By Rick Zwaan

Like all teenagers, I struggle to get out of bed. Most of the time I hit snooze at least five times before launching myself into a day - usually well after the sun’s up. But last Sunday, the 10th of the 10th 2010, must’ve had something special in the early morning chill because I managed to raise myself from the depths of the blankets at an incomprehensible time of 5.30am! After a quick shower and some muesli I realised I was already running late to meet up with two of my friends from school, who happen to also be great photographers.

This is how the largest ever global working bee started for me. Around the world people were about to partake in thousands of events around the theme of cutting their carbon emissions by 10 percent by the end of 2010. This is the trend we need to set to prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change, such as the chance of the sea level rising by over 1 metre this century, causing islands to disappear and cities to flood, precipitation changes draining water reserves in places and overflowing rivers in others. Increases in global temperatures will also cause the spread of diseases and mass species extinction. The list goes on. But this day wasn’t about getting depressed about the dire situation we face; it was about recognising it as an opportunity to create positive change.

Any doubt about the chances of any young people turning up at such an odd hour of the morning were swept away when I arrived outside Britomart to meet 30 energised teenagers from around the city. Why were we all there? Basically, to put a smile on the faces of those walking down Queen St.

You may remember the 350 global day of action on 24 October last year. Well this year was also about creating positive change to show our ‘leaders’ how much we want an awesome future. A couple of friends and I came up with the idea of chalking up Queen St a few weeks ago. We wanted to create some inspiring art on the footpaths that would be appreciated by those walking to work, those out for a Sunday stroll, or even those stumbling home after a late Saturday night. We wanted to remind people that it was a special day. People around the world, in 188 countries, were participating in over 7,000 events, all getting to work on solving our climate crisis. Most of all, we wanted to show that young people can be a positive peaceful presence on our streets.

It took less than an hour to turn the footpaths of lower Queen St into a world of creative climate expression. Polar bears thanked those reading for walking. Bus stops encouraged people to use them. Conversation starters were offered at benches. Burning worlds reminded people of the predicament we are facing. Colourful “350”’s informed passersby about the scientifically accepted safe level of carbon concentration in the atmosphere. Silhouettes of bikes reminded people of a simple action to help achieve this.

Chatting to council workers and security guards was all part of the fun of the morning. I’m not quite sure they have rules for young people doing something positive. But that didn’t matter, after a few minutes of telling them what it was all about they wanted to join it too. Sharing tea from my thermos with a homeless ‘Victoria’ was a great way to take a break and check out all the chalking.

After a friendly chat to the street cleaner’s supervisor, I rushed home to get some of the first photos of the day up onto the global 350.org site. The I jumped onto my bike and rode down to Devonport to check out the ‘Hand’s On’ showcase of sustainable living. Fellow New Zealand Youth Delegate, Kirk, had brought down his frond of our ‘FAB Fern’ that we’ll be taking to the world leaders at the COP16 climate negotiations in Cancun, Mexico this November. We sat outside in the sun on our ‘climate couch’, and filled up his frond with messages to our world leaders and showing what people are doing personally to combat climate change.

Overall it was a fantastic day. It’s awesome to see so many cool people out having fun and even more in photos from around Aotearoa and the world. A quick mid-afternoon snooze, in the sun, on Cheltenham Beach gave me the energy to catch the ferry home and slide into bed after a long day, especially long for a teenager.