How to run Our Earth Week (and make your life as easy as possible!)

There are two main elements to running Our Earth Week.

1. Handbook
2. Audio files

PART 1 – HANDBOOK

The handbook is designed to make life as easy as possible for you. It contains:

• Facts and figures about the climate emergency
• Infographics to make talking about these facts easier
• Conversation starters
• Quizzes / Amazing facts
• Facts and figures on our chosen theme (this year it’s Water)
• Useful resources for our listeners (great apps to use, and good organisations to know about)

How to get the Handbook

• When you sign up to take part in Our Earth Week, you will automatically be sent a link to the google drive with all the Our Earth Week files, including the Handbook.

• If you can, print out the handbook and place a copy in a folder that’s easily accessible, in a presentation folder (see pic) or just a ring binder in your station studio.  Make sure presenters can see it.  With any luck they will take a peek when they are doing their show, and they may find something they’d like to talk about.

PART 2: AUDIO FILES

One of the most precious things about Our Earth Week was our shared audio library, also found in the Our Earth Week folder on Google Drive. Stations can simply use any of the files in the library, but last year many also contributed audio files themselves as well, so it became a brilliant shared resource. This year’s library will include:

• Music Playlist (with lots of water themed songs, or music inspired by the ocean, for example)
• Soundscapes – on a watery theme (from Earth FM; Martyn Stewart, David de la Haye as well as others)
• Short and longer features (Round Our Way – every day story of climate impacts; Ocean Rising podcasts from Luke McMillan; a feature on chalk streams, and loads more)
• Voice Messages (from all sorts of campaigning organisations and individuals)
• Messages from COP (we hope to be hearing direct from delegates at the COP talks in Brazil)
• The Big Our Earth Week Quiz
• The Question of the Day
• The Our Earth Week Water Challenge

Download the audio files from this folder and put them on your station computer desktop, in a folder marked Our Earth Week Audio Files.  Try and put it there a couple of weeks before so people have time to browse through beforehand.

IF YOU HAVE NO TIME TO PREPARE ANYTHING, JUST DO THIS!

Simply tell your listeners that it’s Our Earth Week, that we’re thinking about climate change and having lots of conversations about it, and that – for example – you’re going to play the following song to mark the occasion (and then some kind of climate/water/nature themed song). 

You could ask some quiz questions from the Big Our Earth Week Quiz (provided in handbook).

You could maybe talk about one thing you have done (or would like to do) to reduce your water consumption, or to help improve water quality in your local area, or talk about what the problem of sewage pollution is like in your area! Or you can just cite a few facts and figures (provided in handbook).

There will be a list of conversation starters in the Handbook for you to use as well.