About

Taming Bigfoot was conceived by the Climate Action Outreach Group, a diverse group of environmental activists, educators and scientists, based in Jefferson County, Washington. A sub-group of the non-profit collective Local 20/20, this committee sought to address the questions most often heard by attendees of local climate outreach events: “what can I do to counter ongoing climate change?” and “how do I know that what I do actually makes a difference?”. What emerged was a participatory program that sought to engage as many parts of the local community (residents, businesses, public utilities, media and governing groups) as possible, be appealing, educational and enjoyable for the participants, and also effective in actually reducing carbon emissions.

Much of autumn 2015 was spent by the half-dozen organizers in defining and executing the myriad details for the inaugural competition. Endorsements were sought from the local governing bodies, sponsorships of products to be used as prizes were collected from local businesses, the all-important carbon footprint calculator was generated from numerous web resources and a recent local energy inventory. A hallmark of the competition was the idea that individuals would form teams so that there individuals were judged on the basis of their team’s performance, rather than individual effort. This led to a heightened element of cooperation, which emphasized the “common good” characteristic of a sustainable future and minimized the daunting “it’s me against the world” feeling so often responsible for paralyzing individual or local efforts.

The first Taming Bigfoot Kick-Off on January 11, 2016 launched the program with 15 teams of 7 people each, an astonishingly large participation for a rural county of about 30,000. The program proceeded with very few glitches to a successful final Awards Celebration appropriately scheduled on Earth Day 2016 where Sasquatch him(?)self helped pass out the awards. In sharing their experiences, participants made it clear that the competition had been an enjoyable, educational and effective activity. The community had, indeed, been empowered.

Word of the success of Taming Bigfoot began to spread and it was not long before representatives of climate-concerned groups beyond Jefferson County were inquiring about the possibilities of running a similar competition in their home communities. This interest has led to Taming Bigfoot competitions being held in early 2018 and the development of this web site and the associated mobile apps, to support those competitions. It is hoped that these online tools will enhance the experience for the new participants. Ultimately, the vision is that this digital platform will enable an even broader dissemination of the original Taming Bigfoot objective that empowers communities to work toward a more sustainable future through an activity that remains, educational, enjoyable and effective.

Taming Bigfoot is a product of Local 20/20, Jefferson County, WA. All Rights Reserved.

Taming Bigfoot software is developed by and licensed through Puddlehop LLC, Seattle, WA. All Rights Reserved.