Environmental Advocacy

While searching for an example of environmental advocacy I found a Greenpeace “Save the Arctic” Campaign.  The campaign asks for people to sign a petition by entering their name and email address on the website.  I could not resist the adorable polar bears on the website (charismatic megafauna at its finest) and signed the petition.  After signing, I was asked to select the gender of my cub and to choose a name. Once I selected a name and gender I was redirected to a new page that informed me that my cub needs to be fed, pet and cleaned.  For signing the petition I earned three fish to feed my cub however in order to gain more fish I have to get others to sign. For every signature I receive my cub will earn 15 more fish. I then received an email from Greenpeace that was written as though a polar bear sent it to me:

 

Dear Kristine,

As our home melts, we deeply appreciate your generosity in giving little Cuddles a loving family. But time is running out for us, and unless we can stop the oil companies moving in to destroy the Arctic, the survival of all polar bears will be in danger.

Please help us: make a donation to the Save the Arctic campaign now.

Greenpeace doesn’t take money from governments, corporations, or political parties - just amazing people like you who care about the environment. That’s how you know your gift will be used wisely to protect our world and succeed in our people-powered campaigns.

When we win this, it will be because of you.

With thanks,
The Polar Bear Elder Community

Greenpeace International
Ottho Heldringstraat 5, 1066 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I think that this environmental advocacy campaign is effective because it goes beyond signing a petition.  By giving people the responsibility of taking care of a virtual polar bear, it allows people to develop a sentimental attachment to the save the arctic program.  The campaign identifies the impact that burning oil and drilling for oil has on the arctic. I think it is important to explicitly identify what is happening to the arctic because society is geographically distanced from it and therefore this issue may not resonate with people.

 

 

Save the Arctic campaign: http://savethearctic.org/en?referer=9360315

 

 

Greenwashing/Consumerism/Materialism:LG Green Health Commercial

Budinsky & Bryant (2013) argue that “growing concern for the environment on the part of citizens has led corporations to advance a new ideology of green capitalism, in which consumers are urged to help the environment through the purchase of ostensibly eco-friendly products” (p. 209).  The LG commercial is suggesting to viewers that helping the environment can be achieved through the purchase of new appliances.  The end of the commercial says that LG green health products are “the healthy choice that nature loves”.  In this commercial there is evidence that the environment is being treated as something that can be bought and sold as well as salvaged through consumerism.  The commercial bombards viewers with charismatic megafauna which frames the issue of purchasing eco-friendly products on an emotional level.

Music as Environmental Communication

Above is a music video called Save Something for Our Children that was created by a group of children from New York City.  This song was written in order to inspire environmental activism.  The following is one of the characteristics Lawrence Buell outlines to gauge how environmental a work is: “human accountability to the environment is part of the text’s ethical orientation” (Rosenthal, 2006, p. 666).  Rosenthal (2006) suggests that this characteristic can be linked to issues of preservation and conservation.  The song that the children have created outlines a variety of environmental concerns caused by humanity as well as communicating that preservation is essential to our future.

Disney Conservation- Nature as Tourism/Entertainment

“The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) were asked whether ‘‘the benefits of accredited zoos to society outweigh the cost to individual animal welfare’’ (Kuehn, 2002). The answer from Western zoos is that the principle ethical justification for their existence is their commitment to conservation. Continuing to keep captive animals is necessary, according to zoos, at least in part because these animals provide practical and valuable information that can help conservation efforts, which may be difficult or impossible to gather in the wild” (Milstein, 2009, p. 29). A counter argument suggests that zoos are in fact conserving nothing at all. 

The Disney Conservation video suggests that Disney theme parks, resorts and other Disney vacation help promote conservation and protecting the natural environment through various consumption practices.  The video advertises Disney by suggesting that through visiting Disney you can help the environment and unite your family.  Anthropomorphism is used throughout the entire video as strategic marketing.  Is Disney contributing to wildlife conservation or simply building its empire?