This weekend the world witnessed the first global environmental event of the century, Live Earth. While the majority of attention was paid to musical performances, celebrities, and Al Gore’s decision to greet the Tokyo crowd as a hologram (yes, literally), the true purpose of all these bells and whistles was to simply communicate how people can reduce their environmental impact.

And let’s remember, there was more to Live Earth than what happened on-stage. The show sparked over 10,000 local events throughout the world, which were all held in support of the concert and to promote climate change awareness. Here in Toronto, for example, organizers of the Green Streetfest closed a portion of Yonge, one of the city’s busiest streets, to broadcast Live Earth on a giant LED screen and showcase green products and services available from Toronto-based groups and businesses.

We were there, manning the Zerofootprint booth, and couldn’t help but be struck by the wide range of attendees who took the time to walk by and ask serious questions about their environmental impact. Some were veteran conservationists, explaining that their small footprint came from living in a time of poverty or war where waste was simply not a possibility. Others were new to the idea of sustainability, and were just learning how small switches like installing compact fluorescents could make a big difference.

These local events help remind us that Live Earth was not just about rock, glitz and glam, high-tech gadgetry, and A-list celebrity appearances. It was about getting people all over – on the street, at home, or at the concert – to stop and think about climate change and about what they could to do, on an individual level, to reduce our global footprint.

Open image by Lancey [http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancey/755914511/] and used under the aegis of a Creative Commons license.