The United Nations Environment Programme has engaged in a really cool Twitter campaign. For every follower @UNEPandYou gets by midnight on June 5 — World Environment Day — the Programme will plant a tree, with a cap of 100,000 trees.
The Twitter effort seeks to raise awareness of the World Environment Day initiative by not only getting followers, but also rewarding them with an actionable result. It’s a great PR move, not only for the immediate program, but it helps the UN build a following for the long term.
This will be especially crucial as the environmental movement braces itself for the United Nations climate change talks in Copenhagen this December. Having a Twitter network will allow the UN to participate in the social context, answer questions, as well as offer news news and facts. Social media is something traditional green players are struggling to master while newer online brands like Ecogeek, Treehugger and Triple Pundit have risen to the fore.
This campaign is reminiscent of the Nature Conservancy’s Lil Green Patch initiative. Lil Green Patch is wildly successful, in large part because of the call-to-action is easy (little badge), and creates a feel good action, saving one square foot of rain forest.
The Friends of Live Earth Network (join today) is supporting the initiative, so I’d like to ask any of my green conscious readers to participate, too. Go plant a tree by following @UNEPandYou. If you would like your tweet to be tracked, use the hashtag #t4t. Thank you in advance!
Hi Geoff: This is a great actionable item with actionable result, just seeing that 9,000 followers had been surpassed here in DC at noon EDT. Another positive action is to make a donation through the ammado World Environment Day Fund (WED Fund)to support worthwhile nonprofit organizations working to combat climate change around the globe. Check out the nonprofits at http://www.ammado.com/nonprofit/ammado-world-environment-day-fund
Happy World Environment Day!