Citizen Sustainability: Using Social Media to Encourage Visitor Feedback on Sustainability Practices Learned Through Museums

My best source sent me this Mashable INFOGRAPHIC by RecycleBank on "What if Environmentalism were as big as Social Media?" It caught my eye because it has the germ of an idea I've been working on - and struggling with.  I am trying to launch a program, an action, a revolution: Citizen Sustainability. 

But let's look at the INFOGRAPHIC first - The title uses a Facebook iconic design with "Share Responsibility for the Planet", then a tag line of "Create a Network Effect on the Planet with small changes to your everyday behavior."

Network Effect.

The graphics say, for example, that "if every Twitter user shut down his or her computer for an hour, it would be like taking 9,1278 cars off the road for a year." There are more associations with YouTube, Facebook, etc. The piece calls for social media users to use their power in numbers to make small changes that the climate will feel in total.

Hmmm...more here of the germ I am trying to nurture -- with a cue from Citizen Science, I am going to get museums to create and measure their Sustainability Effects by fostering Citizen Sustainability.

Citizen Science and Citizen Sustainability take a Network Effect on the planet to the next level:

• Citizen Science aggregates the data to use for real discovery and for changes in practice
• Citizen Sustainability would aggregate the data, sharing it in real-time to broaden and deepen participation, and so museums can demonstrate their relevance and their positive impacts on their communities.

The American Association of Museums estimates 850 million people visit a museum in the United States each year. Just think what a Sustainability Effect museums could have if each visitor encountered a sustainability message and took it home with them:

• These solar panels help us generate enough energy to run the Planetarium for 45 days of the year
• We use air dryers to save trees and reduce landfill waste
• The mosaic in the entry hall was created by a local artist using glass and ceramics from landfills
• Filling your own water bottle from our new filling fountains reduces petroleum use for 600,000 plastic bottles every year
• Please help us reduce greenhouse gases and save energy and money: turn off the lights when you leave

And what if each visitor told the museum they filled a water bottle, they turned off the lights at home when they left the room and cut their energy use by 10,000 kWh in a year, or they kept 350 pounds of waste out of the landfill by composting and reusing materials? It would make a difference to the planet. And a museum could measure that.

What makes me think visitors would do this? 1) The public is fascinated with social media and other electronic means of collecting, accessing and sharing information, 2) Citizen engagement in science – data collection on plant and animal species in particular – is a successful format for harnessing the volunteer efforts of a nearly unlimited resource to support scientific work and shows signs of adaptability to this project, and 3) Many people would love to see their work associated with the work of museums.

This is an opportunity waiting to happen. Are museums going to go for it? Or miss their chance?

That INFOGRAPHIC ends with "What relationship do you see between social media and helping the planet? What can you do to make an impact? Let us know in the comments." 

This post is my comment on what the relationship could be.

And what can I do to make an impact? I can figure out how to make this Citizen Sustainability a reality. All I need is a social media partner, or two, and a team of museums to design and test this with me...write me: sarah@bmuse.net

What Will Be Your "Sustainability Effect"?

CAM's IGNITE: Museums as Catalysts for Sustainability

Last October the California Association of Museums hosted an all-day, multi-region conference for California Museums, friend and advocates interested in environmental sustainability. IGNITE: Museums as Catalysts for Sustainability was the first US program of its kind to have museums confront regional needs for engaging the public in sustainability work, and creating shared plans for fostering change.

They gathered to wrestle with these questions:

• What are the top environmental challenges for our region?
• Who is working to address these challenges?
• And how can museums be involved in the solutions?

Each of the six geographic regions of California came up with a 'local' take on these issues.  A few in particular excite me - the ones tackling big questions, and big challenges:

• Los Angeles/Santa Barbara asked themselves what were the greatest challenges?  and the answers, Water and Climate Change, showed them their path
• The Central Valley identified the 'what' that unites them all: the Pacific Flyway
• The Southland Deserts asked what would help interpret the differing definitions of sustainability: the Salton Sea

There were other big ideas, all with a framework to help the discussants gain control of an unlimited topic, of an unending task, of a constantly-evolving challenge. We tend to get caught up in lightbulbs and recycling resources. This is important to worry about, but so is the big picture. Sometimes you can solve the small issues more easily if you have a greater framework to bring energy and structure to your work.

Take a moment to read the IGNITE report and see what it can tell you about engaging your public in discussions about environmental sustainability. Then see what your public can help you learn about how to create a Sustainability Effect through your museum

And think big - what do you want your museum's difference to be? It might be small now and larger later, but what do you want it to be? Choose it; name it. If you don't you won't ever make it.