My actions that (might) count: #WorldEnvironmentDay2021

Today is World Environment Day, and as Ubongo we've been encouraging our team and our audience of over 24 million kids in Africa to share what actions they've taken that count for the environment, with the hashtag #actionsthatcount. I started by planning a couple of instagram stories on how I compost, bring my own containers for bulk buying, and purchase carbon credits for my flights, but I found myself questioning whether those actions really do "count" in addressing the existential environmental issues that we face as a planet and a species. Yet if individual actions don't count, then what hope do we have? So I'm taking a moment to reflect upon what I've done for environmental action over the past year, and in what ways those actions matter and might just "count."

1) Finding my voice to talk and share about the actions I'm taking in my own life.

I've always believed that actions speak louder than words, so while I've had a lifelong interest in environmental issues and even pursued a degree in ecology, I've focused mostly on changing what I do or don't do (or wallowing in guilt about it), rather than talking and sharing about it. I think and worry about the environment every single day, but no one wants to be that killjoy who brings up the climate emergency at every dinner party. I have also felt very hypocritical talking about environmentalism because of the insane number on international flights I take for work, fundraising, and visiting my multi-continental family.

But my own recognition that I'm not doing enough really got in the way of sharing what I was actually doing, and that, in turn, got in the way of my actions counting! The individual actions I've taken (like going veg, getting a solar panel, setting Ecosia as my search engine, installing a ceiling fan to break my A/C addiction, and really trying hard to avoid single use plastic) may not make much of a dent on their own... but these actions do have an impact if they're also taken up by some of the thousands of others in my networks, and then also by others who know them. That's how we change social norms and consumer behaviors, which in turn also influence the choices of corporations and governments.

One of my favorite podcasts, How to Save a Planet has an excellent episode called "Is your carbon footprint BS?" that digs into this conundrum of personal action and concludes that our personal actions do make a difference, so long as they also influence the actions of others around us. I've seen my mother, who is in her 60's, transform from someone who would drive 200 meters from our house the our barn on the farm where we lived, to a budding eco-warrior who teaches her community about waste management, composting and how to make eco-enzyme, through the Less Plastic Thailand initiative. If she can change, anyone can, and her actions have inspired me to do so much more myself!

So now I've embraced a bit of "performative environmentalism" and been instagramming my adventures in solar cooking, balcony gardening, and beach cleanups... and writing this post, for that matter!

2) Co-creating environmental edutainment for kids.

The next action I've taken is helping co-create edutainment for kids that addresses environmental issues in relevant and responsive ways. This morning we premiered an Ubongo Kids episode about pollution on national TV in 10 countries. Over the next two months, we'll also be releasing episodes on climate change, waste management and plant science. These videos will be coming to YouTube too, so keep an eye out on our Ubongo Kids channels and please share them with any kids (and kids at heart) who you know!

The most challenging episode to craft was our episode on the climate emergency. How do you frame climate change for kids in Africa, who will be among the most negatively affected by it, while they are the least culpable for it? This required a lot of listening and digging into tough questions around capitalism, colonialism and extraction, to finally craft an episode that touches on these issues, while also hopefully empowering kids to take action in their own communities and/or demand action and change from politicians, corporations and "developed" nations.

You can watch an older episode of Ubongo Kids on clean energy below, and check our TV schedule for your country to see these new environmental edutainment episodes in the coming weeks!

In addition to engaging kids around environmental issues through our edu-cartoons, I'm proud to say that we're indirectly contributing to environmental protection through all the work we do to transform learning. Project Drawdown ranks education (especially girl's education) as one of the most potent solution to reduce greenhouse gases, and this TIME magazine article by Uganda activist Vanessa Nakate sums it up wonderfully.

3) Moving my money so that it won't be invested in extractive and highly polluting businesses.

I've tried to figure out what the money in my bank accounts is helping to fund, and move it to ensure it's divested from fossil fuels and instead invested in clean energy and more sustainable businesses. Big banks are realizing that they need to provide more ESG options and begin divesting from extractive and polluting industries, while startups like Aspiration Bank are providing alternative ways to save and invest our money. Personally, I've decided to select my own investments for my savings, and put them directly into companies like First Solar (FSLR) and Beyond Meat (BYND), as well as funds like First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF (FAN) and Invesco Global Water ETF (CGW).

I've also put money that I can be patient with into green loans on Kiva, helping to finance sustainable agriculture on smallholder farmers in Kenya and Uganda, solar water heaters for home owners in Palestine, and seaweed farming by women in the Philippines. I've joined a Kiva Lending team called Climate Pilots that shares climate positive loans and encourages co-investment in them. You can join in too by loaning as little as $25 to crowd-finance an organization that runs solar powered refrigeration hubs in Nigeria, which help farmers reduce food spoilage while increasing their incomes.

4) Realizing that my most important role is to support, invest in, and amplify others' ideas, voices and actions.

I've always seen myself as a "creative," and even as CEO I have remained heavily involved in writing, producing and editing Ubongo's beloved edutainment programs. That's the work that ignites my passion and which I just love to do (even if it's late at night after I've finished my "executive duties"). It's taken me a good seven years to fully accept that this is neither my job nor my place. My most important role isn't to create stories that will teach and inspire Africa's next generation, but rather to grow a platform, build organizational structures, support skills development, and find the resources needed to enable young people from across Africa to do this themselves... and hand over the power of what we're building to them.

Climate change, air pollution, land degradation and other interconnected crises threaten the future of today's children and youth, especially in Africa. These crises have been created by the same exploitative forces of colonialism and capitalism that have led to staggering global inequality and social injustice. We cannot expect to have effective and equitable solutions if they are designed and imposed by people who start from a place of privilege gained when they or their ancestors benefitted (or still benefit) from these systems. I'm excited to transition our leadership and hand over the decision-making to visionary African leaders, and ready to use my skills and energy to support and follow them.

Likewise, if we're going to ensure a better future for our planet and the people on it, we "older" folk need to hand over much more power now to the people who will actually have to live in that future: today's kids and youth. Ijeoma Oluo puts in better than I ever could in her book, "So You Want to Talk About Race" (please buy it and read it)!

"It is our job to be confused and dismayed by the future generation, and trust that if we would just stop trying to control them and instead support them, they will eventually find their way. My goal as a writer an an activist is not to shape future generations. I hope to give a platform, a foundation for our young people to build upon, and then smash to bits when it is no longer needed."

- Ijeoma Oluo

At 35, I'm now older than three quarters of the population here in Tanzania! I guess that makes me official "old"? So my role now is to use my skills, energy, passion, and voice to help create the space for this young majority to step into their power, and then to get behind them and their ideas as they build the brighter and greener future that only they can imagine.