WWF-Canada and Loblaw to Raise Awareness about Climate Change in National Sweater Day

The second annual National Sweater Day - a WWF-Canada campaign, presented by Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) - will take place February 9th and is expected to engage thousands, predominantly through school and workplace activities. The campaign is meant to educate and motivate Canadians on the issue of Climate Change; specifically, how individual actions can help reduce energy use at work, school and home. The message is simple: wear a sweater and lower the thermostat. "If every Canadian turned down their thermostat by two degrees Celsius [35.6 Fahrenheit] each winter, 2.2 mega-tonnes of carbon dioxide could be saved every year - equivalent to taking 350,000 cars off the road," writes Hadley Archer, WWF's VP Strategic Partnerships and Development.

In 2011, National Sweater Day had approximately 500,000 Canadian participants, a noteworthy achievement for its first year. Loblaw - Canada's largest food retailer - had over 400 of its grocery stores participate by engaging both employees and customers. WWF's Climate Savers program for business also helped drive participation numbers in workplaces.

This year's campaign has a focused theme - grandma. A playful creative take on a nagging grandmother wanting her sweater gift to be worn. While fun, it is also a smart theme as it has a meaningful reference: "there is a strong showing that energy conservation is almost a lost art," says Josh Laughren, Director of Climate and Energy at WWF. "Previous generations had to exercise energy conservation and did it intuitively." Speaking from his Toronto office, Mr. Laughren observed that people understand the campaign is not about the day or the hour - referencing WWF International's Earth Hour campaign - but rather a personal commitment and a call to action on climate change. "The individual action is really important not because we'll solve the climate change problem, but because the only way we are going to drive action by government and business is by demonstrating constituent change - demanding to see action by our government and business leaders. That's what Sweater Day and Earth Hour is all about. Creating a constituency for change."

WWF and Loblaw have worked in partnership since 2009, primarily on sustainably sourced seafood. National Sweater Day is supported through partial proceeds from Loblaw's national Charge-for-Plastic-Bags program, which has successfully reduced over 2 billion plastic bags in stores since 2007. In a statement, Bob Chant, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communication at Loblaw notes, "Sweater Day is a great way for us to remind our colleagues, customers and all Canadians about the positive impact of collective action. Whether it's reducing our electricity use with energy-efficient lighting, improving our refrigeration systems or doing small things like turning down our thermostats, together we are taking steps in the right direction for our environment."

And while winter temperatures have been warmer than usual in most parts of Canada, February 9th may still be cold enough to don on a sweater, lower the thermostat and remember why even simple actions, when multiplied, can really make a difference.

Photo courtesy of WWF-Canada