Mothers Against Climate Change by MACC
Pitch
Our Mission: To set up a more personal means of educating people in our local communities - Learn a little, make a change, and pass it on!
Description
Summary
I see MACC functioning as a non-profit organization whose primary goal is to educate people on the issue of climate change, as well as other issues of environmental and human health. MACC will provide the average person with a greater understanding of what we need to do to prevent future damage, adapt to the damage already imminent, and leave them with an understanding that the changes we make now will have not only a long term benefit, but an immediate health benefit as well.
While I think it is important for people to understand where we are now and where we are heading if we continue with the status quo, it is most important that we NOT focus on that, but help them to understand their role in moving towards a more sustainable economy to prevent/reduce future damage.
I am targeting mothers because there is nothing stronger or more beautiful than the love of a mother for her child(ren). Women also make ~ 85% of the purchasing decisions and tend to be more empathetic and willing to share what they have learned.
The changes we need to make today will help ensure that our children have the best future possible. It is time to "pay it forward" and "lead by example". MACC will harness that "mother bear" mentality - you can mess with me, but don't you dare mess with my children or their future!
That said, the focus of MACC will primarly be positive - we will focus on the future that we want to create, not on the present or a "status quo" future. We will constantly search for and share local and more sustainable options - every city will have a local chapter lead by volunteers.
I suggest that while our most significant issue is climate change, that MACC will also touch on other environmental and human health issues. We need to do this to help bring the message closer to home. How we are living right now is affecting not only the health of the environment, it is also affecting the health of our families. By helping this one cause (climate change) we help them all!
Category of the action
Changing public perceptions on climate change
What actions do you propose?
I propose to do talks with local mother's groups, school advisory councils, church groups, and business lunch hour sessions as a start. Putting my name out there as a local public speaker (of which I am quite good) and writing editorials/articles in local newspapers. We will openly share all information and will link to women/people accross the country (world) with our message. If we are successful in fundraising - environmental ads would also be a primary goal - our environment could really use an accurate ad campaign that will help empower people to make positive change!
MACC will have a central website that will provide video presentations and blogs on various topics pertaining to climate science and other environmental issues. It will be a central area for people to access all manner of relevant information including - where we are now, where we may be in 50 years if we do nothing, and where we may be in 50 years if we make strong positive change. We will provide information not only on what these scenarios look like for the environment, but also what they look like for the health and welfare of our children - to help drive the point home. There will also be videos/blogs on actions that can be taken that will result in reducing the future damage to our planet. All of this kind of information will also be shared in our public presentations.
Important work that MACC will support and educate on can be found atwww.350.organdwww.water.organd we'll support programs that work to educate and empower women. We will also work to get education on environmental issues into the highschool curiculum.
Water, sanitation, and water contamination are the most important issues affecting the health of humans on the planet today. For those who don't want to become involved in issues related to climate, MACC will also educate on these and other environmental issues - there are many areas where we need to make a difference and people should follow their passions as to where they want to make the biggest difference.
MACC supports any positive action that reduces pollution, our carbon footprint, and that treats other people and animals ethically. Our goal is to arm people with the information they need to make decisions based on these above principles, for the betterment of our future.
We recognize and regret that we will not be able to save everything that we would like, as our actions are coming somewhat late, however, we also recognize that in doing nothing we are not living with integrity and ethics. We are the future damage control and the sooner we act, the more damage we can control, which is notably better than having a future that entirely controls us!
MACC will look locally and globally to source out more sustainable options to meet our everyday needs and will evolve as needed to best address the issues at hand. We recognize that we must be the change we wish to see; that we cannot wait for others to lead, but that WE will be the leaders, that WE will be the ones to move towards our beautiful and sustainable future. We recognize that population control through the ethical means of educating and empowering women is going to be absolutely imperative to help us achieve our long term goals of reducing CO2 and other pollution.
We support efforts to clean up the plastic pollution from our oceans and reuse the plastic that currently exists instead of creating more. We support water inititiatives that ensure everyone on this planet has clean water to drink and sanitation. We support any action that furthers education on any/all environmental issues, and will freely share our information /research with those of like mind to spread the word.
We recognize that we CAN NOT ask another person, business, or country to do things that we are not willing to do ourselves - that we must lead by example, and that change starts in the home. As such, those who endorse MACC will take whatever actions are within their own personal means at their own personal rates to achieve our goals. For example, some things we can do include - car pooling, using public transportation, reusing items instead of buying disposable, bringing your own reusable grocery bags instead of accepting disposable plastic ones, recycling everything that can be recycled, composting our food/organic wastes, buying second hand when appropriate, growing or purchasing locally sourced vegetables when in season, increasing the energy efficiency of our homes by installing water saving devices, installing devices such as LED lights, and purchasing energy efficient appliances, turning off appliances when not in use, etc., conserving water, and working towards purchasing products that are ethically and sustainably made.
In short, every dollar we spend is a vote for our future - we must simply learn to spend, and vote, wisely! Through education and direct local involvement, we will help others to make wise purchases, voting decisions, and investments. These are the message we will share - with the goal of passing it on.
Who will take these actions?
I will personally undertake the actions to lead this organization. Through a currently existing home-based business I am already highly connected with many women accross North America and I know that there are many who will share in the mission of MACC.
Where will these actions be taken?
These actions will be taken in numerous homes, businesses, churches, etc. in North America, with the home base of the organization being my home. I understand that there may be a need to change this as the organization grows/evolves.
Presentations will be held at many events throughout the year - with our primary goal of reaching people where they live and work.
How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?
What are other key benefits?
MACC will benefit human health and the health of the environment on all fronts. That is the benefit of taking action to curb climate change - as those actions tend to help all other areas of the environment as well. Furthermore, as climate change negatively affects numerous other environmental issues, taking a stand that reduces the negative effects of climate change also works to reduce the negative impacts in other areas of the environment - such as droughts/water shortages/floods/famine/species extinctions/ocean acidification etc.
What are the proposal’s costs?
In a perfect world this would be paid work where I could work full time or more hours/week to bring everything together for the most positive and rapid development of MACC. I do hope that much of the work involved would be volunteer, but a starting base of $50,000 would be great to help develop the website, put together the videos, conduct the necessary research, and get the information out in a more timely manner.
Time line
In home and public talks and marketing would be started immediately, with the creation and updating of the website to begin shortly as well. Depending on funding, I would hope that a fully functioning website could be up within a month.
By:
MACC
