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