“We need to have a more sustainable way of life.” This is a message that we hear almost every day from multiple environmental sources. However, most of the time this message is so generic, we don’t listen.

Think about water. It’s one of the five Earth elements we waste the most. From morning until night, water is in our lives. As I am writing, I’m realizing that 99 percent of my water-related activities are performed in the bathroom. Sometimes a simple and tiny action can make a real difference.

For instance, I know that sometimes I wake up late, and my main focus is only how to get to the office on time. I do everything quickly and don’t pay attention to details. I use to set the alarm fifteen minutes before I was supposed to wake up, but the “snooze” button is often irresistible. But even waking up a bit late I still have enough time to get a bucket.

A bucket? For what? Well, I really don’t like to take a shower with cold water (who does?), so I wait for the water to get warm, and fill my bucket with the initial cold water. Can you imagined the quantity of water we use for absolutely nothing? The bucket is the solution! I can use that water to flush the toilet or to even to clean the bathroom.

Some people do not turn off the tap when brushing teeth. I still can’t imagine why people need that water! Perhaps to have a different soundtrack when brushing teeth? Please turn off the tap! The U.S. Geological Survey offers a calculator with which you can measure how much water you use when brushing teeth. Their website also indicates that “generally newer bath faucets use about 1 gallon (3.79 liters) per minute, whereas older models use over 2 gallons (7.58 liters).” That’s a lot!

When taking a shower, do you usually turn off the tap while soaping up? In this case, we can save money on two things – water and soap. When soaping do you really need to feel the water on your skin? It’s useless and makes the soap ineffective.

[video:https://vimeo.com/67090234]

Also, consider washing cars. I used to wash mine quite often, and wasted a lot of water and money in the process. Your car doesn’t need to be so clean that you can see your face on it (though I confess I once thought so). In most cases those car wash machines are enough to clean off the dust and dirt, and hit the road. “A home car wash can go through 80 to 140 gallons (300 to 530 liters) of water, whereas a wash at one of its garages will take about 30 to 45 gallons (115 to 170 liters),” according to Kaady Car Washes, a chain on the American west coast, cited in Scientific American. Numbers such as these are enough to make anyone think twice, don’t you agree?

The meat industry also uses high levels of water. I don’t eat meat, so I am contributing to a more sustainable way of life. I know it is not easy to stop eating meat in just one day. This decision doesn’t need to be radical – the transition to a meatless way can be gradual. Or you could commit to simply eating less meat. National Geographic’s website calculated how much water it takes to allow you to eat your favorite hamburger. Producing one pound (0.5 kilograms) of beef uses 1799 gallons (6810 liters) of water. One pound (0.5 kilograms) of chicken uses 468 gallons (1773 liters) of water. On the other hand, one pound of soybean (tofu’s most important ingredient) needs 216 gallons (818 liters) of water, one apple consumes 18 gallons (70 liters) of water, and one orange requires 13 gallons (50 liters) of water.

Why is it so important to focus our attention on water consumption? In the United States, it is now possible to see the practical effects of water scarcity. The massive drought in California is a wake-up call and it should inspire us to undertake efforts to use water in a more conscientious way.

Think about these little things. I think you will feel better, not only because you will save money on your water bill but you will save the planet for your beloved ones and for the future generations. They also deserve to live in a decent world.

Daniel Pinto Lopes is an intern at Connect4Climate. He is originally from Covilhã, central Portugal.

On April 8, 2015 we had the unique chance to sit in at the heart of the "Lets Talk Climate" webinar hosted by Earth Day Network and Connect4Climate at the World Bank Group HQ. (To listen to the entire webinar, go to connect4climate and scroll to "Let's Talk Climate"). The idea behind the webinar was to get leading thinkers talking about innovative strategies to communicate climate change. From social medias influence on spreading awareness, to connecting messages to concrete actions, and understanding your audiences values to find achievable solutions, the conversation was dynamic and non-stop, and the room itself was buzzing with energy. Clearly, the buzz was picked up around the world; the webinar boosted Connect4Climate's Twitter impression to 12 million that day!

 

The webinar "Let's Talk Climate" seriously spiked Connect4Climate's Twitter impressions! While the discussion touched on the many angles of climate change communications that we think about every day, it also gave us some new ideas to consider. It also provided some serious food for thought for our upcoming conference "Communication for Climate Change 2.0" on Wednesday, April 15, when Connect4Climate and the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) at Columbia University are bringing together a fantastic blend of scholars and leaders during the World Bank Group's spring meetings to dissect the science of climate change communication and determine the most effective ways to move forward.

See all Connect4Climate's events and initiatives surrounding Earth Day. 

Communications Officer Max Edkins and Lucia Grenna, Program Manager of Connect4Climate, and Joelle Auffray, Director of Apidae Development Pty Ltd., prepare for the webinar.

Liz Ngonzi's introductory remarks for April 20th Connect4Climate 'Local Climate, Global Change: Development Communication in a social media landscape' forum.

"Until the lion has his or her own storyteller, the hunter will always have the best part of the story."

Ewe-Mina (African) Proverb

Young people's access to new media worldwide brings new and in some peoples opinions, authentic voices into the global conversation about the issues that affect all of us the most, such as: climate change, conflict, economic crisis, education disparity, access to healthcare, and food security. 

While traditional media and development agencies are able to provide the world with visibility into these issues, they are only able to do so through specific lenses colored by the interests of their leadership - in the case of the media-- keeping advertisers happy and maintaining ratings and with development agencies - satisfying donors requirements.  The result being that the people whose lives are most affected by the issues, have traditionally been left out of the conversation, leading to policy decisions and development projects that in some instances solve the wrong problems, and ultimately do more harm than good, for those they are intended to assist.

What is particularly exciting about new media is that it widens the conversation by providing channels for new voices to be heard and amplified in a matter of minutes. If we think about traditional news cycles and the amount of time it typically takes for a development agency to compile and publish a report, what in the past may have been seen as timely information may in fact become irrelevant by the time it is accessed by the public. Contrast that with social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook which enable a young woman in Mbarara Western Uganda (from where I hail) to use a basic SMS-enabled mobile phone to (in real-time) write about the circumstances in her village and potentially have her voice heard by many people across the globe who can help her affect change. With a more sophisticated video-enabled phone, she can now even record and upload a video to a computer in her local Internet caf (assuming her phone is not WiFi-enabled) and show her reality in a richer manner.

If we take the example further and put it within the context of the Connect4Climate video contest which was piloted in Africa last fall and received over 700 submissions from the continents young people, we really start to see the power of new media.  For instance, the video by South Africa's Thabo Edkins, entitled "The World Has Malaria", through one Connect4Climate outlet alone - Facebook - can be accessed by its 1/4 of a million followers, all of whom could potentially watch each of those videos and even more importantly, forward any of them to their friends - resulting in amplification on a scale unimaginable in the past.  Additionally, if the videos revealed any particular trend that needed to be addressed immediately, policy makers from the countries videos countries of origin can access them on the Connect4Climate Youtube channel and potentially take action in real-time. 

Of course when we speak about this sort of citizen journalism, one of the potential risks we have to consider is that the stories are unvetted, however with enough data points and mechanisms in place to verify information, citizens could very well be some of our best sources.  Another potential risk is that of retribution by governments in countries that disallow free speech, which could lead to some of the censorship efforts weve seen in the last 18 months during the Arab Spring and elections worldwide.  Finally, with the increase in content comes the need for crowdsourced mapping tools to turn the data into actionable information, such as with the case of Ushahidi and ReVoda election monitoring platforms and of course, Microsofts Local Impact Map.

Ultimately, I see new media as providing access to new voices, but I also still believe the traditional outlets are valuable, however as with other industries that have been affected by the disruptive technologies, they will have to find a way to add more meaningful analysis and potentially incorporate the new voices into their reports, in order to remain relevant in the future. 

Ladies and gentlemen, ironically I agree with The New York Times' Thomas L. Friedman the world is indeed "flattening".

 

Liz Ngonzi

Adjunct Professor

New York University Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising

You can find Liz Ngonzi on Twitter at @LizNgonzi. 

In our on-going effort to engage on a deeper level with our growing audience, team C4C is going to be digging a little deeper into our main categories of focus. We hope this will encourage the sharing of ideas and solutions along these very critical categories. Each Wednesday, well delve into the topic of forestry and how climate change is affecting forests - more specifically the people, communities, and eco-systems that rely on forests for their survival. Today well focus on diverging conservation advocacy strategies currently in play. We want to look at how large multi-national NGOs communicate to their base about the issues around forestry, versus how individuals, communities, and grass roots sensitization organizations approach the issue.

In all forms of activism, there is often a difference in approach and perspectives between grassroots movements and international campaigns from high-budget organizations. Forests are useful and valuable for a variety of reasons, leading to a variety of perspectives on the best way to manage or conserve them. And as with any advocacy effort, there are a myriad of stake holders with a vested interest in having their concerns addressed.

International campaigns tend to approach issues in a way that is necessary to have relevance to a global audience. This video from UNEP and the UNs International Year of Forests - 2011 highlights that forests provide countless resources for humans, mitigate climate change, and most importantly require our protection. (Personally, I cannot watch it without yearning for a stroll in the woods or a tree-planting excursion.) Such high-profile campaigns from international organizations are fantastic for raising awareness of issues and the need to act on them.

However, the nuances of conservation efforts are often lost in the attempt to reach a global audience. The reality of forest conservation is far more complex than is often depicted. Efforts to preserve forests, in implementation, have sometimes neglected the rights of indigenous groups or the needs of rural populations. It then can lead to displacement, environmental degradation elsewhere, and the loss of cultural heritage - sall of which alienate people from conservation efforts, as in Uganda in the 1990s:

...The National Resistance Movement (NRM), now the ruling party, thought it prudent to conserve Mabira and started reforestation efforts, including evicting many of the families who had come to live in it.

(More governments are now providing incentives for communities to preserve their forests.) International organizations cannot be faulted for leaving these nuances out of campaigns. The complexity of most issues is impossible to summarize and address in awareness-raising campaigns or calls to action for the general public. You simply cannot fully educate everyone about everything.

Grassroots campaigns, on the other hand, have more ability to focus on the nuances of specific situations and address the needs of specific communities. But grassroots campaigns struggle with access to resources necessary for global attention, funding projects, and enacting change.

How then can grassroots movements and international organizations work together to make their campaigns most effective, their policies most beneficial to forests and the communities which rely on them? What role can technology play?

Finding a healthy and balanced lifestyle has been an ongoing process for me. What foods and practices are healthy for me and the environment? Which choices make me feel proud to say that Im doing my best?

Avoiding factory-farmed foods is a practice that I maintain for reasons, including the fact that, "Millions of animals are crowded togethercausing significant environmental threats and unacceptable health risks for workers, their neighbors and all the rest of us". 

Here are a few brief takeaways for you:

1. Sustainable Table:

"Factory farms emit harmful gases and particles such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, which can contribute to global warming and harm the health of those living or working nearby".

2. Sustainable Table:

"Air pollution results from the overuse of machinery, the mismanagement of manure, and the irresponsible feeding practices that characterize industrial farming".

3. Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production:

"Every day, doctors use antibiotics to treat thousands of sick children and adults. Humans depend on these life-saving medicines for their personal health. But did you know that as much as 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are being fed to cattle, swine, and poultry on industrial animal farms, for purposes other than treating disease?"

Maintaining a diet free from factory-farmed foods feels both healthy and intuitive to me. Many times, food that is served to us originates from practices that are not healthy or kind to any party or place involved, including the animals, those working within factories, and the surrounding soil and air.

Some healthy food for thought:

• Research where your food is grown and packaged
• The fewer ingredients, the better
• If you don’t understand an ingredient, write it down and research what it is and why it has been added to the item

 

I have been recycling for about three decades now.

Started in the '80s, back in my home country, where I was thrust in the role of organizing the recycling effort for about 200 families in my neighborhood at the start of the first national recycling campaign. It involved talking to a lot of people, handing them plastic bags of different colors and convincing them to separate their trash into paper, plastic/glass and, well, trash. The idea was good, but lacked municipal support (containers and transportation for the recyclables) and faded away after a few months.

In the '90s, when I lived in North Baltimore, I used to drive twice a month to the closest recycling center with bags, full with paper, plastic and glass. The recycling centers at the time were improvised weekend affairs on a companys parking lot, and there were only a few of them.

The last 15 years, living in NW Washington, DC, I have continued to recycle, and probably do a better job now as there are recycling bins on every floor of our building, right next to the trash chutes.

Moral of my story: recycling works better when it is organized well and easier to do. But isnt that also true of many other things? Why have I been doing it? It is not so much about "doing the right thing", I have to admit, it is more about the reluctance to throw away limited resources that can be re/used again in a variety of ways.

Recycling, for me, is part of a generally green lifestyle (a separate, much larger topic I will not indulge in in this limited space) as well as particular fondness for a green sport and recreation activity, as the attached photo reveals.

Yes, we can do our bit, make a difference, each of us in our own way, but we can do much more together with the right institutional support, with the right international frameworks in place well, I am preaching to the choir, I know, so will stop here. Keep recycling, my friends!

When I moved to the US I realized that the consumption habits related to my new household and everyday life were not the most sustainable. Air conditioning 24 hours a day, and to always use the drying machine instead of drying your clothes naturally in the sun is something unbelievable in my home country (Portugal) and not the right path if you care about your impact on the environment.

So, after this consumption shock, I realized that I had to green my routine and thats when I decided to transform the 12x5 backyard garden of my house into a vegetable garden.

Gardening and growing your own vegetables is easier than it seems and is also a fulfilling experience. Gardening is an action that is more than a funny, relaxing, and rewarding outdoor exercise. It requires you to learn more about crops, watering methods, soil characteristics, and to feel the real impacts of climate change on living species. Besides this knowledge advantage, growing your own vegetables will bring you several benefits. It allows you to really know what you are eating, to always have fresh vegetables, to try better tasting food since you will be sure to avoid pests and food modifying processes, and to reduce food waste. At the same time, you will save money on groceries and you will even be able to involve your family and friends in an outdoor activity a great way to engage everyone in sustainable actions and to promote a green lifestyle. You will be making an healthier and smarter choice for you and for the planet!

With a small sunny piece of soil, a packet of seeds, and the right mood to become a modern farmer everyone can grow his or her own vegetables. Here I am with my beautiful first pumpkin, happy and ready to celebrate Halloween, or to transform it into a delicious pumpkin cake!

Got a personal climate change story to share with us, then submit it to Voices4Climate for a chance to win!

I am still surprised by how much climate change denial we come across.

Recently Connect4Climate ran the iChange competition, challenging students to present the climate challenge in a 30-second video. We received great responses from around the world and compiled a video with some of the best for MTV. Posting this on our YouTube channel quickly resulted in more than 7000 views, a hearty discussion, and this comment: lol i havent even watched this video. but ive read some of the comments. global warming is a MYTH!

 

What? Such outright denial! How can this be when the science is so overwhelming clear, when world leaders have shown their support for climate action, when reports left right and centre highlight the dire impacts of climate change, not least the World Banks own 4ºC report?

I couldnt let such comments go without responding.

The report, Hearth and Hiraeth: Constructing Climate Change Narratives around National Identity draws on the findings of a major programme led by Connect4Climate's partner COIN for the Welsh Government. This programme developed language and narratives that could work with all social groups and be applied in all its communications.

The two-year programme built on the latest research into climate change attitudes and a detailed analysis of cultural values. It conducted rigorous testing of messages in groups that had been recruited according to a values-based segmentation model. It is one of the first programmes in the world to apply the research into values-based climate communications across an entire country.

Energy is the single largest driver of development around the world. Access to adequate amounts for our burgeoning global population is one of the main challenges the world faces. For Africa, access to energy is very much tied to the environment; charcoal and firewood are the main sources of energy for much of the continent.

According to a recent study, Africa has a population of 300 million knocking on the door to middle class status. This upward mobility will put extreme demands on the continent’s struggling public resources like water and electricity. Middle class growth equals more consumption, and more consumption equals higher demand to power the continent’s purchasing habits. Cell phones, televisions, permanent housing, cars and office buildings all require energy.

The question is how can African states meet this increasing demand for energy without further harming the environment? The answer is not easily agreed upon, nor is there a single solution to the problem. Solar, wind, and hydro sectors, all have their implementation challenges across the continent’s large and varied landscape.

The answer perhaps lies in the smart implementation of a combination of the above energy innovations. It is only when we dig a little deeper that we understand how energy generation is acutely affected by climatic changes. Take for example East Africa’s challenge of generating enough hydro energy while maintaining a balance with the environmentally delicate Nile basin. Two publications recently looked closely at East Africa’s energy challenge. ESI-Africa looked at the challenges facing the countries dependent on the River Nile for hydro electricity:

Nile Technical Advisory Committee chairperson Fred Mwango told a Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) meeting here that Egypt and Sudan were still wary of water security due to their countries' geographic locations.

Stretching more than 6,600km from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean, the Nile is a vital water and energy source for the nine countries through which it flows.

Less than 20% of the 300 million inhabitants of the NBI countries had access to electricity, while in some the figure was as low as 3%.

Annual per-capita electricity consumption in the Basin ranges from 1,800kWh in Egypt to only 20kWh in Burundi, whereas per capita consumption of 500kWh is considered a minimum level by today's standards.

Meanwhile, AFREPREN/FWD, looked at some solutions the region could implement to address the single-source problem:

Countries using renewable energy sources to diversify their electricity appear better able to survive the impacts of severe droughts than those relying exclusively on hydropower. For example, Kenya is more resilient than Tanzania and Uganda to drought-induced power generation shortfalls, because Kenya uses a wider range of renewables, including geothermal power, biomass generation and, to a lesser extent, wind.

Diversification as a strategy will need technologies able to adequately meet the needs of a growing continent. Africa contributes over a billion of the Earth’s now 7 billion humans. Solar energy, for all its renewability, lacks mature distribution strategies--although several small initiatives, like our partner Solar Sister in Uganda, are working to that end. Additionally, the cost of solar power is still out of reach for those needing to power more than a desk lamp.

The call for diversification of sources of clean energy is all well and good, but particular attention must be paid to the need to invest in next generation infrastructure to deliver power to the last mile. While solar power offers the ability to leap-frog the need for an energy distribution infrastructure, large-scale use of solar power will still require investments in infrastructure. For example, Egypt’s first solar thermal plant, which went live earlier this year just outside of Cairo, required a $220 million investment.

There exist vast opportunities to spur green economies to address the problem of energy poverty on the continent. But is the continent ready to accept that challenge? How can Africa collectively mobilize to maximize its efforts towards a zero emissions energy strategy? Should funding organizations re-strategize priorities towards energy infrastructure development on the continent? Energy poverty and environmental concerns are complexly intertwined. But the deeper the complexity, the more marketable opportunities there are for the continent. Perhaps a great starting point to set off a needed discussion on this topic is, “what happens if Africa doesn’t find an adequate solution to power its growing middle class?”