Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd every year.  I thought it would be fitting to make a post about how kawaii culture can play a role in helping the environment. Sora Bears, also known as Solar Bears, are characters that are playing a role in helping the environment.

Their Story
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=191266867569509
Far away at the North Pole lives two polar bear brothers. The older one is named Bea and the younger one is named Sora. Bea and Sora are crying because they were separated from their mother after the melting ice cap led to gaps in the ice caused by the rising temperature of the Earth’s surface. They are determined to find their mother one day so that they can live together as a family again.

I am not sure if the story accurately describes the issue that polar bears face because of global warming. I watched a video on global warming that mentioned how polar bears are affected by the melting of the ice. Polar bears need the ice in order to hunt for their food so the melting of the ice makes it much more difficult for them to survive. However, this story is written for children so the separation of a family would probably communicate to them more effectively.

The Sora Bear Fund is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote the spread of renewable energy. Their mission is to develop activities to educate people about the environment and renewable energy in order to deal with the problem of global warming. I think it is a good organization because I believe that bringing awareness about the environment and educating people can really help the environment. I think it is a great idea that they focus on educating young children because it will allow them to develop environmentally friendly habits that they could possibly continue as they grow up.

Sora Bears was designed by Shinzi Katoh and there products created from these characters. Sora Bear items can be purchased from his website and a few other shops but small percentage of the sales will be donated to the Sora Bear Fund. I did not know anything about these characters when I first bought items of these characters. I bought them because I thought the characters were cute and interesting. I did not even know the name of the characters but I would often wonder why the bears were crying. When I found out about Sora Bears it made me really glad that I was able to get them. I have bought a few more Sora Bear items since then but the items are rare and may be a little expensive. I love cute things but I love cute things even more when there is some kind of meaning or story behind it.

The use of cute characters with a meaningful story can grab people’s attention and raise awareness about issues. Bea and Sora also go around to places and their outfits catches the attention of people. They are appealing to people because there are people that want to touch them and take pictures with them. There is a statue of Sora Bears in Tokyo, Japan and it would be a great to visit it. Their tears light up! I hope their story will encourage people to support and help the environment.

I think everyone can do something to help the environment. Even small things such as turning off the water when you are not using it, disposing your garbage properly, and using less plastic can help.

A little change can make a difference. ^O^V