Why we’ve already won.

May 20, 2013

People have been asking me: “What are your indicators of success? What are your milestones?” Similar questions come up in grant applications. The answers they’re typically looking for include: X number of emails sent through our system, Y dollars raised, a community passing our by-law, another country taking on our campaign, etc.

We’re a bit behind our timelines but are catching up quick – and we have a lot of exciting things in store over the next few weeks. But we’ve already come a long way.

It was only four months ago that I was standing on a bar stool in a packed gallery thanking everyone for coming to our launch. Since then, we’ve been in local, national and international media. We’ve received inquiries from people who want to set up their own campaign in other provinces and other countries. Our idea has even received an endorsement from the organization of one of my childhood heroes and a Canadian icon (can’t wait to share this one soon!).

I think this all speaks to the simplicity and power of our idea. It’s only a matter of time before these labels are on gas pumps all over the world – and I believe that they will play a significant role in humanity coming to face the reality of what we’re up against and then rising to the challenge.

But we’ve already won.

I realized we “reached success” a few weeks ago when I was speaking to a high school student shortly after we did one of our presentations. At the end of all my talks, I let people know that municipal governments are highly accessible and that anyone can request to speak to their councillors at a committee meeting just by sending an email to sign up. After sharing our idea with 1,200 students, a soft-spoken grade 9 student came up to me to thank me for giving her the opportunity to address her elected representatives.

She confided in me that she’s been worried about climate change since learning about it a couple of years ago and was really angry that “adults aren’t doing enough.” She told me that she wanted to come to City Hall to speak to councillors when we present our idea. I remember her saying, “It’s just not fair”, and in her sensed the same frustration that I’ve lived with for too many years now.

Rob, Penny and Kai presenting to students with friends from 350.org

Rob, Penny and Kai presenting to students with friends from 350.org

After months of preparation before our launch and months of campaigning after our launch, I realized in that moment that we’ve already won.

We have a mover and a seconder on the Licensing and Standards Committee in Toronto. Many councillors understand the gravity of climate change and appreciate the transformative potential of our idea. Given that my city will be on the hook for billions of dollars in adaptation measures, it would be financially imprudent to not consider such a simple, low-cost approach to mitigation. Whether or not our idea is ultimately adopted, I do believe it will clear the first hurdle of getting in line for a staff report.

And the important thing is this: the student I met will now get to share her concerns with the “adults” that are elected to protect her interests. Because of our project, her voice will now be heard when the committee meets on June 27th to discuss this proposal (*date to be confirmed). For me, knowing that our efforts will have contributed to this exchange means that we’ve already won.

I can’t wait to hear her presentation. Who knows, her voice may change the world.

***

RobRob Shirkey is the founder and executive director of Our Horizon. If you want us to share our idea to your school or environmental group, please contact Penny at communications@ourhorizon.org to schedule a presentation.

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