the world and end climate change!!  So I deleted the sentence I mistyped and said—"Hey, I'm going through some hard times right now in my life but coming into 350.org everyday and seeing the amazing photos that people like you are sending in of 10/10/10 planning meetings and hearing the stories of people across the globe organizing for a better, healthier, more peaceful world is giving me energy and strength to keep my head up through these tough times. THANK YOU for that. - HBOX"

It really is.  So thanks for the stories, thanks for believing the world will be a better place soon and working so hard to make that happen.  10/10/10 will be an amazing day, it will serve as proof that people across the world can look past our national lines, our racial lines, our class and gender lines and take action as people, as loving people working together to save our nature, our health and our sense of oneness.  Keep the stories coming! xo HBOX

As part of our efforts to let our senators know we still expect them to pass a serious climate bill, a team of volunteers headed to a debate between California's Senator Barbara Boxer and Republican candidate Carly Fiorina on Wednesday.

Joe Romm at Climate Progress has a great post (with footage from the debate) about what happened when climate change came up as a topic in the debate. At issue is Proposition 23, a proposal that would put a moratorium on implementing California's global warming law, AB32. Boxer is opposed to the measure; Fiorina has yet to take a position on it.

We'll be working with all the 10/10 event organizers in California to draw a link between getting to work in our communities, and getting our politicians to get to work implementing the laws that will lead the country to cut our emissions.

It is almost a month since we went for an all-out online organizing and protest against the gigantic coal-fired plant at the Borneo. Already we are seeing fruits of the effort when the EIA report was rejected and the fast-progressing implementation of the plant came to a halt. Thanks people for the solidarity and support!

Today we are already seeing the momentum of our campaign towards 10/10 Global Work Party in Malaysia! The Selangor state government is worthy to be a role model for the whole country when they took up 10/10 Global Work Party to a greater heights at the national level. The state government spearheaded our 10/10 campaign by the installing a mini hydro electric generator for an indigenous village at Hulu Langat, Selangor. The groundbreaking ceremony was done by YB Elizabeth Wong, the state exco member with presence of the overjoyed indigenous community here. The mini hydro plant will be generate sufficient electricity to power the basic necessities for the 25 indigenous family living in this rural village.

What's next? The Selangor state government has already initiated 10:10 Selangor Facebook page to rally more events for coming 10/10. What are you waiting for? Go ahead sign up your events with us! Make your state leaders go to work on 10/10. 

"The chief monk at the temple told us that the 350.org gathering last year was the first time such a large gathering participated at an event in that small temple. " - Renton de Alwis, event participant and organizer

Sri Lanka bears a lot of the brunt of climate change with raising sea levels, changing weather pattens and the devastation caused by more severe storms.  Check out what Renton has planned for 10/10/10: 

Kiula and Kalametiya are farming and fishing villages located 220 kilometers from the capital city of Sri Lanka. The two villages are located next to a bird sanctuary in an immensely biologically rich area of marshland.

In December 2004, the Kalametiya village and its 32 abodes of the fishermen were completely destroyed by the tsunami that hit the region. Several children and adults of that village lost their lives. Even today, they still suffer the after-effects of the trauma they went through. Their lives are now rebuilt with new houses and fishing boats and gear, but the memories still remain in their minds. That perhaps is the reason that villagers in both Kalametiya and Kiula came in full-force to participate in a blessing that was organized as part of the 350.org's 'Real Climate' action programme on 12 December 2009. We as organizers expected 250 to come for the meditation, sermon and the pahan (oil lamps) pooja held at the village temple to pray for our leaders to have the courage to make definitive decisions on mitigation action at the UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen and over 1,200 turned up. The chief monk at the temple told us that it was the first time such a large gathering participated at an event in that small temple. The total population of the two villages is less than 5,000.

On 10-10-10, the children of the villages and their parents will gather again, this time to act on their own. To plant 350 mangrove plants and other useful trees, upon gathering at the temple's Sunday School in the morning.

Children from nearby schools who have participated in a two year environmental awareness programme conducted by the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka(FOGSL),on the theme 'My home, my school, my village, my country, my earth' will also be with us on that day. Theirs' was practical action to reduce-reuse and recycle. On 10-10-10 we will discuss and determine the future of that programme as well. A team from FOGSL will participate in support of the event and make a presentation on the role of mangroves in coastal area conservation. Since we believe that our efforts should not be limited to a day, we are planning to set in place action to monitor the growth of the plants and trees charged with the children and
make awards of recognition to 50 children who will best look after them. That will be done on 11-11-11.

If you are one of the 4 million plus people that watches the Late Show with David Letterman every night, then you've already seen the clip below with 350.org founder Bill McKibben. If not, check it out—Bill lays out the case for the need to get back to 350 ppm, talks about the momentum building for 10/10/10, and announces our upcoming road trip to take one of President Carter's original solar panels back to the White House:

Please share the clip with your friends and spread the word. Together, we can get President Obama (and other world leaders) to get to work with us on 10/10/10!

You can share it on Facebook with just a couple of clicks, as well as share it on Twitter by clicking here.

Two posts came to our attention today about the importance of local organizing. We can't get enough of that theme around here, so we're sharing both. Our friend Andy Hultgren, sent us the piece below, and then today, our friend Dave Roberts posted something with a similar conclusion on Grist.

Political Engagement at the Local Level

by Andy Hultgren

Let’s face it: the likelihood over the next few years of federal climate legislation in the U.S. does not look good right now.  And with the U.S. playing a key leadership role in international climate talks, this fact likely portends more delays and inaction at the international level. Yet, to maintain a reasonable chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change, the world (and particularly the developed world) must reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically, starting now.

With all these big needs for national and international policies and treaties, why talk about political engagement at the local (city) level? Three reasons. First, we simply don’t have time to wait any longer for our national governments to get their acts together. That, in and of itself, is an extremely important motivation. Second, state and national politicians are typically more comfortable advocating policies that they have seen “tested” on a smaller scale; and the people who elect them are more comfortable with those policies at a national or state level if they have already seen some of them on a local level (who knows, they might even start advocating for them). Third, while city-level policies are not as impactful as state and national policies, they are a whole lot easier to influence and change. And you have the potential to build a grassroots movement of an engaged and active electorate in the process.

This article is intended to help those who want to organize their community and change the way their local leaders view and respond to climate change, but who do not have a track record of engaging in their local politics. Part I provides a high-level overview of the process for engaging in your local politics (details like working with the media, community recruitment, etc. can be found at 1Sky.org – focused on federal politics, but useful information) and is based on the advice and insight of seasoned veterans of community organizing and local political engagement. Part II provides a brief list of some sample policy actions to push for in your local community, just to get the creative juices flowing. And keep in mind, part of being an effective leader is leading by example. So, if you haven’t gotten started already, check this site out for some thoughts on how you can incorporate your advocacy into your personal life.

Please read on, and then get to work organizing for a cleaner, better future in your local community.
Part I: Local Political Engagement 101
This is a high-level overview of the process for engaging in your local politics, based on the experience of veteran community organizers , . Though it is brief, read this “step-by-step” guide carefully as it will help you think strategically about your efforts and avoid some common and damaging pitfalls.
1)    At all times, maintain a relationship of high standing and trust with the local community. The importance of this statement cannot be overrated.
a.    If you and your organization lose the trust of the community, community leaders and local politicians will not work with you and your efforts toward change will be frustrated. Period.
b.    Trust is built slowly, but will be gained through attraction to your conviction and integrity. Although your initial steps as an environmental activist and organizer may be modest, your vision must be extraordinary and powerful.  Motivate and inspire with your words and deeds. Practice the articulation of your environmental critique among fellow activists—does it encourage hope and strengthen resolve as well as call for immediate action?  Or does it sound more like an angry, relationally destructive tirade? You want to energize and mobilize others, especially the next generation, to follow your example. Teach them well.
c.    Astonish the public with skills of inclusion, especially regarding those who would not think of themselves as an “environmentalist” or “green.”  Remember, we live in times of deep division and mistrust. The more you prove yourself as a peacemaker, the more you will garner positive attention and volunteer support.
d.    Get a solid “win” as a team player (see point 2 below), however small it may seem, as soon as you can. Nothing breeds momentum and enthusiasm like an early success.
2)    Look for alliance opportunities with other non-profits.
a.    You are far more effective pooling resources and membership bases. And don’t just limit yourself to the traditionally “environmental” non-profits.  Invite to your planning meetings representatives of seemingly unrelated organizations—racial advocacy groups, churches, unions, immigration groups, etc.  Climate change is not simply an “environmental” issue; it has wide ranging social and economic implications. This, of course, presents an enormous problem, but it also presents a broad base of common ground upon which to build alliances. Forge agreements with alliance members on how different agendas can be advanced, respecting the fact that each different organization will come with its own valid agenda.  
b.    Example: Environmental racism (pollution and environmental degradation in minority communities – like the landfill on “the other side of the tracks”) is rarely an issue of concern, even for minorities who are most impacted! This is an opportunity to build a new alliance with local minority non-profits. Note how Van Jones, founder of Green for All in Oakland, brought together African American communities and activist environmental groups to create jobs and protect the earth.
3)    Build credibility, and the ability to ask for favors later.
a.    Approach the mayor’s office and find out what is on his/her environmental agenda, and what could use some volunteer “foot soldiers” to get it done.
i.    Don’t start with your agenda at this time. Right now you are focusing on building trust with the mayor and “earning a place at the table.”
ii.    “Foot soldier” work includes knocking on doors, handing out fliers, conducting surveys, getting the word out, building support.
b.    Help deliver a win for the mayor on that issue(s).
i.    When your alliance delivers a win, share the credit with other alliance members! Often, it is through these alliance relationships that financing and opportunities can begin to multiply, as your organization begins to be seen as a valuable team-player in the community.
c.    Work with the mayor to bring your alliance’s agenda and ideas to the table, in a way that maintains trust and credibility.
i.    Consider starting with a brief description of the climate crisis we are currently in [the basics, details, details with graphs].
ii.    Act according to the level of trust built. Don’t ask for too much too fast, but be clear about the ultimate needs of the community and planet.
iii.    Sample policy ideas are provided in Part II below.
d.    Repeat points (3a) through (3c), while keeping in mind point (1) above.
Part II: Policy Ideas for Local Politics
These are some climate change policy ideas relevant to the city/county level of government. They are roughly listed in increasing order of complexity and “reach” – and the last suggestions are really asking a lot from you local leadership! (Translation: as tempting as it may be, don’t start there.)
1)    Sign the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement
a.    Benefits:
i.    Reduced greenhouse gas emissions, likely reduced energy expenses, air pollution, and reliance on foreign oil
ii.    Likely improved energy independence, local health and wellbeing, and job creation
b.    For more information: http://www.usmayors.org/climateprotection/revised/
2)    Improved bicycle infrastructure, such as dedicated bike paths, bike lanes on roadways, signage reminding drivers to “share the road”
a.    Benefits:
i.    Reduces vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT), thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollution, gasoline expenditures, and reliance on foreign oil;
ii.    Improves health of community members as they cycle more often, can create jobs
b.    For more information: economic, environmental, and health benefits (scroll down), barriers to cycling in communities
3)    Building code reformation requiring energy efficient residential and commercial buildings; can be phased in to be increasingly more stringent over time
a.    Benefits:
i.    Reduces energy usage, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollution, and energy expenses
ii.    Increases energy independence
b.    For more information: Energy codes information for advocates and policymakers, Top Ten Reasons for Building Energy Codes, Everything you want to know about energy codes in your state, Introduction to ASHRAE Code Recommendations
4)    Code and zoning reformation encouraging high-density housing and mixed use (commercial and residential) development
a.    Benefits:
i.    Reduces vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT), thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollution, gasoline expenditures, and reliance on foreign oil;
ii.    Improves health and wellbeing of community members as they walk more often and develop increasingly local networks of relationships
b.    For more information: Sustainable Urban Development Resource Guide (especially the “Sustainable Zoning” section), Commercial and Mixed-Use Development Code Handbook, Healthy Zoning Regulations, EPA Making Smart Growth Happen , example: Sustainable Code Revision Project in Salt Lake City, Utah
5)    Code and zoning reformation encouraging residential renewable energy, residential water conservation, residential gray water applications, residential gardens and livestock (chickens, turkeys, goats, pigs)
a.    Benefits:
i.    Reduces greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollution (as furnaces are replaced), water infrastructure investments by the city (at water treatment facilities), and energy, water, and food expenditures
ii.    Increases clean energy and energy independence, health and wellbeing of the community (healthy food)
b.    For more information: Gray Water Policy Center, The Greywater Alliance, Examples of Chicken Laws, Urban Agriculture Basics, Sustainable Food in Portland, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Codes (plus see references for Point 3 above for more on codes and renewables)
6)    Energy efficiency/renewable energy revolving loan fund, offering low/no interest rate loans
a.    Benefits:
i.    Reduces greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollution, and energy expenditures
ii.    Increases energy independence, renewable energy generation, and job creation; funds are “recycled” so each dollar allocated to the fund is multiplied many times over the lifetime of the fund (as loans are repaid the money can be loaned out again)
b.    For more information: State and Municipal Revolving Loan Funds
7)    Renewable energy feed-in tariff, paying owners of renewable energy installations a “bonus” per kWh of electricity generated; decisively demonstrated to increase installations of renewable energy (in Germany)
a.    Benefits:
i.    Reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced air pollution, reduced energy expenditures
ii.    Improved air quality, increased energy independence, job creation
b.    For more information: Everything you want to know about Feed-In Tariffs, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Policymaker’s Guide to Feed-In Tariffs,
c.    Note: this would be asking a lot from your mayor/city council!!
8)    Carbon tax (the city of San Francisco and others have pulled this off)
a.    Some notes on this one:
i.    If proposing this at all, expect to start at something like $0.10 per metric ton CO2; but make your initial proposal higher, say $1 to $10 per metric ton CO2
ii.    Start only with CO2 emissions and not other GHGs, and only for large sources within city/county limits (consider using the new EPA GHG Mandatory Reporting Rule to initially define a “large source”)
iii.    Propose that funds raised be put into a renewable energy and energy efficiency revolving loan as described in point (6) above
iv.    You are asking for nothing short of a revolution by pushing for this and are asking for a mammoth commitment from your mayor and city council!
b.    Benefits:
i.    Your mayor will be seen as one of the greenest city/county mayors in the nation. Period. (Lots of publicity and great political cred. in a very liberal/green city, county, and/or state).
ii.    Reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced air pollution, reduced energy expenses (as organizations respond to the tax by increasing efficiency, and as funds are used to deploy renewable energy and energy efficiency)
iii.    Funds generated can be used to increase renewable energy deployment and energy efficiency, increase energy independence, and create jobs (note, this means I do not believe a carbon tax should be completely revenue-neutral with funds returned to the public. Rather these funds should be used to reduce GHG emissions, especially at the municipal level where smaller amounts of funds will be collected);
iv.    Funds are “recycled” multiple times over the lifetime of the fund (see point (6) above) and the overall fund grows annually from carbon tax collections
c.    For more information: Carbon Tax Center, British Columbia (Canada) Carbon Tax, San Francisco Carbon Tax, City of Boulder Carbon Tax, Montgomery County Carbon Tax
Andy Hultgren is a project manager specializing in greenhouse gas and sustainability consulting services. He has served as the Climate Change Specialist for numerous Federal NEPA decision-making processes and has helped dozens of local governments and private businesses assess and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. He can be reached at andyhultgren@gmail.com.  
 

Paul Peacock over at DebateGraph just created this super-cool way to explore the information on 350.org:

A lot of it is information on our website--but it's presented in a whole new format.  The jaunty animated bubbles and bouncing arrows makes exploring information about climate science (and the climate movement) seem whimsical and fun.  

Make sure to head over to DebateGraph.org to check out the other graphs they have on a HUGE array of topics. Happy clicking!

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I got an email from Nanette Salvador-Antequisa, Executive Director of Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits  Inc. (ECOWEB) in IIligan City in the Philippines, last week about her plans for 10/10/10.  Her organization will be doing tree planting and growing events on that day, which is exciting.  But I’m writing today to tell you about another project her organization in implementing now called the Disaster Risk Reduction program (DRR) – check out what she has to say about it!   

DRR is one of the Climate Change Adaptation strategies that our organization is propagating among our partners in development. With the Support of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), a UK-based Development Agency, we are currently implementing DRR in the local development and land use planning at the barangay (village level or the lowest unit of our government structure) and municipal (the next level after barangay local government unit) levels.

How does DRR work?  On a community level participants identify the hazards their communities are facing because of climate change and the hazard risk level.  Landslides, flashfloods, drought, fire, pest infestation and diseases brought about by changing climate, are among the hazards that have been identified by the communities around the Philippines, mostly uplands. In Mindanao, armed conflict is also another hazard (a human-made one) that the people have identified on top of the impact of the changing climate. Some of the mitigation and adaption strategies that have come out of the process and are being put into action are forest rehabilitation, tree planting along riverbanks and elevated areas, creek and river clean-ups, ecological waste management, promotion of ecological farming technologies, planting of drought-resistant crops and implementing indigenous farming practices. Conflict transformation and peace building as well as the inclusion of the issue in the early warning system and contingency planning are also part of the DRR strategies. 

As of now, the DRR programs are being implemented in the municipality of Josefina, Zamboanga del Sur in partnership with the Catholic Church local social action program and the local government unit and ECOWEB has started innovating the program in other municipalities as well.

We are still on the process of implementing these projects and are interested in sharing our experience on this and to learn as well from others' experience around the world. 

DRR is just the type of process we will see more of as our climate changes across the globe.  It is important for us all to share the best practices and lessons learned from these type of adaption programs so we are learning from each other and finding the most effective solutions to our collective issues.  Thanks for sharing Nanette!

Great news from Kenya: The Green Belt Movement, an innovative environmental and human rights group started by Prof. Wangari Maathai, Nobel Prize winner, has joined us in celebrating 10/10/10. No other organization on the planet has done so much as GBM to promote tree-planting and empower communities to take control of their environments, lives, and future through reforestation. They've even "greened" the 10/10/10 logo!

You can register a tree-planting on 10/10 and check out the Green Belt Movement's easy tree-planting guide and other resources here.

Besides the carbon sucked up by plants, trees have numerous other benefits, including protecting water resources, providing shade and stopping desertification, among many others.

"We have a responsibility to protect the rights of generations, of all species, that cannot speak for themselves today. The global challenge of climate change requires that we ask no less of our leaders, or ourselves.” Prof Wangari Maathai.

350.org founder Bill McKibben will be on the David Letterman Show tonight, one of the most walked talk shows in the United States, to talk about his new book Eaarth, our plans for 10/10/10, and to kick off our Put Solar On It road trip! 

As you can imagine, we're pretty excited here at the 350.org office. This is great exposure and it couldn't be better timed. Next week, Bill and a group of students will be driving one of Jimmy Carter's original solar panels from its current home at Unity College in Maine back to the White House.

You can follow all the excitement of the road trip at our new Put Solar On It road trip site. Bill and the team will be tweeting, blogging, video-ing, etc. from the road and doing events in Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. along the way. Join us as we ask President Obama to install solar panels on the White House roof on 10/10/10 and tell us his plan to put solar on rooftops across America and around the world. 

Make sure to tune in to watch Bill on Letterman tonight and help spread the word! 

20 youth from Sweden, UK, Norway, Finland, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands joined us last weekend for a weekend of training and planning for youth-led climate campaigns in Europe. 

Next to some amazing ideas that were developed for 10/10/10 - clothes swapping action in Sweden, put up a solar panel on the roof of a UK university, dance action in Finland and a Silent Climate Parade in Germany - plans were also made for a European wide climate action for universities next spring. 

Having such an amazing bunch of inspiring youth leaders with us and working with some of the most amazing young campaigners and social entrepreneurs from the UK Youth Climate coalition, Wake up call Sweden and Nest social media agency to bring more European youth into action definitely made my day.

Just got off the line with Clive from Hong Kong - here are his plans for 10/10/10:

On October 10, 2010, 1000 young professionals, university students and
secondary students will join together to make 100 green commitments to
start green projects all over Hong Kong.  Young people will commit to
starting projects like beach clean up's, recycling programs and
climate change education workshops in their communities.  This large
scale youth action program is part of  Youth Envisioning Scheme
(YES) and organized by the Envision Hong Kong.  This summit will be
held at Hong Kong University as part of the Centennial Anniversary
celebration of the University.

The message of this gathering?  Well, as Clive explains it the title
explains it all: i350 Youth Summit: "The 350 is to spread the message
of lowering the carbon emissions to 350ppm and  the word “i” has two
meanings, one in English and one in Mandrin.  The letter “i”
pronounced in English means the word LOVE in Mandarin. It implies our
love and care to our environment.  The letter “i” also represents that
“I” am responsible and should take the self-initiative to protect the
world."

Look out for updates on 10/10/10 from Clive and his crew of organizers
send in pics from the events.

Every movement needs music and this one is no exception. A big thanks to Erin Blanding for uploading this new tune! Got a song to share? Just upload a link and send us an email, we'd love to share it. 

The following is a post recently sent in by our good friend and Afghanistan 350 and 10/10/10 organizer, Sayed Masood in Kabul.

Afghan Youth face many challenges – most of which need no explanation. But there is one crisis that looms large without much attention here in Afghanistan, climate change—until, that is, October 24: International Day of Climate Action. In the developing and least-developed countries, many blame the West for the many injustices they believe have been committed against earth and nature.  Some of that is justified, but we must avoid blaming whole societies or there will be little progress.

Afghan youth have joined international efforts whenever they were needed. I feel that we as individuals may not be bring all the necessary change, but when we join forces behind 350 we can certainly put pressure on politicians. We should understand the issue, understand our part in it, and get to work.

Young people are increasingly adding their voices to the call for action on climate change. So, last year, it was time for me to add my voice to the call, to bring together people, and to spread awareness among our communities and pressure our politicians.

It was a tough and dangerous challenge to bring together young people, media, and high level governmental authorities. We left the city boundary of Kabul to form a huge 3-5-0 in the Hindu Kush mountains.  It was the first ever science-focused demonstration and climate action in the history of Afghanistan. Afghan youth and politicians joined us hoping that our risky mission could bring results.  It required great courage and bravery throughout this difficult time, but it was also just a beginning.

After October 24 some friends and I even managed to add our voices to the thousands of committed youth in Copenhagen.  Unfortunately, world leaders turned a deaf ear. Many times world leaders have failed to listen to the voices of Afghan youth throughout history and have only realized its importance, urgency, and risk when it has been too late. Now, I work and invite others to get to work on 10/10/10, and call on politicians everywhere to get to work and not fail to hear us this time—before it is too late.

Still looking for ways to get to work on October 10? Check out this video from our friends at Green For All that profiles one of our local heroes, Zakiya Harris, founder and director of Grind for the Green. 

G4G's mix of art, activism, social justice, and the environment is laying the foundation for a growing and diverse movement. Looking to get a similar thing going in your community? Hosting a creative event for the 10/10/10 Global Work Party could be just the way to start. 

Bill McKibben sat in on WHYY Radio to chat about politics, weather, and the climate crisis. It's a good overview of our current predicament--and a compelling pitch for 350 and our big day of action.  You can listen below, or download the MP3 right here.

Many thanks to Subhankar Banerjee for his amazing new site Climate StoryTellers.  The very first post is a long and moving account of forest mortality from various beetles and pests--not just in one forest or one continent but all around the earth. Banerjee has a truly global take on the world, and it's stories like these that will help everyone understand that nothing happens in isolation any more.

This is from near the end of his piece (after a shout out not jsut to 350.org but to our excellent friends at Climate Justice Network and the Center for Biological Diversity: Our task is to make the collective global voice louder and louder until ignoring such loud cacophony will not be an option by our governments. Global warming is not something we can solve with good behavior and healthy lifestyles. It will require major government action to control pollution–and–polluters and to start a low–carbon–society.

Still need a good idea for your 10/10 event? How about a window farm?

Window farms are urban vegetable gardens that can be started anywhere, even if you don’t have a patch of ground to plant on. In fact, people have started successful farms high up in sky rise apartments!

Imagine growing your own salad, tomatoes, strawberries, herbs and spices! All from your window space!

“How is this possible?” you might ask. It’s possible because window farms don’t need a large plot of ground to plant in, and if you are willing to go the extra mile, you don’t even need natural sunlight!

How it works:
Window farms are a new breed of indoor hydroponic gardening, that is much simpler to operate and maintain. They use upcycled PET bottles as planters and water tanks. The PET bottles are arranged in a vertical tower, so that plants can be ‘stacked’ and watering is a closed loop. Water goes up to the top plant, then drips down to the plants below, finally returning to the water tank at the bottom. Utilizing just an aquarium air pump and some tubing, you can water several plants automatically throughout the day.

The best part is that a successful window farm can fit in… a WINDOW!

To find out more, visit http://www.windowfarms.org

My suggestion is that your 10/10 group members build a few systems at home and try them out. You have about a month to get familiar. Then, on 10/10, you organize a large group to build their own farms, or to build a massive system for a community or civic space, such as an elementary school, or a library! Imagine the educational value such a system could provide to your community of young minds!

-- Emery Premeaux

P.s. for other interesting ideas for 10/10 events, check out:
Earthships – sustainable village structures from recycled materials
http://earthship.com/
A sustainable dwelling made from earth and discarded tires. Most places simply burn the tire rubber, releasing all sorts of evil gasses into the air. Upcycle them into sustainable community structures!

Geocaching – a world wide treasure hunt
http://www.geocaching.com/
Geocaching is an outdoor hobby, sort of like a scavenger hunt, in which you utilize a GPS module to find a hidden cache. You could use geocaching to make your  10/10 outdoor activities much more fun. How about placing some Geocaches in areas that you want people to do trash pickup on a beach, or in a neighborhood?

Solar Mintyboost – Build your own solar powered gadget charger!
http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/07/09/how-to-make-a-solar-mintyboost-a-solar-power-charger-for-your-gadgets/
If you have a hackerspace nearby, how about engaging them to help your group build personal solar gadget chargers? Hackerspaces are always willing to get involved and have the resources and knowledge base to teach groups how to DIY just about anything you can imagine. For a list of Hackerspaces near you, try:
http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/List_of_Hacker_Spaces

Edward Boydell from Hanoi Vietnam just sent in these great photos from the 2010 Vietnam Youth & Sustainable Development Summit that is happening this week in Cuc Phuong National Park in the Ninh Binh Province.   These photos show the activities of 70 participants, from more than 40 environmental clubs and organizations around Vietnam, who have come together to share stories and learn from one another how to take action on climate change and move towards a more sustainable world. 

Boydell, who is a volunteer at the conference and works for an environmental education program in Vietnam called Live and Learn, sent me an email today saying, “The attendees are very energized.  They are committed to practical action, and are really taking to heart the theme of the summit 'Tomorrow Starts Today.' In the coming days of the summit, participants will be preparing their action plan for the 10-10-10 work party as a way to show, in a unified voice, they are getting to work on climate solutions!”

Vietnam currently has 18 events planned across the country and that number is growing literally every day.  The events planned are everything from a big bike ride in Hanoi to clean up’s on the coats to education workshops on the importance of using reusable bags.  Check out the events in Vietnam going on here: www.350.org/map

I'm a sucker for inter-cultural learning. We're only on the 3rd day of a week-long youth climate leadership workshop for Eastern European, Russian and Central Asian organizers, and I can already envision 42 inspiring, passionate, strategic and hard-working leaders leaving the workshop empowered to spread the movement far and wide in their region.

Much of my work over the past couple years with 350.org, a global climate advocacy group I co-founded, has been to help develop our network of 5000+ organizers around the world into climate leaders. With the help of colleagues and friends in the youth climate movement and at places like NOI, I've developed curricula, recruited top organizers and helped build climate activist networks in places as diverse as Malawi, Khazakstan, Polynesia and Laos.

But amid the hectic logistics of keeping 42 leaders happy, healthy and engaged, these last three days have reminded me how the basic idea of building cross-cultural relationships is one of the key pieces of building a movement. Being in a room with people from 14 countries forces you to think outside the box about your campaign ideas and organizing principles.

Coming to the group with an open mind, I've learned from Chimge, a Mongolian organizer, how to talk to rural shepherds about climate change and involve them in the struggle. I've heard from Yuliya in Ukraine how to start a student climate movement under a repressive government, and I've learned from Pavel in Kazakhstan how to establish a political party that builds momentum for green urban renewal.

More than anything, I'm honored and excited to be friends with these inspiring leaders, knowing that they will go back home and have a network of support in the region where before there was none. If there were ever a doubt in my mind whether the time, effort and resources needed to pull off a regional workshop is worth it, it's gone now!