Moving Planet & 350 Dominicana

Dear friends,

The momentum building for September 24th’s Moving Planet day of action is extraordinary: hundreds of big, ambitious events are already planned all around the world.

Many of you have organized some pretty big demonstrations with 350.org in the past (OK, really big — CNN called our mobilization in 2009 “the most widespread day of political action in history”), but this one might be the most impressive yet.

Click here to sign up an event or see what’s happening in your community: www.moving-planet.org

Today, I wanted to share one story of how a group of young organizers in the Dominican Republic — “350Dominicana” — are using Moving Planet to create lasting change in their community.

When the leaders of 350Dominicana heard about this September 24’s “Moving Planet” they knew they wanted to do something extraordinary.

Last year, for the Global Work Party on 10/10/10, the 350Dominicana team got hundreds of people to paint and distribute the first set of recycling bins at a school on the island. Since then, they’ve continued to expand the program to 3 more schools, and are slated to expand to 6 more by later this year. So far, they’ve been able to divert 18,740 kg (41,315 lbs) of waste in just 3 ½ months.

Here’s a picture of the 350 Dominica team last year–standing proud with their first recycling bins. It’s a photo that captures the joy, friendship, and satisfaction that can come from this kind of work:

This year, as 350Dominicana began to plan a big bicycle mobilization for Moving Planet, they realized something — there isn’t a single bike lane in their capitol, Santo Domingo.  The lack of sustainable transportation options isn’t just a challenge for cyclists, it’s also a major source of pollution. The Dominican Republic has doubled its CO2 emissions in the last 7 years and cars are the second biggest contributor.

So, from now until Moving Planet, 350Dominicana and their allies will be campaigning to get the first bike lane painted in their capitol city. On September 24th, they’ll organize a mass bike ride to deliver petitions and a plan for the bike lane to their city leaders.

From pushing for the first bike lane in Santo Domingo, to rallying to stop proposed coal plants in Andhra Pradesh, India to getting 15,000 people into the streets of Istanbul, Turkey to call for climate action, Moving Planet will be a single day for all of us to move away from fossil fuels — and demand that our leaders do the same.

We can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with in your community–if you haven’t already signed up, please do so today: www.moving-planet.org

Onwards,

Kelly Blynn for the whole 350.org Team

P.S. Stories help fuel this movement–they create collective inspiration and help spread ideas throughout the network. If you want to share your local organizing story of how you’re working to transform your community, just email it to “[email protected]“–and we’ll share the best ones with our global network.

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