Sarah and Tomas discuss preparing for the climate emergency!

00:01 Hi, my name is Sarah Allen and I'm interviewing Tomas Ridley First and foremost, do you consent that I'm. I record you?

00:10 Yes, I do.

00:11 And do you consent that I upload this to the StoryCorps app and share it with my classmates and people inside of the community?

00:19 Yes, I do.

00:21 Okay, so we already went over the promise, and you understand that, right? Okay, so now I just want to ask you a few specific questions about what you guys did in your neighborhood, essentially. So first, what, like, what do you guys do to prepare and, like, respond to this climate emergency?

00:47 So we established a community center and educated everyone on what they were doing right and what they were doing wrong, as well as, you know, established a little local pool for anything that people didn't need anymore and someone else might need, as well as, you know, offering repairs and help to everyone, and everyone offering their help to each other.

01:07 Okay, that's good. That's, like, really good that you guys do that. Do you think, like, you're. Was there much, like, materialism going on? Like, did people buy things to become more, like, climate friendly, or did, like, they just focus on using what they had? You know, so we saw a little bit of both.

01:30 Quite a couple people did invest in solar panels or, you know, battery banks and stuff like that to cut down on their, you know, coal and gas electricity use. But then we also did see, you know, people buying less cars or new stuff in general instead of fixing what they had and, you know, working with what they had so they wouldn't have to, you know, contribute to land waste or buy new things, which doesn't, of course, contribute to climate change.

01:54 Yeah, well, you know, nobody's perfect, but you guys sound like you did the best you could.

02:00 Thank you.

02:02 And, like, what do you, like, how much did you think that, like, acting as a community helped this process?

02:11 I think it was good because, you know, establishing a community center was being able to really come together as a community. We're able to, you know, discuss, you know, techniques to lower your greenhouse, you know, your carbon footprint and, you know, being a little more frugal with everything and just being able to really come together as a community and help each other out. I think. Really established.

02:32 No, yeah, that's definitely good. And it increases, like, people's, like, just, like, well being and, like, able to, like, talk to your neighbors about things. No, that's really good. Like, out of everything that you, like, listed or, like, you guys did, like, what's one specific thing that, like, you really credit to making a difference?

02:52 I would say really just, you know, lowering plastic waste as well as just keeping everything, being able to fix appliances and stuff like that. So you know, I had a story, one of my neighbors, you know, they broke a toaster and we were able to fix it for her so she didn't have to buy a new one, which, you know, helped.

03:14 Oh yeah, no, that's really good. Like being as frugal as possible will definitely like help both like your well being and the earth, you know. Well, you share the story of your like neighbor's toaster. Do you have any other stories that like relates to your neighbors that, that you guys like experimented with different like behavior ideas and stuff like that during like the time that you guys were trying to change?

03:41 Yeah, yeah. So you know, we experimented with, you know, having some sort of, you know, universal sort of like service thing in the community center. You know, sort of having like a little place where we could fix everything and you know, that sort of work sort of didn't. We sort of did some adapts and some changes and we sort of able to really figure something out that worked for all of us.

04:06 I think that's good. Yeah, like a good concise, concise thing that you guys did and like what are like some of the most important lessons that you took from like all this change?

04:21 I think definitely being able to hear other people's stories inside of the argument. Really just working with people and sort of reasoning with them and sort of really making sure that they do understand and you're not just, you know, forcing something on them because you know, then they're not going to change anything as well as just, you know, really being able to be more conscious about the planet. I think we really achieved that in our neighborhood.

04:45 Exactly.

04:45 Really work towards, you know, prolonging the future of our species.

04:49 Yeah. And just like coming together like voluntarily and making a change which I bet you like made. I bet. Do you guys seem happier? Do you think you guys are happier as a community?

05:00 I think there's definitely much more of a communal aspect. I think ever since, you know, really just coming together, it really got everyone to sort of converse and work together and I think that really did help. Yes.

05:10 That's good. So what, like, if you could give the next like generation advice, what would you give them?

05:18 I would say to really, you know, work together with people and you know, if you're getting pushback, there's obviously some reasons really just be able to talk it out, see what those push hocks coming from really, you know, work with the person and just you know, not leave anyone behind. And, you know, you can really advance as a community if you really all work together.

05:37 How do you think that, like, what would you say to someone who says, like, one of their neighbors isn't being compliant or, like, isn't trying to make a change? Like, how would you approach that? Or, like, what advice would you give someone?

05:51 So I really tell them, you know, just, you know, maybe have them over, just really get them, you know, sort of establish them as a friend more than, as, you know, oh, you're not doing this, you know, just accusing and accusing because, you know, when you do that to someone, you know, they're always gonna dig their heels in. So you really want to be like, oh, you know, see, it's not that hard if you just do this, you know, and it helps out all of us. And then.

06:13 Yeah, because you definitely, like, want them to do it voluntarily. So, yeah, no, that's really good advice. So what does your neighborhood like? If the climate crisis continued longer, what do you think your neighborhood will do successfully? Having already responded successfully, what do you think your neighborhood will change in the future?

06:41 Well, you see, we clearly can't predict what might be something that we'll have to adjust, you know, maybe in 10, 20, 30 years. But I'm sure that, you know, considering that we've established a good groundwork here, we'll be able to, you know, bring all the information to the table and be able to really work with each other to figure it out.

07:00 Yeah, no, that's good. Especially since you already have the groundwork for it. It's like, already, like, a little base. And then finally, our last question. Question? Well, not finally, but if, like, if you were to, like, tell anyone about how you and your neighbor, like, prepared for this and, like, just all around, like, for people listening to this, like, years from now, what would you tell them?

07:28 I think I'd tell them just to, you know, stick with it. Trust scientists. That's a big one. They know what they're talking about and, you know, just really try and make a change for the better if you're really hoping to prolong our species living on this planet and, you know, just helping the planet on all the life die out on the planet.

07:50 Well, thank you so much. That was a very fruitful conversation. Thank you for coming to Story Corpse.

07:56 Thank you for having me on the air.