Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

We will use AI to translate our 246-page “Green Actioneers Family Action Guide” into every feasible language.  It will always be bilingual in English plus another language.  Now it is in English and Spanish. Families get the book for free (in digital form) at Green Actioneers Family Night in their school. Think of it like Scholastic Books Book Fair, but with only our book. https://drive.google.com/file/d/10iUJH3OevoR9iHQvFxhq0UqpGjnT45o3/view

With our parent-delivered program we will work through PTA and similar organizations in every country to get families of elementary/middle school students to meet for an hour one evening and agree to take specific steps to reduce their energy and water use. After that first meeting that school's program is independent and run by parents.  Our motivation program is like “merit badges.” Students can put a Sticky Note up on a bulletin board in their classroom every time their family takes any of about 100 “Green Steps” from the book.  Using AI we will continue to revise/expand the book to be relevant to each country. 

The participating schools can use the program as a fund-raiser if they wish by getting the companies that provide high ticket items and services (EVs, Solar panels, insulation) to provide rebates to the school “Green Team” when families make purchases.

Although 72% of carbon in the atmosphere comes from actions by households, most emphasis to far has been on government/industry.  This program does not stress the scary messages.  Quite the contrary, because we are working with children from 5-13 years of age and their parents it is entirely positive and forward-thinking.  We are now testing and refining the program in schools in the US and are learning about using AI to translate our text, create images and graphics, develop video, and create narration in local languages.

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It is demand for products and services that drives economies, and it is behavior of individuals and households that creates 72% of that demand (reference: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629618310314).  We will radically change behavior throughout society in every participating country by harnessing the passion of youth and their ability to shape the actions of their elders to reduce use of fossil fuel and greatly increase sustainable practices at the household, community and regional level.

If more families demand electric cars, less gasoline engine cars will be built.  If families insist on putting solar panels on their roofs, or increase insulation in their homes, or change to reflective roofing, or install double-paned windows, or choose to not travel by air for vacation, or demand public transport, or choose to eat less meat or grow their own vegetables, or decide to work from home, less fuel will be burned in power plants.  These are the sort of actions presented in our program that will be reinforced by the chart in the hallway of every school, goading kids to inspire their parents to take action.

Now we put 35 billion tons of CO2 in the atmosphere each year.  With our program after about five years we would bring down that figure by 1 billion tons per year and increase the reduction annually for the indefinite future as more families in more countries join this youth-led multigenerational program, focused on sustainability in the home, community, nation and world-wide.

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Our focus is entirely on families with young children, a sorely neglected demographic.  Although over 80% of families want their kids to learn about Climate Change, less than 40% of teachers feel comfortable talking about the topic and in 28 states in the US they could get in trouble even by mentioning the subject.  Our book does not even mention "trigger words" like "climate change," global warming," or "sea-level rise" so there will be NO opposition from parents or community members who may not agree that the climate is changing or people are responsible.  Instead, we talk about "going green" as a value in itself.  

In our book (that you can download here https://drive.google.com/file/d/10iUJH3OevoR9iHQvFxhq0UqpGjnT45o3/view) You will notice that we follow three diverse families (White urban, African-American suburban, Asian-American rural) for the first 216 pages of the book.  On page 217 a Native American community becomes the final focus for the book.  They are not simply sustainable they are regenerative and guard the headwaters of the river that flows through the city.  The woman-led Native American community ends up teaching everyone else to be responsible for, and to become indigenous to, their own environment.

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