Where in the world are you?
Wellington, New Zealand What do you do in the world? Recent MSc graduate, studying atmospheric chemistry (now public sector bro working in mental health regulation). In one sentence, what is climate change? Perturbation of the earths climate system due to the unabated rise in anthropogenic-driven fossil fuel emissions. How does climate change affect your life? Aside from working in climate science; it is something I actively advocate for and educate others on. In terms of true physical effects, that is something future generations will feel the full brunt of (..why we need to act now). What do you feel you can do about it? Share my own knowledge to those with less of an understanding of the issue, making people realise everyone contributes in some way. Do you feel there is more you could do? If so, what is stopping you from doing those things? I am trying to learn how to communicate complicated scientific knowledge in a way that is more accessible - which is the most I feel I can personally do. What's your favourite Sunday afternoon activity? Going for a hike, getting a take away coffee (in my keep cup) and then going to the veggie market for the week's haul and getting a falafel wrap. Extra for experts: Do you remember how you first became active in climate change? Was there something specific that triggered you to act? How old were you then? How old are you now? I have always been very aware of environmental issues due to the influence of my greeny parents but it wasn't until my first year of uni (studying geology) where it became more apparent that not everyone cares about these issues, which triggered me to want to learn more and try and communicate what I felt to be extremely important to others. Where in the world are you?
Wellington, New Zealand What do you do in the world? Trainer In one sentence, what is climate change? The changing of weather systems due global warming. How does climate change affect your life? By making me worry. What do you feel you can do about it? Just my own little attempts to limit my impact on the world. Do you feel there is more you could do? If so, what is stopping you from doing those things? Joining an environmental group ... just deciding which one. What's your favourite Sunday afternoon activity? Falling asleep reading a book under a cat. Extra for experts: Do you remember how you first became active in climate change? Was there something specific that triggered you to act? How old were you then? How old are you now? Joined Greenpeace when 15 but climate change was only a part of the story. Now 52. Free space: write anything you like, nothing at all, or ask us a question The world seems to be currently going through one of its periodic swings to thinking there are easy answers to problems. Whilst scary in itself (the rise of the far right) this is particularly depressing when thinking about how to engage people in the non-easy problems of climate change. Where in the world are you?
Wellington, New Zealand What do you do in the world? I run my own non-profit organisation/blog called Saving 2050 that's dedicated to sharing practical information about sustainable lifestyles. I am also the director of Shut Up & Dance, which is a relaxed dance class that falls in the health and fitness industry. I am an actress and freelance designer. In one sentence, what is climate change? Climate change is a change in global and/or regional climate patterns that has the potential to compromise earth's delicate ecosystem. How does climate change affect your life? Climate change affects my life practically through drastic changes in weather and emotionally when I see that the lifestyles of certain species are being compromised. What do you feel you can do about it? Foster supportive environments for people to discuss climate change, in order to understand it. I can run initiatives and campaigns to increase awareness with the ultimate goal of making sustainable living the easiest way to live (rather than a challenge, as many people find it can be). Do you feel there is more you could do? If so, what is stopping you from doing those things? Yes I do feel there is more I could do. Bureaucracy and a lack of environmentally inspired policy implementation combined makes it challenging to feel like you're making a difference on both an individual and national level. What's your favourite Sunday afternoon activity? Spending time catching up with friends or family; a walk, swim, coffee... Extra for experts: Do you remember how you first became active in climate change? Was there something specific that triggered you to act? How old were you then? How old are you now? I remember asking a vegetarian friend why she didn't eat meat and she told me that as well as animal rights being a precursor in her decision, the environment was suffering as a result of the increasing amount of meat humans consume annually. Where in the world are you? Wellington, at the moment. What do you do in the world? I try to be an inspirer of thought and positive action (I'm taking a break from science) In one sentence, what is climate change? Climate change is a forgetting, a disconnection, a disease of modern culture. How does climate change affect your life? The same way it effects everybody's life, what that means for my future I will only know as time goes on. It makes me think twice about having children. What do you feel you can do about it? Try to learn how to adapt, communicate the issue to people, look to solutions. Try to reduce apathy and increase empathy. Do you feel there is more you could do? If so, what is stopping you from doing those things? Fear is often a limiting factor, not having the money or the time to do more. If I could give up needing to make money and travel the world on my bike trying to educate, help and learn then I would... and I still might. What's your favourite Sunday afternoon activity? I have too many. Free space: write anything you like, nothing at all, or ask us a question I really believe we have just forgotten. There is a huge reconnection that needs to happen, to ourselves, to the other and to this planet. I think it's starting to happen but it's slow. People aren't willing to be inconvenienced... They will still fly and drive, yet talk about climate change without even seeing the hypocrisy in their words.... The more we shift the lens, the focus, to ourselves and our actions, and as we strip away the outer and look at our true intentions and why they're there, the better. We have to step into the uncomfortable truth of what we have become. Recently Jen met KaiCycle...KaiCycle is a bike-powered food scrap collection service. Their cyclists collect food waste from residents and businesses in the Wellington CBD and compost it, turning it from waste back into a resource. How did you start working with KaiCycle? When I first moved to Wellington I found myself living in a flat of "eco-conscious vegetarians" yet we were throwing all of our food scraps away. It actually physically pained me to do this. I was so upset, I just wanted to get on my bike and ride it to a local community garden. I had seen such bike powered food waste collection services start up around the world and I thought, why not Wellington?! So, I had an idea to start one. As luck would have it, someone had already had the idea. I was keen to get involved, however, I couldn't quite find much information. At the time I was working for Kaibosh and it so happened that one particular Monday night I came across a group of people in the front meeting space... I was like: "URMMM, hello?" And they were all like: "Oh we are from KaiCycle and workerBe, the Newtown urban farm". Well, if that wasn't a sign from the universe! So I sat my bum down and I haven't left yet. What does KaiCycle mean to you? To me KaiCycle is group of people working hard towards something bigger than themselves. For little or no financial gain but for the greater good of a connected, healthy and resilient community! It's amazing to be involved with an organisation trying to make grassroots change - one that is tackling important issues such as food waste, lowering carbon emissions, and local food provision. To be involved with people who understand the importance of soil and the beauty of worms. To be involved with people who wholeheartedly care about change. I mean it's not easy, so much time goes into these projects and most of us have other jobs too. We exist in a time of change and people involved in organisation like ours have to put in a lot of work. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes you want to give up, and sometimes you wish you could get everyone to care all at once. But we keep on going. KaiCycle, a link in the chain. KaiCycle is an important link our urban food system chain. We don't just compost your waste, we use your waste and recycle it into more food. We are food recyclers. Lots of residents and businesses in Wellington don't have access to composting facilities and we think they should. 30% of all Wellingtons kerbside collection is organic matter, which means it's recyclable. And more than that, it can make compost that can make food. Plus organic matter in landfill = methane... which is not so great for climate change. We have a sister called workerBe oasis, an urban farm in Newtown. Our farm uses permaculture and bio-intensive farming methods and we do our best to use only organic seed. We are serious about delivering nutrient-dense food to the people of Wellington. When we say the people of Wellington we mean the people of Wellington - half of the produce we make goes to Kaibosh who distribute this local, fresh, and real food to charities in the region. Jen's looking after comms, PR, and resident clown work at the KaiCycle headquarters, which is currently outside at an urban food farm in Newtown. KaiCycle were selected for the Low Carbon Challenge, a Wellington City Council and Enspiral-run accelerator for social enterprises. KaiCycle are running a crowd-funding campaign to raise money to build a shelter to provide a home for their bikes and community workshops.
You can sign up for their food waste collection service, or donate to their PledgeMe campaign at the links below. The Low Carbon Challenge will match their funding, so any money you contribute is doubly awesome. Where in the world are you?
Wellington, New Zealand What do you do in the world? I enjoy myself and take up space. I think a lot about climate change, so much so that I co-founded Social Climate with Nat. In one sentence, what is climate change? Climate change is the long term change of climate due to human activity, and the biggest challenge we'll face as a species. How does climate change affect your life? Climate change has a huge effect on my life. Firstly, I think about climate change and sustainability all the time. I put a lot of energy and time into it. Secondly, I consider climate change when making major life decisions, and I suspect I will do for the rest of my life. I don't think these things are inherently negative, they're just there. What do you feel you can do about it? I feel quite empowered! I feel so encouraged and excited by the people around me, active and doing good work already. Everyone has skills that they can contribute which I find so inspiring. My passion is food. To me, food is happiness, health and security. Food is also the source of our highest green house gas emissions as individuals*. I want to increase food sustainability and explore all the ways we can make a difference in climate change from the ground up. I feel like people are the answer, and that we can solve climate change by working together. Do you feel there is more you could do? If so, what is stopping you from doing those things? I feel like there is always more that I can do! What is stopping me right now? Hours in the day perhaps? What's your favourite Sunday afternoon activity? I like quiet Sunday afternoons. A cup of tea and working on sustainability projects/ideas is my jam. Do you remember how you first became active in climate change? Was there something specific that triggered you to act? How old were you then? How old are you now? I was about 16 or 17 years old when my chemistry teacher gave me a copy of 'An Inconvenient Truth' on DVD. I watched this at home and remember feeling so amazed and frustrated and scared all at once. I wanted to do something, something real. I didn't want to buy an eco light bulb. I'm 27 now and I have moments every few months where the enormity and urgency of climate change hits me. This is usually when I learn something new that allows me to comprehend climate change in a new way. *Based on stats for the average NZ household Where in the world are you?
Wellington, New Zealand What do you do in the world? Analyst helping drive large change. In one sentence, what is climate change? Each day, month, year will be a roll of the dice; with rising seas and a redistribution of water, food and prosperity, we will no longer be able to plan our own destiny. How does climate change affect your life? It stimulates anxiety and passion. What do you feel you can do about it? I'm positive that we can overcome the worst of climate change; it's not a technology problem but a people problem, and I can help to be the change we need. Do you feel there is more you could do? If so, what is stopping you from doing those things? Yes - a need to lead a balanced life in a world that isn't focused on climate change. What's your favourite Sunday afternoon activity? Exploring the hills. Extra for experts: Do you remember how you first became active in climate change? Was there something specific that triggered you to act? How old were you then? How old are you now? I was 16 and wanted to date a keen climate activist. It was the right thing for the wrong reason! I'm 25 now. Where in the world are you?
Wellington, NZ What do you do in the world? Environmental scientist and behaviour changer In one sentence, what is climate change? The response to human hubris and the belief that we can subjugate nature and the laws of thermodynamics by blindly following the fantasy of unlimited economic growth in a resource-constrained world. How does climate change affect your life? I am a coral reef scientist by training and my favourite things, namely marine creatures, are under threat of going extinct. This makes me unbelievably depressed, angry and sad especially seeing us biologists have warned of this happening for 20 years and totally foresaw it to be particularly bad in this year's El Niño. There is a new disorder recognised called 'pre-traumatic stress disorder' and it affects environmental and climate scientists who have foreseen this catastrophe but have been ignored or even vilified for it. What do you feel you can do about it? Continue to fight with my expertise as an environmental scientist and behaviour changer. I lead a global research project on how to change Behaviour Changers' behaviours. I believe that is one important step we need to make to create the systemic change that is needed. Do you feel there is more you could do? If so, what is stopping you from doing those things? I am flying a lot for my work and to date there aren't effective enough tools to make up for the importance of face-to-face workshops with Behaviour Changers. What's your favourite Sunday afternoon activity? Rambling around the South Coast in Wellington, or hanging out in the garden with my cats and chickens. If it's bad weather, playing games with friends. Extra for experts: Do you remember how you first became active in climate change? Was there something specific that triggered you to act? How old were you then? How old are you now? I always knew I wanted to be a marine biologist to save the ocean from human activity. I heard about global warming when I was about 13 in school and realised it was a massive threat to our environment. As soon as I started studying coral biology in 1996, I was confronted with issues around warming sea surface temperatures causing bleaching and the discovery of ocean acidification. Free space: write anything you like, nothing at all, or ask us a question Good luck with your work, I hope you will collect a million stories! Where in the world are you?
Wellington, New Zealand What do you do in the world? I am a scientist. I do research on the climate system, and teach at a university. I am also a husband, a father, a brother, an uncle and I spend a good part of my time with family, and doing things around our home. In one sentence, what is climate change? Climate change is the biggest threat humanity has ever faced. How does climate change affect your life? It shapes my thinking, in my daily life, in my work, and in my communications with the public and with policy makers. What do you feel you can do about it? I can make changes in my daily life, to drive less and cycle or use public transport more, reduce energy use in my home, reuse, and recycle. I have recently started offsetting my air travel using the Ekos carbon offsetting service. I also communicate with my elected representatives in Government asking for more ambition in terms of policy to reduce emissions and to facilitate the transition away from fossil fuels. Finally, I teach students about the realities of climate change and communicate with the public at large as much as I can, through the traditional media, via social media, and by speaking at public meetings. Do you feel there is more you could do? If so, what is stopping you from doing those things? Always! My lifestyle could have a lower carbon footprint than it does, but the way our society is set up, this is not easy. I am pushing for political changes to make it easier for all of us to generate electricity renewably, to travel via electric vehicles, etc. We do not yet have solar panels on our roof at home, nor do we yet drive an electric vehicle, and these are mostly cost issues. They are both on the agenda, though! What's your favourite Sunday afternoon activity? Pottering around in the garden, or walking on the beach. Extra for experts: Do you remember how you first became active in climate change? Was there something specific that triggered you to act? How old were you then? How old are you now? My research has gradually drifted in the direction of climate change over the years, from thinking about shorter-term weather variations. I did some early work on climate change for NZ in 1990, but it was when I became involved as a contributor to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) process in the late 1990s that I really started to realise the urgency of the issue - and that was nearly 20 years ago! I was around 40 then, and I'm 59 now. Free space: write anything you like, nothing at all, or ask us a question Climate change is unlike any issue any of us has faced before. Human civilisations have developed over the past several thousand years, during a period when the sea level has remained static and the climate hasn't really changed systematically on the global scale. So we have become used to the idea that we can live right by the coast and we can grow our food where we've always grown it. But those certainties are now gone, and it's hard work to really take that on board and respond to it. Plus, climate change affects all peoples and countries of the world, and effective action involves all countries - something that has never happened to us before. Finding ways to get us all talking and agreeing is almost as big a challenge as climate change itself! It is clear to me that climate change will transform our lives over the rest of this century and beyond. I worry for the next generation and the one after that - the worst-case future is bleak indeed, with widespread hunger and water shortages, forced migration, conflict, and many deaths. Like Syria and the Mediterranean migrant crisis times 1000, almost everywhere. Because of the way greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide) build up in the atmosphere, we now have very little time to act to avoid that future – but avoid it we can. We have had 10,000 years of climate stability. Our actions in this century and the last will shape the climate system for the 10,000 years to come. Let us make the future as benign as we can by working as hard as we can over the next 10-20 years to really put a stop to the greenhouse gas emissions we now know are driving climate change. Where in the world are you? Wellington, New Zealand What do you do in the world? Engineer by day, Social Climate co-founder by night and weekend. In one sentence, what is climate change? Changes in global average weather due to greenhouse gas emissions related to human activities. How does climate change affect your life? Changes where I want to put my energy and attention. There's obviously all the bad stuff, but there are some definite upsides too. It's great to be able to put time into something I care about, and it's let me stretch myself and take risks I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. Plus I've met some great people since getting involved. What do you feel you can do about it? Play with different solutions, make small changes in my own life, and find ways to work with the people around me to create more good. Do you feel there is more you could do? If so, what is stopping you from doing those things? Time, and a skills gap. I'd love to spend more of my time working on climate change - imagine how different the world would be if everyone could spend 5% of their time understanding and implementing solutions! I'm also still trying to figure out what value I can add in this space so feeling like I'd love more skills that paid the bills. What's your favourite Sunday afternoon activity? Working on Social Climate - either on reflection walks in the fabulous Wellington bush, or inside with my laptop and a tea. Do you remember how you first became active in climate change? Was there something specific that triggered you to act? How old were you then? How old are you now? Yep, I attended one of the public consultation meetings last year about New Zealand's emissions reduction targets (for the Paris Conference) and listened to the friction-filled interaction and frustration in the cold school hall. I've been aware of and concerned about climate change since high school, but I guess I'd always assumed that 'others' were going to solve this problem. I came away feeling like whatever was happening was happening too slow, and I wanted to be part of the conversation and solution. After that, I read a lot of stuff about the state of the climate - not a happy read - and remember going to work feeling like someone had died and everyone was ignoring it. I'm 28 now. Want to help us collect one million stories about climate change?
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