On the day of the national Step It Up events, we walked into downtown Seattle from Capitol Hill to check out the demonstration. As we headed along 1st Avenue, we noticed a line of birdseed running down the sidewalk ahead of us. It continued for blocks. A number of shop owners and restaurant workers were outside their storefronts sweeping the seed into the gutter. When asked what this was all about, one flustered employee replied, “Some group of protesters,” and indicated down the street. We kept walking and eventually came upon the head of the lengthening line — a group of people with fanny packs filled with birdseed, dispensing it as they moved slowly forward. We asked them what they were doing, and they explained they were marking the point to which sea levels would rise in the next few decades of we don’t address climate change (rather like the Future Sea Level project, but on a much larger scale). We asked if they were representing a particular group or organization, but they seemed to be a hodgepodge of concerned citizens, identifying only as involved participants of Step It Up. We headed on our way and eventually the intervention faded… (more)
(Posted by Sarah Rich in Climate Change at 10:00 AM)