A Trivial (and Fun) Way to Celebrate Earth Day

April 22, 2013 | 9:32 am
Jeff Deyette
Director of State Policy and Analysis

Are you looking for an entertaining and engaging way to make a difference this Earth Day? Consider hosting a Cooler Smarter trivia event! It will put you on the path of being a low-carbon leader, and help challenge, inform, and inspire your family and friends to lower their carbon footprint.

Cooler, SmarterWith Earth Day 2013 upon us, there are all kinds of opportunities available to lower our impact on the environment and to reduce global warming emissions. From replacing incandescent light bulbs with the latest LEDs, installing (and properly using) a programmable thermostat, planting trees, or participating in a community park clean up event, nowadays the options are seemingly endless. But organizing a Cooler Smarter trivia event for your friends, family, or other members of your community could be a new and exciting way to have a significant impact.

Cooler Smarter Trivia Night Kit

The Union of Concerned Scientists’ Cooler Smarter trivia kit is based on the consumer guidebook, Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps to Low Carbon Living, which several UCS colleagues and I co-wrote last year. Cooler Smarter breaks through the confusion about how people can fight climate change to help you sweat the right stuff. It offers science-based advice on the most effective actions each of us can personally take to reduce our carbon emissions. Cooler Smarter also challenges readers to cut their carbon emissions 20 percent this year, and to become low-carbon leaders by encouraging others in their community to do the same.

That’s where trivia comes into play. Hosting your own Cooler Smarter trivia event is a great way to lead on climate change by inspiring your guests to get started reducing his or her carbon footprint by 20 percent with a few simple, practical steps. You could amplify your impact by a factor of 10 or 20 in just one evening! That’s exactly what we mean by being cooler and smarter.

Inside the UCS Cooler Smarter trivia kit you’ll find all the tools you need to host a successful event, including:

  • Sample trivia night agenda
  • Five rounds of Cooler Smarter questions and answers
  • Tips for planning your trivia night

After you’ve planned your trivia night, make sure to visit CoolerSmarter.org to use UCS’s interactive tool for even more ways for you and your guests to lower your carbon footprint. Happy Earth Day!