Mushrooms are eating our butts
Who else is ready for the weekend?! You (almost) made it and deserve to reward yourself for that.
With ice cream.
My personal recommendation after having an all-you-can-eat ice cream buffet inside of a Ben & Jerry's ice cream truck (more on that here) is their half-baked flavor (chocolate, peanut butter, brownie, cookie dough 🤤). I may be biased, but I also have a coupon for two free pints. If you live in NYC, let me know...
But until you can get your hands on a scoop, enjoy the treat of some great news in today's edition of Climativity.
Jacob Simon
It was a great week, and here's why...
Playgrounds are beating climate change
One of my most clear playground memories was playing football with my friends in middle school. No, I can't play football. But back then I had a nice arm (pre-shoulder dislocation) and would become the quarterback as a last resort to chuck the ball as high as I possibly could in a hail-mary attempt for one last touchdown. I'm pretty sure it never worked.
Thankfully, some other playground endeavors are working. More specifically, playgrounds in New York are being updated to include green infrastructure: rain gardens, grass-roof gazebos, trees, and more nature-based solutions that soak up excess rainwater and prevent flooding. Goodbye boring asphalt, hello lush green schoolyards😍.
Mushrooms are permanently breaking down cigarette butts!
I did a park clean-up in Brooklyn last summer where we collected over 280 pounds of trash in about an hour. It was a fun and meaningful morning, but what shocked me was the sheer number of cigarette butts thrown carelessly all over the park. There were so many cigarettes that we had separate bags just to collect them. Turns out, they're the single most littered item in the world. Yet an Australian program is confidently piloting a program to have mushrooms consume these butts and create a byproduct similar to polystyrene (styrofoam).
This school is funding robotics classes by selling its solar energy back to the grid
Believe it or not, I have my own personal solar panel. It was a holiday gift from my siblings and sits in my window, charging up my phone from time to time.
Now take that, and multiply it by 100. That's what an underfunded school in Tunisia did. From an initial $32,250 investment they're now able to produce 4x the amount of energy they need. The rest is given away to nearby schools and whatever's left is then sold to the national grid. This extra $2,000 each year has helped them cut debts and fund educational programs. Let's hope other schools follow in their footsteps!
👨👩👧👦 Climativity Community
My friend and fellow Climativity reader Ella shared a little secret with me: you can finally eat the rich.
She showed me an amazingly fun project called the Billionaire Banquet in collaboration with Breach Media involving custom Pac-Man levels, education on Canada's billionaires, and great music.
Spoiler alert: these billionaires don't care much for the environment. So let's eat the rich before they eat us!
📧 Hey, you, reply to this email now and let me know something that's giving you hope.
🤳 Watch me walk around New York and talk about good climate news
@jacobsimonsays Sharks deserve befter, and organizations like Reshark are helping them survive! 🙏💚 #reshark #nationalgeographic #zebrasharks #climativity #rewilding
♬ sonido original - Maria Barbena Triola
If this video isn't playing properly, view it here.
Let's take meaningful action together...
👀 Watch it: If you haven't heard, the latest IPCC report came out, the last major one to be released for the next five years. My friend Miriam from Zentouro did the absolute best possible job at summarizing the 8,000-page report in 5 minutes. Check it out for a quick refresher.
👟 Get it: Allbirds are the most comfortable shoes I've ever put on my feet, period. I'm very minimal, yet now own 3 pairs, and the fact that they're sustainable just makes them even better (they're made from natural materials and even print their CO2 emissions right on their shoes). While they rarely offer discounts, they were kind enough to give you all an exclusive deal: Get a pair of shoes or apparel (excluding underwear/socks) from this link and if you add a pair of socks to your cart they'll be automatically free!
✅ Do it: Which organizations should we be supporting with money, time, and engagement? There are a lot. Luckily for you, I'm breaking down some of the best when it comes to the climate. Today, let's support the NRDC who are not only suing to stop the Willow Project but are also a great resource to learn about climate change, take political action, and protect our planet.
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Stay cool,
Jacob
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