With an estimated 4000 species of snowmen being threatened by climate change each year, it’s high time we start trying to help them keep their cool.
Are you willing to have the water of a melting snowman on your hands due to inaction on climate change? If not, perhaps it’s time to put your money where your mouth is with a donation to The Global Snowman Sanctuary, or barring that, with a tax-deductible contribution to a carbon reduction project through Cool Effect.
Surely you jest, you might say. However, I’m serious (and don’t call me Shirley), because climate change isn’t some Chinese hoax or a scientific conspiracy, and it has the potential to affect each and every one of us, both directly and incidentally. Don’t believe me? Just ask a snowman.
Save Our Snowmen, from Cool Effect, claims that “Due to global climate change, mass numbers of snowmen are migrating north to stay alive,” and while you may not agree that snowpeople are people too, sooner or later we all may be snowmen looking for sanctuary from the effects of climate change. As Cool Effect puts it, “The planet can’t wait and neither can they.”
Everyone loves snowmen, but they are melting right along with our glaciers. We are educating in fresh, creative ways to make it interesting and fun to take direct and tangible action on this serious subject. We hope everyone will want to see the film and then save a snowman!” – Marisa de Belloy, COO of Cool Effect
The campaign, which, for those of you who are inclined to take things literally, is actually tongue-in-cheek, is a light-hearted attempt to “foster the growth of projects that verifiably reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cool the planet” through raising money to fund forest protection, waste-to-biogas, and fuel-efficient cookstove projects, among others. Today, on #GivingTuesday, New York City will see snowmen ambassadors from Cool Effect canvassing the city to encourage action (and social media traction) by getting people to post selfies while wearing snowman props, which will each earn a contribution to Cool Effect on their behalf if tagged with the hashtag #SaveOurSnowmen.
Cool Effect has a stringent selection and verification process for the carbon offset projects it funds, including “full financial and management due diligence” and accurate baseline carbon emissions measurements, as well as an assessment of the projects’ “additionality.”
Additionality is a key concept in carbon emission reducing projects. A project can only be considered additional if it meets the following:
It is not legally required to fulfill official policies, regulations, or industry standards
It is not profitable without revenue from carbon credits
There are barriers that prevent its implementation regardless of profitability
It is employing or distributing technologies that are not already in common use
More information on the campaign, as well as the work of this carbon reduction non-profit organization, can be found at the Cool Effect website.