<html> <body>   <div align="center">Green On. The Online Newsletter of the Conservation Council of Ontario see <a href="http://www.greenontario.org/" eudora="autourl"> www.greenontario.org</a> for the online version and to subscribe or unsubscribe Editor:  Chris Winter, Executive Director Note:  The Green On. listserve is currently being used to promote our We Conserve Initiative Please see <a href="http://www.weconserve.ca/" eudora="autourl">www.weconserve.ca</a> for details. <img src="cid:.0" width=322 height=41 alt="[]"> </div> <h2>Doors Closed Please help us reach out to every store and restaurant in Ontario!</h2> <a href="http://www.weconserve.ca/august2005.html"> www.weconserve.ca/august2005.html</a> Time for a little action. Our first two entries on this blog focused on the broader questions of where the movement is going – history, trends and the scope of the conservation movement. This week, we’re launching a quick start campaign to ask stores and restaurants to close their doors and windows when the air conditioning is on.  Our question for you is:  How can you help?  Can your organization promote the campaign and help find volunteers?  Can you become a community distribution centre for posters?   “Cool the Store – and nothing more” For the week of August 8 to 14, culminating with the second anniversary of the 2003 blackout, the CCO will be orchestrating a campaign to ask stores and restaurants across Ontario to close the doors when using air conditioning.  To counter the concern that a closed door means less business we are distributing a poster that says "Our door is closed, but we are open" and we will conduct a media blitz asking the public to support stores and restaurants displaying the sign. In our media work over the past couple of weeks related to the heat wave, one of the big complaints we heard was from people who are doing their best to conserve but see stores and restaurants with the front door wide open and cold air spilling out into the street.  My suggestion was that store owners should close the door and put up a sign saying “our door is closed, but we are open”.  Later I thought, “why not do the sign for them”?  And this is the genesis of our first “quick start campaign” for We Conserve. Our goal is to create a positive change in attitudes towards electricity conservation by both store and restaurant managers and consumers. We are asking local groups to be a community distribution centre for posters, to handle local media, and to provide volunteer training in positive outreach techniques.  We are also looking for provincial partners who can help spread the word through their communications (membership and public outreach) and via outreach programs. Already, we have some great partners.  Cool Shops will distribute 1,000 posters in Toronto, Ottawa, London, Peterborough and Markham.  The Beer Store is developing their own We Conserve poster and material for their 436 stores.  The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has sent a notice to all its members. For campaign details, see <a href="http://www.weconserve.ca/august2005.html"> www.weconserve.ca/august2005.html</a>     The Bigger Picture At the July 5th launch for We Conserve, I mentioned that we were looking at doing a quick start campaign to demonstrate the potential for a united conservation movement.  We may not be able to cover the entire province and all cultures and communities just yet, but we need to show early results, and we need to test the ability of Ontario’s organizations to mobilize in support of a common campaign. The Doors Closed campaign is not just a cool idea; it’s a way for us to test just what can be achieved through a common campaign.   Procott Now! Doors Closed is an example of a new approach to social change – procotting!  It’s very much a central approach to our conservation movement and creating a sustainable conserver economy. Procotting is actually an offshoot of the Seattle anti-globalization protests.  A group from Fort Wayne, Indiana, returned from the protest committed to making change in their area.  They founded the Procott movement as a means of organizing people to make a positive difference through their buying practices.   See <a href="http://www.web.net/%7Eprocott/origins.html"> http://www.web.net/~procott/origins.html</a> There’s one difference in our approach.  The Indiana procott movement suggests organizing small groups of seven to ten people.  We Conserve proposes to mobilize conservers across Ontario         The Doors Closed campaign is an example of procotting.  It asks people to support stores that display the We Conserve sign.  The effect is the same as a boycott, but the approach is positive. Please Help Provincial and National Groups:  Can you promote the campaign to your members?  Can you provide a link on your website to the campaign?  Can you distribute posters? Community groups: Can you be a distribution centre for your community? Can you engage local media? Can you ask for volunteers to distribute the poster to stores and restaurants in your community? Individuals: Can you distribute posters to the stores and restaurants in your area? Can you print copies of the poster on your own computer?  Allegra Newman, our outreach coordinator, will be handling offers of support.  She can be reached at research@greenontario.org, 416-533-1635 ext 3.  Please note that for groups that can distribute 500 or more (or for PDF versions), we are offering to put your logo on the poster. </body> </html>