Dear Cool the Earth Community,
51 Hours.
51 hours is a lot of time to think. This holiday, my family spent 51 hours traveling from the Bay Area to Chicago on the California Zephyr train. Aside from time to play countless hours of Monopoly, the train ride gave us time to slow down and think.
As we passed through the snow-free Sierra Nevada Mountains, I couldn’t help but think about the lack of precipitation. While one season’s weather may not equate to climate change, these dry and hot periods can provide meaningful glimpses into the future.
I work to keep my eye and my thoughts trained on my own personal glimpse into the future—my kids. Our kids, of course, are why so many of us are drawn towards climate change work.
Before the holidays, I had an opportunity to meet a very important father, Thomas Friedman. Most people might describe Friedman as a journalist, columnist and author, but I wanted to know what keeps him going, personally, in light of such bleak climate prospects. He told me when despair sets in he turns to a photo of his two daughters and sees clearly why he continues to challenge the status quo.
Rather than cite global policies, green economic opportunities or promising legislation, Friedman says it’s being a father that compels him.
From broad-thinking strategists like Friedman to us moms “in the field,” it’s clear we share a common platform, a common cause.
I look forward to working together and shaping our future.
Happy New Year!
CARLEEN CULLEN,
Founder and Executive Director
Cool the Earth
Brandi Legget
Team Leader, Teacher, Parent
Praire Ridge Elementary, Shawnee, KS
Cool the Earth is alive and well in the heartland of America thanks to Brandi Leggett, who led an incredibly successful campaign this fall at our first school in Kansas, Prairie Ridge Elementary in Shawnee. Brandi brought creativity and an energy to her program that was clearly infectious. “The kids were so engaged and we have had a really high participation rate,” said Brandi, a 3rd grade teacher. To help increase the students’ excitement about taking actions, she came up with some fun rewards for the kids to earn if they achieved certain goals. “Our superintendent agreed to have a kid throw a pie in his face at an all-school assembly. A teacher's boyfriend plays football for KU, so he agreed to speak at an assembly, participate in a football relay race, and a dance competition with students against the teachers.” These extra motivators really
worked.
Not only did they take 4239 actions, but Prairie Ridge also has the highest number of students signed up for Club Koda of any school so far. While seeing the number of actions taken was exciting for Brandi, she found the most satisfying part of the program “listening to the kids discuss what they have done at home with their parents. There has been a lot of parental involvement where the kids have helped their parents make changes.”
 TIP OF THE MONTH
Join Club Koda!
We all know it's not easy to break old habits. It takes time and more than a few nudges. Cool the Earth can help provide those friendly reminders when you join Club Koda. Become a member of the coolest club in town and you'll receive a quarterly email with energy saving information and tips for the whole family plus our quarterly e-zine, Polar Pages, filled with fun games, puzzles and inspiring facts. To sign up and receive the premier issue, click here http://www.cooltheearth.org/koda_participants/new
We're thankful to our many partners and supporters who have enabled Cool the Earth to grow to reach the milestone of reducing over 100 million lbs of carbon this year.
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| January, 2012
