Daniel Lüscher, a pilot and father of a young daughter at the time, regularly flew over the Arctic and noticed a significant change:

“I saw the pack ice beneath me melting like soft ice in the summer sun. And I thought someone should really do something about it.”

After seeing Al Gore’s film «An Inconvenient Truth» in a New York cinema, he decided to take action.

Haphazard but strong-willed, Daniel Lüscher drummed up a few friends back in Switzerland. Within two weeks, they had raised enough money to show Al Gore’s climate film free of charge in Winterthur cinemas for 1 week. There were up to four screenings a day, and each one sold out. Even the Kiwi Cinema in Winterthur was packed, something not even a James Bond movie has ever managed to do! In that 1 week, over 15,000 people watched the movie.

Soon the model spread to Schaffhausen and Zug, where the idea of “free cinema days” was adopted. In the end, more than 30,000 people saw the film and were shaken up. Many of them then signed up as volunteers and wanted to help. This marked the birth of the MYBLUEPLANET climate protection movement, an initiative for citizens who want to contribute to climate protection in their own lives.

Climate change topped the worry barometer in Switzerland for the first time. Unfortunately, this was not a lasting concern, as it was overtaken again towards the end of the year by unemployment, pensions and healthcare.

The focus was on the terms:

POSITIVE – LOCAL – CONCRETE – IMPACT.

Karin Witschi and Kai Pulfer join MYBLUEPLANET as volunteers. The organisation now not only needs a concept, but also a post office box and, above all, a homepage in order to be legally capable of acting.

Andreas Reinhart from the Volkart Foundation was prepared to provide CHF 150,000 over a three-year period as start-up funding for an office.

However, this is conditional on a business plan. This was drawn up by Karin Witschi and Simone Hochstrasser in record time. The office was up and running.

MYBLUEPLANET launched a major poster campaign on Winterthur’s city buses. Every month for a year, a new poster on a climate and environmental protection topic was displayed on the buses. The slogans made people think and flyers encouraged bus passengers to take action.

The project was still quite slow. The volunteers sacrificed a lot of time and fought for topics, production and, above all, for the financing of each poster.

However, thanks to the support of Winterthur SMEs and private individuals, it was a success. For the first time, the public in Winterthur really became aware of MYBLUEPLANET and the issue of climate protection.

Now things gained traction, ideas just bubbled over and new volunteers joined in.

The trees were to be a visible and lasting symbol of the MYBLUEPLANET projects. For each idea that was realized, a tree was planted on Mattenweg in Winterthur with a notice board.

With the planting of the first three trees, this quickly became a viable path to success for climate protection. The MyBlueTree tree planting project was born.

On 29 March 2007, MYBLUEPLANET, together with 45 companies, distributed over 1,000 DVDs of the film «An Inconvenient Truth» to the people of Winterthur.

The aim is to pass on the DVDs after watching the film in order to increase distribution. Some will be tracked via Google Maps to document where and how often the DVD has been watched.

At the same time, all sixth form schools received a DVD free of charge. First in the Winterthur area, then in the entire canton of Zurich.

This project gave rise to the spin-off association «Films for the Earth», which promotes the idea of climate protection nationally and internationally through films and festivals.

Not only the city of Winterthur with its population and politicians, but also the scientific community should work side by side with MYBLUEPLANET in favour of climate protection.

Following its successes to date, MYBLUEPLANET wanted the city and politicians to increasingly support the new climate protection movement.

Thanks to Claudia Kaspar, science has now joined them as the third in the group. In cooperation with the ZHAW, she organised a project competition for students in the field of applied climate/environmental protection. Four theses were to be supported and the best work honoured with a sponsorship award.

The aim was to involve young academics in the practical development of sustainable climate protection measures that can be implemented in the short term and are widely applicable.

In a second project phase between 2008 and 2012, the project was also to be transferred to other Swiss universities of applied sciences and universities.

The SGES/SDG Prize, which still exists in 2024, was created as a lasting consequence of this ZHAW sponsorship award.

Migros was one of the first companies to show that it takes environmental and social concerns seriously. The company voluntarily released employees on a temporary basis for project or business work in climate protection.

Experience has shown that these training programmes broaden employees’ horizons and promote social skills and teamwork.

Migros is not the only company to have stuck with the programme. Around 40 companies a year now take advantage of this opportunity to actively engage their employees.

In addition to smaller campaigns such as the climate balloon, the Turbenthal energy bazaar, participation in the bluetech trade fair in Winterthur and the blue Sami lice, the foundation stone for the climate workshop was laid this year.

The «energie bewegt winterthur» association, founded in collaboration with the ZHAW and the city, is an association of business, science, the public sector and committed individuals and is now an important player in the sustainable development of the city and region of Winterthur.

The BIKE4CAR.CH project marked the start of a major project that had been running successfully for years. As part of the campaign, car drivers were able to hand in their car keys to try out an electric bike free of charge for a fortnight.

Supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy and actively promoted by Coop, the project has been a lasting success and made MYBLUEPLANET instantly recognised nationwide, as far away as Geneva and Ticino.

Cooperation with French-speaking Switzerland took place for the first time. MYBLUEPLANET is present at the Ethical Fashion Days in Geneva and at the Festival de la terre in Lausanne, where the new Romandie hub was also created.

The busy year 2010 also brought the Swiss Zerotracer racing car to Winterthur for the Zero Emission Race around the globe.

The Jetzt eins aufs Dach project with the aim of building 1,000 new solar roofs in the region, a mobility day in Wädenswil, another climate workshop and participation in the Zurich Multimobil festival were also among the activities.

Our blue Kläuse first planted a climate tree at the 2 degrees exhibition in Basel and then distributed Merci gingerbread in Winterthur, Aarau and Zimmerberg.

For the first time in Winterthur, around 80 representatives of local organisations, associations, NGOs, education, culture, the city administration and committed individuals developed joint ideas and fields of action on global warming, energy and sustainable development in the «Aufbruch zur Energiewende» future workshop.

The climate workshop evolved into the ClimateLab project. The first concrete action within this framework took place in Marthalen, where the topics of bio-gas and wind power took centre stage.

The ClimateLab workshops provide learners with important background knowledge on the topics of climate protection and project management. They also encourage them to think for themselves, develop ideas and implement them. ClimateLab is a sustainable and successful core project of MYBLUEPLANET, as so many ideas flow back into the companies.

BIKE4CAR.CH is starting up in Wädenswil and an SBB Thurbo for eastern Switzerland is now travelling with the MYBLUEPLANET logo and a widely visible message.

Expansion of the officeThe office was expanded to ten people and 100 new volunteers and many new partners joined the organisation.

Every kilo counts focused on various monthly topics such as water, nutrition, mobility and holidays. The paperless office was also implemented directly at the MYBLUEPLANET office.

This resulted in the Climate Actions app «Become a Climate Hero» and ClimateActions 4 Companies, an advisory service with an implementation plan for SMEs to reduce greenhouse gases to net zero.

Every cell Counts helped schools install solar panels on their roofs. Thanks to crowdfunding and the active help of students, the first of many more solar roofs was installed at Rychenberg secondary school.

This project evolved into the Climate School program, a four-year educational program on climate change and sustainability. Upon completion and fulfilment of ten defined criteria, the schools receive the «Climate School» label as an award for special commitment to climate protection.

The third major project took place for the first time in September thanks to generous sponsorship from the city of Winterthur. The Climate Community.

Private organisations were able to submit specific projects for climate protection. Citizens then vote in a public referendum, just like at a regional assembly, to decide which project will be awarded the contract and thus receive funding of CHF 10,000 for implementation.

The sustainable projects are selected from the four annual Landsgemeinden: Wiederverwerkle for upcycling wood and metal, Bare Ware for shopping without containers, Restessbar.ch for distributing unused food free of charge, and Give&Take for swapping instead of throwing away many everyday items.

Beni Turnheer also got himself a bike from BIKE4CAR.CH. Two bluecamps were also organised and MYBLUEPLANET was represented at the Energy and Climate Summit in Bern. And the blue Kläuse were also out and about again on blueday in December.

Following the development of the three major, time-consuming projects, the focus in 2013 was on consolidation. Existing programmes were expanded, broadened and improved. In particular, more bluecamps were organised.

Google was the first global player to take part in the corporate volunteering project and helped to maintain and refresh the idea trail with numerous trees.

At the Switching Days, citizens were able to find out how they can make the composition of their electricity more climate-friendly. Supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, an attractive special programme with films and panel discussions on the topic of renewable energies took place at the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne, the Umweltarena Spreitenbach and Kindercity Volketswil.

In addition, Jass for the Climate, led by SRF Samschtig-Jass referee Dani Müller, showed that innovation and down-to-earthness can complement each other perfectly.

Hazel Brugger was there at our New Year’s drinks reception!

We forged valuable relationships with Freitag, the City of Zurich, Maag Recycling and the WWF – because we all love the planet.

To this day, our large network is the cornerstone of our success.

MYBLUEPLANET distributed plants for joyful gardening on balconies and a real milestone project was launched with the Energy Challenge in Zurich in collaboration with Energie Schweiz.

At Zurich main station, many people – including Sara Meier and the rapper Stress – pedalled around on stationary bikes to enable the celebrities to make coffee, blow-dry their hair or vacuum clean in a living box.

BIKE4CAR.CH will then be active in almost all Energy Challenge cities. After Zurich, it will also be active in Neuchâtel, Montreux, Aarau and Basel. Marco Fritsche, Heidi Happy and Gilbert Gress are also actively supporting the campaign, along with many others.

The open day gave all interested parties an insight into the office and the work of MYBLUEPLANET.

Many apprentices took part in the «Every lap counts» sponsored run in Zurich’s Letzigrund stadium, thus making it possible to build a solar roof in Bangladesh.

The first Give&Take house for exchanging everyday items was inaugurated.

Another solar installation was inaugurated in Utenberg LU. In addition to traditional events such as Jassen fürs Klima and blueday, we launched the MyBlueTree project “We’re planting 1,000 trees” at the Swiss Green Economy Symposium.

A busy and very successful year comes to an end.

MYBLUEPLANET celebrated its 10th anniversary. Among others, the newly crowned Miss Earth Switzerland Sarah Laura Peyrel was also present. She then took part in the MyBlueTree distribution campaign at the WOHGA and other projects. These were once again numerous. In addition to the usual suspects such as workshops, BIKE4CAR.CH, bluecamps, Jassen fürs Klima and blueday, there were also premieres such as the Klimamenu project.

With the «Less is More Award», MYBLUEPLANET is supporting young filmmakers from German-speaking countries for the first time in 2017 in the production of a short promotional film on the topic of sufficiency.

And at the Zurich Film Festival, Al Gore is there in person to present his new film “An Inconvenient Sequel”. As a highlight, Al Gore personally greeted Daniel Lüscher on stage and this led to a collaboration between MYBLUEPLANET and Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, which continues to this day.

In collaboration with Disney and the WWF, MYBLUEPLANET invited people to the previews of the film in 8 Swiss cities at a special price of CHF 10. Including special information and offers from MYBLUEPLANET and the WWF.

The new year has already started with another highlight. With winters getting warmer and warmer, MYBLUEPLANET managed to convince the ski resorts of Arosa, Laax, Lenzerheide, Saas Fee and St. Moritz to switch to 100% renewable energy. The «I am pro snow» project is a complete success and is also fully supported by the skiers.

As the fun should not be missing, members of the Swiss Ski Team are building an ice stupa (hut) in Saas Fee.

The world’s largest e-mobility rally started in Winterthur. A team from MYBLUEPLANET set off on a tour of Switzerland in an eye-catching e-mobile to publicise the mybluecard charging card with green electricity certificate. Clean charging – clean driving.

The list of ongoing projects such as bluecamps, SGES, Stewi-Parade and co. is getting longer and longer. This year, they will be supplemented by an appearance on World Water Day, an Easter basket campaign organised by Agrotourism, a seed distribution campaign in Zurich and a video on the topic of food waste.

The UG Phone, a mobile phone with a crank for charging, is a virtual concept that encourages people to think about consumer behaviour when buying a mobile phone.

Sabrina Herold took over the management of MYBLUEPLANET in Winterthur. Together with the twelve-strong team at the head office and 240 active volunteers, the climate protection movement should continue to grow successfully.

24 teams from Germany, Switzerland and Austria submitted a 40-second advert on the subject of repairing to win the «LESS IS MORE» short film award of CHF 2,000 from MYBLUEPLANET.

Fridays for Future was the dominant phenomenon of the hour and demonstrated young people’s commitment to climate protection. MYBLUEPLANET launched the new Climate School programme.

An educational programme that aims to integrate the topics of climate protection and sustainability into everyday school life in Switzerland in an action- and experience-oriented way. Schools that are particularly committed to climate protection will receive the Climate School label in future.

A climate hotline provided free daily information for individuals, SMEs and ski resorts on the implementation of specific climate measures.

Cornelia Stettler and Marie-Claire Graf, who have been involved with the organisation for some time, are new to the board. Daniel Lüscher, President of the association, sees the fact that Graf has joined the Board as an opportunity to reach more young people with MYBLUEPLANET’s commitment:

“With Marie-Claire, we are delighted not only to have a young representative of climate protection on the board, but also one who is so authentic and enjoys a great reputation throughout Switzerland for her commitment.”

Graf is a key part of the Swiss climate strike movement and represented Switzerland at the United Nations Youth Climate Summit in New York in 2019.

The association can look back on a successful 2019 financial year: the MYBLUEPLANET Climate School programme has saved 4,242 tonnes of CO2 since 2012 by building solar panels on the roofs of school buildings. There are now 23 schools and more than 6,000 pupils across Switzerland actively involved in the programme. In 2019, the programme had a media reach of around 6 million and triggered investments with a total value of CHF 3 million. The association once again presented a balanced account for 2019. The commitment of volunteers was also pleasing: In 2019, they supported the association with 14,000 volunteer hours.

Despite strong planning for 2020, the pandemic delayed the realisation of many of MYBLUEPLANET’s commitments. In order to ease the financial burden on the association, the Volkart Foundation therefore decided early on to also award an operating contribution for 2021 and 2022. It justified this with the long-term orientation of MYBLUEPLANET and the successful work of the organisation over the past decade.

MYBLUEPLANET has grown steadily. In order to further promote growth and raise awareness of our valuable work, the team is being expanded with permanent fundraising, communications, admin and IT positions. The project managers now have their backs free to concentrate fully on their core work.

MYBLUEPLANET now manages ten active climate protection programmes and projects:

• Climate School
• ClimateLab
• ClimateActions App
• ClimateActions 4 Companies
• SolarAction
• Give&Take
• MyBlueTree
• ClimateFood
• Corporate Volunteering