We had the pleasure of speaking with Sally Ranney, the President and Co-Founder of Global Choices, a women-led organization on a mission to drive action on the Ice Crisis and climate change. We spoke with Sally about the profound importance of polar ice and how we are - in fact - all ice dependent species!The Ice Crisis 101:The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planetEvery year that goes by, arctic sea ice is reduced by an area about the size of IrelandWhen the permafrost melts, stored-up, old methane is releasedMethane is 35 times more effective at trapping heat than CO2Melting sea ice is affecting weather conditions all around the globeThe simple fact - we can't grow more ice. Once it's gone, it's gone...Also in the episode:The renewable challenge and what we can do right nowHow the laws that govern the sea and the Arctic need to be strengthened 1 ton of CO2 melts 32 square feet of arctic ice ( a flight coast to coast in the US is 1.2 tons of carbon)Women’s role and leadership in systemic change Optimism + Reclaiming “Pro-Life”Sally Ranney is a powerful leader and advocate, she is the president and co-founder of the American Renewable Energy Institute and AREDAY Summit and she serves on the Board of Directors of the National Wildlife Federation, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, along with other important Institutes.Sally's work spans more than forty years and five continents. She is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions such as being honored with the Horace Albright Away, the International Conservation Award, and Earth Guardians' Earth Stewardship Award to name but a few. She was also named one of 35 women to be included in The International Women in Wildlife. Learn more about Sally Ranney:Website: https://sallyranney.com/Arctic Angels: https://www.globalchoices.org/arctic-angelsInstagram: @gcarcticangels CONNECT + FOLLOW:Podcast Instagram: @heychange_podcastToday's Ad:Palmetto Solar - GET ON SOLAR TODAY!Book mentioned in the intro: The Urban Challenge - Reviving the Desire to Live in Cities Intro + outro music: No Copyright Music by Sapajou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We had the pleasure of speaking with Zanagee Artis, the 21-year-old founder, co-executive director and policy director for the global, youth-led climate justice organization Zero Hour. Zanagee has been featured in a number of publications for his work on climate justice and climate policy, including The New York Times, Teen Vogue, and edie. Zanagee is also co-author of A Kids Book About Climate Change and co-host of 1 Point 5: A Kids Podcast About Climate Justice. We spoke to Zanagee about the intersectionality of climate justice and the many ways we can be involved in the climate movement. We also got to hear about an incredible trip coming up for Zanagee: in March of 2022, Zanagee will travel to Antarctica with the 2041 Project as an ambassador of the Global Choices Arctic Angels Network, to raise awareness about the importance of protecting polar ice.Zanagee also invites US-based Hey Change Podcast listeners to join him in DC for the People vs Fossil Fuels Action October 11-15th. It’s an opportunity for us to put pressure on the Biden Administration to take action on climate change and to support youth-led climate action.Learn more about Zanagee Artis:Website: http://thisiszerohour.org Instagram: @nageeartis CONNECT + FOLLOW:Podcast Instagram: @heychange_podcast Anne Therese:Website: https://theclimateoptimist.com/Instagram: @annetheresegennari Robin:Website: https://parentsxplanet.com/Instagram: @robinxshawIntro + outro music: No Copyright Music by Sapajou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is for every climate activist from all parts of the journey, from beginners to experienced eco-nerds, who want to learn how to better engage people into climate-positive actions and mindset! I learned all about Per Espen’s work last summer when I dove deep into his book on human psychology and the many reasons we’re not acting on climate change, and it’s a true honor to have a chance to finally sit down and speak with him.In this episode:What are the psychological barriers to climate action? (The 5 Ds)How do we rethink growth?What are ESG goals and why are they important?How can we as individuals help fuel healthy green growth?Per Espen Stoknes, a psychologist with PhD in economics, is a TED Global speaker, climate strategy research, and economist, and serves as the director of Centre for Green Growth at the Norwegian Business School. An experienced foresight facilitator and academic, he’s also a serial entrepreneur, including co-founding clean-tech company GasPlas. He’s also the author of several books, among them Learning from the Future and the award-winning book: What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming (2015), as well as his most recent book Tomorrow’s Economy - A Guide to Creating Healthy Green Growth.Books:Tomorrow’s Economy - A Guide to Creating Healthy Green GrowthWhat We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global WarmingFollow Per Espen:Instagram: @estoknesTwitter: @estoknesCONNECT + FOLLOW:Podcast Instagram: @heychange_podcast Anne Therese:Website: https://theclimateoptimist.com/Instagram: @annetheresegennariSign up for my Substack Newsletter: https://theclimateoptimist.substack.com/Intro + outro music: No Copyright Music by Sapajou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What roles should businesses play in fighting climate justice and co-creating a better world? We'll get into that and much more in this episode with Yvette Torres-Rahman, Co-Founder and CEO of Business Fights Poverty. Get FREE tickets to the UNGA summit on September 20-24, 2021. Use code "HEYCHANGEUNGA" when registering!Event Tickets: https://businessfightspoverty.org/global-goals-summit-2021-register/Business Fights Poverty:Website: https://businessfightspoverty.org/ Reports and Toolkits: https://businessfightspoverty.org/reports/Mentioned in the episode:COP26: https://ukcop26.org/uk-presidency/what-is-a-cop/Books: Becoming, Michelle Obama + Factfulness, Hans RoslingClimate Optimist Newsletter: https://theclimateoptimist.substack.com/ Business Fights Poverty is trusted by some of the world’s most pioneering international businesses to curate meaningful and productive engagement with their peers and stakeholders, crowdsource expertise to solve practical social impact problems, and drive thought leadership. They have recently launched the outputs of three collaborations: on how to create systems within companies to drive commercial innovation with social impact; on how to build transformative corporate-NGO partnerships; and on how businesses can support refugee livelihoods through their value chains. At the end of April, Business Fights Poverty also joined forces with leading charities and business networks including Brands on a Mission, the British Asian Trust, Concordia, Crown Agents, The League of Intrapreneurs, and the World Economic Forum's COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs to call on businesses to take urgent action to help India respond to COVID-19. Please let me know if you would like me to send through further details on this.CONNECT + FOLLOW:Podcast Instagram: @heychange_podcast Anne Therese:Website: https://theclimateoptimist.com/Instagram: @annetheresegennariSign up for my Substack Newsletter: https://theclimateoptimist.substack.com/Intro + outro music: No Copyright Music by Sapajou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This has been an incredible season for the Hey Change Podcast, where we focused on Optimism in Action. We have learned so much from each of our guests, and in today’s episode, we will be sharing with you some of the gems from our conversations in season 3.This episode is going to be packed with takeaways, so get your pen and paper ready to jot down notes, insights, and particular episodes that you may want to circle back to and hear in full. CONNECT + FOLLOW:Podcast Instagram: @heychange_podcast Anne Therese:Website: https://theclimateoptimist.com/Instagram: @annetheresegennariClimate Optimist Master Class: Bit.ly/climate-optimist-class Robin:Website: https://parentsxplanet.com/Instagram: @robinxshawWhat does it mean to be a Climate Optimist? Take the Climate Optimist Master Class today: Bit.ly/climate-optimist-class Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you know that the roots of regenerative agriculture, organic farming, and the farm-to-table movement grew from the work of Black farmers like Dr. Booker T. Whatley and Dr. George Washington Carver? And yet today, Black farmers are highly underrepresented in farming and farm ownership. While the Black population of the US is approximately 13.4%, Black farmers represent 1.3 % of farmers across the US.In this episode, we had the honor and privilege of speaking with Kiani Conley-Wilson, a grower, activist, and organizer based in Troy, NY. She is passionate about environmental justice, anti-racist/pro-feminist organizing, and the power of food across cultures, economies, and environments. Kiani is the Community Empowerment Coordinator for Soul Fire Farm, which is an Afro-Indigenous-centered community farm committed to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system. She also organizes with local organizations to develop people-centered systems and spaces.This is such a powerful conversation and anyone interested in sustainability, environmentalism and low waste living will learn a lot about how to make their advocacy and daily lives more intersectional.Also mentioned in this episode:Film: Sacred CowBook: Farming While BlackQuote: “I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I'm and changing the things I cannot accept" by Angela DavidsLearn more about Soul Fire Farm:Website: https://www.soulfirefarm.org/Instagram: @soulfirefarm  Follow Kiani on Instagram: @kiani4troy  CONNECT + FOLLOW:Podcast Instagram: @heychange_podcastThis episode is dedicated to the Black Farmer Fund. The Black Farmer Fund supports a thriving, resilient food economy, repairing Black communities' relationship to food and land. Hey Change Podcast listeners, you are invited to join us in supporting the Black Farmer Fund. A donation of any size supports and strengthens the economic infrastructure of Black food businesses and helps to build community power through a reparative capital framework. Go to https://www.blackfarmerfund.org/ and let’s support a more fair, equitable and regenerative world by supporting Black farmers today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you know that there isn’t a single corner of the Earth where microplastics do not exist? Yes, plastics are taking over our world, but how bad is it, really? We sat down with our friend and colleague Madeleine MacGillivray to take a deep dive (no pun intended) into the topic of microplastics. Tune in to gain a full understanding of what they are, where they come from, and what we can all do about it!In this episode:What are microplastics?How do microplastics affect human health?That recycling is a myth (but that we should still keep recycling)The truth behind biodegradable packagingWhat plastics are actually recyclable?How microfibers (from clothes) actually make up most of the plastic pollutionWhat you - and all of us - can do now to make a differenceNerd out further:Blood plasma: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6586940/They're literally everywhere: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/plastics-plastics-everywhereMicroplastics and male fertility: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7967748/Madeleine MacGillivray is a microplastics expert, a 5 Gyres Ambassador, and a model with Role Models Management in NYC. Since the age of nine, she has been speaking out against water issues when she founded her first non-profit organization, raising awareness about climate change and drought in Africa, and was acknowledged by Bill McKibben's national climate rally. At the age of 16, she was part of the highly influential Our Children’s Trust lawsuit, which sued the US government and the EPA. Madeleine specializes in marine microplastic pollution and legislation, conducting research in Indonesia, the Arctic, the Bermuda Triangle, and the Galápagos Islands. She’s also the Microplastics Policy and Science Fellow at the women and Indigenous-led environmental organization Seeding Sovereignty. This conversation is so informative and helpful to understand what is going on when it comes to plastic products and their impact on our world. If you’ve been wanting to learn more about microplastics this is your episode.Website: https://madeleinewallacenyc.com/ Instagram: @madeleinemacgillivray CONNECT + FOLLOW:Podcast Instagram: @heychange_podcastThis episode is sponsored by Parents for the Planet, a new platform created by our very own Robin Shaw. Parents for the Planet is helping families create a better planet for our children and better children for our planet. Empowered parents change the world, so follow along on IG at @parentsxplanet or check out https://parentsxplanet.com/ and stay tuned for resources, blogs, and a podcast coming soon! Parents for the Planet is here to help you raise the next generation of changemakers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lonely Whale’s #stopsucking campaign has eliminated approximately 20 billion single-use plastic straws from the waste stream. Today, we learned from Kendall Starkman, the Director of NextWave Plastics, about her work with the consortium of companies convened by the award-winning non-profit Lonely Whale.In this conversation: Plastic credits & plastic neutralityHow our waste system relies on informal workers in low-income countries What does the future of plastic looks like? One garbage truck full of plastic is being dumped into the ocean every minuteHow has covid affected plastic reduction efforts?What are companies doing to turn to change the future of plastics?You're gonna love this one, let’s turn off the tap on ocean-bound plastic!Kendall's Mantra: “What I don’t know is a very good place to start”Learn more about Lonely Whale:Website: https://www.lonelywhale.org/Instagram: @lonelywhale  CONNECT + FOLLOW:Podcast Instagram: @heychange_podcast Anne Therese:Website: https://theclimateoptimist.com/Instagram: @annetheresegennari Robin:Website: https://parentsxplanet.com/Instagram: @robinxshawA special thank you to our sponsor Luxe Botanics. More than a skincare company, Luxe Botanics are beauty activists, featuring rare and transformational botanicals that have been globally sourced and sustainably harvested while taking action to support local communities and safeguard the environment. Each botanical has been selected for its purity, scientific performance, and clinical efficacy, targeting specific skin concerns, while balancing and protecting the skin. Plus, proceeds from every Luxe Botanics purchase go back to the communities that harvest their incredible ingredients. Luxe Botanics is offering Change Podcast listeners 15% off with code HEYCHANGE. With carbon-neutral shipping and planet-conscious packaging, get ready to fall in love with the vegan, organic, cruelty-free, and ethically sourced high-performance skincare line that is Luxe Botanics.Intro + outro music: No Copyright Music by Sapajou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A guided meditation to look beyond climate change and envision a new kind of world!Scripted, recorded, and edited by your host, Anne Therese Gennari.Visit the website for more resources: www.theclimateoptimist.com-----What future could we find ourselves in if we kept some room in our hearts for the unimaginable? What life could YOU have if you allowed yourself to dream and believe?Too often, we’re bound by our current realities, stressed and filled with worry and fear because we don’t know what the future will look like. We fear change because we don’t know what that change will bring. But we know that everything we’ve ever built, invented, or created, has come from an ability to look beyond what we know to be true now. Our world today consists of millions of manifestations - big and small - made by people who had the courage to dream of something new. People who were brave enough to think of realities that lingered outside their comfort zones; who dared to believe in the unbelievable and imagine the unimaginable, and who found the courage to go explore those new worlds.When it comes to climate change, the only hope we truly have is to be found in that courage. We must expand our hearts and minds, begin to question everything, and dare to dream. Because maybe change isn’t so bad. Maybe change means that things could be even better. Better in the most unimaginable ways!I created this guided meditation to help you find the place where YOUR dreams, ideas, and visions live. It will help you broaden your perspective and trust that it’s OK to not know everything. And that the sooner you let go of that need, the sooner you can move into the future where we’re meant to be.Listen to this meditation daily and you will notice the world around you begin to shift, and you with it, as you become the hero this time needs!Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we speak with Val Emanuel, sustainability advocate, animal activist, entrepreneur and co-founder, with Anne Therese, of the world’s first ethical modeling agency, Role Models Management. Val shares with us how growing up in an immigrant family shaped her views on sustainable living, and how she practices a sustainable lifestyle, not because it’s trendy, but because it’s the only way she knows to be true.We were so inspired to talk with Val about her journey, how sobriety led to self-discovery and how doing the inner work is what makes you feel like you belong and can be powerful in the world. Val believes in the power of a mentor, and we learned so much from her in this episode. We hope you do too.Learn more about Val Emanuel:Website: https://www.rolemodelsmgmt.com/founders-storyInstagram: @malibumama__ CONNECT + FOLLOW:Podcast Instagram: @heychange_podcast Anne Therese:Website: https://theclimateoptimist.com/Instagram: @annetheresegennari Robin:Website: https://parentsxplanet.com/Instagram: @robinxshawA special thank you to our sponsor Cupid & Psyche Beauty. Created by fashion photographer Tracy Toler-Phillips, Leaping Bunny approved, vegan and cruelty free, Cupid & Psyche offers a gorgeous range of buildable lip colors that are also paraben free and made with nourishing, organic ingredients. Their nail lacquers are made without the top 10 most toxic ingredients found in most polishes, and instead are infused with Marula Oil to protect and nourish your nails. Cupid & Psyche donates a percentage of all profits to save the bees and help our animal friends. Check out cupidandpsychebeauty.com and help create a world where no animal has to suffer in order for you to shine!Intro + outro music: No Copyright Music by Sapajou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.