Climate Action Figures
A safe place for youth to share steps they are taking to mitigate climate change.
Climate Action Figures
Season 3, Episode 8: Alida
Join John Whidden on this week's episode of Climate Action Figures as he introduces Alida, a proactive high school student from Palo Alto. Learn about her journey in environmental activism, from joining the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition to writing legislative proposals and being involved in the Stanford Deliberate Democracy Lab. Alida shares insights into the benefits and concerns of AI, her passion for business and sustainability, and her efforts in community education and engagement.
00:00 Introduction and QuickFix Highlight
01:38 Meet Alida: Vegan Challenges and Green Team Initiatives
02:54 Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition
06:55 AI and Environmental Impact
10:33 Legislation and Policy Advocacy
14:27 Stanford Deliberate Democracy Lab and Green Needs Map
20:52 Balancing Passion and Life
22:07 Hope and Future Aspirations
25:21 Conclusion and Call to Action
https://anthromagazine.org/palo-alto-residents-rally-for-climate-change-superfund/
https://paloaltoscc.wixsite.com/my-site
https://yipinstitute.org/fellowship
https://deliberation.stanford.edu/climate-leaders-fellowship-high-school-students
climateactionfigures@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/climateactionfigures
https://www.instagram.com/climateactionfigures/
https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateActionFigures
Hi, I'm Alida, and I am this week's climate action figure.
John:Well, hello and welcome to another hope-filled edition of Climate Action Figures. My name is John Whidden, and this week on the show you get to meet Alida. But first, this week's QuickFix and we are always interested to hear about anything you are doing to help our beautiful blue-green amongst other colors planet. So send your QuickFixes into us via Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or climateactionfigures@gmail.com and we will use it on a future show. Today's was sent in by Eleanor and Ken in Calgary, and this one is unique! They told us that they lived off their garden, not once, but twice, and Ken said: I think it was 10 or 11 days the first time, and then 14 days the second time. We allowed ourselves strict rations of very few non-garden items like salt, pepper, lentils for protein, and butter. The biggest thing we noticed was a lack of salt and sugar, except for the beets, and fat in our garden-only diet. I was definitely craving a fat, juicy burger within a week! Well, congratulations, Eleanor and Ken for succeeding in your garden eating project, and thanks so much for that unique idea. Welcome, Alida. What do you think about that QuickFix?
Alida:I think that's super cool and super impressive. Um, even though I've never eaten straight from my garden and it's not exactly the same thing as being vegan, I guess I have some connection to that since I've challenged myself to go vegan, um, for about five days in the past, and my dad actually does it, um, for a week every month. So I'm pretty familiar with the joys and also challenges of that. You know, there's so many environmental benefits to being vegan or vegetarian. as the lead of my school's Green Team, I've brought Meatless Mondays to my community. So that's super cool, and I guess connects to that QuickFix.
John:that's great. And I like your dad's idea of a week per month. That's a good way to try and get into it for people who are wanting to make the plunge. Thanks to Kimberly at Globe Aware for connecting us, and since we're not gonna talk too much about Globe Aware today, could you tell us a bit about that organization?
Alida:I was a podcast intern with Kimberly over the summer and one of the organizations I made a podcast for under the International Volunteer Programs Association was Globe Aware. it's a nonprofit that creates volunteer programs internationally and encourages people to immerse themselves in a unique way, and also by giving back.
John:Very cool, and so you're gonna be very comfortable on our podcast here today.
Alida:Yes, I, I love this, so I love talking. I'm a big talker.
John:Uh, great. But now Alida, you're a grade 12 student in Palo Alto, California who is involved in so many environmental things. I don't even know where to start. So let's go chronologically. In grade eight, you joined the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition. So how did you get involved with that?
Alida:I joined PASCC, the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition when it was just starting, and so usually it's just for high schoolers, but I was in the end of my eighth grade year and a senior at my school who knew I was interested in the climate, reached out. Out to me asking if I wanted to join. so that's how it happened. It was super exciting to be kind of one of the first people involved in that'cause we had, so we've had so many members since then. I originally joined the communications committee, so I was on that team for three years. And basically the goal of that media team is to just raise awareness about local and also global climate issues. We kind of tailor our posts to, our, the younger generation, we try to make sure that we have tangible or actionable items that they can do because they have very busy lives. Attention spans historically shorter than past generations. So, you know, we try to include a what does this mean? Or what can you do? in the posts and try to connect these themes back to our community.
John:Oh, that sounds great. And how many, uh, young people are involved in PASCC?
Alida:We have people graduating every year, and because it is for high school students, they unfortunately can't be directly on the team after that. So right now we have about 20-30, students and we're onboarding at all times during the year. So it's not just at the beginning or end.
John:And the members are from a variety of schools in your area.
Alida:Yeah, they have to be from the Palo Alto area, either live work or, um, go to school in the Palo Alto area. And I'm actually a co-director now. I do a bunch of work with onboarding and even though I'm not technically on communications, I'm still doing posting, but I'm kind of more just overseeing everything, um, while welcoming new members to the team.
John:Great. Now you are the Green Team lead at your school, and I'm guessing that some of the Green Team is gonna be watching here today. So hello Green Team! What kinds of projects does, uh, that group take on?
Alida:Like I mentioned, we established Meatless Mondays at school. just to do a little recap of the positive effects of that. It can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower your carbon footprint, and also lowers methane. and because we, I go to a pretty small school, but there are still around, um, like 500 students and for 500 people once a week to be eating no meat, it really does a lot for a planet. And we've been doing this for around two years now, so you can imagine the positive impact of that. we're doing a waste audit at school right now, working with this local waste organization. And our biggest kind of project of the year is our Earth Week celebration. And so we have a vegan potluck throughout the week, um, vegan lunch on Earth Day. Clothing swap. We have informational posters around school. We've had a climate dance party. Um, and then on Earth Day we do a little protest during our school break. So we walk around our neighborhood with signs and fun chants.
John:way to go. Green Team! I'm curious, Alida, this core group of students is gonna be very concerned about the environment. How is the rest of your school feeling? I know it's difficult to speak for others, but do you have a sense of how seriously the general student populace is taking climate change?
Alida:Going to school
John:in
Alida:a city like Palo Alto. It is very hard kind of not to be concerned with issues like this because it's surrounding us. Especially right now, California doesn't have a fire season because it's always fire season and because my school has very little people, we're able to advocate for what, for example, Green Team, we can talk about these issues a lot easier than if we were at a big school. So more people are involved and aware, and therefore passionate about making a change.
John:Well, that's great to hear. Now, you mentioned earlier, uh, before we started recording, that your Green Team has talked about the, uh, negative aspects of AI. You know, we are in this era of let's just ask chat GPT talk to us about your concerns that you and your peers have, uh, brought up about AI.
Alida:I would say it's an issue that is very relevant to today's world, but I will say it does have a lot of gray area. And so before I start talking about the negatives, I do just wanna preface by saying that, believe it or not, AI has done good for our world in the context, of also the environment. For example, it's been trained to measure changes in icebergs, 10 000 times faster than a human can. It can map the impact of deforestation in the climate crisis, and it's also, I believe, partnered with the UN. Um, so climate scientists at, Oxford University Physics have developed this like groundbreaking AI based approach weather forecasting, um, which I. I think we'll talk about later. I've, I'm pretty passionate about early warning systems and AI can definitely play a big role in that. AI's relationship with the climate can actually connect to this economic theory of cost benefit analysis. I'm super interested in business and so this is one thing I thought of while doing some research on AI and I actually discovered while AI offers a lot of environmental benefits, like I mentioned, it also comes as I'm sure you're aware, with significant costs and trade offs that negatively impact the environment and we need to keep those in mind when thinking about the future of AI for our world. However, it is very hard to quantify that because you can't just really take all the negative impacts of AI as a number and all the positive ones as a number and put them on a scale. So that is, um, you know, an issue that we have to have to get
John:Right. Well, just for fun, just for fun, let's dig a little deeper there. And since we're talking about both the positives and the negatives of AI, what do you think are the maybe top positive or two that AI has to offer, the environment?
Alida:Just providing resources. to communities that wouldn't have had access to them before. So, like I mentioned, the early warning systems, um, if they don't have access to something that they wouldn't have before related to technology, well now they do with AI and they could be warned faster through AI. but at the same time, on the negative scale, there is a bunch of energy consumption by using AI. Um, fun fact, not so fun fact, actually saying thank you or please, or hi to chat GPT, just that extra line, that extra word has so many negative impacts. The water usage, it's incredible. Like in a, in a horrible way. It's incredible. And just using a Google search instead. Um, to say, what's the weather gonna be today asking Google, or even better looking at your weather app instead of Chat GPT, can seriously, um, help. So keep that in mind.
John:Right. I've heard that, uh, Google takes about 20 times less power, along with another statistic that really, uh, jarred me, and that is that, uh, an average GPT Chat GPT email takes about a half a liter of water, much of which is recycled mind you, but some of which is not. So that's a huge amount of water, when you think about all the chat GPT emails that are happening these days.
Alida:It's because the data centers, they need large quantities of water for cooling systems, um, through AI. So that creates a significant water footprint.
John:I suspect a particular concern in Southern California too.
Alida:Yeah, for sure.
John:Let's move on to another, uh, pet project of yours, which is writing legislation. How many high school students do you know who write legislation? Well, you're talking to one right here. What type of legislation have you been involved in? Alida,
Alida:I'm part of this program right now called Youth in Policy, and it's just a two month program for students to collaborate and also propose solutions to either social, political, economic, or in my case, environmental issues. So for me it was super exciting to connect my love for the environment to something that I wanted to learn more about, which is more of the policy side of it. And so I researched the effects that natural disasters have on different communities and found out that there's a lack of not only education, but also like I mentioned before, early warning systems and also preparedness in especially rural and low income areas, and that's due to technological limitations, lack of funding and language barriers. And so I created a policy brief to examine how climate change, um, inadequate warning systems and gaps in planning related to those disasters can amplify loss of life and infrastructure and how policy interventions can better protect those communities.
John:And that legislation was at what level of government?
Alida:Policy Brief was kind of the foundation of that. And then for my legislation proposal, I proposed it to not just the state of California, but to the US Congress. This is, is a pretty big, I mean, my like budget for this was$1.5 billion. So this is not, this is not a real, um, thing that I'm going to propose at least right now. In the future I would love to, but this is kind of a like practice using that legislative, um, language. And also it was great for me to do this research,'cause it definitely like amplified my understanding of climate change and then sharing with my community, my school, my family, my friends, this legislation, It was super impactful because now they also were able to learn about what I did research on. And so basically in my legislation proposal, my goal was to make sure that every community, especially, like I said, the vulnerable ones have reliable alerts, better infrastructure, and also the knowledge to respond safely when disasters strike. And so my idea was that the Department of Education in collaboration with FEMA, the federal Emergency and Management Agency would create this national preparedness education program, which would develop educational materials, partner with schools and nonprofits, um, to deliver community-based training and also ensure that materials are accessible in multiple languages and tailored to local risks, not just in English, assuming that everybody in the United States can speak English or that's their first language. And then also to create a resilient Communities fund under FEMA, and that's just to provide grants to states, towns, um, and governments for the development of climate resilience infrastructure flood prevention systems, fire resistant, um, construction, heat shelters, um, what else? Modernization of communication, alert technologies. Um, and also just updates in public utilities. Um, so that's why, you know, I allocated 1.5 billion to this. I wasn't, I wasn't too sure, um, how much to do kind of, um, economically, but I just, you know, went out on a limb. I don't know if that's too
John:Well, why, why, why not aim high?
Alida:Yeah, exactly.
John:And if I remember correctly, your governor is Gavin Newsom. I kind of get the feeling he would listen to you, so maybe you should actually try one of these out.
Alida:Yeah. I know. I, I, I totally will. Um, maybe once college application season is
John:Yes, yes.
Alida:I'm not sure all the governors will agree with me, but I think, I think Gavin Newsom will.
John:Now, Alida, you're also part of the Stanford Deliberate Democracy Lab, tell us a little bit about that.
Alida:I'm a climate fellow for that lab and it's a climate leaders fellowship and it's a collaboration between the Stanford Deliberate Democracy Lab and the Rustic Pathways Foundation. Which is a program connecting high school students, um, worldwide to address climate change. And I am, I just started this, so I'm still in the research phase of my project that I have to create, but my idea was basically this green needs map.
John:Very cool, and tell us what we're looking at here.
Alida:this map would basically function as an interactive platform that identifies local businesses, specific challenges, and it would connect them with nearby resources and funding opportunities and expertise. It would let local climate organizations or even students seeking volunteer hours, um, back to the incentives. Um, and it would connect those with the local businesses or shelters that need help and it would be a good way for those people and also people willing to donate or give back to their community to get involved. For example volunteers and donors could be connected with a local restaurant that wants to get into composting but doesn't have the education or maybe the means to. Then organizations would partner with the restaurants that compost and help them compost their food scraps and turn it into fertilizers for gardens. I'm really interested in business, so I know that this kind of collaboration uses core business principles, incentives and then also partnerships and efficiency to then create a self-sustaining system of change because people are gonna wanna help those local businesses, and the local businesses want to be helped. So it's kind of a win-win situation for everybody.
John:Now, Alida, you've mentioned several times that you're very interested in business, so I have to ask you, can our planet continue to thrive while our economic system continues as it is? What do you think?
Alida:I think yes. Um, it definitely involves work from both parties, um, that one of them being the government. They need to, provide more incentives for people to actually want to contribute to climate action. Um, a pretty basic example is, you know, sometimes you'll see parking spaces that are only for electric vehicles. And me with my Tesla, I can park there and I'm like, oh great. I have a, I have a car that's not emitting, you know, greenhouse gases and I get this parking spot. Um, so that's a really like basic example of incentive. So the government needs to give businesses motivation to actually want to be sustainable, want to help the environment, and luckily we're in a time right now where kind of being sustainable, is actually kind of gives you street cred. So a lot of organizations, they are creating, you know, a compostable product or a product, you know, you buy one, we'll plant a tree, something like that. And that for consumers is really, it's, it's attractive to them because they, it's kind of, it gives them a way to feel less guilty about their purchase or it gives them a way to say, oh, by buying this, by interacting with this organization, I'm actually doing good for my planet. And it gives them it, it makes them happy. You know, that's just like, I'm not a psychologist, but I'm pretty sure that has to do with the human brain, and so that's a great example.
John:Many governments though, seem to be going in a direction, unfortunately, right now, yours included, where the environment just doesn't seem to be much of a focus. So does that require a government that has a big environmental focus? Is that a, a necessity for the current economic system to continue to work?
Alida:I would say it's, it's not a, not a necessity, but it would be a super great help. Having at least maybe not at the, you know, presidential level, but at least city or state governments that are willing to put in the effort to be, um, zero waste. Like a city like Palo Alto. I'm super proud to, I don't live in Palo Alto, but I go to school there. I live basic, basically in the city, and so I'm super proud to be part of this community that has such a, such a high focus on sustainability, and so that's also why student organizations like PASCC. I'm also part of the, um, youth Climate Action Board with the City of Palo Alto. That's why organizations like that are so important because every connection that you make leads you to a higher level. And so I know that by being part of these like little community groups, I'm getting closer to the president, I'm getting closer to convincing the higher government that climate change, climate action should be a, um, should be a priority in their eyes. And, um, and that way they can kind of channel it to the businesses, especially the more powerful ones, that have a wider audience and actually a big question of ethics today in business is the idea of greenwashing, so, for example, a fun one I talked about in my macroeconomics class was, um, the Barbie movie. After the Barbie movie came out, Mattel, created this like sustainable kind of compostable green Barbie, which is super cool because they're using these recyclable materials, but they haven't done that in the past, and you have that question, are they doing that because they actually care for the environment, which I'm not saying Mattel doesn't, I think it's super great that they're doing that, but it raises that alarm of: is it actually something that they care about or are they just doing it as a marketing strategy to get attention and to get people to buy their product, which. Like I said, it is good that today more and more people are starting to care about the environment and so they will be willing to buy sustainable Barbies like that. So in that way it's a win-win, but it's a pretty heavy question, you know, to what extent is greenwashing good because you are still doing good for the environment and doing some good is better than nothing. But it's not, it's not as genuine as, you know, something that organization or business that was founded on principles and um, values that, um, are focused on the
John:Right. And we don't want companies pretending they're doing things when it's actually not accomplishing much at all. Alida, you are doing so much of, uh, for a high school student, it's amazing, uh, regarding the environment and many other things. How do you maintain balance in your life?
Alida:I don't know. I, it's, that's a very good question. I think it's easy for me because I'm the type of person I love to, um, I'm big on social justice as, as you can tell, big on climate action, and so I love doing that. But at the same time, I love going out to dinner with my friends. I love hanging out with my family. I love playing tennis, and so easy for me because there are so many things that I love to do, and I know that I want to make time for all of those things. for me it's, it's pretty manageable because I try to. For example, like, like I said, I love hanging out with my friends. So when I go to climate rallies and I speak at climate rallies, I'll bring my friends with me and they're supporting me and I'm spending time with them, but I'm also doing what I love, you know what I mean? So, it's hard, especially towards the end of high school with, I guess college and everything. But, um, I find the time and I like being busy. It's, uh, it's just the type person I
John:Oh, good.
Alida:It's definitely manageable.
John:You mentioned college, the, the things certainly look bright for you. Alida, you mentioned getting close to the president. I think maybe someday you might just be the president. But, uh, any ideas where you want to go in the future?
Alida:I love film. I love filmmaking. Um, editing sometimes, you know, I'll dabble in DJing. being creative is, um, something that's super important to me. So I want to, in the future, be able to connect my creativity and storytelling with social impact through social entrepreneurship.
John:Well, all the best as you pursue that, and we'll look forward to seeing some of those films and creativity that you've put out there someday. Now, before we close out today, Alida, tell us what you've chosen for your climate action.
Alida:My climate action is educating my community through storytelling and social media.
John:Well, that's a, a noble goal. And you've talked about how you're doing that already. Is that something that has always been big for you?
Alida:Yeah, definitely in the past couple years, once I got more, um, interested in, you know, the storytelling, social entrepreneurship realm, before I was more interested in film, but once I discovered the world of business and how much good I can actually do from it, it became a lot more, um, attractive to me. You know, it makes me happy to be able to do what I love while also supporting causes that I love.
John:Great to hear. Do you ever feel, Alida, that things are a little dark with climate change? You know, do you ever talk with your friends about concerns? There's a term climate anxiety; do you ever feel climate anxiety?
Alida:Yeah, I definitely do. Um, it's definitely hard to, it's hard not to, um, especially with all the different changes that are going on, executively right now. Oil drilling, you know, projects being stopped that have previously supported the environment. Um, so it definitely is hard, especially as a young student who is doing so much to kind of battle against that. And it is hard. So I think that's why it's important to kind of think of the more positive things that give us hope, um, and know that like together we are stronger, and that starting small can lead to bigger changes in the future.
John:Well, you're clearly a very positive young person, so congratulations for being able to hang onto that. What is it that gives you hope in the world today?
Alida:What gives me hope, um, specifically related to climate, I would say, is seeing how creative and collaborative the climate movement has become. You know, young people are connecting across borders. They're using art, technology and storytelling to inspire action in ways that didn't exist a decade ago. And so I see communities coming together after disasters, and not just to rebuild what has been broken, but to build it better and in a way that is more sustainable and equitable. And so every time somebody takes their first step into climate action, it reminds me that change doesn't come from one big breakthrough, but rather hundreds, thousands, millions of people deciding that the future can be different if they work together.
John:Well, very wise words and thanks for sharing those with us, Alida, and thanks for being with us today.
Alida:Thank you so much for having me. I loved this conversation. Um, like I said, I'm a big talker. I love talking about what I'm passionate about, so this was great. Thank you so much for having me.
John:And thank you dear listener and viewer. If you enjoy the podcast, please do the like, share, subscribe thing as it really gets, uh, the hope out there in the big old world. We will be back again next week, same time, same place to hear from another climate action figure. Until then...
Alida:go figures!