How to Save a Planet

Delving into recycling, the podcast examines its environmental impact, challenges, and the complexities of plastic waste. From the benefits of recycling metals and glass to the difficulties of recycling plastics, the show explores misconceptions, pollution effects, and solutions for a sustainable future.

Gina McCarthy will serve as the first-ever National Climate Advisor, heading up the newly formed White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy. So, who is she? We spent time with her before the nomination and talked about her relentless fight to link environmental policy with public health. From her early days inspecting septic systems, to her time leading the Environmental Protection Agency in the Obama administration. Get to know Gina McCarthy.Guests: Gina McCarthyCalls to Action Read up on Joe Biden’s clean energy and environmental justice plans to prepare to push this team to make those promises real If you want to learn the story of how a bunch of outsiders pushed Joe Biden to adopt the most ambitious climate platform in U.S. history, listen to our episode How 2020 Became a Climate Election Learn more about the executive climate actions the Biden-Harris administration is committed to pursuing right off the bat, and what experts suggest they prioritize Check out Gina’s essay, “Public Service for Public Health,” and Maggie’s essay, “The Politics of Policy,” in the climate anthology that Ayana co-edited, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, at allwecansave.earth If you take an action we recommend in one of our episodes, do us a favor and tell us about it! We’d love to hear how it went and what it felt like. Record a short voice memo on your phone and send it to us via our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode.Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.How to Save a Planet is a Spotify original podcast and Gimlet production hosted by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Alex Blumberg. This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Anna Ladd. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz and Felix Poon. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music by Emma Munger. Our fact checker this episode is Claudia Geib.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this week's episode, we meet two farmers who, at first glance, seem very different. One is a first-generation farmer in upstate New York raising fruits and vegetables for the local community. The other is a third generation farmer in Minnesota who sells commodity crops—corn and soybeans—to big industrial processors. But they share something in common. They’re both bucking modern conventions on how to farm. And they're paying close attention to something that is frequently overlooked: the soil. We explore how making simple changes in the way we farm can harness the incredible power of soil to help save the planet.Calls to action The new US Congress will be considering the Farm Bill at some point soon, and there are lots of subsidies in there that could incentivize adoption of regenerative practices and restore and conserve agricultural lands. So keep your eyes peeled for windows of opportunity to push your elected officials to get on board with this. For now, there’s a helpful blog post from the World Resources Institute that will get you up to speed. Also, keep your eyes out for the Justice for Black Farmers Act to be reintroduced in this new Congress, which would support training and access to land for Black farmers. Support farmers of color through the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. Want to learn more about regenerative farming? Check out The Soil Health Institute. Watch these videos from Gabe Brown and Dr. Allen Williams, teachers who helped Grant and Dawn learn about regenerative farming. Read Leah Penniman’s book Farming While Black, which is brimming with great information on her Afro-Indigenous-inspired approach to farming. Watch the new film Kiss the Ground, which is all about how agriculture, and the carbon-sequestering power of soil, is a powerful climate solution.  Ayana’s mom, an organic and regenerative farmer, recommends the book Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown. Her review: “Excellent job of demonstrating best regenerative farm practices. Great for gardeners and every food consumer to know.” She also recommends checking out the farming magazine called Acres and the array of great books published by Chelsea Green. If you take an action we recommend in one of our episodes, do us a favor and tell us about it! We’d love to hear how it went and what it felt like. Record a short voice memo on your phone and send it to us via our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode.Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.How to Save a Planet is a Spotify original podcast and Gimlet production hosted by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Alex Blumberg. This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Felix Poon. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz and Anna Ladd. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music by Emma Munger. Our fact checker this episode is James Gaines.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do you take a global movement local? What happens when you refuse to accept things as they are? This week, we’re excited to bring you an episode of a new Gimlet show called Resistance. Resistance is a show full of stories from the front lines of the movement for Black lives, told by the generation fighting for change. Warning: this episode of Resistance has some strong language in it.  Also, what do you think Alex and Ayana’s nicknames should be? Send a note or a voice memo to howtosaveaplanet@spotify.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Explore the history of climate science research back to the 1950s, the impact of carbon dioxide emissions on global warming, and the ongoing debate among experts regarding human-caused warming trends. Learn about the effects of rising carbon dioxide levels on the environment, predictions of future climate changes, and the challenges in predicting sea level rise and melting icebergs.

We love listener mail! You've sent us some amazing notes. Some made us laugh, some made us cry, and some made us say—hey, that’s a great question! We should answer it. So that’s what we did. This week, we dig into some of your questions about trees. What’s up with that tree-planting search engine? Who were the original tree-huggers? And we top it off with some answers to your questions about our episode on nuclear power.Want more tree content? Listen to our episode 20 Million Trees.Guests: Jiaying Zhao and Hannah WicesCalls to Action: Plant a tree! Find the right kind of tree for where you live on the National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder, and learn how to plant it and take care of it here. If you plant a tree, please hug it and send us a picture. Give Ecosia a try—maybe try a search for Chipko or baseload energy. Check out these organizations that are planting trees in India: SankalpTaru’s Project Protect Himalayas, the Sustainable Green Initiative, and Grow-Trees. If you want to learn more about Chipko, check out these documentaries! On the Fence An excerpt from Sudesha Reviving Faith The Chipko Movement: Haripriya Rangan, Sharachchandra Lele, Sunandita Mehrotra, Sunderlal Bahuguna on the Nagrik Podcast If you take an action we recommend in one of our episodes, do us a favor and tell us about it! We’d love to hear how it went and what it felt like. Record a short voice memo on your phone and send it to us via our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode.Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram.How to Save a Planet is a Spotify original podcast and Gimlet production hosted by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Alex Blumberg. This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Felix Poon. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz and Anna Ladd. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Our senior producer is Lauren Silverman. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music by Emma Munger. Our fact checker this episode is Sarah Craig.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Learn how buildings contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and the innovative solutions to revolutionize energy efficiency. Discover BlocPower's mission to green America's buildings while creating jobs in low-income neighborhoods. Explore the challenges of transitioning to sustainable energy and the importance of diversifying the green workforce. Dive into the financial models and policies driving building renovations for a greener future.

The podcast discusses the polarizing opinions on nuclear energy, weighing its benefits of zero emissions and high power output against concerns of safety risks and environmental impact. It explores the history of nuclear power post-World War II, revealing the consequences and suppression of information. The episode delves into the economic challenges of nuclear power plants, highlighting cost overruns and the debate over nuclear's role in combating climate change.

Miami Beach could be mostly underwater within eighty years, but construction of new beachfront properties is booming. What’s behind this disconnect? To find out, writer Sarah Miller went undercover posing as a high end buyer to meet with real estate agents across the city. Here’s the story of what she found.Sarah Miller’s piece, along with 40 other amazing essays by women at the forefront of the climate movement, appear in the book Ayana co-edited with Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis. To find out more about the book and all of the contributors, visit allwecansave.earth.The essay is read by actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as excerpted from the star-studded audiobook for All We Can Save.Calls to action Check out this map of sea level rise projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to see what areas we likely to become inundated. Check out the rest of the climate anthology that Ayana co-edited, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, at allwecansave.earth. Since we’re a podcast, we recommend checking out the audiobook version, which includes America Fererra, Janet Mock, Sophia Bush, Ilana Glazer, and Jane Fonda among the readers. Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. And if you take any of the actions we recommend, tell us about it! Send us your voice message, ideas or feedback with our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode. Sign up for our newsletter here. And follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s important to talk about climate change. But how do you talk about it with friends and family who don't believe it's real, or don’t think we can do anything about it? We hear from a father and son who successfully navigated this conversation, and we bring you step-by-step tips from an expert on how to have a conversation where both sides actually hear each other. Maybe try it out this socially-distanced Thanksgiving!Here are the six steps outlined by Steve Deline with the New Conversation Initiative on how to have difficult conversations about climate change.Step 1 – Set realistic expectations for yourself!Your initial goal should be to lower the temperature around this issue. Even if you just succeed in attempting to talk to them one on one, or expressing a DESIRE to do so, that’s an important step forward! Do NOT set yourself an expectation that you will change how they feel about climate all in one go! Step 2 – Find a buddy!Find someone you trust and feel comfortable with who’s down to be your support before and after having a challenging conversation with a friend or family member. Talk to them about what your fears are, and name some goals for what you’re doing to make this one go different. Step 3 – Find a quiet moment to talk to your family memberIdeally do it when you can be one-on-one, NOT surrounded by the whole family at the actual Thanksgiving table! Be direct and say “Hey, I’d love to find a time to talk more about this.” So that they have a chance to opt in.Step 4 – Listen!When the time comes to talk, start by letting them know that you really want to understand how they feel about climate change. Listen, and ask follow up questions “Tell me more? Why do you feel that way?” But importantly, DON’T RESPOND. Don’t engage with the parts that you disagree with. Just give them a chance to talk it out and be heard, you want to let them get the crux of their feelings on the subject off their chest. Step 5 – Acknowledge that you disagreeLet them know what you think. For example “Got it. So you’re probably not surprised to hear it but I think climate change is real and human-caused.” But then most importantly, say “BUT I really want to find a way to talk to you about it openly, and better understand what each other thinks, even if we don’t agree.” In other words, name the elephant in the room – that you disagree – and name it without being upset about it!Step 6 – Make it personal.Turn the conversation away from dueling facts, and towards life and experiences. For example, I might share a story about my friend Laurel, whose sister lost her home to a wildfire in Paradise, CA, and how hearing her story was the first time I felt a knot of fear in my stomach, that my own community could be in danger of the same thing. The key here is to share vulnerably, and then talk about how it made you FEEL. And then (most importantly) invite them to do the same – bring emotion explicitly into the conversation.Some more resources that we recommend: The Secret to Talking about Climate Change, from the Alliance for Climate Education How to Talk About Climate Change at Thanksgiving Dinner feat. Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, by Young Evangelicals for Climate Action Bob says to send your conservative family members to RepublicEN.org, where they can talk to them in the language of conservatism A few of the research papers telling us that climate conversations matter: Discussing global warming leads to greater acceptance of climate science Children can foster climate change concern among their parents The influence of personal beliefs, friends, and family in building climate change concern among adolescents If you have a conversation about climate change, do us a favor and tell us about it! Record a short voice memo on your phone and send it to us via our Listener Mail Form. We might use it in an upcoming episode.Check out our Calls to Action archive here for all of the actions we've recommended on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices