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Planet Now
Blog on Effective Environmental Communication
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I recently had a minor identity crisis. After years of identifying as a Type One (the Reformer) on the Enneagram test, I realized I may now be a Type Five (the Investigator)! The Enneagram system categorizes people into nine personality types based on their worldviews and emotions. I was assigned to take the test for The Branding of Me class (for which I’m writing this blog) at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. While I’ve been interested in personality type tests like the Enneagram for years, even teaching a Splash UNC course about them to high schoolers, I decided to take it again for fun. I figured I would get Type One like I always had. This time, though, Type Five appeared as my top Enneagram type. At first, I blamed my “incorrect” answer on being tired and taking the test right before going to bed. Upon closer look at the description, I realized Type Five is actually a good fit. Type Five describes people who are curious, independent problem-solvers. They spend a lot of time (sometimes too much time) deep in thought. What really stood out to me about the Enneagram Institute’s description of Type Five is that their key motivations are “to possess knowledge, to understand the environment, [and] to have everything figured out as a way of defending the self from threats from the environment.” While this description was likely referring to a person’s surroundings (school, work, etc.), it aligned exactly with what I’ve been doing in school the past five years. I’ve been studying environmental issues, especially climate change, to figure out how to mitigate this problem and its devastating effects. I’ve found strategic communication as a solution and have continued to study it so I can advocate for slowing climate change and its threats. Until now, I’ve confidently identified with Type One as someone who cares a lot about doing what is right and creating justice in the world. We are perfectionists, sometimes to a fault. The “sense of mission” that is common for this type definitely relates to my goal to help solve climate change and reduce environmental injustices. I still think Type One can be a fit for me - most people find that they fit with multiple Enneagram types! Each type takes on the characteristics of another type when stressed or growing. An interesting connection is that the Type One acts like a Type Seven when experiencing growth. The Type Five acts like a Type Seven when experiencing stress. I thought that reviewing the Type Seven personality type and seeing whether it better matches a growing or stressed version of myself might help me compare my two types. Reading the description of that type - someone who is spontaneous, extroverted, and optimistic - seemed much more like a growing than stressed version of myself, making me feel more like a Type One. Ultimately, I plan to keep learning about both Type One and Type Five and seeing what personal insight they can give me, whether about my career or life in general. Enneagrams are valuable because they help us reflect on ourselves, our strengths, and areas for growth. They can also influence how we feel about climate change and the types of messages that resonate with us. I wrote more about connecting Enneagram types to environmental messaging in a previous blog post.
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Environmental Communicator Brooke Bauman on Using Your Strengths for Solving Climate Change2/23/2023
If you read my book Planet Now, you may remember the chapters featuring Brooke and her writing projects. She wrote for Yale Climate Connections and wrote and produced her own podcast, the Guilty Plastics Podcast.
Now that she is with the NPS, Brooke is excited to be producing another podcast. This one is for Park Science Magazine about how Cape Hatteras National Seashore is addressing sea level rise impacts at their park. She interviewed Dave Hallac, superintendent of the park, and found it interesting to learn about the park’s research to identify areas that are susceptible to erosion, informing where to avoid building structures. In her role, Brooke has mainly been focused on projects about sea level rise and restoration. A big project has been putting together a spatial database of coastal restoration projects across parks. She has also been developing case study briefs that they plug into the database so that employees across parks can view project information and share resources. Plus, Brooke has gotten to occasionally visit field sites. She attended a volunteer work day in Rocky Mountain National Park and collected native seeds to be planted in burned areas that lost vegetation. Brooke loves getting to work in a space where she helps protect the environment and reduce the risks of climate impacts because she has been worried about climate change since she was a kid. She explained that in elementary school it was “a shock to the system to learn about something that could rock your world.” In high school she decided to take action to help slow climate change. She began a sustainability club to encourage composting and start a native plant garden. Going into college, she was interested in sustainability but wasn’t sure what a career in that space would look like. After about a year, she found her interest in environmental communication. Brooke graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2021 with a major in environmental science and minors in geography as well as media and journalism. Brooke highly recommends the Scientists in Parks internship program through which she found her NPS role. It connects recent graduates who want experience in the NPS and offers a wide variety of positions, both in the field and office. As we face serious climate change impacts, it is important for everyone to contribute to the movement to slow the problem in the ways they are able. Like Brooke said, everyone has skills that can apply to solving climate change. Read an earlier blog post on climate-related careers to learn more about the ways people can help and the types of skills you can apply to solving climate change! This week, I wanted to draw attention to a serious environmental disaster - which hopefully you have already heard about. A train carrying chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania border. The train cars were marked as “non-hazardous” despite containing vinyl chloride, a gas linked to cancers. Authorities implemented a controlled burn to reduce the chances of chemicals causing an explosion. The controlled burn has released chemicals into the atmosphere that are harmful to humans. Residents of the area are concerned about whether their air and water are safe and if they can trust government officials saying they are safe. The disaster has been devastating to wildlife in the area. Thousands of creatures like fish, chickens, and the endangered hellbender salamander have been found dead near the incident. I saw an interesting tweet about the derailment from environmental writer Eve Andrews. She shared her disappointment with many people on her Twitter feed saying there was a lack of coverage on the derailment despite much coverage.
The tweet made me think about information overload. As we get much of our news from the Internet and social media, we are exposed to different stories and may not come across big stories about serious issues. Additionally, with information overload, we experience selective bias because we pay attention to what fits our beliefs. For example, I’m interested in understanding climate change, so I follow a lot of environmental accounts. I’ve also made friends in my environmental classes and clubs, so I am particularly exposed to environmental media when they share content. Therefore, much of the media I consume comes from people who believe in climate change and are very pro-environment. As a result, I might think the opinions I see a lot reflect how the general population thinks. Clearly, information overload makes it possible to miss important stories and shows the importance of following news sources of various sizes and topics to help us stay informed. There has been an abundance of misinformation about the derailment as area residents and government agencies investigate. However, we should keep paying attention to the situation and learn lessons to prevent future similar accidents. It’s not the first, but hopefully with future consideration of risks, it will be the last chemical disaster.
In my media law class, I have studied how the SEC may require companies to share their climate mitigation plans, so I asked the panelists about the role of government requirements for ESG. They said that the government has a role in requiring ESG reporting when companies would otherwise not have to do so; however, it would be more efficient to also increase public-private partnerships that help companies share ESG information clearly and consistently . Next, I asked how people outside companies can encourage companies to be more transparent about how they are mitigating their climate impacts, especially if they are not legally required to share this information. Dr. May said people have power to create change both by being intentional consumers and through their careers. Throughout the conference, the panelists had lots of insight to share about ESG. Here are some of the key takeaways I had:
If you want to learn about a recent college graduate who has already done inspiring work in the sustainability field, look no further than Cara Kuuskvere! She is a sustainability analyst at Hanesbrands and a UNC Class of 2022 graduate. At UNC, she was Director of Sustainable Projects for the Residence Hall Association for three years. We worked together in the student organization United Solar Initiative, and I enjoyed seeing her drive for change.
Why did she pursue this path? Cara had many different career goals as a kid but always wanted to help others. For instance, she considered being a teacher and a doctor. “I thought about my skills and what would have a positive impact on those around me. Climate change is one of the biggest issues facing our generation, so I thought, maybe I can go into that,” she shared. She knew that working in the sustainability space would help create a more equitable world. While at UNC, Cara majored in environmental science and business administration, where she was in the Kenan Scholars program for students committed to putting the private sector to work for the public good. She also dove into sustainability outside the classroom. As a first-year student, she was the sustainability officer for her residence hall. Then, she became Director of Sustainable Projects for residence halls across campus. In this role, she focused on increasing education about sustainability for students living on campus. With a broad job description, she took on various projects from energy efficiency retrofits in the residence halls to putting on fun programs for residents to learn about sustainability. One program was letting residents decorate their own compost bins. I still use my compost bin from one of the events she helped my residence hall coordinate! “The more I got involved in college, the more agency I felt to make an impact,” shared Cara. Now, Cara is making change at a global scale! Hanesbrands is an international parent company of many brands. In sustainability, they focus on people, planet, and product. Cara works on the planet pillar, so she analyzes data focused on energy, emissions, water, and waste. She spends most of her time working on the company’s zero-waste-to-landfill goals and working towards science-based targets for reducing carbon emissions across the supply chain and across the entire lifecycle of products. Something particularly exciting for Cara has been working with the Champion Sustainability Fund at UNC, through which members of Hanesbrands and Sustainable Carolina review energy efficiency project submissions. Through this program, she has loved staying connected with UNC and even got to speak to a class about the fund. I’m excited to see the impact Cara continues to make. When we are talking about environmental issues, whether with friends or in mass media, we should use the terms that most effectively encourage our audience to care about the environment and act to protect it. The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) recently studied the terms that Americans use to refer to “carbon emissions.” It tested the difference in reactions to the following terms: “greenhouse gas emissions,” “carbon emissions,” and “carbon pollution.” It found that the latter two terms are better for getting Americans to understand climate impacts even if the first is technically more correct since it is inclusive of greenhouse gases besides carbon. YPCCC also compared the effectiveness of the terms “climate change” and “extreme weather.” In summary, the better term to use varied by the audience. “Climate change” was more likely than “extreme weather” to encourage actions to prepare for climate change among politically liberal audiences. “Extreme weather” was a better option for encouraging conservative audiences to take action, like creating emergency preparedness kits. Moreover, public opinion analyst Frank Luntz has shared terms that focus groups have shown to encourage people to take climate action: My takeaway from these recommendations is that we should focus on terms that are positive (like “solving”) and avoid terms that are overused (like “state of the art”). It is certain that climate change has negative impacts and some of those impacts are already happening, so it makes sense to use “consequences” rather than “threats.” The best terms can be very specific for different purposes and audiences, so these recommendations are not to say that you should never use the above “lose” terms.
Most surprising to me is “principles and priorities” being better than “values.” I have studied the importance of connecting climate change to people’s values, and now I may switch the terminology that I typically use to match that recommendation. Do any of these “use” terms surprise you? Last spring I had the exciting opportunity to take one of the first cellular agriculture courses in the world!
The class largely focused on cultivated meat, which is a meat-like product grown from animal cells (the definition of meat, and whether cultivated meat can be called meat, is debatable). You probably know that meat production is a major contributor to climate change and other environmental problems. As a class speaker, Amy Huang of the Good Food Institute said industrial animal agriculture accounts for about 20% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. It significantly contributes to land use, water consumption, nutrient runoff, and biodiversity loss. Production of lab-grown meat can be more sustainable by releasing less greenhouse gases and using much less land and water. It can also increase food security as the world population increases and the need for protein rises in the coming decades. Unlike plant-based meat that has gained popularity in recent years, lab-grown meat is not yet available in stores. However, it reached a milestone in November. The U.S. FDA gave safety clearance to Upside Foods for its lab-grown chicken, which is the first time the FDA has cleared lab-grown meat. This is a big deal since regulation has been a key challenge for the cultivated meat industry (safety first, of course). Other challenges that remain for increasing lab-grown meat include the high production costs and getting it to seem close enough to “real meat” for the public to accept it. Many people will want their cultivated meat to have a similar taste and texture to “real meat.” They also may want to be able to cook it the same way as they would any other meat. Language will be an important part of marketing cultivated meat and helping consumers overcome hesitancies to try a new food product. People may be more keen on trying “cultivated meat” or “alternative proteins” than “lab-grown meat” or “fake meat.” Emphasizing environmental benefits and connecting climate change to people’s values (like saving money and helping others) could be a key way to influence some people to eat these new meat products. Would you consider eating meat grown in a lab? Share why or why not in the comments! If you are looking for a hobby that helps the earth, others, and yourself, consider volunteering at a community garden! I began volunteering at community gardens in high school and think there are several reasons that you should try it out if you haven’t already.
You are helping the environment by promoting eating locally. Transportation accounts for about one-fifth of carbon emissions in the food industry. By reducing the transportation of food, you can reduce air pollution and carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Next, you are helping your community. Community gardens often provide fresh food to people without reliable access to affordable food. For instance, Carolina Community Garden provides fruit and vegetables to UNC’s lower wage employees. There are personal benefits, too! Volunteering provides an opportunity to meet new people in your community. You may be assigned tasks with a couple people. Shoveling compost or picking vegetables together provides a chance to chat. Volunteering at community gardens at UNC allowed me to meet students in other departments. You can also bring your friends and get to spend time with them while doing a unique activity. Gardening can be relaxing and good for your mental health. Some tasks, like weeding and planting seeds, can be a bit tedious but allow you to focus on the simple task in front of you. In some instances, you might be gardening alone (like at a satellite garden for a campus garden). When I watered my residence hall garden during undergrad, I enjoyed peaceful mornings listening to music and podcasts. Plus, if you volunteer regularly, it can be satisfying to see the seeds you plant grow into food. I started a garden at my high school and loved seeing our seeds turn into foods like onions and carrots. You can’t always see the direct impact of your efforts, but you can when you garden. Another benefit of gardening is that you can get a light workout. When you volunteer, you don’t know what tasks you might be assigned and may end up digging holes or pushing a heavy wheelbarrow full of compost. (Of course, you should only do tasks that you are comfortably and physically able to do.) It might not be as intense as a gym workout but is great if you are trying to live a more active lifestyle. Moreover, you get to spend time outside. It’s especially nice to volunteer on a cool fall or warm spring day. Sometimes, you may get to take home some food yourself and enjoy eating local, fresh produce. Once I got to try fennel for the first time. Another time I enjoyed a salsa with some fresh herbs I got to take from a community garden. If you are interested in volunteering, look into options in your community! For UNC students reading this post, a couple great options are Carolina Community Garden and Edible Campus. |
Welcome to my blog! It is a combination of posts from my strategic writing (spring 2022) and personal branding (spring 2023) courses at UNC. I hope you will enjoy reading the posts and learning about the environment and communication.
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