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Tread Lightly

Tread Lightly is a climate change education initiative offered by TakingITGlobal through the generous support of the Staples Foundation for Learning.®

About

About

Giant question mark

Tread Lightly is a climate change education initiative offered by TakingITGlobal with the generous support of the Staples Foundation for Learning. The first Tread Lightly project, "Staples® and Students Together for a Smaller Footprint," incorporates artistic expression, online tools and resources, along with a global 40-day challenge to engage secondary school students in minimising their ecological footprints.

FAQs

General Questions

What is an ecological footprint?
Conceived of in 1990 by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, an ecological footprint is used widely by scientists, organisations, and individuals to determine how much pressure human beings are putting on the biological capacity of the planet. Ecological footprints are measures, in global hectares, of how much biologically productive area is required to produce the resources consumed by humanity and to absorb its waste. Ecological footprints can be calculated for individuals, groups of people, organisations, or specific human activities.
How are ecological footprints measured?
Ecological footprints calculate, in global hectares, the amount of biologically productive land and water used to produce the resources that we consume and the waste that we generate in a given year.
What is a global hectare?
A global hectare is a unit of measurement that encompasses all the biologically productive land and water in the world.
What is "biologically productive" land and water?
Biologically productive areas are those that support human demands for resources such as food, water, fiber, timber, energy and space and absorb the waste products resulting from human activity. They include cropland, forest, and fishing grounds, and do not include deserts, glaciers and the open ocean.
What is the size of humanity's current ecological footprint?
According to the Global Footprint Network, it now takes the Earth one year and four months to regenerate what human beings use in one year.
What is the difference between a carbon footprint and an ecological footprint?
Carbon footprints measure only the number of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by a person, group, organisation, or activity in a given year. Ecological footprints incorporate consideration of CO2 emissions, but are broader in scope.
What is the International Day of Climate Action?
The International Day of Climate Action is an awareness campaign developed to demonstrate to the decision makers attending COP15 just how big, beautiful, and unified the global climate movement really is. On October 24 2009, people around the world will take actions that incorporate the number 350 — the amount of CO2 in parts per million that scientists, climate experts and progressive national governments agree is safe to have in the atmosphere. People in more than 1000 communities around the globe have already committed to take action. At each action event, people will gather for a big group photo that somehow depicts 350 and upload that photo to www.350.org. As actions take place around the world, all of the pictures will be compiled electronically in order to produce a powerful visual petition to be delivered to the media and world leaders.
What is COP15?
COP15 is the 15 meeting of states that have signed onto the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international treaty aimed at stabilising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases in order to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. It will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark from December 7 to 18.
Why is COP15 important?
COP15 is an especially important meeting of the signatories of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) because it is at this conference that a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, a legally binding agreement developed through the UNFCCC in 1997, will be decided. Essentially, COP15 will determine the future of climate change policy.

Who is involved?

A project of:

  • TakingITGlobal

    TakingITGlobal (TIG) is an international organisation led by youth and empowered by technology. Often described as a "social network for social good," the award winning www.tigweb.org is available in twelve languages and offers a diverse set of tools and resources including blogs, wikis, discussion boards, podcasts, an online gallery, a member-driven e-zine, guides to action and more.

  • TIGed

    TIGed provides rich, interactive global learning experiences by allowing educators to leverage the resources of the world's most popular online community for youth who want to make a difference in ways that meet the needs of their learning environments. It offers a community of globally minded educators and students in over 80 countries around the world who are interested in collaborating, sharing, and learning together, a resource database, and virtual classroom communities that teachers create, moderate, and control to fit the needs of their students and objectives of their curricula.

  • The Staples Foundation for Learning

    As the cornerstone of Staples® community efforts, the mission of the Staples Foundation for Learning® (SFFL) is to support organisations that provide educational opportunities and job skills. Since its inception in 2002, the SFFL has awarded more than USD 14 million in grants across nearly 350 communities. The SFFL is pleased to provide financial support to TIG to establish the Tread Lightly climate change education program.

In partnership with:

  • Peace Child International

    Founded in 1982, Peace Child International (PCI) is a British registered charity. Run by young people, it works in over 130 countries and has Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) status at the UN. Its mission is "empowering young people to be the change they want to see in the world." PCI has supported youth productions of books and musicals about major generational challenges, funded youth led community-based action projects and created the World Youth Congress series.

  • DREAM

    DREAM is a non-governmental organisation based in Paris, France. Aiming to promote a deeper understanding of critical sustainability issues, it acts with youth, civil society and online social networks to promote sustainable habits for social entrepreneurship, cultural diversity and a better environment. Acting both in France and abroad, its actions include promoting youth representation at international summits and in government, the creation of videos about youth engagement, exhibitions, concerts, awareness-raising campaigns, actions of global solidarity, environmental projects, and more.

  • Behold

    Behold works to promote and empower social entrepreneurship, support corporate social responsibility, link the private sector with international development efforts, and develop social concepts and projects. With its partner organization EsteamWork in the Netherlands, Behold has significant experience in providing corporate social responsibility consultation to, and building partnerships between, companies, governments and development organizations. Having managed projects in, and learning journeys to, Africa, Asia and Europe, Behold is currently expanding its horizons even further by opening its first international office in Cape Town, South Africa.