Environmental Issue Surveys: What Are They Telling Us?

A fresh environmental issue survey from CNN/Opinion Research finds that a majority of Americans believe that the economy should take precedence over the environment. It wasnt by a huge number a little more than half (51%) picked economy: and slightly less than half (45%) picked environment. The margin of error was 3%.Pollsters love this question and theyve been asking variations of it for decades. Here is how the question was worded this time around, in this particular environme ...more

Sorry Charlie: Average Advocacy Fails the Tuna

Remember Charlie the Tuna? If you havent seen him on the air in while, its probably because he was caught and eaten long ago. Overfishing has decimated the Atlantic bluefin tuna. Populations are shrinking fast. Stricter international regulations to prevent overfishing are long overdue.At the urging of Oceans Conservancy and Oceana, and allied groups, the United States recently proposed stricter protections for the Atlantic Bluefin to the United Nations negotiators. Sad ...more

Environmental Awareness: Encouragement vs. Education

"I can do small things every day that will make an impact on water pollution."It's such a simple statement, and it's true. So why is it so hard to send a message -- over the airwaves, online, or in print -- that actually evokes that reaction? Unfortunately, many environmental messages accidentally evoke an entirely different reaction, instead:"It is hard to believe that the actions of one person can really contribute to lessening water pollution." I pulled ...more

Cowboys, Conservationists, and the Hopeful Herd

When we are trying to make something happen, conservationists sometimes think like cowboys. We break out the rhetorical cattle prod and try to shock the public out of complacency and into action with a stiff jolt of bad news. There's a time and place for that -- but to motivate people to actually do something, you have to mix the bad news with a more positive environmental message.

Here are some examples of cattle prod messages that have crossed my desk recently: Giant corporati ...more

Five Environmental Message Mistakes – And How to Fix Them

You've heard the phrase "look before you leap." But what does that mean when it comes to environmental writing and communications?First, an urban legend about what can happen if you don't look before you leap. Enjoying healthy sales of its Nova automobile in the U.S., Chevrolet introduced it to Latin America -- where it bombed. As it turned out, "no va" -- means "no go" in Spanish, and the name was turning potential customers away.Environmental insiders make mistakes l ...more

Save the World: Pick the Right Email Tool

If you help run a nature center, land trust, hunting club, or local river protection group, you've probably wondered how to best keep in touch with your members. After all, they won't come to an event, donate to support your work, or write that elected official unless they hear about it from you first!A few times a year, I have the opportunity to survey the memberships of organizations like this and the answer is always the same: email. They like your paper newsletter, they visit ...more

A Tale of Two Commemorations

You probably don't know that February 3 is World Wetlands Day -- a day of proclamations, press releases, ceremonies, festivals, newsletter articles, and t-shirts all clamoring to raise awareness about the vital role of these vital habitats.World Wetlands Day is just one of many well-meaning efforts to create a commemorative occasion to call attention to some particular environmental topic. Here in the United States, World Wetlands Day shares the calendar with annual events such Ea ...more