One giant walk
Sarah Bishop wanted to do something to raise awareness of global warming. So she decided to walk from Brisbane to Sydney, and will arrive in the Emerald City just in time for Earth Hour on March 31. Sarah spoke at the launch of Earth Hour in December and inspired many of the audience with her honest and heart-felt words.
We've talked a lot about the statistics of what the consequences of global warming will be. And it's easy to be detached from statistics because as alarming as they are, they're just a figure. But I'm 22 and for me these are more than that just statistics, they are visions of my future. I and my children will have to deal with even more horrific bushfires, droughts, possibly floods and definitely pollution. And I won't be able to take my children to see the Great Barrier Reef and the other icons of our environment. This isn't the great Australian dream that I was brought up to believe I would have.
So I've decided to take action. Because I know that we only have a small window of opportunity to combat this and I wanted to use that time to get the message out to as many people as I can. I knew that people had no reason to listen to me because they don't know me and I'm not an expert so I had to something that would prove to people that I was dedicated and that's when I decided to walk from Brisbane to Sydney. It's going to take two months. So along the way I am going to give presentations in the towns I pass through and meet with community leaders to discuss how they can combat climate change. But more importantly I will be encouraging people to join me on my journey. And along the way I hope to talk to people and find out what the average Australian thinks about climate change.
Because we've heard about what our experts and leaders think but I want to know what Australians think. And that's why I'm so excited about being part of Earth Hour - not only will it make my two month trek easier because it will give me something to look forward to, but the entire event sums up the exact message that I am trying to send out – that individual action can collectively make a massive reduction on carbon emissions.
And that's what Earth Hour is about. It's about the simple steps that we can all take that will make a difference. And it's also about Australians. Australia is an amazing country and Australians are incredible people and Earth Hour is our chance to send a message to the rest of the world that we do care about climate change and that we're going to do something about it.
You can find out more about Sarah's journey at her website, OneGiantWalk.org or on her Myspace profile. Sarah is currently looking for sponsors and support for her trip. You can find out more about Earth Hour and register your support at the official Earth Hour website.
