If you've been reading my recent emails -- and I do hope you have, they're quality gear -- you'll know three things:
- We’re giving away Parents for Climate swag to anyone who helps get other parents involved in our Solar Our Learning campaign before May's federal Budget.
- Every ten signatures you get on our open letter by that date gets you a sticker; if you get a hundred you get a t-shirt!
- The early lead was taken by one Rob Chan, and I was questioning whether his lead was capable of being surpassed. Here he is smiling the smile of victory at 17 signatures:
Anyway we're all shocked to discover that said smile was premature, because Rob has been leapfrogged -- or leapROBbed, if I may be so bold -- by new member Melanie Cooke, who only signed up a fortnight ago!
It's her turn now to smile the smile of victory, so here she is:
As you may anticipate, I am keen to help you also smile the smile of victory, so I asked Melanie how she did it.
Mike
Hi Melanie! What motivated you to sign up with Parents For Climate recently?
Melanie
I've long held concerns about the impacts of climate change, but being a working parent of two preschoolers I would need to "switch off" the bad news on TV (e.g. about the latest plans to build a new coal or gas station) and emotionally disconnect in order to keep on top of our demanding lives.
But I recently watched the documentary "Life on Our Planet" with my 4 year old son, and witnessing those depictions of previous mass extinction events helped me to emotionally connect with the reality that we're facing, and that my kids and future generations are going to suffer through.
I've never felt so motivated to be part of the change we need to address the climate crisis, and learning about the effective action that PFC have taken was inspiring and uplifting.
I've often felt hopeless and helpless at the scale of the problem, but I can see that change is possible when we work together! In 5, 10, or 20 years time when my kids ask me what I did about the climate crisis - I have to be able to say that I tried my best to be part of the solution.
Mike
Yeah I know how you feel - it's hard on the heart to care about climate sometimes, and being part of something bigger really helps.
What motivated you to sign others up to the Solar Our Learning campaign?
Melanie
It's clearly such a good idea to get renewables into schools and childcare, so I knew many people would be supportive, but that they just needed an easy way to demonstrate that support.
Seeing tangible pro-environmental changes in our communities (like solar panels being installed at your local school) also helps to shift social norms and attitudes about issues related to climate change.
Mike
Excellent! And how did you manage to get so many people to sign up so quickly?
Melanie
I let people know that PFC are putting this submission in front of the federal government for the next budget (so it's a real thing!) and that we need to demonstrate public support with names on the open letter.
I've shared it with my mothers' group whatsapp chat, in family chats, in individual messages to friends and family, our childcare centre director has emailed it through to all the parents in our centre, and my partner and I are both emailing colleagues through work.
Some of the people I've shared it with have also then done the same within their networks! I think I'm currently at 34 recruited signatures and I feel really energised by seeing that impact.