The constant trickle of bad news about climate events can dampen even the biggest optimist’s spirits. So can tackling the question of how to talk to our friends, family and wider community about the environment without being instantly labelled a killjoy and de-invited to social events.
For Our Planet Our Future’s September event, we welcome two well-known local speakers, Virginia Cinquemani, coach and founder of The Green Gorilla, and Judith Leary-Joyce, author, sustainability champion and founder of Eco Renovation Home. Scroll down to watch videos of Virginia and Judith’s talks and find out how you can take action.
Keeping hope alive with Virginia Cinquemani
Our first speaker was coach, trainer and founder of The Green Gorilla, Virginia Cinquemani. Virginia trains sustainability professionals on how to communicate more effectively with colleagues and management. She is the author of two books, SustainABLE and The Good Communicator, which directly address how to talk about sustainability more effectively and was a recent Our Planet Our Future’s book club pick.
As an Italian who has made the UK her home, Virginia shared how shocked she felt seeing the impact of Europe’s heatwaves this summer and that her home country no longer felt like the home she knew. She said letting ourselves be taken over by despair can prevent us from taking action. Instead, she shared recommendations on how you can look past despair to feel the hope we need to make a difference. Watch her talk in the video below:
After her talk, an audience member raised the point that hoping for a more sustainable future can often feel like a vague aim. Virginia agreed and said we need to get really clear on this and that it will be different for everyone. Do we want healthier nature? Does it mean working together so we can all breathe cleaner air? Once we’re clear, it’s easier to talk to people about what we want and take action.
How you can take action:
- Join a local National Emergency Briefing screening. Warning: it’s not cheery but will give you a balanced, factual understanding of what’s at stake if we don’t take action. Virginia recommends going to a screening followed by a discussion to get the most out of it. Use this interactive map to find your nearest National Emergency Briefing.
- Read Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. The book has proved particularly inspiring for Virginia’s own coaching practice.
- Gratitude breeds hope, so start a simple gratitude practice. Keep a pebble in your coat pocket. Every time you feel it when you put your hand in your pocket, you’ll be reminded to think of something you feel positive about.
- For a bit of light relief, follow the climate comedian Stuart Goldsmith.
Getting out of the sustainability bubble with Judith Leary-Joyce
Our second speaker was eco renovation expert, TedX speaker and founder of Eco Renovation Home, Judith Leary-Joyce. Judith also has a popular Instagram account, where she shares tips on living more sustainably and making sure your home is as sustainable as possible with her 178,000 followers.
Judith’s talk was titled Should we whisper or should we yell? However, as she shared, she realised this was the wrong question. As she shares in the video below, the question is less about what tone we should take and more about how we need to get out of the climate bubble and find ways to influence people in other bubbles, whether they’re drag queens or footballers.
In the discussion after the talk, we discussed ways we could talk to people around us. For example, one attendee talked about his table tennis clubs and how discussing how the recent heatwaves affected play over the summer could be a way to start talking about sustainability. Another shared how knitting the climate stripes could be a way to spark discussion among local crafters.
How you can take action:
- Have a think about which non-climate groups you have access to. Are you on a school PTA? Do you play with a sports team several times a week? Are you a teacher or youth leader? Do you and your friends host Come Dine With Me-style dinner parties or go on group holidays together? There are so many occasions to which we can gently introduce sustainability or climate topics.
- Think about whether the groups you have access to would respond better to a gentle approach or a more full-on discussion.
- Book onto one of Judith’s house tours, where she’ll show you how she retrofitted her Edwardian home to make it more energy efficient. The next one is scheduled for the 3rd October and you can book it here.
- For more tips on how to talk about sustainability, read Katharine Hayhoe’s book Saving Us. Read about what the book club thought about it here.
Thank you to Virginia and Judith for their insightful talks!
Our next event
At our next event is an Environmental Board Games night, the first time we’ve hosted an event of this kind. Grab a friend and join us at The Harpenden Arms at 7.30-9:30pm on the 9th of November. Book your free spot here.
What do you want to see in 2027?
We’re in the process of planning 2027’s schedule of events, and we’d love to hear from you! If you have any ideas of topics you’d like us to explore together, or even local speakers we could invite, then we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to fuschia.hutton@sustainablestalbans.org.
About Our Planet Our Future
Our Planet Our Future is Sustainable St Albans’ landmark series of talks and events to help you live a more sustainable life.
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