Leveling up your impact against climate change

relax

there’s nothing you can do about the

climate unless you work for a company

or live in a city or own a phone or a

brain

thank you ted for this incredible ad

it’s true

we all have the power to do something

about climate change from the comforts

of our homes

our offices and even our minds

my name is vivian belzegai i’m the

founder of ascendant sustainable events

and this is leveling up your impact in

the fight against climate change

this was me feeling like i was fighting

climate change completely alone

i’d hear something like today’s talks

get motivated and make some changes

but then i’d see something that made me

feel like these issues were so much

bigger than me

and i’d give up it wasn’t until i

changed my mind and chose to level up

that i went from being one person

fighting the big fight alone

to affecting the environmental impact of

over 50 000 people

and writing sustainability

communications that could reach millions

in minutes

i’m here to share my story with you

because i believe everyone has a path to

leveling up

and i want you to find yours like it’s

an emergency because it is

and we need you it started with me

a miami lakes kid who loved nature

every time i spent time in nature i’d

fall deeply in love again

but like a bad on-again off-again

relationship

i’d pledge to protect her and always let

her down

it was only a few years ago on a road

trip through the national parks

after experiencing the ever-evolving

natural beauty across this country

that i knew i couldn’t turn back on

nature again

but to make it last this time i pushed

myself to level up

you see a lot of what had me fail over

the years was that for 13 years i worked

very unsustainable large events i would

make all of these efforts at home

but then go to work and feel like my

events were creating more environmental

impact in a few hours

than i could in my lifetime but by

educating myself on sustainability

getting involved in my community and

focusing on the positive impacts i could

make in my line of work

i ended up going from saving a few

single use water bottles a day

to saving 526 000 plastics in one

weekend

by becoming the sustainability director

for the 2019

ultra music festival so the process of

leveling up

always starts with you and changing your

mind

about how you’ll impact the planet

think your individual impact doesn’t

matter think again

you’ve probably all seen this so let’s

take it a step further

and multiply 8 billion people times 365

days

times 80 years that’s 233 trillion

that means that anything we do daily

adds up to major

impact over the course of our lifetimes

so do something

anything to shift your daily impact and

you’ll go a long way

this doesn’t have to be perfect go vegan

once a week

buy local organic produce when you can

imperfectly

ditch plastic do what you can because

what we need in this world more than a

few perfect environmentalists

is a lot more people trying to be

sustainable imperfectly

my best advice for starting with you is

to vote with your dollar

you see every time we buy anything we’re

creating demand for it

we’re saying yes corporation i want this

i have no problem with you making it by

whatever means necessary

just as you are but do we really feel

that way

are we rewarding the top polluters of

our earth with our very own cash

you’ll make quick progress by voting

with your dollar

so next i invite you to go beyond the

confines of yourself

start to push for sustainability among

your relationships

your community and your work

in my case getting involved in my

community was what led to my biggest

opportunity

to shift into my work i happened to be

at a city of miami commission meeting

when ultra was moved to virginia key

arguably our most beautiful and most

environmentally sensitive city park

i was appalled i had been working on

sustainable events at virginia key for

some time by then

and i was seriously concerned for my

precious park

i realized though that because i cared

so much and knew the park so well

i could be the perfect person to show

the festival how to protect it

and so i reached out and before i knew

it i was accepting the position to lead

ultra’s first ever sustainability

program

we called it mission home and in only a

few months we instated a recycling

program that had 100

acceptance at the facility we cut 31

of our waste and we engaged with over

2.7 million people online

at the event our leave no trace

initiative had people dancing as they

picked up trash

and after the event the very

organizations that opposed our use of

the park

gave us an a on an unexpected audit

saying that we had set the bar in

festival greening

it was the proudest moment of my career

i cried at my desk actually

but how did we do it this is the

framework that i’ve developed for the

way i operate events

but the beautiful part is that it really

applies for the way we do everything

as people as businesses and as

communities

so really these are all of our

opportunities for change

we’ll start with pollution prevention

now this goes far beyond not literally

there are other solid liquid and gaseous

waste that we can prevent from polluting

our soil

waterways and air every day

next is waste reduction you see waste

greatly contributes to climate change

because it creates greenhouse gas

emissions

first when the product is produced then

when it’s distributed

then when it’s hauled away and finally

when it sits in our landfills or gets

recycled

that is why it’s important to reduce

waste at the source

rather than trying to come up with

something to do with it after the fact

but repurposing recycling composting

and circular economy projects are

important tools to use in this space

for waste we can’t avoid then

nature conservation is about the

opportunities we have to protect or

regenerate natural resources

like trees wildlife and the ocean

or how we can conserve the natural

resources we use on a regular basis

like water energy and food

natural resource management is about

switching our use of fossil fuels to

renewable energy

and sustainable sourcing of raw

materials so asking ourselves questions

like

can we switch to an electric car are our

paper products certified sustainable

here we can also participate in

offsetting projects like reforestation

or solar energy production

to offset carbon emissions we can’t

avoid

you can do this from the comfort of your

phone by using websites like

climatefutures.com

public health is our next emerging

opportunity disposable stuff is

generally just as likely to get germs on

it as washable stuff is

so just wash your stuff get a reusable

mask

bring your own water bottle and cutlery

with you everywhere and refill your hand

sanitizer instead of buying mini ones

last but certainly not least community

engagement is our biggest opportunity to

level up through

all of our communities including our

close personal relationships

our jobs our cities states even our

country

my best tip here is to always share your

why

i started my story today telling you

about how much i love nature

because that’s my why i believe this

planet is the most

beautiful gift we’ve been given and that

we should all treat it with respect

so what’s your why maybe you have kids

and feel a responsibility to future

generations

maybe you care greatly about wildlife i

know that sharing my why was one of the

reasons i got the job at ultra

and had so much success with our program

every time

i shared my why with our team they

really started to get it

so share your why because others can

find motivation in it and that’s how we

create more and more sustainability

champions

finally bringing this home to our magic

city

all of these opportunities are present

to us every day right here in miami

under pollution prevention and nature

conservation did you know that homes

using septic tanks and lawn fertilizers

are regularly polluting

biscayne bay because of the way our

drain systems work

this is why we really need you to get

educated on local issues

speak up to your city and county

officials and vote in local elections

you can also volunteer with some of our

amazing local nonprofits like volunteer

cleanup

send it for the sea debris free oceans

and surf rider

waste reduction is also imperative

because we can’t rely on municipal

composting or recycling in our city

did you know we don’t recycle glass

plastic cups

bags cutlery or to-go containers here in

miami

beyond that food waste is actually what

creates a majority of the greenhouse

gases that seep out of our landfills

so drop your food waste at a local

composting drop-off

you can significantly reduce your waste

at the source by shopping at farmers

markets or bulk stores like verde market

in wynwood

or how about lowering your carbon

footprint by not ordering things on

amazon that you can get at a local store

there are always opportunities to better

our environmental impact right here at

home

not to mention all day every day online

you just have to change your mind about

how much you can do about it

so remember you might feel like a lonely

climate change fighter today

but tomorrow you could be leading the

way for your city

your job or your family and friends we

just need you

to level up your impact in the fight

against climate change

thank you