Air Date: Week of October 1, 2010

A 350.org rally outside Kabul, Afghanistan organized by Sayed Massoud's organization, Afghan Youth for Sustainable Development and Tolerance. (350.org)

Organizers are calling for a global work party on 10/10/10 (October 10th) and inviting people from all over the world to participate in local energy solutions. Thousands of people have already signed up. LOE checks in with organizers from six countries to hear what they’ve planned for the big day.

Transcript

GELLERMAN: On the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year, the world is holding a clean-up party. It’s organized by 350 dot org, an international campaign to roll back the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. At last count we were over 390. More than five thousand climate events are planned around the world. We used Skype to gather a sampling of the October tenth activities.

VACHHARAJANI: Hi, my name is Bijal Vachharajani, and I work with 350 dot org, and I’m based out of Mumbai in India. Oh, there’s lots of stuff happening in India right now, for example, the Raj Bhavan, that’s the governor’s residence in Mumbai, they’ve pledged to go solar during this year at some point. We’ve got cycle rallies happening in Bombay, in Bangalore there’s going to be street plays by children.

In Hyderabad, there’s a whole group of college students who are going to clean up the lakes. Campuses across India are also gearing up for the Great Power Race. It’s a clean energy competition between students in China, India and the United States. So, the first round was to see which country can sign up the most teams. And right now, India is leading with 410 registrations. Since we’re already leading, let’s hope that we keep that lead up and that India does win.

An Interactive Map of Worldwide 10-10-10 events.

View Actions at 350.org

LEHMER: My name is Aaron Lehmer, and I’m in Oakland, California. We’re pulling together for ‘get down and dirty Oakland,’ which is going to be a big party in a garden at a school that needs revitalization. Plus, we’re going to be having a big party and concert, where we’re going to feature local hip-hop artists, we’re going to get the word out about some serious threats to climate protection here in California. The most prominent of which is Prop 23, which is an attempt to basically roll back our state’s clean air laws and global warming solutions.

WELTON: My name is Carissa, I’m here in Beijing in the People’s Republic of China. We’re working on a series of events that are pretty focused on waste management, we’re hosting the ‘Great Green Race,’ which is a competition between teams to collect the most matter out of place, and create art with it. So it is a competition, we are awarding prizes for whoever can collect the most trash and help us with the sculptures. But the idea is really to bring people together. We’re trying to find ways where everyone can participate and collaborate- that’s the whole theme of this.

OLIVEIRA: My name is Evandro Oliveira, and I’m Portuguese, and I’m based in Berlin. In Europe we have lots and lots of actions. We have, for instance, in Barcelona, hundreds of people who are expected to take part in a bicycle powered music festival, and actually in Edinburgh, in Scotland, that is the city of the pubs, the locals will be driving a joycott, and a joycott is actually the reverse of a boycott. And, they will come together at the local bar, and the local bar agreed to put 20 percent of its revenues on ten-ten-ten to making the bar more energy efficient.

In Iceland, in Reykjavik, we have citizens that are starting to go on their bikes in their underwear to raise awareness on climate change. And, I mean, I have a list that never ends. It’s really from Russia to Iceland, from Portugal to Kosovo, and it really feels very good that we are adding to.

QINTANILLA: My name is Marcelo Qintanilla, I’m working in Mexico, and I’m coordinating activities for 350 Mexico. Well, we have big plans, now we have more than a hundred events registered in Mexico. Mexico has 32 states and we have at least an event in every state.

Mexico City is committing to reduce their emissions of CO2 ten percent for the next year, in 2011, and this will be achieved by a five percent commitment, making responsible the government, and the other five percent will be responsibility of Mexico City people. For Mexico City we have this event in Chapultepec, which is the biggest park in Mexico City. And, we’re having a big concert celebrating with the people- this commitment from Mexico City- and the concert will be powered by a solar bus- we have this bus that came in with solar panels and we’re going to power all the energy for having all these amazing concerts for over five hours.

HASHIMI: I am Sayed Masood, from Afghan Youth for Social Development from Kabul Afghanistan. Our organization will gather a group of dedicated Afghan youth, joining the global world party that demands policy makers get to work too! We have decided that a number of 20-30 young Afghans will join us to plant a number of 20-30 trees in an effort to raise this awareness. You understand that Afghans are facing a huge number of problems in every sector of their lives. But we cannot ignore the other danger that we will face if not today, tomorrow, with the greatest impact on our lives- that is the climate change.

GELLERMAN: Afghanistan is just one of 175 countries planning climate action on ten-ten-ten. See an interactive map at our website L-O-E dot org.