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In a brilliant post on Grist last week——David Roberts put forward a Big Idea. A “Climate Thing,” he wrote, is “that one angle at which climate has intersected with [your] interests and caught [your] attention.”

Climate change in the abstract can be confusing and overwhelming. But our Climate Things make it real because we experience them personally. Climate Things are tangible, and they inspire us to act. For many of us at ̽����ѡ, birds are our Climate Thing. We see them lingering farther north in the winter; we see them nesting in new places. Our science shows that nearly half of North America’s , and many could go extinct if global warming continues at its current pace. We and our members think that’s unacceptable, and we’re .

So today, we’re launching a social media campaign: What is your #ClimateThing? We want to hear what matters to you and what you are doing about it. Tweet about it, write about it on Tumblr or Facebook, post a photo to Instagram or a video to Vine showing the world your #ClimateThing. Use the hashtag and celebrate what you love, what you’re fighting to save.

We asked a bunch of ̽����ѡ staffers to name their #ClimateThing, and here’s what happened:

What happens if each of us names, celebrates, and fights for our #ClimateThing? Maybe we break the cycle of cynicism and inaction that seems to take hold in the face of global warming. Maybe we won’t feel so alone and powerless. Maybe we’ll make real change.

David Roberts :

“That’s what a powerful social response to climate change would look like: as many people as possible working on their passions in a way that is oriented in the direction of climate mitigation or adaptation. … Everybody needs a Climate Thing, a close-by proxy through which they can express their climate concern in a way that has local effects and tangible rewards. It is these proxies, these rich anchors in our lived experience of nature and culture, that inspire us.”

Every day, we’re seeing the difference that having a #ClimateThing makes. ̽����ѡ members in Washington state visit their legislators to push for laws that protect birds of the Pacific Northwest. In North Carolina, we’re building nest boxes to help the climate-threatened Brown-headed Nuthatch and other birds. The massive migration of the Sandhill Crane has become a rallying point for conservation in a rapidly warming Great Plains ecosystem.

Clean drinking water is a #ClimateThing. Kids’ lungs are a #ClimateThing. Environmental justice, disease prevention, food security, economic mobility, family homes, beaches, ski slopes, vineyards, forests, whales, bats, butterflies, and salamanders–each of these is a #ClimateThing.

What is yours?

Celebrate what you love by putting your story on social media with the hashtag #ClimateThing.

Here are some of the best responses from Twitter so far:

Our children and future generations are our . What's yours?

— Moms Clean Air Force (@CleanAirMoms)

I want to travel to Antarctica with my son . I’d like it to be there. What’s YOUR ?

— Mike Monteiro (@monteiro)

My is beautiful Harlequin Ducks that frequent Barnegat Lighthouse during 's winter

— SustainADana (@SustainADana)

The health of migratory birds, such as Barn Swallows are my

— Trill deGrasse Tyson (@JasonWardNY)

What’s your ? Ours=good health. Join the conversation & share what you want to save from :

— Climate & Health (@GCHAlliance)

A majestic Blue Jay is my

— Pete Hemlock (@petehemlock)

Air. Water. Food. All important things affected by climate change. What is your ?

— Nature Conservancy (@nature_org)

My kids are my

— Eric Pooley (@EricPooley)

What's your ? Here's ours! Learn more from the .:

— Catholic Climate (@CatholicClimate)

My niece is my

— Birder K (@Birder_Katie)

David J. Ringer is ̽����ѡ's Director of Messaging. Lynsy Smithson-Stanley is ̽����ѡ's Deputy Director of Climate and Strategic Initiatives.