What can just one person do about climate change?
It’s a question Denver wants people to film themselves asking for “The One Effect,” a new, taxpayer-funded social media campaign designed to counter collective hopelessness rising alongside global temperatures.
Mayor Mike Johnston tried to get the virality ball rolling at a sweltering food truck event outside the Denver City and County Building on Wednesday. Staring into an iPad camera, he followed the campaign video script: “I’m just one person. What can I do about climate change all by myself?”
He repeated the question in Spanish, then asked whether he should offer his answer — biking and taking transit more often — as part of the video. (Nope: Answers will be submitted via a separate online form and posted to a city website.)
Then a marketing contractor slapped a fluorescent green sticker reading “I did something” on the mayor’s shirt.
The video collection effort is part of the Denver Climate Project, a larger $3 million effort to bolster support for local climate projects. Its initial phase plastered the city with ads last summer built around the tagline “Do more. Do less. Do something.” If anyone wasn’t sure what to do, a list included more than 70 ideas like composting or thrift shopping.
It’s an attempt to confront a moment of declining media coverage and political discussion about climate change. But with its branded Not Today, Apocalicks! ice cream and second-hand fashion line, Denver is trying to prove a local government can — and should — shape public opinion around climate action.
A controversial climate campaign
The latest iteration of the project swaps billboards for video testimonials, but it works under the same basic philosophy developed by Sukle Advertising, an award-winning Denver-based marketing firm.
By showing residents what their neighbors are already doing, the city hopes more individuals feel inspired to play their own small part. The more technical term for the approach is “social norming,” said Elizabeth Babcock, the director of Denver’s Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency office (CASR).
“There are a lot of efforts to water down support for climate action. There’s a lot of misinformation, disinformation shared by opponents of climate action. I think it is an important role of government to talk to the community about real problems and engage in conversations about hope and solutions,” Babcock said.
Babcock added the cost of the campaign represents a small portion of the revenue the city brings in through a sales tax approved by voters in 2020. The tax has generated roughly $243 million between 2021 and 2025, and the city is spending $3 million of that total on the overall media campaign.
Some critics, however, think the message misses the mark. Robert Greer, a local lawyer and member of the Denver Bicycle Lobby, said the city should reserve its climate funding to cut its own emissions, not put the onus back on residents already paying the tax.
“It just seems like a really weak attempt to browbeat citizens into doing stuff the city should make it easier to do,” Greer said.
To emphasize the point, Greer submitted his own video to The One Effect campaign. When asked what action he’ll take on climate change, he told the city he planned to continue to push the Johnston administration to improve and expand bike infrastructure.
The campaign launch comes weeks after Denver’s climate office released its latest annual report, which confirmed it remains far off track to meet its goal of eliminating its contribution to climate change by 2040. Denver’s first benchmark was to cut its emissions 40% below 2019 levels by 2025, but it only managed a 20% cut.
Joel Cox, an environmental consultant currently running for Denver City Council, said advertising helps if it directs residents to existing public programs, like Denver’s e-bike rebates. That’s part of the goal of the ongoing ad campaign.
“That’s great, but it is a little ironic since CASR itself could be doing more,” Cox said.
A deeper debate about climate communications
Beyond the specifics of city spending, Denver’s ad campaign invokes a far longer-running debate over the value of confronting climate change with individual action.
Climate activists are skeptical of the approach because it was embraced by the fossil fuel industry. In its own famous advertising campaign, BP popularized the idea of a “carbon footprint” to measure each person’s contribution to rising global temperatures. Critics today widely see the strategy as an attempt to deflect blame away from the oil and gas industry.
At the same time, Denver has at least partially done its climate communications homework, said Phaedra Pezzullo, the director of the Sustainability and Storytelling Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder. She said research shows that small individual actions often add up to more collective steps like voting or boycotts. Talking about those changes publicly can also inspire others, Pezzullo said.
With its recommended climate actions, Pezzullo said Denver could have done more to emphasize political action or shifting investment portfolios away from fossil fuels. While advocating for personal climate action might feel out of fashion, she still thinks it’s a worthwhile campaign.
“Right now, too many are in denial or have become fatalistic,” Pezzullo said. “Anyone trying to turn the tide towards a more sustainable future matters.”