I want to talk about climate change, but I want to talk about it differently. And there's a saying that we have around the swell team that says we don't talk about different things on swell. We talk about things differently on swell. And I think when it comes to climate change, that resonates with you so much because we all understand the doom and gloom and the statistics and we live it every day just around us with the climate, but we have a lot of anxiety about it
Anne Gennari
@AnneTherese · 4:17
And how can we actually wake up in the morning, know about climate change, understand how scary and urgent things are, but at the same time find this little piece of excitement, something that ignites us, something that motivates us to actually act on all the things that we can do to make change come about? And so the handbook is about that. It's written in different parts
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:08
And I'm not talking about the big headline communities that march and are part of huge coalitions, but I want to bring it back down to the kitchen table. Whether you're sharing a kitchen with friends or family or whatever communal space you're in or you live alone and you have neighbors, can you help us sort of look at sort of putting the puzzle pieces together of how people could feel like they're making a change, but also improving their own personal experience while doing it?
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Anne Gennari
@AnneTherese · 3:01
Absolutely, we could not agree more. The community piece in climate action is so essential and I think it's when we start to look at it from a lens of what can we do together and how can we invite more people to be part of the solution. Not by shaming and finger pointing, but actually showcasing over here are things that we could do differently and that could ultimately lead to a better way of life
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:10
It could be kids doing it, it could be adults, and it feels so fun and Swappy and you can create it on a block along level or a neighborhood level, maybe your synagogue or your church. It's a really wonderful thing. So those are great. I guess my next question with regard to what you do and some of the goals you have, what's a success story for you in terms of the impact that your work and your book have in the world?
Anne Gennari
@AnneTherese · 3:16
So if you are a company that are looking into changing your supply chain or just, you know, doing things differently in the office, what I want to help do is just get people to recognize that that is something they want to take on and to not feel like what we do doesn't matter and it's too late anyway
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:46
But anyway, putting a little bug in your ear about that. And it's been great to hear these initial conversations, I think because you have a book and you're going to be doing a book tour, we're going to be seeing you back here, and we'll just do a whole play by play on your book and sort of look at chapter by chapter, maybe have you do some reading on here. That will be awesome. So let's schedule that
Anne Gennari
@AnneTherese · 1:57
And yeah, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure to talk to you. And I also want to just mention real quickly that I am working on more of, like, a global online platform for anyone to dive into the work and become climate optimists and optimists in action
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:37
I wanted to make sure I pasted a link to the Climate Optimist Handbook, which is Anne's book. And the hashtag Climate optimist is going to be something I'm going to use here on Swell, and we'll be talking to some of the students that Anne works with, and I just love the combination of the word optimism and climate. So let's do this. I'm pretty excited, and if you get a chance to read this book, please let us know how it impacted you
