7 Ways To Protect Our Winters
Jungfrau Region's Blogbuster Series / Nr. 56
The world’s getting hotter and we’re part of the problem. As the percentage of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere rises, our planet heats up. Glaciers melt. Seasons blend together as winters become warmer. Safe levels of carbon dioxide are below 330ppm. Right now, our carbon dioxide level is over 400ppm, and rising.
So despite some real facts about climate change, the topic still leads to many heated discussions around the world today. Especially when there are overlaps with politics and business, it seems difficult to reach a consensus.
As a tourism organisation, we are depending on many external factors, which we can’t always control. It’s certainly not in our interest to take sides or upset anyone. Rather, it‘s about awareness, open-mindedness and broadening your horizon to be able to discuss such important and sensitive matters in a fair and constructive manner. Because as they say: Knowledge is pow(d)er! We’ll get to that later…
Either way, it’s a topic that doesn’t leave us untouched as a tourism company. We are extremely privileged to call one of the most beautiful regions in the Swiss Alps our workplace. The question of whether and for how long all of this beauty will last has to bother us all.
That’s why we’d like to seize the opportunity and talk about what we believe to be an important movement...
When ski and snowboard enthusiasts wake up to the nice surprise of loads of fresh snow in the morning, they get excited like little kids on Christmas Eve. They can hardly wait to get on the mountain and have some fun in the deep snow, also called «powder» or «pow».
POW is also a nonprofit organisation and that name goes as deep as the snow. It stands for Protect Our Winters and it‘s the voice of the outdoor community against climate change.
So here are 7 Ways To Protect Our Winters:
#1 LIVE SIMPLY
Reduce your consumption and buy nothing useless, buy high quality products and maintain them so that they last longer and recycle what you no longer need.
#2 EAT HEALTHY
Eat regional and seasonal products, reduce the amount of meat you eat and have more vegetables and other stuff. Choose organically grown food.
#3 TRAVEL RESPONSIBLY
Use public transport, do car sharing, go on local trips, stay longer in one place instead of making short trips and compensate your CO2-emissions.
#4 SPEND YOUR MONEY CONSCIOUSLY
Prefer companies whose products and manufacturing processes are eco-friendly and which care about the protection of the climate and the environment.
#5 GET SMART
Inform yourself, read and learn more about climate change and share that knowledge with others.
#6 GET INVOLVED
Use your right as a citizen, vote and participate in the political process. Give your voice to politicians who are making a strong case for environment and climate protection.
#7 USE YOUR VOICE
Talk to friends and family about climate change and explain to them why climate protection is important and why you are commited to it. Share your opinion through social media channels.
This POW inspired advice is not entierely new but small steps can bring us closer to a climate-friendly society and reduce our environmental footprint.
A little more about POW: By 2007, pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones found that more and more resorts he’d always counted on for good riding were closed due to lack of snow. Something was clearly going on, and he felt the need to act. But he couldn’t find any organisations focused on mobilising the snowsports community on climate – there was a gap between the impacts that climate change was already having on our mountains, and any organised action being taken to address it. And so Jeremy founded Protect Our Winters.
Since then, POW turns passionate outdoor people into effective climate advocates and leads a community of athletes, thought pioneers and forward-thinking business leaders to affect systemic political solutions to climate change.
Right now, we have the luxury of worrying about how climate change might impact the outdoor industry. Right now, we get to help dictate the outcome rather than react to a foregone conclusion. If we sit on our hands for the next two decades, we won’t be worried about powder days, tourism or having fun. We’ll be worried about the stability of our environment, our jobs and our economy.
Wanna join the POW movement? The organisation is represented in several winter sports countries - check their interesting website to learn more:
https://protectourwinters.org/pow-international/
WE ALL NEED WINTER. WINTER NEEDS US!
