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Regeneration Part 11: The Role of Action + Connection In Reversing Global Warming

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This is the 11th and final installment of our coverage of Paul Hawken's bestselling new book, Regeneration: Ending The Climate Crisis In One Generation.

Corinna asks the audience to submit any questions to Paul to her through CareMoreBeBetter.com so she can have a final blog or second interview with Paul to answer your questions. She shares her personal Action List or "Punch List" of items she's committing to champion in her own home as a frame of reference for all listeners. She even shares her decision to shift banks from one that is a top funder of the fossil fuel industry, and why she chose the bank she did.

NOTE: If you have just discovered this series, you may wish to go back to the beginning and start fresh. You can go to the links in References below, or visit www.CareMoreBeBetter.com for access to the complete series simply by clicking on the Regeneration Category of podcasts.

Time Stamps:

0:00 Introduction

02:10 Invitation to Connect + Ask Questions of Paul Hawken

04:00 Corinna's Action List or "Punch List"

10:30 Choosing a Better Bank

15:40 Welcome To Regeneration + Closing Thoughts

References:

Introduction to Regeneration: One Billion Climate Activists Strong: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/one-billion-climate-activists-strong/

Regeneration Interview with Paul Hawken: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-ending-the-climate-crisis-in-one-generation/

Regeneration Part 1 Oceans: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-part-1-oceans/

Regeneration Part 2 Forests: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-part-2-forests/

Regeneration Part 3 Wilding: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-part-3-wilding/

Regeneration Part 4 Nexus: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-part-4-nexus-climate-activism-tool/

Regeneration Part 5 Regenerative Agriculture: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-part-5-land-regenerative-agriculture-and-soil-restoration-to-reverse-global-warming/

Regeneration Part 6 People: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-part-6-people-indigeneity-and-our-role-in-reversing-global-warming/

Regeneration Part 7 Cities: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-part7-cities-green-architecture-living-building-challenge/

Regeneration Part 8 Food: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-part8-food-localization-and-decommodification-to-end-the-climate-crisis/

Regeneration Part 9 Energy: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-part9-food-energy-renewal-use-and-storage-as-we-say-goodbye-to-fossil-fuels/

Regeneration Part 10 Industry: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regeneration-part-10-solving-the-climate-crisis-by-regenerating-industries/

Climate Activism By Design with David Johnson: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/climate-activism-by-design/

Be A Green Change Leader with Anca Novacovici: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/be-a-green-change-leader/

Regenerative Agriculture with Tom Newmark: https://www.caremorebebetter.com/regenerative-agriculture-the-answer-to-the-climate-crisis/

Regeneration: Ending The Climate Crisis In One Generation was published on September 21, 2021 and is available at all your favorite booksellers. Visit the Regeneration website for details, resources, and valuable tools for anyone interested in becoming a climate activist.

Regeneration + Nexus: https://www.regeneration.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/regenerationorg

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Welcome regenerators! This is the 11th and final installment in our coverage of Regeneration: Ending The Climate Crisis In One Generation by Paul Hawken. It has been a JOURNEY and I can tell you, I’ve learned a ton. There have been so many moments of unexpected synergies as I covered this book. Unplanned coincidences, and more. When indigenous people’s day hit, we were covering PEOPLE and all the things we can do to right our wrongs. When we were covering regenerative agriculture, we were also preparing to interview Tom Newmark, founder of The Carbon Underground. Today, as head into Thanksgiving week, and Giving Tuesday which follows the holiday, I’ll appropriately be diving into the very last section of the book. Action and Connection.

If you’re new to this Regeneration series, welcome! And you may get more out of it if you go back to the beginning in my pre-interview intro to Paul Hawken. The easiest way to do so is to visit www.CareMoreBeBetter.com and click on this episode. You’ll see show notes, which includes direct links to every episode in this regeneration series, and if you click on the category of “Regeneration” listed on the Podcast page, you’ll be directed to a listing of the entire Regeneration series. Start from the bottom, and work your way on up!

And while you’re visiting caremorebebetter.com I encourage you to look around. You can watch videos of my interviews with thought leaders, including Paul Hawken.

While you’re on my site, you can even leave me a voicemail and share your thoughts about this episode and series by clicking the microphone in the bottom right-hand corner. Feel free to leave a message with any questions you might have for Paul Hawken, since I’ll soon subit a list of community questions so he can answer them directly via blog or perhaps even a second interview.

And one last note before I dive into this week’s topic. As a listener supported show, every contribution helps us create quality content. You can become a Patreon supporter for as little as $2 a month, buy sustainable merch – or even make a one-time donation securely right on caremorebebetter.com.

Here goes!

A desire to act and feel more connected to people who felt the same way was a major contributor to my decision to start this podcast. When I first received this book in the mail on September 7, 2021, I went first to this section. I literally pulled a Harry from When Harry Met Sally and read the end first. I created my own punch list, and published it on social media – so I thought a fun way to dive into this section for all of you would be to talk about what that action list was then, and how it’s changed having gone through the entire book in detail, cover to cover.

We are given a checklist of questions to evaluate our decisions and thinking, with questions like “Does the action create more life or reduce it?” and “is the activity extractive or regenerative”. These framing questions can help continually guide us on our paths forward.

This is how my list began, and I’ll publish this list on my website for anyone who cares to review it with the transcript…

Corinna’s Punch List

  1. Assess and fix our solar panels that stopped producing so much power. Well, we’re our third tech appointment into that journey now, and it still isn’t fixed. We’ll get there…
  2. Investigate additional costs to cover 100% of power needs with additional solar power panels with battery backups. This hasn’t happened because we’re still stuck on #1.
  3. Plan a staycation that explores our local outdoors with the kids, instead of flying somewhere. This one – we did – and it was marvelous. No flight headaches. A little home-town adventure even while we changed up our typical routine.
  4. Choose a spot to start a guerilla gardening project. I have my eye on a spot but I’m not quite sure how I’ll get it water in the summer months. This one is TBD.
  5. Move to a smaller trash bin for our home, focus on producing no more than one bag of waste each week for our household of 4. I’m happy to say we’ve done this.
  6. Purchase carbon offsets for any necessary air travel. Again, I’m doing this with a 3x standard offset purchase.
  7. Capture bath and shower water for my rain barrels. This was critical before the rains began, and is something I’ll continue to do when my rain barrels aren’t full.

And now, that list has expanded. It now includes a few minor changes and one big one that I’ll detail with progress so far.

Corinna’s Punch List Continued

  1. Reduce online purchases to next to nothing. Move our household off of Amazon.
  2. Shop for produce, eggs, and bread almost exclusively at my weekly farmer’s market.
  3. Initiate “buy nothing new”, excluding essentials for at least 30 days every 3 months.
  4. Eliminate the purchase of new plastic items, preferentially purchasing items packaged in glass and aluminum (aside from unavoidable food packaging including bags for breads)
  5. Consume no animal products before dinner. I’ve mostly done this with the sole exception of locally sourced eggs from backyard chicken farmers that treat their birds like family. I’ve even given up milk in my coffee, replacing it with Non-GMO Oat Milk.
  6. Change banks away from J.P. Morgan Chase.

I learned when we covered the Banking Industry in episode #10 that JP Morgan Chase is the bank that contributes the most financial support in the way of investments to the fossil fuel industry. I have since transferred all my savings to a second account that I opened with Capital One. By the end of the year, I will have closed my account with JP Morgan Chase. I just need to make sure all my bill pay is moved over, and that I’m not missing any vital information. Bye bye Chase!

So, why did I choose Capital One? For one, I already had a credit card with them, and they made opening an account online and transferring money to them really easy. I can use their debit card at thousands of ATMs if I need to without incurring bank charges too… Plus, here are some of the projects Capital One is presently committed to:

  • Sustainable Building Investments: Since 2015 they have financed over $10 Billion in renewable energy and sustainable building investments
  • Renewable Energy Finance: Since May 2014, Capital One’s Commercial Bank renewable energy investments team has invested over $750 milllion to finance nearly 2,000 megawatts of solar and wind projects
  • Greener Housing: Financed more than $6.5 Billion since 2016 in environmentally sustainable multi-family housing projects that improve the energy and water efficiency of the buildings
  • Green Renovation: Worked with AGU’s not-for-profit headquarters to renovate their headquarters to achieve net zero energy goals. This project included reusing existing materials in the construction of the building, and ensuring they produce as much or more energy and water than would be consumed once the renovation was complete.

So, now I’m more confident that my money is doing good things, even as it sits in a bank account. That feels really good. But these are the actions of one person, one family, and one household. A big factor in the success of any movement is that of connection and collaboration.

I’ve started collaborating with a group of women leaders through a network I’m creating with my new podcast, Femcasters. With this group, I am elevating the voices of women changemakers who are out there to do more good. Inspiring group activities and activistic pursuits through collaboration is but one thing I’m committed to doing now and in the future. It will be fun! So, for any lady podcasters, media hopefuls, authors, and speakers, please reach out and let’s connect!

I’m also involved with a Regeneration Group and a clubhouse club focused on Regeneration. I’ll continue these collaborations as time allows, and connect people where I think it makes sense. I plan to feature some of these stories in future episodes. And heck – I’m doing this podcast! It’s all part of the goal to improve connection and inspire action. We are doing this!

As Paul wraps up the entire book, he reminds us of tools available on Regeneration.org. We can continue our knowledge journey with any of the subjects covered in the Nexus section of Regeneration.org. It will be continually updated, and provides direct contacts to leaders and CEOs we can contact directly so our voices are heard. If you haven’t already, go to regeneration.org/nexus and check it out.

The Goal:

Remember, the goal is simple. We are working to do one thing, reverse global warming. Not surprisingly Paul shares the data. He calls for a regeneration revolution – because if we are successful in implementing all of the ideas shared in this book, we can avoid and sequester over 1,600 gigatons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions by 2050 which meets both the 2030 and 2050 targets of the IPCC. It’s ambitious, and it’s possible.

We are called on to protect earth’s ecosystems and wild land, but we are also told that it isn’t all on us individually.

“It’s not your job to save the planet. The idea of saving the earth is a heavy burden and you can’t do it anyway. Another belief that torques the mind is that carbon is bad. There is no such thing as carbon pollution. It is part and parcel of virtually everything we need, make, and touch, everything that is alive, delicious, astonishing, and sacred. We have placed extraordinary amounts of carbon into the atmosphere , and we know exactly how we did it. Today, we know how to bring it back home to bring the planet into balance. The earth is forgiving about what that balance should be. It is approximately the average level of atmospheric carbon dioxide seen for the past 800,000 years. The carbon we bring home is the food needed to regenerate life on earth. When we feed the earth, we heal the climate. Regeneration is the default mode of life.”

  • Paul Hawken, Ending the Climate Crisis In One Generation, p. 254

Paul reminds us that we are all in this together, that together with common interest we can change our trajectory. He ends the book with three final words: “Welcome to Regeneration”.

Summary
I must say, I think I’ll miss these deep dives into Paul Hawken’s work. At the same time, it has been a lot to manage– keeping pace with two episodes a week. I’m thrilled with what I’ve learned and the changes I’ve already made to support this regeneration movement, and I’m pleased that I get to bring the concepts I’ve learned from this work into my podcast, and my work life too.

Next week is Thanksgiving, and I will not be releasing a mini (or let’s face it, not so mini) second episode. It will be a welcome, thankful break that I’ll enjoy with family. I hope you all have a similar chance to rest, relax, and enjoy your loved ones.

It’s that time isn’t it?

As we wrap up… I have a few very quick and simple asks. First -- Share this series with your community. And Second – if you’ve enjoyed it, if you’ve learned something… I’d really love for you to send me a voicemail on my site, or an e-mail, or write a review. Heck, you can do all three if you like, right there on caremorebebetter.com. A little encouragement goes a long way, and the energy you put into that review really keeps me going. If you have the means, I hope you’ll also join my Patreon or make a one-time donation to support the show.

Thank you, listeners, now and always for being a part of this pod and community – because together, we really can do so much more. We can care more and be better. We can regenerate earth.