S2, E9: Are we throwing away our future? We need to talk about eco-anxiety
In the ninth episode of season two, We Need to Talk about Eco-Anxiety, Clover considers how our modern consumerist culture, founded on the desire to accumulate material possessions, has led to the climate crisis and in turn, eco-anxiety.
First up, Clover meets the Former Global Communications Lead of Break Free From Plastic and Founder of People Over Plastic, Shilpi Chhotray, to discuss our culture of overconsumption, and why breaking free of consumerism is at the heart of climate action. We then hear the thoughts of young people across the globe, and how their eco-anxiety is exacerbated by consumerist culture; and finally from Artur Litarowicz, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hair Care for P&G Europe, about how market trends have changed from previous generations and why sustainability is becoming cost-effective for businesses.
Featuring…
Shilpi Chhotray: Activist and Global Communications Lead for Break Free From Plastic
Shilpi Chhotray is an activist and the former global communications lead for the climate initiative Break Free From Plastic, and founder of People Over Plastic. Prior to joining Break Free From Plastic, Shilpi worked at Mission Blue | Sylvia Earle Alliance to further their mission of igniting public support for a global network of marine protected areas. She holds a Master’s degree in Earth and Environmental Resources Management and her writing has been published in The Economist; Yes! magazine; the Stanford Journal of Law, Science & Policy; Huffington Post, and National Geographic Ocean Views.
Three things we talked about in the episode:
The impact of an economy built on consumption
Countering the obsession to buy more stuff, with values-based messaging that compels us to buy less
Why breaking free of consumerism is at the heart of climate action
Caroline Hickman, resident psychotherapist
Caroline is a psychotherapist from the University of Bath, who has spent years researching children and young people’s relationships with nature and feelings about the climate and ecological crisis; in the UK, Maldives, South Pacific and other communities already affected by rising sea levels.
In their conversation, Caroline and Clover discuss how the climate conversation is framed around what we need to give up, rather than what we can gain.
Artur Litarowicz, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hair Care for P&G Europe
Artur Litarowicz, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hair Care for P&G Europe. The Procter & Gamble Company is an American multinational consumer goods corporation. P&G is the biggest consumer goods company in the world. It mainly manufactures laundry and cleaning supply products as well as products in the cosmetics and personal care sector.
In their conversation, Artur discusses a shift in the business mindset, prompted by people choosing not to be passive recipients of products, but activists within this space.
Quotes from the episode
"We can talk about individual change and lifestyle change but with the amount of waste, we are generating right now no amount of individual or lifestyle solutions are going to work. We need the corporations to stop it at the source."
- Shilpi Chhotray
"In the past few years, we have seen the consumer move from being a passive recipient of the sustainability message to being advocates, and even activists, in that space."
- Artur Litarowicz
With thanks this episode’s sponsor,
Procter & Gamble
Interested in sponsoring Season 3? Email media@forceofnature.xyz
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Have you listened to season 1 yet?
In this 9-part series, Clover sits down with the people who are leading the charge: from the woman who started a global movement out of her backyard; to the lawyer responsible for the world’s most historic climate agreement; and a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
A Force of Nature and OneFinePlay production
Director: Clover Hogan
Studio: OneFinePlay
Executive producer: James Bishop
Editor & producer: Kasra Firouzyar
Producer & researcher: Connor Foley
Additional creative support: Selena Christofides
With special thanks to everyone who makes Force of Nature possible!
Phoebe Hanson, Kathleen Hamilton, Alejandra Arias, Sacha Wright, Julia Sams, Vida Han, Zineb Jaoudat and Rohan Shah.