The 10:10 campaign is a global, grassroots campaign, launched last year, with the aim of raising awareness about climate change and taking steps to reduce our carbon footprint by 10% in 2010. The day sees organised events and lobbying of politicians around the world. The day was started by 350.org (350 parts per million (PPM) being the safe upper limit of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere).
Last year, Edinburgh City Council was the 100th local authority to sign on to the 10:10 campaign and hopefully we'll be getting an update on how successful it has been in reducing its carbon footprint by 10%.
This year's "Global Work Party" in Edinburgh sees a "Carrotmob" in the Mercat Bar. A Carrotmob is a type of consumer activism in which businesses compete at how environmentally responsible they can be, and then a network of consumers (the 'mob') spends money to support whichever business makes the strongest offer. It is the opposite of a boycott.
Edinburgh pubs placed bids that involved committing themselves to invest in energy efficiency upgrades - all they had to do was pledge to reinvest a percentage of the additional revenues they would make during the ‘mob’ on the evening of 10/10/10 (should they be the winning pub).
The Mercat Bar was the highest bidder. They won the competition by pledging to reinvest 20% of the additional revenues - over and above normal Sunday takings - from the evening into energy efficiency retrofits.
Student 10:10ers
Edinburgh University Transition group is joining forces with "Dirty Weekenders" (the conservation society) to have a big day of action. They are meeting at 10am outside the Pleasance Sports Hall to catch a bus to Beeslack House Ponds near Penicuik for a carbon reducing conservation project.
This will involve removing the invasive Japanese Knotweed and planting healthy oxygenating Water-crowfoot plants in a stretch of the nearby River Esk. They'll also be removing litter from the pond and strengthening the banks of the pond.
Mark Edward's Hard Rain exhibition will be also showing for the last time in George Square from 10.10am.