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The Environment

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An environment is a condition that surrounds someone or something, the conditions and influences that affect the growth, health, progress, etc., of someone or something.[1] In today's society, our environment is being severely mistreated in a variety of ways. Littering, producing toxic chemicals, and cutting down forests are just a few examples of how humans are harming the environment. As a direct result of these actions, our planet's resources have depleted significantly. Global warming has become one of the biggest threats to the Earth and all things living on it. To preserve the environment for our future generations, efforts must be made to stop and reverse the damage. With the rapid advancement of technology, social media has become one of the most effective ways to communicate. This makes it the perfect tool for spreading awareness of this on-going issue across the globe so that we as a population can work together to save our planet.

New Media and The Environment

New media encompasses impacts the environment when people interact with one another using computers, technology, and the web. Interaction invites participation. People can use social media to convey their message to everyone on the internet and since so many people use the internet nowadays, the message travels fast. It allows environmentalists to create activism events, and bloggers to tell others about the environment. [2]

Facebook

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Facebook[3] serves as a social platform for the world to spread awareness and improve on the environment by creating pages, posts, and groups to promote environmentally friendly ideas. "Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected."[4]. Facebook's main goals may easily integrate the promotion of environmental awareness. Not only will it keep users connected but it will also benefit the world. Facebook users may organize groups to help clean up the environment and raise awareness to encourage the public to be more environmentally friendly. There are many ads and events to protect the environment as well as updates on how different locations affect the environment. Due to Facebook's popularity and high usage, people organize and use it as a platform to show others how important is it to protect the environment and words can spread rapidly.


Twitter

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Twitter[5] has been a growing microblog that allows users to send a tweetup to 140 characters long. With the limited characters, users are forced to be more specific with their tweets. Within a tweet, users are allowed to include hashtags of the specific word which relates to their post. To hashtag, it is simply the hashtag symbol "#" followed by a word. By clicking on the hashtag, users are able to see other tweets posted by other users tagged with the same hashtag. The image on the right shows Fuels America using Twitter to tweet an advertisement that is trying to promote environmentally friendly actions, which is directed towards the white house. Twitter allows users to direct their public messages to public figures. While they might not always respond, other users can see the inactivity of the public figure. Hashtags group Tweets with the same hashtag. Once the hashtag becomes popular it could end up on Twitter's homepage under the "Trending" section.

Twitter users use the platform for social movements as well as entertainment. Activists join together on this platform to gain traction for their cause. Environmentalists can Tweet statistics, facts, and initiatives they are taking to improve the environment.

YouTube

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YouTube[6] has become the most popular video hosting domain on the internet. YouTube videos are easily shared and promoted to a very large audience. Within the number of videos uploaded to YouTube, there are categories that videos are categorized under. YouTube videos often go viral within 24 hours because people share it with one person to another. Videos are also one of the most effective ways to promote and spread awareness of environmentally friendly approaches. The Environmental Protection Agency provides a very encouraging YouTube video on their site.


Instagram

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Instagram[7] online mobile photo/video sharing social network. Very much like Twitter, Instagram uses hashtags for related content. Having thousands of likes increases one's chance to be featured on the popular page for others to discover. Certain hashtags can become a trend that causes more people to use it. Instagram is an easy way to create environmentally friendly campaigns that have the potential to go viral through the use of a hashtag.

Environmental nonprofits usually make Instagram accounts to share their projects and encourage people to join them. It is a quick way to spread their message without using too many words. Pictures tend to catch the eyes of users more than text so posting the right pictures at the right time is crucial for the account's success.

Marine Plastic Pollution

An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic enters the oceans every year, the equivalent of a dump truck’s worth dumped into our life support system every minute. The planet has lost approximately half of its coral reefs over the last 30 years, and most commercial fisheries are on the road to collapse. If we don’t act urgently, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans. [8]

State of the Oceans

While it's difficult to know exact figures, a 2012 report from WSPA indicates that between 57,000 and 135,000 whales are entangled by plastic marine debris every year in addition to the inestimable – but likely millions – of birds, turtles, fish and other species affected by plastic marine debris. New studies show that ingested plastic damages the internal organs of fish. This raises the question about the safety of our seafood.

Parley for the Oceans

Parley is the space where Creators, Thinkers, and Leaders come together to raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of the Oceans and collaborate on projects that can end their destruction. Parley uses Social Channels such as Instagram to raise awareness and educate their followers on Marine plastic pollution and engage them in solutions to help save the Oceans. [9]

The Mission

Plastic is a design failure. We can only end it with a Material Revolution—new ways of creating, thinking and living on this finite, blue planet. To confront the past and protect marine wildlife, Parley cleans up shorelines and oceans and cuts into the production of new, virgin plastic with Ocean Plastic®, a range of eco-innovative materials made from up-cycled and intercepted plastic waste.

The Solution

Born out of the simple fact that every other breath we take comes from the Oceans - the Parley A.I.R. Strategy is endorsed by UN Environment and presents a simple, collaborative framework to reduce and ultimately end plastic pollution in our oceans. A.I.R: A= Avoid plastic wherever possible, I= Intercept plastic and prevent it from getting to the oceans, R: redesign and come up with new materials that are environment-friendly. [10]


Activity

Litterati

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Litterati[11] is a campaign movement started by Jeff Kirschner to spread awareness of littering and to promote a liter-free world. Their aim is to help stop pollution and clean up the environment. Kirschner is a former tech entrepreneur that wanted to make a difference for planet Earth, so he decided to use social networking sites as a way to achieve his goal. A gallery (aka: The Digital Landfill) of hashtags is created on Instagram using #litterati. Hoping that #litterati will become a trend that pushes people to contribute to helping the environment.

The movement consist of four steps in order to get involved:

  1. Find a piece of litter.
  2. Photograph it with Instagram.
  3. Hashtag your photo with "#litterati"
  4. Throw away, recycle or compost the litter.

Many users have caught onto this movement and there are over 21,000 photos posted by 1,5000 users from 40 countries uploaded under the #litterati hashtag by the end of November 2013. Numbers tend to increase within time. [12] Instagram is a powerful tool to show what a collective amount of people are able to achieve.

This is truly an awesome way to make get people's attention on the issue and make an impact. Users that have Instagram and see the hashag, but are not aware of its meaning are able to click on it and find out its meaning. There is no research involved because all that's required is to click on the hastag and have the information right in front of you. Users that were not familiar with the campaign can now know about it and participate in the campaign, and as a result, have a cleaner environment. The use of the hashtag is really effective because it's used on most social media platforms, so campaigns are able to go viral in more than just one place.



Participant

Leonardo DiCaprio

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Leonardo DiCaprio is an actor, environmentalist, and philanthropist that works on environmental and humanitarian issues. He is on the board of several organizations including World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Global Green USA and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) [13]. These organizations are dedicated to addressing climate change, access to clean water, protecting biodiversity, oceans conservation, and disaster relief. He even created his own foundation in 1998, "Dedicated to protecting Earth’s last wild places and fostering a harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world."[14]. Within his own foundation, he provides grants to conservation projects organized by trusted nonprofit organizations. As of 2016, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) has awarded $45 million dollars in grants and supported over 65 organizations. [15] Four key areas that the organization works in are protecting biodiversity, wildlands conservation, oceans conservation, and climate change. To raise awareness of these issues, Leonardo DiCaprio frequently re-posts related pictures on his Instagram @LeonardoDiCaprio, followed by 6.7 million people worldwide.

Maroon 5

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Maroon 5 is one of the few bands committed to green touring. Since 2008, they have been using biodiesel-powered tour buses, promoting recycling at its concert venues, and donating some of their ticket sales to environmental charities such as Global Cool, a charity that works with entertainers. Maroon 5 has also played at Live Earth and headlined the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo last year. They are also strong supporters of the Environmental Media Association, Kiva, and Teen Impact.




Pearl Jam

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Pearl Jam is a rock band that started in 1990. Since then they have started multiple initiatives to help save the planet. In 2007, Pearl Jam lead singer, Eddie Vedder, was named Environmentalist of the year[16]. In 2011, the band was recognized for their conservation efforts[17]. The band does their best to not increase their carbon footprint. By partnering with multiple environmental groups such as The Kelly Slater Foundation and Jack Johnson's Kokua Hawaii Foundation, they were able to bring awareness and raise money to protect the environment for years to come.




Organizations

An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyze, or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces.

Environmental organizations have always led the charge in gathering like-minded individuals together for the common purpose of protecting the environment and its inhabitants. Find out how these organizations work tirelessly to undo prior damage and prevent future damage to the earth.

An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyze, or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. ... Environmental organizations can be global, national, regional, or local.

Union of Concerned Scientists

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The Union of Concerned Scientists[18] is a group of scientists, economists, and engineers that came together to spread awareness of climate change and the dangers of it. They develop ideas and initiatives to tackle pressing issues regarding the environment. Their mission is to use science to build a healthier planet and a safer world. Since it started in 1969, it has gained over 200,000 members and over 500,000 supporters.

References