“What Can I Do?” Part 1 — The Personal

09/15/22 • 55 min

2 Listeners

As climate people, we hear this question again and again: “What can I do?” Many of us are trying to figure out how to help address the climate crisis. So, we’re taking on that critical question in a three-part miniseries. The first episode is all about The Personal — key ways we can act on climate in our own lives and create meaningful, durable change. Hint: it involves stoves and cash.

This episode features Sarah Lazarovic, artist, writer, and head of communications and brand at Rewiring America, and Marilyn Waite, managing director of the Climate Finance Fund and author of Sustainability at Work.

For more info on electrifying your home, head to Rewiring America’s guide to Electrify Everything in Your Home. For more info on moving your money, turn to Marilyn’s guide to Sustainable Banking and Investing. Also mentioned: Carbon Collective, Sphere, Atmos Bank, and Earth Equity Advisors.

Be sure to check out Sarah’s comic “100 Things You Can Do to Help in the Climate Crisis,” her book A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy, and her newsletter Minimum Viable Planet. We quoted from Leah’s essay “A Field Guide for Transformation,” in the anthology All We Can Save that Katharine co-edited, and Bill McKibben’s invaluable newsletter The Crucial Years.

Next time, our miniseries will turn from the realm of The Personal to the realm of The Professional. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and don’t miss a single episode this season!

Next time, our miniseries will turn from the realm of The Personal to the realm of The Professional. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and don’t miss a single episode this season!

Previous Episode

Welcome to Season 3 of A Matter of Degrees

Welcome back, climate-curious friends — it’s time for Season 3 of A Matter of Degrees. This season we’ll tackle some critical topics and big questions, starting with one we’re all asking when it comes to the climate crisis: “What can I do?”

Season 3 kicks off (September 15!) with a three-part miniseries to answer that question. We’ll talk with some brilliant folks and illuminate what we can do personally, professionally, and politically. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg...in a good way. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and don’t miss a single episode this season!

You can follow us on Twitter @degreespod, @leahstokes, and @DrKWilkinson, and on Instagram @drkwilkinson.

Next Episode

“What Can I Do?” Part 2 — The Professional

In this episode, we continue to unpack the question “What can I do?” The second installment of our miniseries zeroes in on our professional lives — ways to approach climate action within the workplace. We learn that almost any job can be a climate job. And, if need be, we can pursue “career divestment.”

This episode features Amanda Suter Gallardo, deputy petroleum administrator for the City of Los Angeles and former Terra.do fellow, and Jamie Alexander, founding director of Drawdown Labs at the climate solutions nonprofit Project Drawdown.

For more info on the online climate school Amanda attended, head to Terra.do. For more info on making your job a climate job, check out Jamie’s TEDx Talk and Drawdown Labs’ guide to Climate Solutions at Work. Want to build community and seed climate action with colleagues? Try All We Can Save Circles tailored for the workplace. Need help glimpsing your professional future? Take the Green New Careers assessment from the Sunrise Movement.

We also mentioned The Drawdown Review (free to download!), Dr. Beth Sawin’s Twitter wisdom, the company Canopy (formerly RightHandGreen), the Instagram account Future Earth, co-curated by Max Moinian, and UndauntedK12, started by Jonathan Klein.

Next time, our miniseries will turn from the realm of The Professional to the realm of The Political. Are you digging the show? Be sure to subscribe, and leave us a rating or review!