Simple Giving by Jennifer Iacovelli

Author:Jennifer Iacovelli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2015-09-29T16:00:00+00:00

CLIMATE MAMA (WWW.CLIMATEMAMA.COM)

Harriet Shugarman had worked in and around climate issues at the United Nations for several years when the initial U.N. Earth Summit was held in 1992. It was the first time climate was being discussed at that level, and many commissions, including the Commission on Sustainable Development, were set up as a result. Still, Harriet wondered how and if these global conferences were making a difference.

Harriet’s fast-paced career as a policy analyst and economist slowed down once she had her two children. After the events of 9/11, her family moved from New York City to the suburbs. While she admits to not realizing how serious the climate crisis was at the time, she could see that the issue was not resonating with the parents around her.

Everything changed when Harriet had the unique opportunity to be one of the first thousand people to participate in a training with former vice president Al Gore. Sponsored by the Climate Reality Project, the goal of that training was to educate the public on climate change. She realized then that climate change was a very real and current problem. Harriet started to think of ways to reach those parents who weren’t aware of the seriousness of the situation.

Climate Mama was launched in 2010 with the original intention of testing products to see how environmentally friendly they were. Harriet could see that bloggers were reaching parents in a strong, peer-to-peer manner and started to blog about the climate issues she couldn’t find being discussed elsewhere. What evolved was a robust website that explains what climate change is, gives tips to parents on how to talk to their kids about it, and offers environmentally friendly product suggestions to help reduce our carbon footprint.

As Climate Mama has evolved, a strong advocacy arm has also developed. Harriet notes that there are so many things that parents can do on a local level, from speaking up against ordinances that may limit the use of solar panels to opting for snack foods that are made by companies who follow sustainable practices. Climate Mama encourages people to look beyond signing petitions by talking to legislators and gives them the resources to do so.

Harriet embraces the role of climate change educator and spokesperson for parents. She wants to be in front of legislators talking about how we need to move forward on renewable energy. Instead of looking at climate change as a big, scary problem that is impossible to tackle, she wants to embrace it as an opportunity to focus on positive solutions. She looks to the success of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) as an example of parents coming together as a political force to make a difference.

While climate change can be a complex topic to explain, Climate Mama first encourages people to start educating themselves through articles on its blog. From there, Harriet urges readers to find like-minded people or groups in their local area who also want to make a difference, because it’s easier to make an impact when you are part of a team.

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