350 Car Takes the Climate Action Message to the Streets

By: Timonie Hood
Date: October 26, 2009
Source: 350.org (www.350.org)

Ednote: The admonition “think globally act locally” has more meaning with the Copenhagen climate change talks in December 2009. Many people are doing something to bring action and attention to the issues to help create change. Timonie Hood, a long-term professional greenie has taken a very creative approach.

To support the 350.org October 24th International Day of Climate Action, a San Carlos climate activist decided to turn her new Prius into a full-body bumper sticker for the nonprofit cause. By connecting with car with an online design competition and social media, the car is getting a lot of attention in the Bay Area and in South Africa.

“Taking the climate change call for action to the streets was a way to directly reach the general public and creatively support a great nonprofit organization.” said Timonie Hood of San Carlos.

It has been an amazing journey -- involving an international car wrap design competition, a graphic designer in South Africa, and a small car wrap business started by a young entrepreneur in Antioch.

Hood entered a 350.org call for car wrap designs showcasing the International Day of Climate Action into Roland’s Wrap 2 the Max http://bit.ly/350CarWrap competition to crowd source a design for her car. The wrap design she chose, by Darren Duffield, from South Africa, was recently selected as a monthly competition winner.
Four 350.org car wrap design entries have been submitted in the competition so far, two have been chosen as monthly winners, and nearly 50 are expected.

Hood then found Factory Wraps in Antioch, CA. They helped her understand the process and were willing to take on the complicated one car project. The wrap was printed onto plastic and applied to the car over one and a half days and should last 2-7 years. It can also be patched to cover the date or add new information.

The car wrap brings visual images of parched earth, glaciers, and a polar bear with the climate action message to commuters from the Peninsula to San Francisco each day. The car has been a great conversation starter. People flock to the car -- from drive thru to parking lots -- to ask questions and, of course, they end up learning about climate change. Kids think it’s a race car.

“I like to stand nearby and hear what people say when they walk by,” said Hood. Some have even said that the message is, “better than a ‘Just Married’ sign.”

People from around the world will gathered on October 24th as part of the largest day of climate change activism ever. Participants held more than 4,200 events in over 170 countries as part of a global day of action coordinated by 350.org to urge world leaders to take bold and immediate steps to address climate change and reduce carbon emissions.

Around the world—from capitol cities to the melting slopes of Mount Everest, even underwater on dying coral reefs—people hosted rallies aimed at focusing attention on the number 350 because scientists have insisted in recent years that 350 parts per million is the most carbon dioxide we can safely have in the atmosphere. The current CO2 concentration is 390 parts per million.

“That’s why glaciers and sea ice are melting, drought is spreading, and flooding is on the increase,” said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and author twenty years ago of the first major book on climate change. “And it’s why we need a huge worldwide movement to give us the momentum to make real political change. Our leaders have heard from major corporations and big polluters for a long time—today, finally, they heard from citizens and scientists.”

These global actions come six weeks before the world’s nations convene in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference to draw up a new climate treaty. 89 countries have already endorsed the 350 target, as well as the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Pachauri, the world’s foremost climate economist, Sir Nicholas Stern, and Nobel prize-winner Al Gore.

Images of the events from around the world, including five Bay Area events where the 350 Car will be displayed, were featured on giant video screens in Times Square in New York as part of a 350 countdown, and are accessible at 350.org as part of a online photostream. Visual documentation From the Day of Action will be delivered to the United Nations on Monday.

“People have said the science of global warming is too confusing for average citizens to understand,” said McKibben. “Yesterday’s events prove that millions of people understand exactly what is at stake in the next few years, and that they want swift action to safeguard the future.”

ABOUT 350.ORG

Founded by author and environmentalist Bill McKibben, 350.org is the first large-scale grassroots global campaign against climate change. Its supporters include leading scientists, the governments of 92 countries, and a huge variety of environmental, health, development and religious NGOs. All agree that current atmospheric levels of CO2—390 parts per million—are causing damage to the planet and to its most vulnerable people, and that government action at the Copenhagen climate conference is required to bring the earth’s carbon level swiftly down to 350 ppm.