Podcast: We The Children

Episode: Episode 11 - Heather White

Welcome to the We The Children podcast, the podcast where kids talk climate change! The show is hosted by your resident kid, Zachary James. He may be 11 years old, but he has big concerns for our future - concerns about how decades and even centuries of our forebears have done damage to our planet and profited at the expense of our future. Each week, we will discuss the most pressing climate issues and meet climate warriors who are working to protect our planet. You’ll get wacky weather reports, play fun trivia games, and learn ways that you can make a difference in your community. We may not have all the answers, but we will fight for climate solutions!  

Today’s episode is all about Heather White, author of One Green Thing. After a wacky weather report about understanding volcanic activity, we turn to our interview with Heather White. Heather is also the founder of One Green Thing, a nonprofit with the focus on finding practical ways to solve the climate crisis and help others turn climate anxiety into climate optimism. Growing up in eastern Tennessee, Heather spent lots of her childhood partaking in outdoor activities. It wasn’t until college that she focused on environmental science, working on Capitol Hill and in various political campaigns. Having children is what ultimately inspired her to write this book and take her climate action to the next level. 

Heather explains that climate anxiety is a new term recently defined by the Oxford Dictionary as a chronic fear of environmental doom. Climate optimism, on the other hand, focuses on the solutions we have to address these threats. With all of these solutions, what is really missing is the political will to take action. The premise of Heather's book is that older generations have an ethical duty to prove to young people that they are not alone in the fight to save our planet. So, how can implementing small daily changes really make an impact? Heather explains that the entire idea of individual carbon footprint was created by PR executives from the oil industry to try to shift the burden of the climate crisis onto people, rather than products. As humans on this earth, we all have the ability to inspire others to think about regular environmental impacts and solutions. When we inspire a ripple effect, we can together create the change our world needs. Next, Heather shares her top tips for families to reduce waste at home: reduce food waste, be mindful of the brands you are buying, invest in energy efficiency and ask young people how they feel about the future. Finally, Heather and Zach engage in a round of climate-related trivia and Zach shares the action step of the week: talk to your parents about your climate concerns. 

Links:

Learn more about Heather White. 

Learn more about book One Green Thing

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Thanks for listening! And always remember, if we act together, we the children, can inspire hope and create change for our climate!

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