Climate Action Figures

Season 2, Episode 3: Ann

• John Whidden • Season 2 • Episode 3

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In this episode, Ann, a software engineer explores renewable energy, conservation, cultural exchanges, and repurposing everyday items. Our engineer Geoff highlights energy-saving practices around your thermostat.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:38 QuickFix: Eco-Friendly Lawns

01:36 Ann's Thoughts on Biodiversity

03:10 Discovering Servas: Cultural Exchange

04:35 Ann's Journey: From South Korea to Canada

05:23 A glimpse into South Korea, recycling, and Climate Change

08:24 Geoff's Energy-Saving Tips

12:54 Ann's Journey into Software Engineering

14:04 Future of Renewable Energy

15:21 Shark Research and Technology

18:05 Creative Climate Actions

20:48 Hope for the Future

22:44 Conclusion and Farewell

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Ann:

Hi, I'm Ann, and with the beautiful construction noise in the background, you're listening to climate action figures.

John:

Well hello and welcome to the latest edition of Climate Action Figures. My name, as usual, is John Whidden, and this week on the show you get to meet Ann. But first, this week's QuickFix. Today's QuickFix comes to us from Janice Rider in Calgary, who says, Yikes! Everywhere around me I see green grass growing in yards. This means that people are using herbicides and fertilizers to maintain their golfing greens. The problem is that these greens are deserts for invertebrates. They simply don't provide the food needed to sustain animals like insects or pillbugs or roly polies. Fortunately, there's a solution, and it looks good, too. West Coast Seeds sells bee turf. That's B E E, TURF, and other solutions for great looking and wonderfully diverse lawns, and I don't work for this company, thus I have no monetary interest in their doing well. Well, thank you very much for that, Janice, that's very interesting information, and welcome Ann,

Ann:

Hello.

John:

So, Ann, what do you think about all that information in today's QuickFix?

Ann:

Right, so I think it's a very interesting observation that reminds us of how important biodiversity is. So I only recently grasped that concept of biodiversity after watching a lot of, like, binge watching a lot of David Attenborough's documentaries. Um, yeah, so I, I used to think that overdevelopment is a problem because we are chopping off a lot of trees during the process. and as long as we are compensating for the loss by planting more trees, it's okay. But, um, I realized or I learned that, uh, turning forest or green grassland into farmland is also not very good. Like farm has lots of plants in there, right? But still it's not very good because it really breaks the biodiversity and breaks the equilibrium in the ecosystem. So, yeah, I think it's very interesting observation. And I also like the solution about the bee turf. I keep hearing about this, you know, bee experts freaking out about. The number of bees declining. So if we can bring back, bring back more bees, I think that'll be a great solution.

John:

Right, yeah, diversity is such an important issue these days, so, great that Janice has brought that to the forefront. Now, Ann, we met through an organization called Servas, which is a not for profit, imagine couch surfing that's carefully vetted and has a big cultural component. So, it's less about a warm place to stay and more about staying with someone and learning about their culture. So, how did you become interested in that?

Ann:

Yeah, I actually talked a lot about this story, but I got to learn about Servas through a book. I was reading a book written by this lady back in like 1980s. Uh, she's a pretty, She lives in America. And then after her divorce, she started traveling in, uh, Central America, Latin America. And I would, yeah, so I was reading that book and then I was actually, I'm very interested in traveling. So I was looking for something like couch surfing, in the sense that I wanted to learn more about like people's culture, like interact more with local people and I read that in the book and then I went to Google and searched it up. It was still there. And that's the day I submitted my application for that.

John:

Oh, very cool. So, and as you'll know, another plug for Servas. Good thing I said it's a not for profit because this is the second not plug of the program today. it's free for people who are under 30, as you know, so it's, it's a great way to get some, uh, experience in the world, some cultural experience traveling. so that's great. now you are a software engineer in Toronto. How long have you been doing that?

Ann:

I graduated back in 2020, so it's been four or five years if I include my internship experience as well.

John:

Okay, and you studied at the University of Toronto, is that

Ann:

That's correct, yeah.

John:

Good place to study if someone, one of our young listeners is looking at the U of T.

Ann:

Yeah, it's a good place. It's gonna be very, you know, tough and a lot of things going on, but I met a lot of great other fellow engineers and professors, so yeah, I think it's a great place to study.

John:

Okay, and were you born and raised in Toronto?

Ann:

No, actually, I grew, I was born and grew up in South Korea, and I only moved to Canada after I finished grade nine. So, yeah, half of my life there, half of my life here.

John:

Oh, well that's great, that gives us a great opportunity, Ann, to, talk a little bit about South Korea, because we've never had a guest on the show who has talked about what do the youth in South Korea think about climate change? Change. Uh, tell us a little bit about that.

Ann:

yeah, youth in Korea thinking about climate change, my

John:

you were pretty young when you left, so fair enough,

Ann:

yeah, yeah,

John:

what, what were your impressions generally?

Ann:

Yeah, my immediate reaction is whether they will have time to think about those things because they are so focused on their like academics and stuff. but I actually visited Korea a couple of months ago and every time I go there, I don't go very often, but whenever I go there, what really surprises me is how they are so focused on, uh, recycling. Like, they have this whole system for recycling, and they actually, like, they have this machine in my parents apartment that, like, weighs, like, How much food waste you created and then they charge you back later on and you know if you don't do recycling properly, if you put things in a wrong way like you get fined and things like that so it's pretty like very strict and every time I go there and see my mom doing recycling I get very surprised but I think in a way it's very necessary.

John:

So they are big on recycling, do you get any sense about other aspects of the environment and climate? If they're concerned about those things?

Ann:

I think they are definitely feeling it because the weather in South Korea has been very interesting in a way. I think when I was there many, many years ago, you know, like we had distinct four seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter, and then also winter, it was very mild, especially where I grew up. I grew up in an island, so we had very mild winter and whatnot, but recently their winter has been colder than ours. Winter in Toronto, they don't have infrastructure for heavy snow, but it's been snowing like a lot there. So there is some sort of like chaos going on with the traffic in winter. So I think they are definitely feeling it, but I am unclear of what they are actually doing about it, other than worrying about Thanks for that interesting glimpse into another culture's look at the issue. Now being

John:

an engineer, I don't know if you know that we have our own resident engineer. And Geoff, who is our resident engineer, must be getting excited about getting back to work with Climate Action Figures because he jumped right in and offered the answer to a really interesting question. So Ann, do you mind if we just listen to Geoff for a couple of minutes?

Ann:

Yeah, of course.

John:

Okay, he seems to have upped the production value for the new season, so, uh, this should be a little entertaining for you. Here we go, Geoff.

Geoff:

Hi John, it's great to be back with you on Climate Action Figures. You know I've been thinking that at this time of year here in Canada, the weather starts to cool off and we're eventually going to get into that annual argument about whether to turn the thermostat down at night to save energy. Some people say it saves energy and others say it takes more energy to heat the house back up later on, so just leave it alone. Well, who's right? Before we start, I'm going to fall back on my standard answer, and you know what that is. It depends. I'm going to assume we're talking about using a conventional forced air gas furnace in a typical Canadian home, in a typical Canadian winter, and we're going to talk about turning it down. For six or eight hours overnight. And, you know, maybe there's some edge cases with heat pumps or condensing boilers and turning them up or down in 15 minute increments or something. And maybe for that, the answer might be a bit different, but I'm going to stick with the most common scenario. So I'm going, Hey, great, nerdy math time. But as much fun as that is, it's probably more fun to do a little thought experiment. So let's talk about something else for a minute, something that's easier to visualize and easier to understand. Let's pretend the nerdy engineer has a tank that he wants to keep at a certain pressure. But there's a little tap on the tank and it leaks. As he pumps up the pressure, the tap leaks more and more. When he quits, the leak lets the pressure come down and the leak gets smaller. Then he gets back to work and brings the pressure back up. But man, it's a lot of work trying to keep that pressure up. It just keeps leaking out, right? So what's going on here? This is as mathy as we're going to get. So if the pressure inside the tank is exactly the same as the pressure outside the tank, there's no leak. There's no flow and the nerdy engineer doesn't have to do anything. But that's not what he wants. He wants the pressure inside the tank to be higher than the pressure outside the tank. So once the pressure inside gets a little higher than the pressure outside, there's a little bit of flow through that leaky tap. Ah, but he needs the pressure to be higher than that, so he pumps like crazy. The pressure inside gets high enough, but it causes a lot more flow through that leaky tap, and he needs to work like crazy to keep the inside pressure up where he wants it. Well, that's super. But what does it have to do with whether to turn down the thermostat at night? Well, you know how with even a nifty Stanley or Yeti insulated mug your ice cold drink eventually warms up or your hot coffee eventually cools off? Well, that's because no matter how good the insulation is, heat flows from a high temperature place to a low temperature place. The nerdy engineer trying to keep the tank pressure high is exactly the same as a furnace trying to keep the house temperature high. It works exactly the same way. In the house, the temperature inside needs to be higher than the temperature outside. But the heat leaks through the walls and the windows and the roof and even into the ground. So the furnace needs to work like crazy to keep the temperature up. Well, guess what? You saw this before, right? If the temperature inside the house is exactly the same as the temperature outside the house, there's no heat flow, and the furnace doesn't have to do any work at all. If the temperature inside is a little higher than the temperature outside, Well, there's a small amount of heat flow leaking from inside to outside, and the furnace has a little bit of work to do. And the bigger the temperature difference between the inside and the outside, the harder your furnace needs to work to maintain that inside temperature. There's lots more heat leaking out. So why did we even bother with the nerdy engineer doing all that work to pump up the tank? Well, it's just easier to visualize something with a great big water leak spraying out or a little dripping leak. It's something we've all seen and we can easily understand. I promised we wouldn't get all mathy, so you'll have to take my word for it. Giving your furnace a break so it doesn't have to work so hard all night actually does use less energy than playing catch up once in the morning. And if you don't want to take my word for it, there's a ton of articles out on the internet that explain it, including a really good one from Plumbing Paramedics in Calgary, where I got this great little picture of someone turning down the thermostat. To save money, and to save energy. Well, that's about it for now, John. By the time your Climate Action Figures viewers see this, I'll probably have returned from six weeks of camping across Canada with my little truck camper. Maybe they'll have some climate action questions about camping. I'll look forward to that. See ya.

John:

Well, thank you to the ever investigative and creative Geoff for his contribution. Uh, if Geoff is ever unavailable and maybe we could call you into duty.

Ann:

Yeah. Yeah. of course.

John:

Good. Uh, this is a good opportunity to remind our listeners that anytime you have a question for our engineer, just send those in via Facebook, Instagram, or our email address, which is climateactionfigures, all one word, at gmail. com. But back to your story, Ann, what inspired you to pursue software engineering?

Ann:

Yeah, going into university, I actually thought that I would be studying renewable energy. So, I applied to this program called Engineering Science at University of Toronto, because in third year and fourth year, We can specialize and one of the specialization was actually renewable energy, but I had a really good internship at General Motors Canada in Toronto, and I met a really good mentor there, So, yeah, that really pulled me into software engineering, how logical it is, programming language is very similar to human language, it has like some sort of construct, and we combine them in certain way to deliver our idea, which is the software that we write. So, yeah, I think it's really fun, Many people think that it's very like logical and there's no room for creativity, but I think there's a lot of room for creativity. There are so many different solutions for one problem. So yeah, that that's why I decided to pursue software engineering. That's very interesting! Now you mentioned renewable energy solutions,

John:

if you've done some thinking about that, as you clearly have, do you have some ideas about what are going to be the renewable energy solutions in the future? Like what do you think is maybe a misdirection? People are following this solution when maybe that won't be the best one, or definitely we need to head this direction. Do you have an idea about which way would be the best way to go in terms of solving some of the climate issues?

Ann:

Yeah, it's a, it's a very difficult topic to think about because there are so many factors in play to decide, like, which one is to go, because there are so many different types of renewable energy that we can use these days. But I think what's the most important thing is that I don't think there's a, uh, One universal answer for many different types of, you know, many different parts of the world. So, uh, I think in order to choose one, you kind of have to figure out, okay, like what, what's the geography there, what's the climate there and what are the environments surrounding that area to build this, you know, renewable energy plant. so yeah, it's, it's a very tricky question, I think, to answer.

John:

Right. That makes a lot of sense. Uh, and when we talked earlier, uh, before the interview, you mentioned something about sharks and I love sharks. So I have to follow up on that. I don't know exactly what you did with sharks, but do you want to fill us in on that?

Ann:

Yeah, yeah. So I recently read a really interesting article about sharks and how technology software technology was being used to research sharks. So, this this was about a pregnant shark that was tagged with a sensor a couple of years ago by this research institute in America. And then they actually found out that the shark was eaten up by a bigger shark. Um, and that predation is not really documented before, so it's like the kind of first discovery that this was happening for this specific species of shark. And I just thought it was fascinating because being an engineer that is interested in technology, the article kind of lays out what kind of technology was used, like how the tech function, what kind of information it transmits to the satellite. Um, so I was really interested in the technical aspect of it. I think it's great that we can use this, technology to study more and learn more about the ocean and like in general, like about the nature, because there are so many more things to discover.

John:

Wow, that's fascinating. Does that mean it's perhaps something you would like to pursue in your career to go off in that direction with the sensors and wildlife?

Ann:

Yeah, definitely. until now, I was working mainly on software, but I'm actually in the process of making a career transition to work more with sensor and motors, those kind of like hands on electronic. It's like a different branch of software engineering. So I'm, I'm, I'm trying to, you know, make, make that transition so that, um, I can use these sort of, like, technology for, um, nature conservation. I'm specifically interested in, you know, wildlife, uh, conservation and things like that. And for those, what's been very popular is Internet of Things. So, uh, you know, tagging the animal for tracking purposes and things like that. So, yeah, I want to get closer to that, um, field. That's my dream as a, as an engineer.

John:

That's fascinating. All the best as you pursue that. And now we should move on Ann to your climate action. And I don't know if it has something to do with your career or something else. Have you picked something specific as your climate action today?

Ann:

Yeah, so I actually thought long and hard about this. Um, and I think I always look for different ways to repurpose things. And I think I learned this from my mom. So I absorbed some of her habits. So for example, you know, we get, um, flyers. We still get paper flyers. Most of the time I don't read it, uh, but sometimes I collect some of them because, on the rainy days, like if I get my shoes wet, I make it, I make it into a bowl and then I put it in my shoes and it's really good at absorbing moisture. So the next day, you know, your shoes will be not wet anymore and it's great when you, when you don't have to, you know, put your feet into wet shoes. Um,

John:

that's a great solution. Now, hold on before you go too far. If, can you then dry the newspaper out and use it again

Ann:

that's what I've been doing. Yeah, yeah. Or if you have, if you have too many newspapers, then you can just use the new ones. But yeah, I think that's, that's probably no problem.

John:

Okay. Sorry. You're going to continue on with something else.

Ann:

If you bought, let's say, bulk of, I don't know, potatoes or onions, or even fruits, I think, if you wrap them in newspaper and then store it in the refrigerator or something, I think you can, uh, keep them fresh for a longer period of time. And because I live alone and sometimes I buy things and then I can't finish it, I'll use that method as well. Um, and also another fun thing, um, you know, when you buy a loaf of bread, there's the two ends that nobody wants to eat.

John:

Right.

Ann:

Yeah, yeah. So my mom likes to keep those or put it in the freezer. Uh, and then she uses whenever she fries something and cook something really oily. And then she puts it in the pot to absorb that, that grease or oil. So whenever she washes it, it's much easier. So yeah, I've been, you know, like I, I, I grew up like seeing those things. So I naturally absorb it. But whenever my friends come over to my place and see me doing that, they get really surprised. So I thought I would share that.

John:

Oh, that's Great. Great. Well, thanks for sharing that climate action. And, uh, when you were talking about flyers, I, uh, someone years ago told me if you don't want the flyers at all, like you have no use for them at all, they said, just stick a little note. That says, please no flyers. And I did that and no more flyers in my mailbox. And I was like, wow, that was like that was like magic.

Ann:

Uh

John:

I don't, I don't know if that's true in your area, but that's what happens here. So, well, as we come to the end of the episode, Ann, uh, I want to take a moment to ask what gives you hope in these days?

Ann:

I have to say people who love nature and actively take actions to Protect natural habitats of animals and plants. You know, we often hear about stories of, you know, there's development happening everywhere. And then sometimes environmental groups, put pause on some of those processes because, uh, the development company and government didn't do a good job of, you know, studying the areas. So they come in and they kind of let them know of the value of that area they are trying to develop. and I recently read an article about, something similar like happening in my hometown in South Korea. And I was very grateful that those environmental groups stood up and laid out all those important facts about the environment, how valuable that ecosystem is, because there are so many like almost extinct animals living there. Um, so, yeah, I really think that Those kind of intervention is very important to make the right decision. And if they don't stand up and, uh, speak about these things, a lot of important facts will go unchecked. So I really appreciate that.

John:

So we come back to biodiversity again

Ann:

Yes.

John:

shout out from Ann to environmental groups and the people who do the work. So if you're, if you're involved in one, congratulations. And if you're thinking about being involved in one, Ann says, do it, right? Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Ann.

Ann:

Thank you so much for having me. I had such a good time, you know, talking about my, my own little stories. And I really hope that this inspire other people or just entertain to some other people, whichever way it goes.

John:

sure it'll do both. Thank you, dear listener. If you have enjoyed this episode and you enjoy the podcast, please do share it with those you love and those around you. Ann will be sharing this with her mother, since she mentioned her several times in the episode. We will be back again next week, same time, same place, to hear from another climate action figure. Until then,

Ann:

Go figures!