Global Overshoot Day: Messaging Analysis
Idea Tree Consulting,
August 20, 2015

Global Overshoot Day this year was on August 13. Every year the Global Footprint Network calculates the date “when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year.”[1] The Earth regenerates in the sense that it sequesters carbon, aquifers refill, new soil is created through decomposition, forests grow, fish populations increase, to name just a few examples. Soil also erodes, trees die, animals succumb to predators and disease, but when the Earth keeps the regeneration and degeneration aspects in balance, there is sustainability. When humans come in and utilize resources as well, we must allow enough regeneration to keep that sustainability going, but we are failing, at the moment, to do so. It’s as though we are spending more out of our chequing account than is going in, and on August 13^th, that account became empty and we’ve had to switch over to savings. Anyone who manages their personal finances would probably agree that’s not the best long-term plan. The Global Overshoot Day concept draws the analogy that that’s exactly what we are doing ecologically. Continue reading →

The Power of a Narrative: Why #CecilTheLion is Trending
The Idea Tree Consulting
August 1, 2015

This past week social media has been full of outrage for the death of a lion named Cecil. Trophy hunting is an issue that normally stirs controversy, but this case in particular has had a noticeably larger reach due to at least two factors. Firstly, this animal had a name, and a history that was known, thanks to being part of an Oxford study. He was not just an anonymous lion indistinguishable from any number of his fellow big cats, he had a backstory. In being killed he was not just dead, he was a victim. Factor one is the power of personification. Giving wildlife, a location, or an environmental feature a name gives it an identity that we can recognize, relate to, and remember. It brings that thing into our world, our framework of understanding, allowing our sympathies to kick in. Other examples include Migaloo, the albino whale, or General Sherman, the giant sequoia tree, or the practice of giving names cut blocks in Tasmania that would otherwise only be assigned numbers. Continue reading →