Event Launch Strategies

We need to plant some seeds of change… we need to sow meaningful thoughts… we need to tell the world that we’re ready to collectively solve its problems, rather than become instruments of its destruction.

Everything on Earth came with a balance. A balance of gases. A balance of minerals. A balance between water and land. A balance between dark and light. In came us humans – driven by our desire to capitalize, monetize and usurp. It’s incredibly eye opening to see how selfish we are capable of getting – wiping out wildlife as if we have a born-right to do that, destroying the Earth’s natural balances as if it’s not going to effect the lives of our future generations. We just think about now – what am I getting now – what do I need now – how do I meet my needs now. Now. Now. Now.

This impulsiveness… packed with corrupt (and loaded) big-wigs, international power struggles and a ‘might is right’ attitude, we now have a very sad Earth. We have an Earth who is raped, humiliated and on the brink of being destroyed. While all it did for us was give give and give – we continue to take everything for granted.

Haven’t it ever occurred to you that perhaps this Earth was a gift to us? Or worse, perhaps it was a test? Are we passing that test?

As I write this post, 1.5 acres of rainforest are lost each second. In the past 10 minutes that it took me to write the above paragraphs, a good 900 acres of rainforests took their last breaths. And with them we said good-bye to more than 30 plant, animal and insect species. Those species were put there for a reason. The insects were loosening the land to keep it fertile and becoming food for some of the animals.  The animals were forming the natural circle of life. The plants were managing oxygen and humidity levels for the surrounding areas, and providing us with food. There is a whole ecosystem behind everything that we just don’t care about – even though indirectly its ALL for us. This is why when I hear stats of how we are losing close to 50,000 species a year due to deforestation, I feel sickened to the core. 50,000 species!

A friend Maury nailed it when he said: “The gift of nature is our humanity. The reality of destruction is the mass consciousness of mankind led by a few of greed and great ugliness, supported by the ongoing race for more, regardless of the price. When on a conscious path of abundance do we consider the trade off of our actions versus its implications? When we drive down the street in our shiny nice car, even with great intentions, what is the bigger price we never see. Is the term globe trotting environmentalist an oxymoron? This is the question I seem to be looking for an answer to.”

Maury, that’s a question we are all looking for an answer to.

The image above is a sad result of the constant deforestation around us. As humans we should have very deep links to nature – nature is life. Someone came to me today with a desperate and helpless expression saying;

“I’m doing all I can – recycling, switching to alternative energy, reducing my carbon emissions – but my contribution is such a small speck that its not going to change anything… I don’t feel like I’ve done all I could..”

I was touched by her empathy, I was moved by her passion, and most of all I was shaken up her cold hard truth. Don’t get me wrong, you should do all of those things, every little step in the right direction will eventually lead to someone following you. But, you also have a chance of doing something more on the side, by giving away so little of your time and capital. By showing the world you are donating $10 to a worthy cause this Earthday will lead someone else to do the same. Now, what if you did more? What if you  personally saw to it that 10 people in your life did the same? What if you chose these people well and you asked each of them to look you in the eye and commit to doing the exact same thing and so on. I mean, it’s not like they are doing us a favor, isn’t it all “our” earth?

How much do you think we could raise? Let’s say we inspired 100 people to commit to doing this together. If we all keep our word that would be 1,000 people donating $10 on Earth day. Now if each of our ten friends that got on board, meet their commitment and do the same that would be 10,000 people donating $10 on Earth day. Now - ideally speaking - if these people chose 10 people who actually honored their commitments too, we would have 100,000 people all donating $10 on Earth day. Then 1 million, then 10 million and you know what’s interesting… the 10 million people donating a total of $100 million on April 22nd would only be separate by 6 degrees of separation. That’s how powerful we are as a collective force.

I guess it would all come down to the caliber of friends that the first 100 people invite. If the second group of 1000 people are of the caliber that I know the first 100 are of, then we could really achieve this without a moment of hesitation. If not this year, we could do it without any doubts next year.

When I introduced the idea of tucking some money away for collectively buying rainforests to preserve them – I didn’t know what kind of a reaction I would get from all of you. Their are a lot of organizations that we can support, but I just didn’t know if you would understand why I feel so deeply about this issue.

We’ve agreed to saving a penny here and a penny there to buy back $250 million dollars worth of land for reforestation by Earth day 2020. If you want to help preserve the Earth, go to this page and get involved, share a video, blog post, idea, or whatever you can offer.

Meanwhile, here is a video of Willie Smits which will surely make the hardest of hearts soften and swell. Watch it with intent ears, clear eyes and an open heart. So the next time someone says “why would anyone want to invest in a rainforest”, you should able to snap back with some facts, stats and bitter realities.

In time, this is a cause I might want to donate my $10 to.

Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)

It’s Earth day 2009! If our generation doesn’t act now, our kids, kids may not have a choice - Act Now, Click Here

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