EPISODES
Episode 8. keeping it school
Increasingly, youth are taking on key roles as climate advocates. So what’s it like to step into the climate policy spotlight — when you’re not even old enough to vote? Keeping It Cool talks to Purva and Alex, two Bay Area high school students, about their climate action journeys, while learning how other community members (parents, grandparents, teachers, and friends, this means you!) can join the supporting cast.
Helpful links and resources:
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Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action (SVYCA) has several city chapters
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Acterra’s Student Ambassadors Program (ASAP) empowers youth to give public comment
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En-ROADS is an online climate policy simulator tool
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Alex’s website for high school students: https://www.hsclimateaction.org/
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San Mateo County Youth Climate Ambassadors (YCA) leadership program
Episode 7. Finding Your (GrAss)Roots
When it seems like individual action isn’t enough to fix the climate, enter policy change. We talk with Paula and Karl Danz of the Silicon Valley North chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL). CCL works to activate community members in all 50 states — by helping them tap into their own personal superpowers in support of a bigger common goal: getting Congress to act on carbon pollution pricing.
Helpful links and resources:
​​Citizen's Climate Lobby Resources
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REMI Report detailing the effects of a carbon fee and dividend
Other Tools
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Episode 6. BEYOND THE PAIL
Have you ever thought about what happens to waste after it’s tossed in the bin? As guest Julia Au of RethinkWaste explains, waste can either form stinky methane in a landfill or beneficial compost for reuse on the land — it’s up to us to choose. And Julia helps us with a slew of “what do I do with THIS?” questions. (Photo credit: RethinkWaste)
Helpful links and resources:
​​On Senate Bill 1383
Tools for sorting and composting
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Recology’s “What Bin?” page for sorting questions
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San Mateo County’s Office of Sustainability page on composting
Statistics from the EPA on landfill emissions: "Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for approximately 14.5 percent of these emissions in 2020."
Episode 5. Fridge Benefits
Tired of cleaning out slimy, forgotten food out of the fridge? We are too! The amount of food that is wasted by an average household is equivalent to tossing 1 in 4 bags of groceries each trip. Robin Plutchok of StopWaste discusses the impact of all this wasted food and shares strategies for preventing waste from happening in the first place.
Helpful links and resources:
Stop Food Waste is a collection of resources and blog articles for tips on preventing food waste.
Resources we specifically mention in this show include:
StopWaste is Robin’s Alameda County-based organization that is working with other agencies and community-based organizations to minimize food waste. Check them out on YouTube for informative videos about food waste prevention, or follow them on Twitter or Instagram.
More info and tools:
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SB1383 is a new California law that establishes a state-wide target of 75% reduction in organic waste in landfills by 2025.
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Quick tips for storing different types of food
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Ready to become a freezer jedi? Read this article from the Still Tasty experts.
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Having a party? Plan smarter with the Save the Food dinner party calculator.
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The local organization Food Shift partnered with StopWaste to create this beautifully designed (and practical) Seasonal Produce Guide.
Episode 4. A VIRTUOUS CYCLE
Compared to motor vehicles, bikes are a cleaner, greener way of getting around. So how can we get more people on bikes? KEEPING IT COOL talks with longtime bike advocate Tim Oey of the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition, a group that is already shifting the gears within our cities toward a people-powered, fossil-free mobility future. So get on board the Bike Party! (Illustration by Stephany Lai)
Helpful links and resources:
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition is one of several organizations in the Bay Area that supports bicycle advocacy, education, events, and community-building. More Bicycle Coalitions: San Francisco, East Bay, Marin, Sonoma, Napa. These groups do a lot to help push for better bicycling conditions and infrastructure (for example, see SVBC's list of recent big "wins").
Check out city-level sub-chapters or groups, such as Bike Sunnyvale, San Carlos Bikes or San Jose Bike Party (a monthly gathering for folks to "ride bikes, make friends, and have a good time").
Women Bike is an East Bay initiative that strives "to encourage and inspire more women, trans and femme folks to ride bikes."
For commuters, "Bike to Work Day" is an annual tradition that was reframed as "Bike to Wherever Day" during the pandemic. Look for it each May.
Cool bike share resources:
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Bay Wheels is a collaboration of Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Lyft
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Book-a-Bike lets you check out a bike from select San Mateo County libraries
Find statistics on the climate benefits of biking:
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"How much CO2 does cycling really save?" (BikeRadar)
Learn about rebates:
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Bay Area Air District Clean Cars for All (trade in a car for an e-bike)
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Peninsula Clean Energy e-bikes rebate program
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Contra Costa rebate program
Episode 3. watt's mine is yours
What can Bay Area residents do at an individual level to help solve climate change? It turns out that anyone using energy (both homeowners and renters) can make choices that can help keep the grid humming along on cleaner energy. Enter OhmConnect, a company that is on a mission to give people an easy way to save money and be part of the clean energy revolution. Curtis Tongue, one of OhmConnect’s co-founders, joins us to talk about how the everyday actions of you and all your neighbors have the power (see what we did there?) to shape the green grid of the future, and help us shift away from fossil fuels.
Helpful links and resources:
Learn about Ohmconnect (and get a free smart thermostat when you join)
California's energy grid manager is the California Independent System Operator (ISO). Watch a 2-min video on how it works
Flex Alerts, defined
What are Smart Plugs and why are they useful?
Episode 2. the UGLY DUCTING
Heating and cooling buildings uses a heck of a lot of energy: So what can we be doing better? Keeping It Cool interviews Deborah Vasquez, an apartment complex manager who created big energy savings for residents through building renovations and upgrades. Yifei and Vivian uncover more ways that homeowners can cut greenhouse emissions (and lower energy bills) by chatting with Jeffrey Liang, who works for an energy efficiency agency called BayREN. His mission: to help us think about our homes with the same excitement that we have for our iPhones or Teslas.
Helpful links and resources:
Sunshine Gardens Apartments website and article by Sherry Listgarten, "How a 1960s apartment complex is going green"
EnergyStar Ratings for commercial buildings, explained
Recology offers composting (choose a location). Find out where to compost all over California.
California Green Business Network and Santa Clara County Green Businesses
​BayREN's Home+ rebate program for homeowners
BayREN Energy Advisor help line for call-in assistance
Jeffery's video: "Everything You Should Know About Energy in 30 Minutes"
Home too drafty? Furnace too big? Watch "Goldilocks and the Three Homes"
The Switch Is On home electrification resources
Rising Sun Center for Opportunity's Green House Calls program
Episode 1. cool beans
Yifei and Vivian take the bull by the horns to find out how everyday food choices affect our greenhouse emissions, speaking with Nicole Angiel of the environmental nonprofit Acterra. They then turn to Allison Dear, a medical researcher at Stanford and a longtime vegan, to help demystify what plant-based eating is really like — all good prep for Yifei as she tries out vegan eating for a week.
Helpful links and resources:
​UC Berkeley Greenhouse Gas Inventory funded by the Bay Area Air District
Oxford study, Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers
What's nutritional yeast — and how to use it
Sign up for Acterra’s Meatless May challenge
Acterra’s “My Healthy Plate, Our Healthy Planet” Facebook group
Find veggie- and vegan-friendly restaurants near you
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Guests:
Nicole Angiel and Allison Dear
Shout-out to The Westerlies for our closing credits music.