Five-Feet.org aims to initiate gatherings large and small “at the tide” (along beaches and tidal lowlands) around the globe to connect everyday people with the coming realities of sea level rise. Five feet (or 1.5 meters) has been chosen as a benchmark, because it is a measure easily judged using human stature as a guide. The goal is to use these Five-Feet Moments as a learning tool to engage everyday people in awareness of the impact sea rise will have at meaningful places near their homes; and then provide resources and educational tools that help individuals reduce their carbon footprint and ecological impact at home, at work and in the communities where they live.
The project asks people to perform the following exercise:
* Take yourself to a place where the tide runs each day. If possible, go there in person or if the shore is far away, then use your memory to guide you.
* Take in your surroundings and stand at the high-tide mark or as close as you can.
* Face inland for a moment, away from the water.
* Hold your hand straight out in front of you—palm up by the way, this is an invitation, not a salute.
* Imagine water at the height of your hand extending forward as far as you can see.
* Imagine next what you and those around you will lose in the decades ahead, and never forget what you have seen.
* Now restart your day, and everyday forward making choices which reduce your impact on our climate and our world. Teach others to do likewise.
In the words of the founder, BT Hathway, “We see many protest initiatives aimed at seats of power. Five-feet.org aims to engage everyday people in the kinds of personal transformation needed to undergird and strengthen societal change. To date we have seen few if any organizations designed to lift people up and give them the awareness and the confidence to act on climate issues on a personal and local level.”
at you have seen.
* Now restart your day, and everyday forward making choices which reduce your impact on our climate and our world. Teach others to do likewise.
Only with daily effort from billions of people, will we diminish and then reverse the constant self-destructive impact our society has upon our one and only home.