Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Louise Karch, Eva Forde & Diane Osgood.

This trio lives around the world with Louise a Canadian living in Australia, Eva the self-proclaimed nomad currently in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Diane who splits her time between the United States and France. These collaborators have vast backgrounds in social work, entrepreneurship, marketing, sustainability, and biodiversity.

They all contributed to content for The Carbon Almanac, but equally important, they provided glue and connections to the community – raising team members up and helping everyone believe they have what it takes to make a difference.

In this episode, we talk about the power of community by leveraging and leaning on one another for their strengths, writing a book to start a movement, and how change will happen by activating individuals across governments, corporations, and communities.

To read Diane Osgood's guide on how to "Unleash Your Shopping Superpower" visitdianeosgood.com/shopping-superpower

For more information on the project and to pre-order your copy, visit thecarbonalmanac.org

This podcast is a part of the Carbon Almanac Podcast Network.

Production Team: Jennifer Myers Chua, Sam Schuffenecker, Leekei Tang, Tania Marien, Barbara Orsi

Cover Art: Ray Ong

Copyright © 2022 The Carbon Almanac Network

About the Carbon Almanac Collective: What happens when regular people work together to create massive, meaningful change on a global scale? Welcome to the carbon Almanac collective. A podcast where the volunteers who created the Carbon Almanac share the insights and aha moments they had while collaborating on this landmark project to help fight the climate crisis.

Hosted by Jennifer Myers Chua, and featuring the voices of Carbon Almanac Contributors. Reminding you that it's not too late to join in on the conversation.

[00:00:53] Eva: hi, I'm Eve Forde and I am nomadic. Currently I'm in west Palm beach, Florida. I met Seth actually that kinda got me on this project in New York. And my role on the Almanac has been assisting with community culture and kind of bringing people together

[00:01:41] Jennifer: And let's start here. Can you tell me what made you decide to join the carbon Almanac project?

[00:01:57] Eva: Louise likes the story that I tell about how I met Seth on the streets of New York. I had missed an appointment, but it was an appointment with destiny and, I saw Seth he's been a huge role model, um, for me and my business and I was so starstruck, I forgot his name and just totally fan-girled out. And. He was so gracious and generous and, uh, asked me if I would reach out to him because he wanted to send me something, but before I could do that on the same day. So like in the span of about two or three hours, he had emailed me and ended up sending me some books and reiterating, Hey, let me know if I can help you with anything.

And that was a really overwhelming offer. And I just, I, I had nothing who, what can I ask of Seth Godin? But about a month went by and I decided to reach back out and ask him if there was any way I could just be in his world. And, he said, actually, there's this project I'm working on. And, I was like, you know, cause I'm a trained social worker. I'm like, I probably should know about this stuff because we care about a lot of things, but yeah. I suppose I impressed him with my outrageousness when I met him. So he said, no, no, no, no. That's not why I need you. I just need you to kind of help connect people and make sure that they're engaged because people, tend to get lost on the platform and in the project. And so I said, oh, I'm listen, that's me. That's my name. So, that's how I got involved. And I'm so glad.

cause I'm going to go big picture that I'm going to go like smaller. So tree the canopy, the leaves. I'm the kind of gal that has a bucket list. I don't ever look at it, but I write it.

And Seth Godin was on my list of people I wanted to meet one day, I read his books for years. I did meet him. I did his AltMBA. I did the marketing seminar. I ended up coaching, in almost every akimbo course. So I got to work with, I get to say that sentence, right? I get to work with and for Seth Godin. And if you want to learn anybody, who's listening. If you want to learn, there's always two or three top people in any field, get close to your hero and you will understand why they fly so high. You could draft behind them and learn so much. So, I sent a little email to Seth saying sort of little jokey email and he wrote back and told me about this project.

And you want to, do you want to come? I'm like, Yeah. I'm all in. So. I'm here because Seth is the impressario who we have trusted and learned from from years. And I see that as been described, he's gracious and he's generous and he's all these traits that we need more of in the world. So that's the contact. Leaves the canopy. And then the trunk. Okay. The trunk. So if you look out your window, wherever you are right now. So if I look out my window in Australia, the sky is a light morning gray. Cause it's early in the morning here and Diane is in France and she looks out her window. Diane what do you see when you look out your window?

[00:05:34] Louise: A couple of years ago, When I went outside, I couldn't see the end of my two block street. The sky was burnt orange. So NBC news said Australia fires were declared the worst wildlife disaster in history in modern day. So 3 billion, 3 billion animals died. Now it was the hottest driest year we've ever had. We had 22 countries come to help fight the fires. Nine firefighters died four from the USA. you can argue whatever you want, but wherever you are in the world, wherever you're listening.

You've probably seen news about fires, floods, some sort of environmental. Oh, we're not supposed to have, like, this is a once in a lifetime flood. Yeah. Well that's the third time Brisbane's been under water. So, uh, what's going on here? So the trunk, the strength, the truth about why I'm involved in this project is because I don't want to be a witness.

I don't want to experience bystander apathy. I feel better in my soul when I can take action. That's the truth about that. Now let's go to the root. Culture. Yesterday, I woke up after this dream and I was on the front of my, the front of the house and I was low down on the ground and I was passing a yellow flower to a child. There were parents and children around me. The color of the flower was the same color as a yellow on the cover of the Almanac. And I went, oh, I'm passing a plant. Passing the planet from one generation to the next. So culturally, this project is important because I want to be the kind of elder that's, an ancestor worthy of, of the next generations, the next seven generations that come. And that's another story there. This project that I've been part of from almost day one is vitally important. Vitally important people who do vitally important work have also said yes, to being part of this.

[00:08:21] Eva: I'll just say that there's so much that I'm still learning. So I have not read the Almanac. I mean, I don't know that any of us have gone through it, cover, cover, except for a few people, but every time I get a chance to read a snippet, I have to digest it in small bites. Right? So every time I read a snippet, it's like, wow, awareness.

I'm not at the level yet where I can rattle it off. Like, did you know that this statistic and this statistic exists in this context? I'm not there yet, but every time I read a piece and I see the beautiful illustrations and I, I. Within the context of what's being presented, I'm just blown away. And just like Louis said, just more conscious definitely feel more reverent I'm I am a faith based person, I would say. So I've grown up with this belief in a higher power and that the earth was created and then we are stewards. And so the facts in the Almanac, coupled with the. Demonstration of humanity coming together to put these facts together to present has been, a spiritual experience.

[00:11:09] Jennifer: Beautifully said, Louise, have you learned anything that's surprising?

[00:12:18] Diane: Thank you. The section that I edited was whose role, and we explain the role in, in there's little sections. You can read the role of government and read, like, what are these intergovernment organizations these panel of scientists to get together, the Almanac would give you that background in a way that you're not going to feel overwhelmed, like literally by an acronym soup, which I can just rattle off like the ABCs, because I'm so familiar with them, but that doesn't, that's not helpful.

And then it talks about the role of business in which corporations. Which corporations have the highest emission rates and which have the highest waste rates and just the facts, no opinions about it, but here are the facts. And then there's the role of the individual. And that to me is the, the golden nugget. The DNA and the essence of the Almanac is it was put together by individuals. It wasn't put together by a nonprofit or an organization. A bunch of individuals came together to write it in the spirit of that. And I think it's DNA then is purely expressed because it enables the individual, the person, user, reader to take the information and use it as you will. And then I know there's all these other ancillary, opportunities that the Carmen Almanac network is putting together. But it fundamentally is about you, the reader, what you will take away and what you can choose to do or choose to know about.

[00:14:28] Louise: People have the power people have the power. Okay. Thank you, Patty Smith. Um so what I've learned about community, so Stanford researcher. Philip Zimbardo did that Stanford experiment, where he puts students in a prison. And all of a sudden the students who were usually kind and sweet started acting like jerks, and they had to pull the experiment because of the abuse that happened because of the power dynamics.

And he talks about like, how do we structure kindness? How do we structure empathy? How do we encourage the traits and the values that we want to have? How do we create the communities that we want to have? Big picture when September 11th happened. And I saw people falling from buildings and I saw so much, hatred and violence, I realized, oh right, there's a ying and yang here. There's people in the world who are hell bent on destruction. And there's people who are here to add love, who are living a faith-based life. So there's light and darkness. There's terrorism, and then there's fairy godmothers, there's cheerleaders, there's social workers, there's scientists, there's all these people.

So I chose in that moment. I am going to make sure that I am the person who's bringing the light to the world. I am going to be the antidote to hate. And so that, that moment. Standing at ground zero just after the attacks happened. Cause I was in New York for a skating training event. You know, these things change you at a cellular level. They burn in you a deeper purpose. They amplify the goodness that is already in you. And so this project, if you look at Seth, he's the impressario. He was a camp counselor at camp Erewhon and Algonquin Park. So his love of those beautiful tall pine trees, the wolves that you hear howling in August with their pups yipping, cause they're in their dens. The shooting stars that he would have seen. All the kids that he taught, how to solo paddle in him is a love of our world. And he's been caring about and writing about this topic for a while. So here's this guy who has this love of our world, who understands leadership, teaching, education, community building. And he is who calls us all together and look at one person can do with a dedication. So what's not surprise me because the environmental disasters haven't surprised me.

Diane, who's a scientist, an economist knows that this was predicted. So what Mr. Rogers said is always look for the helper. Always look for the helpers, cause there's always helpers and what's so beautiful about this community is there's been two parts. Writing the book and now building the movement.

The book is a moment, but you listening to this can be part of the movement. and you're going to have the tools to talk about carbon in a richer, deeper, easier way. Thanks to all the work that's come. So we did this practice, a practice of gratitude. In the first half of the project it was called a way to go Wednesdays in the second half. It's called. Thank you, Thursdays. We pause as a community every week. So, I mean, my big role was to put people aligned with tasks, but many people help with that. But now my role is, Hey, let's make people in this community feel seen, heard, valued, and understood.

So every week I pause to highlight an individual or individuals, their character and their contributions. And. If you've been named you name others. So each week we have this beautiful moment of people thanking each other for the great work that they've done and who they are. I love those days and what's shifted in me. What surprised me. Koalas are now extinct or risk of extinction in Australia. Right? These animals are, are a little art, art, like fierce Teddy bears, or we're gonna lose them if we don't get our act together. Well, instead of feeling despair, now. I feel hope because I've seen these beautiful, smart, generous kind people every week doing work that matters for people who care. I've got the good, good juice. It's so food we're going to be okay because we're all here.

Louise is the cheerleader and not just a cheerleader, but I mean, I've, I stand in awe of how you're able to, of course, you're the wordsmith queen. But you use that power to really do exactly what you said. Make people feel seen, heard, appreciated, and it's contagious and you're intentional with how you call people out. And it's just, it's just been so beautiful. And so if I've brought any positive, I guess, community culture when should I say prototype to the community? It's because I'm following Louise. So that's one. Then you have people in the community like Diane, so Diane did something that she doesn't know what she did. I'm in the community helping, to bring people together, but I'm also seeing all these brilliant people contribute to the writing of the Almanac. And so I said, well, let me try my hand. I don't really have time. I don't really have the mental capacity to like research and put things together. Takes me a long time to do that. But I saw this clip from Obama at a, climate summit and I said, Hey, these are some things that stand out to me. I don't know if it's anything, but I'm putting it out in the ether. If anybody sees any value in this. And Diane said, Hey Eva, thanks for raising your hand.

Would you be interested in writing up something. I wasn't. sign up for that, but I can't say no! Because everybody else is contributing and because I initiated this thing, so I was like, sure, now I then proceeded to avoid Diane because I couldn't wrap my head around. How should I present it? What should I do? And so she, gave me a little nudge, Hey Eva, just, let me know when this thing is ready. So I was like, okay. And then as time was going, Hey Eva, you still working on this thing? And so I was like, you know what, Diane, let me just tell you. At this point I had put hours into trying to get it right and have no clue what I was doing.

So I said, Diane, really? I don't want. What I'm doing, here's what I have. And I gave her some points and she said, this is great. And I was like, what? And she said, I'm trying to wrap my head around. She was just so gracious, right. With being me being late and feeling so horrible. And she was like, don't even worry about it. We're all doing this thing together. And she said this is a great contribution. I'm not sure how to say this part. And we tagged Seth and Seth just brought it all together. And neither of them were feeling the angst that I was feeling. They were just grateful for my contribution.

And so that is another example. I think of what we see in the community all the time. There's no judgment. now when I see people saying, oh, I'm so sorry. I couldn't make the meeting. Or am I late to the conversation? It's like, listen, we're just happy you're here because that's the nurturing that I got.

And I'm just so grateful. And I saw that in action. And then there are people like you, Jennifer, and I mean, we're, we all contribute, but there's some of us that are on another level. When I saw the idea of, Hey, a podcast. I thought, oh, one podcast, the podcast that's great. But then it was like two podcasts, then four podcasts.

I'm like, what? And then you're actually getting it done and you're coordinating people and you're giving feedback and, we need show notes. We need voiceovers, we need this, we need that. And I am again in awe seeing the level of dedication, commitment. Output. So again, Jennifer, definitely the archetype, but you are not the only one either.

And so again, Diane is like that. And so if I put a little gift here or there, that makes people smile great. But I feel like I can't put myself on the level with you guys that are really doing the heavy lifting. It's just so inspiring to watch.

[00:24:12] Diane: And I think that's the moral of the Almanac. Again, back to this essence, the sense of its essence of its DNA, which is in its creation, we all had our roles. And when I look at what you two did, to me, that's the heavy lift. You wouldn't want me to be the organizer of, of the community or the culture. Seriously, that would be such a stretch for me, but I did what's in my strong suite. And you did what's in yours and then the designers and the editors. I mean, to my bewilderment, there are people out there who actually liked the line edit, go figure, and they did, and they did it again and again and again.

And so one of the things that truly inspired me and creates awe is that people naturally fell into roles and they just excelled. And the kindness of our interaction cross professions across time zones cross-culture seemed to occur from an almost invisible pull. That this project was going to happen. And we all just showed up and did what we could. And everyone understood that we had boundaries and limits, and it looked like many people were doing super heavy lifts. But when I checked in with them, at least in the crew I worked with, it was like, no, I'm just doing what I can. And I think if we could carry forward That. Almost as a fractal of, as our approach to handling the crisis, which is climate change, then basically climate change doesn't have a chance, right?

If we all could apply at the next level up, the next scale up. That approach of everyone does shows up and does what's in their sweet spot with that level of Goodwill. Sufficient change is inevitable. So I think in its own creation, it set out a model of how to defeat climate change.

[00:26:46] Eva: Gretta was a good one. She's a good one. I think, you know, there are people like the again, influencers they're they're called influencers for a reason. Right. I just think it's like a snowball, right? So I can't say that there's one person, besides Greta, she would be huge, but, or she will be speaking it into existence. I can't say there's one person, but I know as one influencer gets on board, then it's like a ripple effect snowball. So I'm just looking forward to that snowball.

[00:28:11] Louise: There's that Margaret Mead quote. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed. It's the only thing that ever has.

So I'm excited about this vision of church ladies with their book club and, neighborhood moms with the book club and, teachers with the book club and executive the book club and Google with their book club and all these people who can come together and discuss their ahas. As they read a book that brings them one insight than another insight, the book doesn't say, this is what thou shall to do. But it, it starts a conversation that's going to change things and we're going to know in a couple of years, if this book has started to create a ROI a ripple of influence. That's in an app Annette Mason expression.

What I'm excited about is seeing the kids book, the educator's resource, the corporate sponsorships, how many of these books are going to land THUNK! On the tables of people who feel uncomfortable talking about carbon. And hesitant. And this book is going to diffuse a hesitancy, infuse the urgency. And create the ahas that lead to action.

[00:29:59] Diane: It's truly in our hands. As individuals. And as citizens, we show up in many different ways. We vote for elected leaders. We can show up in our townships, in our cities, at our or district level at the nation state level and vote. We can. write to politicians and support and inter-governmental, actions. We can join associations and non-profits and use our time and our, and our financial resources to support their action. And most importantly, and we can also work at the faith level, any kind of organization, but we can also act as individuals. And I think that's a real power of the information and the other bits coming out of the Almanac. Uh, the carbon Almanac network. Is a whole list of actions that individuals can take. The one that I'm super obsessed with is what we purchase, you know, how we use the power of our wallet to make decisions, but regardless of what it is, everybody can do something and indeed needs to do some. And that's, that would be my, that is my core message.

[00:31:40] Diane: I'm writing a book called your shopping superpower. Be happier and better your world one purchase it at a time. And at the moment, there's a free ebook available, which we'll provide in the show notes. And it's all about how you have the power in your wallet. Every time you make a purchase to choose products that align with your values, including reducing the risk of climate.

[00:33:03] Eva: Well, I am actually really excited about that guide for children. First of all, it's beautiful. What I've seen is just amazing. And, kids are the ones like they latch on to the lessons really quickly and are really good at keeping adults accountable. So I am looking forward to hopefully really inspired and enthusiastic teachers to bring up to their classrooms and make it into projects and have full agendas and curriculums around this. Because then I think, in, in 10 years in the future, we absolutely will see a change. So I'm really excited for that.

[00:35:29] Jennifer: Diane. What do you think about the next generation and their relationship with the planet?

And so that's, that's very reassuring for me. I also have a really strong, emotional reaction when we talk about the next generation. And how excited we are that they're doing whatever it is that they're doing. And that's is. I don't want them to let us off the hook and I don't want us to let ourselves off the hook. Our generation has the opportunity to continue to provide leadership in a collaborative multi-generational way. That's cross-cultural and sensitive and, and in a way, embody that, which says we've experienced in the production of this carbon Almanac and the carbon Ahbinoff network with those qualities. And so it's, it's not so much just saying, oh, well, they've got it. It's we're going to continue to do our good work and learn and share and be open. And co-lead with them, but certainly not step away.

[00:37:14] Diane: My biggest takeaway, and I think large takeaways are often a little painful to learn. Was that it's not in the hands of the experts. So this is a fact based publication. And it was fact checked within an inch of its life. It is completely robust. And for the most part, it was written by people who are passionate, who love to write, but probably don't have PhDs in climate change or environmental economics. Like I do. Think I was the total anomaly and that to me was revolutionary and remained so, and I think it also is an important paradigm. For the next 20 years, which is individuals, citizens coming together over what to resolve, what was once considered a topic in the realm of the experts.

[00:38:31] Eva: Again, I think what comes up for me actually is community. So change happens in community, but we each play that role, right. We each play a role in community. So. I should be more profound in how I say that, but that's all I saw. I got, just the development of the book is a Testament to what we can do as a society. Wernher Von Braun, I think he was a German scientist. When Kennedy asked him what it would take to put a man on the moon, he said the will to do it. And that's where we are right now. When it comes to climate, the will as a society, as a community or those of us who care .If we have the will to do that, We can slow it down, maybe even reverse some things. And it's an ongoing process. It speaks to lifestyle, right? It's not just a, oh, let's turn off all the lights when we're not in the room and everything will be fixed. We're talking mindset, change, heartset change, lifestyle change.