Brandeis Professor Sabine von Mering has lectured on climate change, published studies, and even translated a book on the topic. Her quest to continuously and creatively find ways to educate people about the climate crisis recently sparked an idea for an event closer to home — literally. On Oct. 2, she hosted what she coined “the first-ever climate driveway happy hour” just a few feet from her front door.
Von Mering had two goals to prepare for the driveway get-together. The first included painting her garage door with “climate stripes” (see showyourstripes.info) to serve as the event’s backdrop. The vertical stripes in various colors represent years and temperatures to illustrate the rapidly rising temperatures on our planet. Her second goal was creating flyers and inviting her neighbors to join her in the discussion. After finalizing the finishing touches on her paint job and bicycling around the neighborhood to hand out the invites, she was ready.
Von Mering said she was inspired to host the event because she recognizes the importance of connecting with her neighbors and getting to know them.
“We need to know each other when climate extremes happen,” said von Mering. “A lot of people don’t talk about climate change. They think the changes are far away or that we have time. Others are paralyzed by fear.”
In addition to painting the climate stripes, von Mering decorated the windows of the garage door.
“I had initially thought of adding more images of climate disasters in the windows, but people with whom I shared photos of the garage door said that it was missing something hopeful,” she said. “So I added slides with wind turbines, and a sailboat to show that humans have long been ingenious without fossil fuels, and also the photo of how to get involved with 350Mass. I plan to change the photos over time. In fact, I think I’ll definitely change them for Halloween!”
Guests included neighbors and some members and spouses of the 350Mass, an organization that focuses on climate change advocacy and action. One guest was Alison Parks, a member of the 350Mass node that von Mering belongs to. As she mingled, she noted that guests who were not normally accustomed to talking about climate change seemed interested and learned a lot about its effects on neighborhoods. She said a popular question circulating among the guests was, “When did you first hear about climate change?”
“Anytime you’re trying to bring someone into something new, you need to provide multiple chances for them to get acquainted with the topic and be comfortable talking about it,” said Park. “This is the kind of conversation you have to have over and over again. Things change so quickly.”
Luckily, von Mering intends to continue the conversation with others and hopes to host another driveway climate happy hour in the future. For now, her aim is to help educate others of all ages.
Von Mering is hoping to have lots of trick-or-treaters stop by her driveway on Halloween for a cup of hot cider and some scary climate facts.
