If you read last weeks post 7 No Spend Ways to Save the Planet I hope it gave you a few ideas of small steps you can take now towards reducing your carbon footprint.

While it is good to focus on our own journey towards sustainable living we all recognise climate change needs global action to solve the problems. So this week I wanted to focus on the need to take action as part of a community, from conversations with friends and family to joining with others to make much bigger waves.

Count Us In: Take a step and help set a World Record for the most people pledging climate action in a month between 18 June and 17 July.

In October 2020 TED and Future Stewards rose the challenge of climate change and hosted a virtual conference Countdown to initiate a year of sharing ideas across the conventional silos of science and engineering and design. The intention being to stimulate discussions and ideas for developing ways of tackling climate change and showcasing solutions to a much wider audience – globally. The Countdown Summit, in October 2021, to be hosted in Edinburgh, will bring together 1000 leaders as TED speakers will set out a blueprint for a beautiful net zero future. You can join in.

As part of Countdown they launched Count Us In.

The Count Us In mission is to inspire 1 billion citizens to significantly reduce their carbon pollution and challenge leaders to deliver bold, global change. Signing up to Take a step this month will help to set a World Record for most people pledging climate action in a month.

The 16 steps have been chosen with experts from the UN Environment Programme and other partners to be the ones that are the most meaningful for climate action on the basis of impact to reduce climate emissions, influence on politicians and companies and the effort it takes for individuals to achieve the step.

Which step will you sign up to? Your actions will be added to the aggregator on the website to see collectively the difference your actions make.

As an aside, I noted Tottenham Hotspur Football Club have signed up with Count Us In this month. Who else do you know has joined in?

The global reach of TED expertise and initiatives are inspiring and I for one love that, rather than waiting for government wheels to turn, I can listen direct to experts on sustainability and climate change and take action now.

Are you in?

On a more local scale there are plenty of organisations now setting up their own pledges and encouraging change within the local community. Some county and local councils have set up their own pledge webpages after declaring a climate emergency to encourage their communities to make changes too. Does your council have a climate emergency webpage yet?

If you want to go fast go alone,

If you want to go far go together

African proverb

Where is your inspiration coming from this week? What will you sign up to do differently?

Good Luck

Sarah