Climate Action Figures

Season 2, Episode 7: Holly

• John Whidden • Season 2 • Episode 7

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Join John Whidden as he interviews Holly Basiuk, a glacier scientist not to mention sustainable fashion advocate on this week's episode of Climate Action Figures. Discover Holly's journey, practical climate fixes, and her work in making field research accessible and inclusive.

00:00 Introduction to Climate Action Figures
00:53 QuickFix: Reusable Containers and Bags
01:31 Meet Holly Basiuk: Sustainable Fashion and Science
02:04 Holly's Journey with Reusable Bags
04:08 Alberta Council for Global Cooperation Recognition: Top 30 Under 30
06:07 Challenges in Environmental Science
10:04 Climate Anxiety and Gender
12:06 Celebrating Milestones and Audience Engagement
14:56 Holly's Passion for Glaciers and Environmental Research
20:29 Climate Action and Secondhand Shopping
21:55 Final Thoughts and Hope for the Future

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Holly:

Hi, I'm Holly Basiuk your sustainable fashion girlie who's also a scientist and loves spending time in the outdoors. Welcome to Climate Action Figures.

John:

Hello and welcome to the 28th episode of Climate Action Figures. My name is John Whidden and this week on the show, you get to meet Holly. Now we always love to hear about your quick fixes. That's small doable things that can make us all better stewards of the environment. So please send yours in to us at climateactionfigures@gmail.com or any of our social media: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and we will use it on a future episode. This week's QuickFix was sent in by Olivia from Canmore. Olivia says, Reusable containers, cups, lunchboxes: for cups, whether it's for water or even when you're going into a cafe. I know there's a lot of local cafes here where you can actually just bring in your own mug and they'll fill it for you. I think even Starbucks does that, she says. Related to that is bringing your own bags to use at the grocery store for the produce section specifically, smaller mesh net bags. Thank you very much for sending that into us, Olivia, and welcome Holly.

Holly:

Hello. Um, I love that QuickFix. Um, I'm a huge proponent of the reusable grocery bags, especially the produce bags. 14 year old me made a set of them for every, mostly female figure in my family. So I'm Big fan of that. I'm also one of those people that I won't go get coffee unless I have my cup. So you won't catch me with a paper cup these days. I also tend to carry my reusable cup everywhere with me. So, cause you always need coffee.

John:

Wow. That is commitment.

Holly:

It is commitment.

John:

I have to ask about these bags that you made. They were like shopping bags then that

Holly:

Yeah, so the, the produce bags, I had bought like basically mosquito netting and, you know, just some fabric and made little bags. So one side was fabric and one side was mesh. And then I had, you know, made just little drawstring bags and those ones have all been retired. Um, but I have made more sets since, but I used to get compliments on them all the time and, um, they're like, Oh, I like your produce bags. And I was like, thanks. I made them. So. Yeah. Yeah.

John:

awesome. I, I, I learned something very interesting'cause I bought some, I had to go a long ways away to buy these things. I got these little mesh bags and I took them into a grocery store and the, uh, the teller when I was taking my apples or whatever was in them, stopped and looked at the tag very carefully and I was kind of looking at her curiously. And then she typed something in, she subtracted the weight. They have these ones that I have, have the weight on

Holly:

got

John:

and she knew that I was impressed.

Holly:

That is really impressive. Mine did not have the tare weight, but they were pretty light,

John:

Well, mosquito netting would be very light,

Holly:

Yes, exactly,

John:

And one more thing about this. What do you say to people who say, well, reusable bags, they end up in the landfill after, you know, you don't use them very many times. always strikes me as sort of a negative argument. They're just trying to say, we want our plastic back, What do you, what do you say to them?

Holly:

having made my own and seen how long they lasted, like I made probably this first set when I was 14 and we've done some repairs on them and, you know, they eventually went into the rag bin cause you know, they had too many holes and they weren't really holding anything anymore. but you know, they lasted like 10 years. Imagine how many bags we would have gone through. grocery shopping every single week with that same, you know, getting a bag every single time. So, you know, people. They like to grumble, but like, when they actually start to look at it, it's like, it's very cost effective, and then you also don't have to deal with all the plastic bags that you bring home. That's my take. I'm like, I don't want to have to deal with the plastic bags that my produce comes in when it gets to my house, because then I feel guilty about it.

John:

Very true. Very true. The Alberta Council for Global Cooperation is a very interesting organization doing cool things. And we've heard several guests last season mentioned ACGC. They recently named you as one of the 2024 Top 30 Under 30. Congratulations, first of all.

Holly:

Thank you. Yeah, it's a big honor.

John:

Did that come as a surprise to you?

Holly:

actually getting it came as a surprise. I kind of went like, There's no way I'm, you know, a cool enough person and doing enough, um, as a young person in Alberta. I knew that my name had been put in the draw. Um, a lot of these, these types of things, you kind of have a bit of a hand in your package when you go to submit and get nominated, um, just because they need to know all about you. you. often are the expert in yourself. it was a really big honor. I feel very grateful that the people around me saw me as someone who was worthy of an accolade of this kind. and then, yeah, to be among such amazing young people.

John:

Did you hear about it? Did someone call you or did they send you an email or?

Holly:

I'm trying to think. Originally, like before the nomination, there was like an email that got passed around, but then yeah, I think it was just an email. So it was kind of like a, sometimes an anti climatic thing. You're like in the inbox, there's, there's a thing. I'm telling you, you've won this great thing. But then we got to go to Edmonton and kind of celebrate everybody together and, and learn about each other because, more than anything, I'm just excited to know what other people are doing and. You know, creating a more, more positive environment here. Yeah,

John:

Cool. I encourage people to look up that website. Uh, again, it's the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation, 30 under 30. And if you look there, you will see Holly and you will see a quote where Holly says, the issues I am currently tackling are at the intersection of earth and climate related research and the challenges that folks face while trying to pursue it. Can you unpack that a little bit for us, Holly?

Holly:

yeah, for sure. So I've, I did my undergrad in environmental science and now doing my master's in geoscience, and I saw that a lot of times. Not everybody was at the table when it was coming to not only the research, um, but the discussions being made, whether it's at kind of the policy level or even just in the classroom. I kind of, I noticed that not everybody was having equal opportunity at coming to that table and coming to this knowledge that is important to all of us, you know, it's a global community. And so, um, I've done a lot of work specifically around field schools and field work and making that more accessible for people. You know, talking about the different challenges that people face, whether it's, you know, mental, um, mental health, physical health, um, and kind of emotional health in the field and, and how we can make that, you know, a little bit of a safer place for all identities, Especially because a lot of this research has historically been very male centered, but nowadays it's kind of like totally switched to being a very female dominated field, especially in the environmental sciences. but we, uh, you know, the, the programming and, and the people who are teaching some of these courses haven't really caught up to that. So not everyone's being considered in the same way.

John:

I want to ask you more about that. But first, when you say the field, what do you mean exactly?

Holly:

So to me, the field is like anything outside of the classroom. So whether you're looking at, you know, I'm located here in Calgary, whether you're interested in the Bow river or you're interested in, you know, going to the Himalayan mountains in Nepal and studying something there. So, you know, we're, You know, field means a lot of things, whether it's, you know, sampling your local duck pond or, international trips. So, you know, it can mean a lot of different things. And so that's why it's also important to talk about it and make sure people are prepared for what they're about to go do.

John:

Sampling your local duck pond. That sounds delicious.

Holly:

We actually do that as one of the environmental science, undergrad courses, they, they go, they're, they're supposed to pick a water body that they think is contaminated. And so I, I sampled the local duck pond.

John:

And then is that for, longevity of being able to look back and say, well, 20 years ago, this pond was in this shape or?

Holly:

That's definitely like kind of the idea for this course. It's just like, you have to make some guesses about what you think is contaminating this water body. It's, you know, it's not a long term project necessarily, but, it definitely, it's about getting your brain thinking about all the different ways that our, you know, our urban environments are. impacted and maybe contaminated by different things. So, you

John:

bringing people to the table. It seems to me that so often the most vulnerable in our society are left right out of discussions, even when they are greatly impacted by the decisions that are made at those discussions. That seems to be an important issue to you. Let's look at that issue, focusing on the environment for a moment. How can we get more of those voices to the table?

Holly:

know, it's really, it is really hard. I think providing more resources, providing more accessible ways to knowledge around the environment, um, is a good step. you know, we have these people that are in, you know, these academic institutions, well, not everyone can afford to go to university and, and have these conversations about climate change. So, you know, community focused events, and, and also remembering that, you know, although we might, as, people in North America feel the impacts of climate change. Super intensely, you know, having a global lens of like, okay, you know, the Philippines specifically is like flooding because of climate change. And we have these like super typhoons that are happening because of a warming climate. And so, you know, making sure that we're taking an intersectional approach, you know, an international approach to, you know, what are our climate vulnerabilities as a society? Because we're all, we're all part of this society. I don't know. I hopefully that kind of answers your question

John:

It does.

Holly:

bring people to the table.

John:

Holly, you, you mentioned that historically the research is, has been done by men and that's really swinging. And in fact, there, uh, are fewer men in your programs. Now I've, I've read a lot of research around climate anxiety that shows women, uh, in the studies are far more apt to be affected by climate anxiety than men. do you want to chime in on why you think this is so?

Holly:

I, I think a lot of it, I think comes down to, we're given permission to feel things, you know, whereas I think sometimes men are like, not, they're, they're told not to show their emotions. And so then we have this, you know, group of. of women that are like, they can't handle the injustices. You know, they're, they see these injustices happening, whether it's, you know, climate related or otherwise, and they got to do something about it. Cause they know, I think there's also kind of in some ways, like a maternal sense of like, we got to take care of each other. You know, we got to take care of this earth. Um, and, and not to say that there aren't incredible men and non binary people doing work in the climate space. but I do see more women, more women writing books, more women enrolling in our environmental science programs, showing up to events. So it's, it's definitely interesting. We need to, this is a call to action for all the men, you know, show up and, and care, you know,

John:

Well, and, and men seem to be more free to express themselves in a more vulnerable way than we have been able to in the past. So hopefully that is going to take off and we'll catch up to the women.

Holly:

Yes. I hope so. I hope so. I hope that they can kind of take that, that empathy. and, and, you know, share it and be part of the community, you know, join in how we tackle these challenges that we're facing.

John:

Well that's very interesting, uh, a little deep, so maybe we'll just take a, a lighter break for a moment. Can we take a short break to celebrate, Holly?

Holly:

Absolutely. Let's celebrate.

John:

I did not bake a cake for this occasion, but our producer tells me that we, yeah, sorry about that. I could show you a picture of a cake, maybe. Our producer tells me we recently passed 1 000 episode views on YouTube, which I was actually surprised by that. And when we add that to our podcast downloads, we're almost at 2 000. So we would like to celebrate with a prize for one of our audience members, because hey, You put us here, so you deserve a prize. A couple of episodes back, we were talking about refilleries with Kate. And so our, creative consultant Kayla suggested the prize be a$20 gift certificate at the refillery closest to the winner. And I thought that sounds great. Are you a refillery patron, Holly?

Holly:

I absolutely am. I feel like I was an early adopter. I got my, like, refilled deodorant, and I'm a big, like, bulk barn, you know, go get all your snacks in the refillery form as well.

John:

Yeah, you just take your jar or whatever in and you don't have to have the packaging. So,

Holly:

amazing.

John:

if you have never won a prize on the show before, all you have to do is get in touch with us via social media or email climateactionfigures, all one word, at gmail. com, and What should we ask them to do, Holly?

Holly:

They should tell us about their favorite tree, whether it's their favorite type of tree or, like, a specific tree that they really like.

John:

Okay,

Holly:

favorite tree.

John:

tell us your favorite tree and your name will be entered in the draw from all the people who enter the contest and you might win a$20 gift certificate at your local refillery, which we will even track down and figure out if you don't already know where it is. Let's move on, Holly, to your website, because I thought I'd have a look at that before the interview, and it's a lovely website, by the way. That's www. hollybasiuk. com. Way to grab that domain name, by the way.

Holly:

had to it early.

John:

Yeah, no kidding. It describes you as passionate about, well, eating carrots. Let's throw up a photo about carrots. There we go. You love your carrots, do you?

Holly:

I really do.

John:

What is it about carrots that you love so much?

Holly:

I think because they have so much range, like, you can have, like, a carrot that's just kind of like, okay, it's a carrot, whatever, but then, like, when you have the, like, fresh garden carrots, this is, like, so nerdy, but there's, like, so flavors to it, and they're also just, like, very convenient. I don't know.

John:

You must be sad. You must be sad when you get a disappointing carrot, like it's a dry old bitter carrot. You're like, oh man, now I got to pack this out from the glacier and take it back to my compost bin, right?

Holly:

Yes. I mean, to be fair, I did eat all of the carrots that I brought up to the glacier because that's all we had. So

John:

And they were, good carrots,

Holly:

they were, they were, yeah.

John:

but we digress. Moreover, mountain environments, you're very passionate about. And the photo we're putting up right now would suggest glaciers specifically. What inspired that passion in you?

Holly:

So I'm super lucky to have been kind of taken on a bunch of research projects that have, you know, We looked at impacts kind of downstream of glaciers, so we're interested in the glaciers and how they're retreating, um, but we're also interested in what's happening to the environments below them and how they're changing as these glaciers retreat. I think part of it is just growing up here in Alberta, like, you kind of had this, like, beautiful vision of these glaciers and then realizing kind of the, like, doom and gloom that they're disappearing. and so that really kind of started to hit home. You know, glaciers are kind of touted as like a very obvious sign of climate change here in Alberta. So it was one that was like, oh man, I can see that going away in my lifetime. what can I do to learn about it?

John:

do you see yourself in five or 10 years continuing some aspect of, glacier science in your career?

Holly:

we'll see. Um, I am just finishing, finishing up my master's right now. I'm not really sure what the future holds. I think I'll definitely work, be working in the, like in the environmental fields, and kind of climate change related fields, specifically on glaciers. Maybe not. Sometimes it just kind of depends what comes up. A lot of the work that's being done on glaciers is like solely research based. There's not a lot of like community efforts and stuff like that. So sometimes it's hard to, unless you want to do a PhD, to kind of continue some of this work. we'll, we'll see the, I definitely think I will be keeping an eye on what's going on with the glaciers in the next five to 10 years for sure.

John:

I have to, uh, have confession time. We haven't had Climate Action Figure Confession Time before, so this is the first. The first instance, Colleen and I were visiting the Columbia Glacier. That's Jasper Banff, right? I correct? And at the toe of the glacier, there's always, what do you, what do we call the water at the toe of the glacier?

Holly:

water. Yeah.

John:

Meltwater.

Holly:

water. Yeah.

John:

So we had, we had done a huge hike and after a huge hike, I always want to sub, submerge my legs into the coldest water I can find and bear, because it's so great for your muscles because it, uh, reduces all the swelling. So That was the only body of water near us after that hike, so we went to this glacial pond, I guess, at the bottom of that glacier. And I had my, um, my Crocs on, just to make sure I didn't step on something sharp. And I even said to Colleen, be careful with your Crocs, because this is muck at the bottom as you well we went in, I stood there for about, oh, probably could only stand about eight minutes, because it's so cold

Holly:

that's pretty good.

John:

Yeah. And it was a super cold day. So I, we had every, I had my balaclava and my toque and everything was on the top half and just my legs up to the quads in the water. So we go to, to exit and I knew it was going to be hard to pull I pull one foot out. Yeah. Pull the second foot. And I kind of fell forward and my foot came out of the Croc

Holly:

Oh no.

John:

Oh no. So I stick my foot back and I'm trying to find it. And by this time I'm, you know, my legs are almost blue. So I'm like, I could only spend about 30 seconds before I thought my feet are going to be so numb I can't get out of this, so I'm like, okay, I'll just mark it in my mind where it was, so we got out, and we warmed up, and went back in, I spent about a half an hour in there, and I was almost hypothermic, and I could not, I had a tree branch, I was jabbing around trying to loosen it would float to the surface, my croc is I'm In

Holly:

In that lake,

John:

forever. That's the worst case scenario for me to leave. I'm always cleaning up garbage behind other people when I hike and I left my Croc in such a beautiful place.

Holly:

yeah.

John:

So that's my, that's my climate confession for the

Holly:

day Yeah. Some sedimentologist is going to find your croc in their like core sample someday and be like, wow. Okay. The Anthropocene is really did happen.

John:

Um, now Holly, you're 24 years old, right?

Holly:

I am. Yep. one more month.

John:

Oh, we're close. Young people these days are navigating issues, the complexity of which I never had to deal with when I was that age. So I'm wondering what advice would you give to our listeners who are maybe, you know, 5, 10 years younger than you that are heading into this complex time of thinking about these big issues?

Holly:

I would say like find community, you know, find people that. You know, have the same, it sounds bad, but find people that have the same anxieties as you about the climate, because they often are people who also want to do something, you know? The best way to combat climate anxiety, in my opinion, is to go do something, make it feel a little bit more attainable, Whether it's a, you know, a community cleanup and you're just going and picking up some, some litter, or a climate rally or even just like, you know, some of the quick fixes that we're talking about here today, you know, whether it's making your own produce bags or, you know, learning how to make sourdough so you can make your own food and grow your own food and that kind of thing. So, yeah, find people who, you know, feel the same and create community with them and start dreaming, you know, dreaming of what it, could be like if we, did all the things right.

John:

Great advice. Now we should move on to your climate action before we run out of time. So have you chosen something for your climate action today?

Holly:

I have. So today my climate action is, you know, shopping secondhand for like hard goods. So things like dressers, and sporting goods stuff. and that kind of thing. I'm a big proponent of that. Facebook marketplace is like the unsung hero of the secondhand market, in my opinion. whether or not you like them as a company, using their services to find good things. Secondhand is, is pretty incredible.

John:

We've heard a number of guests talk about thrifting and how important that is. So it's, it's kind of interesting to hear the, the larger scale side, you know, whether it's furniture or I guess TVs or whatever you might need,

Holly:

Yeah, absolutely.

John:

to try and get away from that. I need a new one. And

Holly:

Yeah. And it's something, sometimes it's beautiful because you can add to a story of an object. So I recently acquired some chairs from my grandma and kind of reupholstered them. And, but in that, in that process, I also learned that like, Oh, this was like a wedding anniversary gift from my grandparents grandparents. And, you know, you get to kind of create histories, continue the love for a piece of furniture. So

John:

very cool. I think there's probably something really almost therapeutic in that process too. Right? not just connecting with your past, but taking the time to do something like

Holly:

Yeah, to make something beautiful, you know?

John:

Great. Last question today, Holly, what gives you hope?

Holly:

I think what gives me hope today is the number of dreamers there are out there. We have so many people, um, and I specifically want to shout out to Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, who, um, wrote a book called What If We Get It Right, Her question is, you know, she, she's always asking these kinds of like, if we did it all right, you know, from these different perspectives, what does the dream world look like? Um, you know, when it comes to climate. that gives me hope is that there's people that are willing to continuously dream that we can get it right. there is a world where we get it right.

John:

Well, Holly, thank you so much for joining us today.

Holly:

Thank you so much for having me.

John:

And thank you, dear listener. If you are inspired by what you hear and you know of someone else who would be a great guest on the podcast, please send us a message. We would love to hear from you. We will be back next week, same time, same place, to hear from another Climate Action Figure. Until then,

Holly:

Go figures!