Your responsibility to your Earth; why 350 is an important number

"I’m finding 350 volunteers to plant 350 trees across my county."

On June 23, 2008, Jim Hansen, a scientist with NASA, stood in front of Congress and told them that the Earth’s atmosphere had exceeded the tolerable level of carbon dioxide which was 350 parts per million and was now at 385 ppm and growing by 2 ppm every year. He added that if a unified global act to reduce carbon emissions did not start immediately the world was headed for “a perfect storm, a global cataclysm.”

The scene wasn’t completely déjà vu, but it was incredibly familiar. 20 years prior, on June 23, 1988, Jim Hansen had stood before Congress telling them that the Earth was in the beginning stages of a warming trend caused by humans and advised them that measures needed to be taken now to avoid panic later.

Now that the majority of us are close to panic, Bill McKibben and his team of scientists, writers, and activists have taken the number 350 and run with it. They have created the site 350.org to spread the word about our global goal to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 ppm or lower.

The UN is meeting this December to discuss climate change and energy policies and 350 (the movement’s name) wants to make sure that our leaders know what we want and how important it is that we get it. 350 has declared October 24, 2009 the “international day of climate action.” They are asking individuals from all over the world to register their towns and communities to participate in a global demonstration that day.

Your local action can be any type of demonstration as long as it involves the number 350. Some towns are lining their citizens up in football fields to make a gigantic 350 that can be seen from the sky. Others are asking each of their members, adults and children, to donate $350, $35.00, or $3.50 to green initiatives. I’m finding 350 volunteers to plant 350 trees across my county.

What is important to remember when it comes to cleaning up our environment is that each human being must make an individual commitment to a communal cause. We can’t simply cross our fingers and hope our leaders pass green energy policies. We have already seen what happens when we leave our environment up to fate. We must collectively embrace a cleaner lifestyle and reduce our carbon footprint. Although a large part of that has to do with government policies, an even larger part starts right at home with our own choices.

ClimateCulture.com is a great way to find out exactly what you as an individual can do to reduce your own personal carbon footprint. Referred to as the “environmental Facebook,” users an log on to ClimateCulture, set up their profile, and fill out a questionnaire to find out exactly where their biggest carbon emission comes from. As you work to reduce your print, you can track your progress using the questionnaire and you can share your success with friends who also have profiles on ClimateCulture.

Al Gore told us, “We could really lose this.” But it doesn’t have to be this way if each and every one of us make a commitment to our Earth. She has nourished us since the beginning of time; let’s repay our debt.

–Lisa Kilian