I Will If You Will

Climate change. Plastic. GMOs. Elephant tusks. Refugees. The list goes on, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by today’s issues and wonder where to start. That’s why I Will If You Will, an Earth Hour global challenge campaign, is particularly refreshing.

Earth Hour describes the concept like this: “The idea is simple. Someone makes a promise to do something if a certain number of people commit to take an ongoing action for the environment….”

The action can be big or small, and anyone can participate — “from a kid in a classroom to a president of a nation — to become the inspiration to their friends, family, colleagues and communities by sharing what they’re willing to do to protect the planet."

Here are a few recent examples:

• “I will ask 100 people to save water if you will unplug your phone chargers.”
• “I will perform an underwater rap if 5,000 people buy a spot in the Coral Triangle.”
• “We’ll go for electricity for one week if 1,500 go without electricity for one day.”
• “I will ride my bicycle in my wife’s dress if you will bike to work for a week.”
• “I will go on stage to spread the word about Earth Hour to 1,000 people in my school if 100 people switch off their lights for one hour.”

We’d write more, but we’ve got to go unplug every phone charger in the office and at home.