October 23, 2024 • 39 mins
In the final episode of our Everyday Environment season focused on climate change, we chat with Duane Friend, Illinois Extension Climate Change Specialist to explore practical ways to get involved in climate action. Whether you're looking to make a difference in your own life or in your community, we discuss climate solutions that fit your lifestyle, share inspiring community success stories, and help you navigate conversations about climate change. We also highlight the Illinois Extension Climate Stewards course, dispel common misconceptions, and offer motivation for those ready to make a positive impact. We also invite you to read our final blog reflecting on our climate change season!
Learn more...
Illinois Climate Stewards
Chicago Living Corridors
Cross Community Climate Collaborative (C4)
Contact us...
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu
Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu
Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Abigail Garofalo (00:07):
Welcome to another episode of the Everyday
Environment podcast where weexplore the environment we see
every day. I'm your host,Abigail Garofalo,
Amy Lefringhouse (00:15):
And I'm your cohost, Amy Lefringhouse.
Abigail Garofalo (00:18):
And all season long, we've been talking about
all things climate change fromthe basics to urban tree
responses, invasive species,pollinators, human health,
empowering youth, carbonmarkets, agrivoltaics, and
composting and food waste. Wow.That's a lot.
Amy Lefringhouse (00:34):
It is.
Abigail Garofalo (00:35):
So and it's been pretty great, and it's been
so exciting to go on thisjourney. And we wanted to
conclude this season with somereally wonderful messages of
hope and action from our veryown climate specialist in
Extension and friend of the pod,Duane Friend. Welcome, Duane.
Duane Friend (00:52):
Thank you for letting me be on. It sounds like
after all this great stuff, I'mjust happy to be here.
Abigail Garofalo (00:58):
We're happy to have you. It's gonna be, it's
been really exciting to explorethis in such a long project for
for us hosts, and so it's kindof it's just great to see it all
come together and and, ourlisteners learn so much. And so
I'm excited to leave people withthis kind of message of hope
because climate change can feelso dismal. My joke I like to
(01:20):
tell people is, you know, theysay, oh, denial, just ain't a
river in Egypt. Well, despairain't just something you keep in
the back of your car, like atire in the back of your car. So
so we wanna leave people feelinga little hopeful about, you
know, there's some things thatwe can do, some changes we can
make, and we've been touching onit all season and hitting on it
with our webinars and ourpodcasts and videos and blogs.
(01:42):
But, I think devoting a whole,episode to it is really
important. What about what doyou think, Amy?
Amy Lefringhouse (01:48):
I love I yeah. I I always want to end some end
things with, like, what can Ido? Yes. This is, you know, an
issue. We know it's an issue,but what can we do? So I'm I'm
excited to talk about what wecan actually do in getting our
hands dirty and doing some work.
Abigail Garofalo (02:06):
So let's jump into it, Duane. What are some of
the most impactful ways thatpeople can contribute to climate
action in their everyday lives?
Duane Friend (02:15):
Well, like you say, a lot of folks when they
think about this thing, theythink about climate change and
just that terminology, sometimesyou get that deer in the
headlight look from some folksand they go, what can I do? What
what what what things can I dowith related to climate change?
But, really, a lot of the thingsthat people are already doing or
already thinking about, it'srelated to climate change
(02:35):
because we're really talkingabout, in a lot of cases, energy
usage. If we're talking aboutpeople living at home, in their
residences, we're talking aboutenergy usage, water usage, what
they're doing with theirlandscapes. All of those things
are related to it because all ofthat involves carbon in some way
or carbon dioxide if we'retalking about going in the
atmosphere.
(02:56):
So, you know, we've been talkingfor years about energy usage and
trying to set those thermostats,in the wintertime, as low as you
can and still be comfortable tosave energy. We talk about water
usage, trying to to keep thatwater usage low, which also
relates to how much energy isbeing used by water treatment
(03:17):
plants or or water processingplants. And in the the if they
have a garden, if someone has agarden, if someone has a
landscape, thinking about whatkind of things will work in
there where you're not gonna beusing as much energy. And I know
earlier this year that we hadthat no may or no mow may. You
(03:37):
know, thinking about things likethat out in the the yard or the
landscape where you're not usingthat power mower as much, where
you're planting native plantsthat will be there for a long
period of time, and you don'thave to throw a bunch of,
chemicals or fertilizer on them.
All of those things relate toenergy use, which then relates
(03:59):
to climate change. So a lot ofthose things that people are are
thinking about doing, maybealready doing, they're they're
adding to that aspect of ofhelping mitigate that change
that's that is taking place, butwe still have an opportunity to
mitigate some of it. And we aregonna have to adapt in some
cases, but we still got thatopportunity there to mitigate
(04:21):
what's going from this point on.
Abigail Garofalo (04:23):
I love that. And it's about finding the
adaptations and mitigations thatwork for you and your family
and, you know, you're doing thebest at doing. Right? So me, for
example, I'm a lazy gardener.The least I can do, the better.
And so that keeps the systemhealthy. And so I'm like, you
know what I love about nativeplants? They're perennial
typically. They come back everyyear. They're eventually gonna
(04:45):
provide a nice leveling mulchfor me that I don't have to
mulch, and they keep my little,sidewalk stream at bay in the in
the so. And so that's kind of aa an adaptation effort. Right?
It's like that we're gonna seemore stormwater. So I'm
implementing things that aregonna allow for more
infiltration to manage thatstormwater on my landscape. And
(05:07):
so that's what works for me.That's what works for my family.
That's something that, you know,I've given thought into. Right?
It's about that thoughtfulnessas well. So very cool.
Amy Lefringhouse (05:16):
Right. And, you know, economically, saving
energy in your homes and tryingto not use as much energy,
you're, you know, saving somepennies there, which is a win
win. Right? You're saving moneyand you're also whether you know
it or not, you're working onclimate action, you know, and
climate mitigation. Socommunities. So we're we talked
(05:40):
a little bit about individually,you know, what we can do, but
how important is communityinvolvement and group
involvement in climateinitiatives, and what are some
effective ways that people can,engage in their local community?
Duane Friend (05:59):
Well, obviously, the more more groupings that
you've got, the more,cohesiveness that you've got,
the more people involved, thebetter your point to have,
something effective happen. Socommunities are obviously really
important in this. And as timegoes on, we're seeing more and
more things like grants forgreen infrastructure and
(06:23):
different things that arerelated specifically to
communities come into play. And,you know, one of the things
that, especially is true forsmaller communities is even if
they have access to some ofthose grants, a lot of times,
they may not be that inter well,maybe they're interested, but
(06:43):
they feel like they don't havethe time or maybe they don't
understand exactly what isneeded to go into those grants.
So, really, if if someone hashas got the the background
expertise, maybe they're theyunderstand the terminology and
they could help thosecommunities with things like
that.
That's really where, anindividual can get involved with
(07:06):
a community. You know, if theyhave that background knowledge
in that basic climate science,if they understand the right way
to communicate about climatechange to other people no matter
what what their beliefs are, andeven having an understanding of
how climate change affectspeople in different communities.
(07:27):
Because in some communities,they are more affected than what
other communities are. So havingthose background knowledge and
skills set, is really what'sgonna help people get involved
in a community aspect of ofthings. And we we have an
opportunity with Extension tohelp out with that. There's a a
(07:48):
program that we're just startingcalled Climate Stewards. So this
is a a a new program thatstarted by University of
Illinois Extension. It's calledIllinois Extension Climate
Stewards. In fact, we justfinished the pilot program for
this, this spring. It's a it's arigorous course.
It was actually something thatwe licensed from University of
California at Davis. They'vebeen running it out there for
(08:10):
several years. We saw it, andinstead of reinventing the
wheel, we thought, well, we'lljust we'll take what they have.
And we spent most of last yearadapting it, though, to Illinois
because, obviously, a lot of thethings that happened in
California, like wildfires andand those types of things don't
happen as much here in theIllinois or the Midwest. So we
re rework some of theinformation, some of the content
(08:31):
so that it's related more toIllinois and the Midwest.
But this is a, a program. It'sit's basically the equivalent
of, about a 3 semester hourcollege course. So it's it takes
a time commitment from fromfolks, but, it does provide
those skills and the knowledgebase that people would need to
(08:52):
go out in the communities andhelp folks with this. So, it
provides that basic climatescience. It spends a lot of
time. Really, the a a big focusof the course is on those
climate communication skillsbecause that's just vital to be
able to work in communities andto work with other individuals.
We also talk about climatejustice and equity issues. And
(09:14):
then, of course, we provide alot of resources that people can
use as they go out and try tohelp communities. So we are are
starting that. We're having a aclass this fall.
We're hoping that we can offerthis multiple times throughout
the year in different parts ofthe state depending on, what the
interest level is. But then wehope that people who take the
(09:36):
course will go out and bewilling to volunteer, be willing
to go out and help thosecommunities. I do wanna
emphasize that I know a lot offolks are familiar with our
Master Gardener and MasterNaturalist courses. This is not
like one of those classes or oneof those courses because once a
person gets done with theclimate stewards course, you're
(09:56):
not gonna get a little badgethat says you are now an
Illinois Extension ClimateSteward. They will get a
certificate in which, theyactually could use if they wanna
use it, for resume building, ifthey wanna use it to show
someone that, hey.
I've got I've taken this course,and I've I've learned about
these different skills and andknowledge bases. But, it it is a
(10:18):
a different type of system anddifferent type of course than
those systems. On the otherhand, because it's not a formal
volunteer course, nobody has togo through all the paperwork
involved that's that'sassociated with Master Gardener
or Master Naturalist, but itwould take, around 35 to 40
(10:39):
hours to complete the basiccourse. We we usually are
looking at probably around atleast a minimum of a 12 week
course to complete it. We doinclude, even though it's mostly
a virtual program, we are goingto include some in person
sessions, and we'll also havesome live Zoom sessions, where
we'll bring in speakers, andthen we'll also have times for
(11:02):
time for, sharing ideas andreflecting on those types of
things. So we hope people willbe interested in in the course
and be able to use it, down theroad within their community.
Abigail Garofalo (11:13):
Mhmm. I love it. And I love the course
because you the big thing is youdon't know what you don't know.
And, people who do feel reallypassionate about climate work
maybe don't feel comfortabletalking about it because they
feel like they need to beequipped with more information.
And I I teach I focus veryclosely on climate
communications in my MasterNaturalist course, and, you
(11:35):
know, what we learn is is youcan have all the information you
want, but if you don't know howto talk about it, it's not going
to get many places.
Right? And so even if you don'thave all the information, but
you have those communicationskills, you will probably be
more successful, in incommunicating because you know
how to kind of troubleshootdifferent scenarios and, you
(11:58):
know, best practices in talkingabout these things. And I think
that's so important in havingthis empowered citizenship in
these communities of people whojust know, and have that
influence. And I love that it'sactually not a volunteer model
because something that I feellike is a little restrictive of
Extension of the volunteer modelis, it can only be used for
(12:19):
volunteer activities versus, youknow, if I have somebody in an
organization who wants to takethis as part of their work,
their supervisor really feelslike this is an important
initiative. They wanna have thisperson be their, like, climate
change expert in the company tohelp guide policy or whatever.
They could have them do that,and then they could do that as
part of their paid work, whichis really cool and, because all
(12:43):
of that is valuable. It all addsto the actions on climate
change, which is really amazing.So I'm excited to see this. I'm
I my I had my some of mycommunity members as part of the
pilot, and they really enjoyedit. And I've been seeing it grow
from the beginning, and I hopeto get trained as well to be an
instructor. So we'll be offeringit more in Cook County. I know
(13:04):
there's a lot of interest uphere, so very cool.
Duane Friend (13:07):
And that example you gave about the the the work
skills and those types ofthings, that's a perfect example
of of how we hope it gets usedin a lot of cases.
Abigail Garofalo (13:15):
Yeah. Or government leaders, you know,
like, having someone who knows.I feel like there's a interest
that we you know, the people whopersonally call Extension.
Right? Like, they have phonecalls. They don't just email us.
They phone call us in or theystop by. I had an individual who
did that the other day. Theystopped by. I wasn't there, so I
called them back. And theywanted to know a lot about how
(13:35):
oak trees are going to beaffected by climate change and
parkway trees and specificallybecause they're replacing a lot
of the ashes in their community.And I was like, this is a person
who's, like, thinking and has asa a member of their community,
can talk to their communityleaders as and say, like, I'm
thinking about these things. Areyou? And the answer is probably
(13:57):
yes. Right?
Because cities are investing alot of time and money in trees,
and so you wanna make sure thatthey are thinking about these
things. But it's good to havevoices in your community to make
sure those things are happeningor to at least just say, this is
something that I, as a communitymember or this community in
general, cares about because I'minvesting money and time in this
community.
Amy Lefringhouse (14:16):
And so I had a little bit to add to that. Just
going back to where you said,you know, you don't know what
you don't know. And sometimes wedon't realize the connection
that is happening in your yardor in your streets or, you know,
(14:37):
on the electrical grid, youknow, you don't realize that
connection to then our climateand our weather patterns, and
those two coming together andand affecting one another. And
this course kinda takes youthrough, you know, internally,
how does climate and weatherincorporate into your life, what
(14:57):
are the outside weather patternsand things that are happening in
your neighborhood that areaffecting you, so then in your
neighborhood, then in yourcommunity, you know, it it kinda
goes through just different,levels of your life and how
climate can impact those, andthen how to talk about it, how
to, you know, look for solutionsthat might be applicable in your
(15:21):
community. And I really likethat model, in the course
because, you know, what affectsyou, you're gonna you're you're
gonna really care about. But itis a good way to get involved in
in climate action. Just thatstep one, informing yourself,
educating yourself.
Abigail Garofalo (15:39):
And, Amy, you brought up a good point. It's
the Master Gardener, MasterNaturalist model is this, but
the stewards is is without thevolunteer element. Is this idea
that, you know, we educatecommunity members because we
recognize that content and workin communities coming from their
own community is better receivedand more likely to create change
(16:02):
and positive impacts. And, also,they're able to bring that
feedback back to us that, like,that's actually not good for my
community or that is what weneed versus what we don't need.
And so training stewards ofcommunities for them to go be
kind these stewards orambassadors in within them, are
able to make more of an impactthan if every single one of us
(16:25):
went and visited each of theseindividual communities ourselves
and came as the Extensionprofessional talking about these
things.
This is what you should know.You know, of course, we don't
really teach like that anymore,but that's that's how it could
come off versus, you know, myneighbor who took this class and
was really impressed and appliedit to their own learning and
their own knowledge and theirown skills. And now they're
talking to me about it. Wow. Itrust them way more than I trust
(16:46):
Abigail, who I have met once.You know? So I think it's really
cool.
Amy Lefringhouse (16:50):
That's a great point. Yep. A great point,
Abigail.
Abigail Garofalo (16:54):
Well, we've been talking about some some,
more specifics, and you've beenI've been giving some examples,
and we've been talking aboutthose. But what are some success
stories that you've encounteredwhen, individual or community
actions have led to significantenvironmental improvements?
Duane Friend (17:08):
Well, if we wanna look at at Illinois altogether,
most of the work is up in yourarea, Abigail. It's, for as far
as community.
Abigail Garofalo (17:15):
We have a lot of people. It's not because the
work is being done elsewhere.Yeah. There's a lot of people
and a lot of resources investedinto my area. So
Duane Friend (17:22):
And, actually, the one that I was gonna mention,
and I'm I'm not sure I'm gonnaget the the the complete name
right, and then you probablyhave heard of it, Abigail. So if
I get the name wrong, correctme. I think it's Crossroads
Community Climate Collaborative,C4. So this is, basically, a
multi community collaborativewhere they're looking at, a
(17:45):
number of different initiativesdepending on what the community
what each community needs, butit's it's something that's going
on in the, I think, the westside of Cook County in
particular. But, there are, Ithink, over 30 initiatives that
they're hoping to work on, youknow, things like improving, or
(18:05):
adding green infrastructure,community gardens, composting,
then they get into talkingabout, you know, individual
well-being.
So there's just a number ofdifferent sections, and one of
the in each sections, they'vegot 3 to 5 different
initiatives. And so that's kindof a work in progress. And I
think in some cases, you know,if we wanna talk about
successes, we we probably haveto wait a little bit on some of
(18:27):
those. But, I think that's justa great example of how these
communities can come together asa larger grouping and look at
these things, but then takethese things that that maybe
have been planned out and seehow they apply to their
individual communities. So, Ithink that's just a great
example of some communityinvolvement and community
(18:50):
planning that can go into someof these things.
Abigail Garofalo (18:54):
Definitely. And if sometimes too these kinds
of successes go a little bitunder the radar. Maybe they're,
like, little really local. So ifany of our listeners as well
have, like, something that theyfeel is like a really big
success or it even doesn't evenhave to feel like a big one, a
little one, and they wanna sendthat our way and, we can kind of
highlight those things and givesome kudos to that climate
(19:14):
action that you all are makingin your local communities, we
would love to hear it. So youcan find our contact information
all on the website. And howeveryou're listening to this now,
it's probably on there as well.So, feel free to reach out to us
and tell us your successes. Italways makes us feel good about
this work too. So
Amy Lefringhouse (19:32):
I think it's neat communities. The readiness
of, you know, communities. Somecommunities are further along in
some initiatives. Maybe they'vehad long term initiatives, you
know, food waste composting.Maybe they've had long term,
initiatives happening, but thennow they're all kinda putting it
together to just show theirimpact, you know, on climate
now. You know? Some othercommunities might not even
(19:55):
climate initiatives might nothave even been in in
communicated or talked about ordiscussed in in city councils
or, you know, village meetingsor things like that. So the
there's different readinesslevels, I guess, of each
community, but it's cool to seethose success stories that have
come along just to just to seesee where we could go, you know,
(20:18):
where a community could go.
Duane Friend (20:20):
Well and if we wanna look at at the state too,
I mean, Illinois as a whole isdoing a lot of different things
to to try to do climatereadiness. I was gonna give one
example there for the town ofPembroke, which is out, east of
Kankakee. It's a smallcommunity, kind of an
underserved community. Theydon't have natural gas lines
(20:43):
into that community, so, they'vehad to use, like, wood or
propane, and in some cases, fortheir energy usage. So there was
a program that went in andprovided for some houses
upgrades in terms of theirenergy efficiency for, heating
and cooling. And, again, energyefficiency, so we're cutting
down on that carbon footprint.So, again, it's relating to the
(21:05):
climate change in that regardalso.
Amy Lefringhouse (21:07):
I also think in the agricultural community,
there are lot more talking aboutclimate smart agriculture, cover
cropping, funding coming downfrom the government, and cost
share programs that are fundingcover cropping, pollinator
planting, tree planting, all ofthose climate smart practices
(21:30):
are really being discussed andrealized that it that it
connects again to to climatechange. And
Duane Friend (21:36):
Well, I was just gonna say, and in terms of of a
really big impact, I mean, whenwe look at at the the ag side of
things and we look at soils andwe look at the amount of carbon
that goes into organic matter,which carbon's our organic
matter is 58% carbon. You know,when we when they can cut down
on that soil erosion so theykeep that soil in place, the
(21:59):
less tillage that's done, you'redestroying less of that
structure so you have lessorganic matter decomposition. I
mean, we're talking aboutmillions of tons potentially of
carbon that can be, if not keptin place, that much can be added
to soils as well. So it's just aa huge area where where that
(22:21):
carbon can be used in storage.
Amy Lefringhouse (22:25):
Mhmm.
Abigail Garofalo (22:25):
Well, and that's, in thinking about too,
sometimes it's just a matter ofsuccess is, like, recognizing
and conglomerating that effortsaren't just happening in small
spaces, right, or in smallareas. One of my favorite things
I like to point to is the, theChicago living corridors map. So
that is a map of organizations'landscapes that they have either
(22:51):
certified or or, like,recognized in some kind of way
of doing environmentallyfriendly practices. And so so
that map showcases that in thisbig area, each dot is a is a
property that's making effortsin reducing chemical usage,
reducing stormwater runoff,improving wildlife habitat,
(23:12):
things like that. And so itshows that, like, oh, what
you're doing on your smallproperty matters, and being able
to showcase that connecting themmakes a difference and impacts
the environment in that area isso, valuable because that
changes the culture of it.
Right? It's not just thestandard of, well, this is what
(23:32):
we do on our landscapes. This iswhat we do on our lawn. It's,
oh, wow. Look at all thesepeople who are also doing things
seeing these things. Maybe Ishould try it too because I'm
not just a like, you know,starting something brand new.
I'm not starting from scratch.So, yeah, sometimes it's just
about showcasing the cool thingsthat are happening in the first
place, and that's a success initself.
Amy Lefringhouse (23:54):
I would agree. Recognizing those patterns that
there are patterns out there andlook. We're connected to a
bigger picture.
Abigail Garofalo (24:01):
And then it is connected to climate change in
the first place. A lot of peopletoo, like, forget that it's all
climate related, like Duane wassaying. Like, oh, just because
you're doing this, that isclimate related. Look at that.
It's crazy. Like, we, pickedthis topic for a reason for this
season or something.
Amy Lefringhouse (24:15):
So, Duane, how can people stay motivated and
hopeful, in the face of dauntingchallenges sometimes that are
posed by climate change? How canwe keep going?
Duane Friend (24:28):
You know, I I think it's one of those things,
and and I know you guys, youtoo, have heard me talk about
this before. But me being alittle bit older, I I lived
through this, in the sixtiesand seventies. And if if anybody
lived through the that timeperiod, you know what the water
quality was like back then. Youknow what the air quality was
(24:48):
like back then. It was horrible.As I I mentioned in in multiple
talks, you go back into thefifties and sixties. There were
rivers that caught on firebecause of so much stuff in
there. Smog issues in incommunities from vehicle
emissions were just terrible.You know? And in the early
(25:09):
seventies, we everybody we madea decision because Congress
actually, went ahead and didsomething.
They passed legislation to setup ways to make water quality
better, make air quality better.And just like we hear sometimes
today, you know, there werepeople that said, oh, this is
gonna ruin the economy, and andthis is just gonna be terrible.
(25:33):
And, you know, we got throughit. We we went through it, and I
don't think anybody can denywe're not at a better place. The
economy is still fantastic andprobably better off than it was
before.
So I I think it's just one ofthose things where, yeah, it
seems like it's daunting, and itwill take some work to get
through it. But we've done thesekind of things before, and we
(25:56):
can do it again. So I I don'tsee it as something that's
impossible to do. Yeah. It's aworldwide issue, but we do our
part. That's still cutting backon on what's happening. So you
know? And and one person bythemselves, you know, even if
they're doing their part,they're doing their part. So I
(26:16):
think people can feel good aboutthat, when they are.
Abigail Garofalo (26:20):
I always tell people who feel like I don't do
anything related to climatechange. It's just my house. Is
that gonna matter? All thesethings that see these other big
issues that are that are reallythese other big, organizations,
corporations, whatever that I Ican't I don't have any say in or
whatever. And I'm always like,well, you never know if you're
gonna talk to someone who couldmake a difference or influence
(26:42):
someone or know someone whoknows someone.
And, you know, that's that's thebig thing that I work on, in
Cook County is changing theculture of landscapes. Right?
Like, what does it look like tohave a pretty landscape? And I
think that changing the cultureof climate change, you never
know if you're gonna talk tosomebody about climate change or
about something that's that'simpacting our climate that in
(27:04):
someone who is in a position tomake a difference or or has
those kinds of of, abilities andpower. And so I I never want
people to feel like they arepowerless because their voice is
power.
It what you were talking about,though, is kinda like when, when
you're you're either sitting inclass or you're teaching in
front of a group of people, andyou may have someone in the back
(27:27):
back row that you think, oh,they're not paying attention or
they're they're not reallyinterested in what you're
talking about. And you find outlater, maybe that person comes
back to you or you find outthrough somebody else that, you
know,
Duane Friend (27:40):
that person has become very interested in
whatever it was you were talkingabout and is doing something
now. So you can't always justjudge someone by, you know,
whether they're they're they'resitting there, whether they're
they're, you know, gettingactively involved at the time
because there are some folkslike that that, maybe won't say
(28:01):
a whole lot at the time, but youyou've really affected them.
Yeah. Talk about successstories.
Abigail Garofalo (28:06):
You were talking about how, you know, the
Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act,things like that, the ozone
layer. Like, all of those aresuccess stories of large action
that was collectively done toimprove environmental quality
and conditions. And, those arethings that we need to tout as
(28:28):
successes and say that's ourthat's it's possible. That's our
light. Right? And the urgency isstill there because the urgency
still needs to continue, butthat hope, I think, can be
really motivating.
Amy Lefringhouse (28:41):
See, I agree. Whenever I've heard you say that
before, Duane, in other talks,and it does make you like, oh,
yeah. I mean, that was 1970.Wasn't that long ago,
Duane Friend (28:51):
thank you
Amy Lefringhouse (28:52):
and we made a shift in right.
Abigail Garofalo (28:54):
It wasn't.
Amy Lefringhouse (28:55):
It really wasn't that long ago. We did
make a quick shift. I mean, insociety and, you know, big
picture, that was a quickturning of the the boat, you
know, to start makingenvironmental improvement. So we
can do it. It's it's I alwayslove it when you when you say
that story.
Duane Friend (29:12):
And the one thing I challenge some folks that
maybe are out there gettingtheir masters, getting their
PhD, and, or thinking aboutthat, what what area they wanna
go into, I challenge someone outthere in that realm to think
about doing research on ifyou're looking at energy usage,
(29:33):
find doing research on findingsome ways to change our change
away from carbon based fuels. Ifsomeone can do that, not only
will they be will they get theNobel, they'll probably be very
rich for doing it. So that's andsomeone on the ag side, if they
can find a way to make if theycould find a way to make, no
(29:56):
till farming with cover crops anoption that would be equal to or
better than the way farming isdone for the most part today, be
the same thing with that. So Ichallenge someone to go out
there and do that.
Abigail Garofalo (30:08):
Mhmm. Yeah. And even, the every person, I
challenge you to think about,you know, what are you doing?
What's what where are yourvoices in your company you're
working for, your localcommunity to think about, you
know, what is, you know, what ismy community doing towards
climate action? What is myorganization doing? Do I have a
(30:29):
voice in that? Alright. Well,kind of our last question. What
are some common misconceptionsabout getting involved in
climate work, and how would youaddress them?
Duane Friend (30:40):
I think one of the big things with this, a lot of
people, first of all, think thatthere's a lot more denying from
other folks on climate changethan there's really out there,
and I think folks are afraid totalk about it, in light of that.
Mhmm. So I I think that's one ofthe the one of the most common
(31:02):
misconceptions is there's a lotmore deniers out there than
people think there's a lot moredeniers out there than what's
actually out there. And then Ithink people are very
apprehensive about talking tosomeone that may be thinking
along those lines. And,hopefully, that's one thing with
this Climate Stewards course,shameless plug, that hopefully
(31:22):
would give people at least arethey gonna be experts on it by
the time they get through withthe course? No. But they're
gonna have have at least aknowledge of those skills that
they can work on to be able toto talk to different audiences,
different groups no matter whatwhat side of the the spectrum
they're on and to be able to dothat in a civil fashion.
Abigail Garofalo (31:42):
Yeah. That's such a good point. I have, an
assignment I give my MasterNaturalists every year is to
havea conversation about climate change with anyone, and
the first assumption they make,and it's not written in the
assignment, is they have to talkto a denier. And like the then
I'm like, that I never saidthat. You're welcome to, or
someone who does deny climatechange. And I was like, you
(32:04):
don't have to do that. Like, youcan talk to your person
perfectly like minded friend orneighbor, but they're always
very surprised. And when they dotalk to someone else because
there's usually even similarsentiments, or and sometimes
too, it's like the despairconcept as well. But it I don't
know. So every every, reflectionI get about it is everyone
(32:28):
always says, yeah. It was kindasad, but it felt really good to
talk about it. And I thinkthat's pretty cool, to kinda
have that little bit ofanecdotal information from
people that feels good to talkabout it because it feels heavy
on everyone's minds.
Amy Lefringhouse (32:41):
Yeah. I just like to I'm more of a non
confrontational communicator. SoI'm always like, well, what do
you think? And so we just have aconvert it's more just have a
conversation about, you know,what's happening. Do you do we
know any data? What is the datathat we both, you know, share in
knowledge? What's the knowledgethat we both share, I guess, is
(33:03):
what I was trying to say, but Idon't know. Just talking about
it and bringing it up and havinga conversation, that's, like,
step one, and it's verynonthreatening. And, you know,
again, climate stewards course,you know, gives you gives you
some of those tools to to beable to have those
conversations.
Duane Friend (33:22):
And, hopefully, as we get more and more people that
have gone through the course,especially within local regions,
they can maybe even form theirown groups.
Amy Lefringhouse (33:31):
Mhmm.
Duane Friend (33:31):
Climate stewards communities and Yeah. Go off and
change the world there.
Amy Lefringhouse (33:35):
Change the world.
Abigail Garofalo (33:37):
I love it. I love well, that's a great, kind
of endnote for this this kind oftopic, and we really appreciate
it, Duane, sharing all of yourknowledge and and, thoughts on
action related to climate changeand what we can do. So we are
gonna finish today's episodewith everyday observation where
we highlight the mundane andnormal of our environment that
(33:58):
is actually really interesting.Amy, you're gonna kick us off.
Amy Lefringhouse (34:03):
Sure. I think I'm gonna share I don't know. I
always have some kind ofdifferent thing to share, but
I've been judging 4=H naturalresource projects, and,
obviously, we at Extension, 4-His a big part of our youth
development program, and I getto go in and and, talk to young
(34:25):
people who are doing naturalresource related projects every
year, and every year I am alwaysblown away. They are so awesome.
The projects are awesome. Kids,you know, sometimes you get you
might get into that thinkingthat, oh, kids play video games
all the time and this and that,and, yeah, they might do that
(34:48):
more than we did when we wereyoung, but they're also doing
some really neat things outthere, and I I just get inspired
every year, when I see theirprojects and the work that
they're doing. And I encourageeveryone all of our listeners,
you know, volunteer to be ajudge or encourage young young
(35:10):
folks to do a natural resourcesrelated project. We always need
more projects, but it always afulfilling job.
Abigail Garofalo (35:19):
I love this section because we always get
little insights into theExtension life and people's work
in Extension as well because Ijust feel like the job is a
little weird. There's, likewe're always doing something
different and, so it's cool tohear that that's another part of
it. So great. Well, Duane,what's your everyday
observation?
Duane Friend (35:36):
Alright. So this happened just yesterday, and I'm
gonna preface this by saying I'mjust an occasional runner. I try
to get out a couple of times aweek. But late yesterday
afternoon, I got out and, hadseveral people say, oh, it's
really hot out. And I said, no.
I'm I'm going. So I got outthere and just being out there
(35:56):
and seeing that blue sky andthose clouds in the after the
rain, there was that little bitof smell from the moist soil,
going through trees or someareas where trees were over both
sides of the road and justsmelling that those trees, going
past a cornfield, getting thatlittle whiff of corn pollen. I
(36:17):
just to me, that was justheaven. So, that was fantastic,
just seeing that natural worldout there.
Amy Lefringhouse (36:25):
I love how the how nature just opens all of
your senses, right, and thesmells and the sights and the
sounds and just it's just suchgood therapy. Abigail, your
turn.
Abigail Garofalo (36:39):
Right. Yes. It's my turn. I was so I, have a
native garden. I have a lot ofdifferent things that grow, and
I think I've mentioned thispreviously at some other time
and the times that we've done,you know, everyday observations
and spotlights and stuff likethat. But now is the time that
my swamp rose mallow isblooming. And so those are,
(37:01):
like, the native hibiscus toIllinois, and I actually got the
seeds from a friend, and he andso I've been starting a little
seed sharing with work and withwith other people I know. And so
I planted this, like, I don'tknow, like, 3 years ago. I threw
the seeds out 3 years ago. I gotthem in April, and I was like, I
don't think these are gonna comeup this year, and they didn't.
And I completely forgot aboutthem. And then last year,
(37:24):
something tall started to growup, and I had planted a dahlia
right there, like, a big dinnerplate dahlia, so it was really
big. And so I thought it was thedahlia. Well, then I was like,
this is not the same as thatplant. These are different
plants. And so it came up, and Iwas like, it's a swamp rose
mallow. And they're really tall,but they're these gorgeous,
like, hand sized flowers, and ahibiscus, nonetheless. So it's,
(37:49):
like, really weird looking for,like, a native plant. Yeah.
And, they only each flower onlyblooms for a day. And so, it's,
like, a little fleeting, but Ihave so many now. And so now
this is their 2nd season. So nowthey, you know, they come up
there a little slow at first,and then this year, they're,
like, everywhere. And so I'mgonna actually end up
transplanting them becausethey're a little tall. But, man,
(38:12):
I like, every morning I wake upand my partner's, like, laughs
at me because I'm always like,there's another one. There's
another one. There's anotherone. Do you see another one?
I'm, like, taking all the photosI can. I'm like, stop taking
photos. You have 18,000,000photos of this of this flower.
But, man, are they just, gosh,like, blowing my blowing my
brain every morning when I see anew one, and and then they're
(38:34):
gone. By the end of the day,they kinda flop and just fall
off. And then they do produceseeds, but I had, like, a weevil
really eating them up last year,and I was like, you know what?
You're hungry. It's fine.
Amy Lefringhouse (38:43):
Yeah. Yeah.
Abigail Garofalo (38:44):
So but but yeah.
So that's my kind of everydayobservation. I just get to
really enjoy the the queen of mybackyard for the next few month
like, month or so of of, myswamp, rose mallow.
Amy Lefringhouse (38:55):
Oh, that's awesome. Nature gives. Right?
You just put out a seed and youbarely have to I mean, you said
you just bloop, and then thereit is.
Abigail Garofalo (39:04):
I really forgot about it. I really was
thinking it's a dahlia, and Iwas like, this is a dahlia.
Nope. So
Amy Lefringhouse (39:11):
That's awesome. I love it.
Abigail Garofalo (39:13):
Well, this has been another episode of the
Everyday Environment podcast.This is our last episode of the
season, and we have so enjoyedhaving all of you along on this
journey as we explore all thingsclimate change in our inaugural
season.
This podcast is a University ofIllinois Extension production,
(39:35):
hosted and edited by AbigailGarofalo, Erin Garrett, and Amy
Lefringhouse.
Matt Wiley (39:43):
University of Illinois Extension.
Welcome to another episode of the Everyday
Environment podcast where weexplore the environment we see
every day. I'm your host,Abigail Garofalo,
Amy Lefringhouse (00:15):
And I'm your cohost, Amy Lefringhouse.
Abigail Garofalo (00:18):
And all season long, we've been talking about
all things climate change fromthe basics to urban tree
responses, invasive species,pollinators, human health,
empowering youth, carbonmarkets, agrivoltaics, and
composting and food waste. Wow.That's a lot.
Amy Lefringhouse (00:34):
It is.
Abigail Garofalo (00:35):
So and it's been pretty great, and it's been
so exciting to go on thisjourney. And we wanted to
conclude this season with somereally wonderful messages of
hope and action from our veryown climate specialist in
Extension and friend of the pod,Duane Friend. Welcome, Duane.
Duane Friend (00:52):
Thank you for letting me be on. It sounds like
after all this great stuff, I'mjust happy to be here.
Abigail Garofalo (00:58):
We're happy to have you. It's gonna be, it's
been really exciting to explorethis in such a long project for
for us hosts, and so it's kindof it's just great to see it all
come together and and, ourlisteners learn so much. And so
I'm excited to leave people withthis kind of message of hope
because climate change can feelso dismal. My joke I like to
(01:20):
tell people is, you know, theysay, oh, denial, just ain't a
river in Egypt. Well, despairain't just something you keep in
the back of your car, like atire in the back of your car. So
so we wanna leave people feelinga little hopeful about, you
know, there's some things thatwe can do, some changes we can
make, and we've been touching onit all season and hitting on it
with our webinars and ourpodcasts and videos and blogs.
(01:42):
But, I think devoting a whole,episode to it is really
important. What about what doyou think, Amy?
Amy Lefringhouse (01:48):
I love I yeah. I I always want to end some end
things with, like, what can Ido? Yes. This is, you know, an
issue. We know it's an issue,but what can we do? So I'm I'm
excited to talk about what wecan actually do in getting our
hands dirty and doing some work.
Abigail Garofalo (02:06):
So let's jump into it, Duane. What are some of
the most impactful ways thatpeople can contribute to climate
action in their everyday lives?
Duane Friend (02:15):
Well, like you say, a lot of folks when they
think about this thing, theythink about climate change and
just that terminology, sometimesyou get that deer in the
headlight look from some folksand they go, what can I do? What
what what what things can I dowith related to climate change?
But, really, a lot of the thingsthat people are already doing or
already thinking about, it'srelated to climate change
(02:35):
because we're really talkingabout, in a lot of cases, energy
usage. If we're talking aboutpeople living at home, in their
residences, we're talking aboutenergy usage, water usage, what
they're doing with theirlandscapes. All of those things
are related to it because all ofthat involves carbon in some way
or carbon dioxide if we'retalking about going in the
atmosphere.
(02:56):
So, you know, we've been talkingfor years about energy usage and
trying to set those thermostats,in the wintertime, as low as you
can and still be comfortable tosave energy. We talk about water
usage, trying to to keep thatwater usage low, which also
relates to how much energy isbeing used by water treatment
(03:17):
plants or or water processingplants. And in the the if they
have a garden, if someone has agarden, if someone has a
landscape, thinking about whatkind of things will work in
there where you're not gonna beusing as much energy. And I know
earlier this year that we hadthat no may or no mow may. You
(03:37):
know, thinking about things likethat out in the the yard or the
landscape where you're not usingthat power mower as much, where
you're planting native plantsthat will be there for a long
period of time, and you don'thave to throw a bunch of,
chemicals or fertilizer on them.
All of those things relate toenergy use, which then relates
(03:59):
to climate change. So a lot ofthose things that people are are
thinking about doing, maybealready doing, they're they're
adding to that aspect of ofhelping mitigate that change
that's that is taking place, butwe still have an opportunity to
mitigate some of it. And we aregonna have to adapt in some
cases, but we still got thatopportunity there to mitigate
(04:21):
what's going from this point on.
Abigail Garofalo (04:23):
I love that. And it's about finding the
adaptations and mitigations thatwork for you and your family
and, you know, you're doing thebest at doing. Right? So me, for
example, I'm a lazy gardener.The least I can do, the better.
And so that keeps the systemhealthy. And so I'm like, you
know what I love about nativeplants? They're perennial
typically. They come back everyyear. They're eventually gonna
(04:45):
provide a nice leveling mulchfor me that I don't have to
mulch, and they keep my little,sidewalk stream at bay in the in
the so. And so that's kind of aa an adaptation effort. Right?
It's like that we're gonna seemore stormwater. So I'm
implementing things that aregonna allow for more
infiltration to manage thatstormwater on my landscape. And
(05:07):
so that's what works for me.That's what works for my family.
That's something that, you know,I've given thought into. Right?
It's about that thoughtfulnessas well. So very cool.
Amy Lefringhouse (05:16):
Right. And, you know, economically, saving
energy in your homes and tryingto not use as much energy,
you're, you know, saving somepennies there, which is a win
win. Right? You're saving moneyand you're also whether you know
it or not, you're working onclimate action, you know, and
climate mitigation. Socommunities. So we're we talked
(05:40):
a little bit about individually,you know, what we can do, but
how important is communityinvolvement and group
involvement in climateinitiatives, and what are some
effective ways that people can,engage in their local community?
Duane Friend (05:59):
Well, obviously, the more more groupings that
you've got, the more,cohesiveness that you've got,
the more people involved, thebetter your point to have,
something effective happen. Socommunities are obviously really
important in this. And as timegoes on, we're seeing more and
more things like grants forgreen infrastructure and
(06:23):
different things that arerelated specifically to
communities come into play. And,you know, one of the things
that, especially is true forsmaller communities is even if
they have access to some ofthose grants, a lot of times,
they may not be that inter well,maybe they're interested, but
(06:43):
they feel like they don't havethe time or maybe they don't
understand exactly what isneeded to go into those grants.
So, really, if if someone hashas got the the background
expertise, maybe they're theyunderstand the terminology and
they could help thosecommunities with things like
that.
That's really where, anindividual can get involved with
(07:06):
a community. You know, if theyhave that background knowledge
in that basic climate science,if they understand the right way
to communicate about climatechange to other people no matter
what what their beliefs are, andeven having an understanding of
how climate change affectspeople in different communities.
(07:27):
Because in some communities,they are more affected than what
other communities are. So havingthose background knowledge and
skills set, is really what'sgonna help people get involved
in a community aspect of ofthings. And we we have an
opportunity with Extension tohelp out with that. There's a a
(07:48):
program that we're just startingcalled Climate Stewards. So this
is a a a new program thatstarted by University of
Illinois Extension. It's calledIllinois Extension Climate
Stewards. In fact, we justfinished the pilot program for
this, this spring. It's a it's arigorous course.
It was actually something thatwe licensed from University of
California at Davis. They'vebeen running it out there for
(08:10):
several years. We saw it, andinstead of reinventing the
wheel, we thought, well, we'lljust we'll take what they have.
And we spent most of last yearadapting it, though, to Illinois
because, obviously, a lot of thethings that happened in
California, like wildfires andand those types of things don't
happen as much here in theIllinois or the Midwest. So we
re rework some of theinformation, some of the content
(08:31):
so that it's related more toIllinois and the Midwest.
But this is a, a program. It'sit's basically the equivalent
of, about a 3 semester hourcollege course. So it's it takes
a time commitment from fromfolks, but, it does provide
those skills and the knowledgebase that people would need to
(08:52):
go out in the communities andhelp folks with this. So, it
provides that basic climatescience. It spends a lot of
time. Really, the a a big focusof the course is on those
climate communication skillsbecause that's just vital to be
able to work in communities andto work with other individuals.
We also talk about climatejustice and equity issues. And
(09:14):
then, of course, we provide alot of resources that people can
use as they go out and try tohelp communities. So we are are
starting that. We're having a aclass this fall.
We're hoping that we can offerthis multiple times throughout
the year in different parts ofthe state depending on, what the
interest level is. But then wehope that people who take the
(09:36):
course will go out and bewilling to volunteer, be willing
to go out and help thosecommunities. I do wanna
emphasize that I know a lot offolks are familiar with our
Master Gardener and MasterNaturalist courses. This is not
like one of those classes or oneof those courses because once a
person gets done with theclimate stewards course, you're
(09:56):
not gonna get a little badgethat says you are now an
Illinois Extension ClimateSteward. They will get a
certificate in which, theyactually could use if they wanna
use it, for resume building, ifthey wanna use it to show
someone that, hey.
I've got I've taken this course,and I've I've learned about
these different skills and andknowledge bases. But, it it is a
(10:18):
a different type of system anddifferent type of course than
those systems. On the otherhand, because it's not a formal
volunteer course, nobody has togo through all the paperwork
involved that's that'sassociated with Master Gardener
or Master Naturalist, but itwould take, around 35 to 40
(10:39):
hours to complete the basiccourse. We we usually are
looking at probably around atleast a minimum of a 12 week
course to complete it. We doinclude, even though it's mostly
a virtual program, we are goingto include some in person
sessions, and we'll also havesome live Zoom sessions, where
we'll bring in speakers, andthen we'll also have times for
(11:02):
time for, sharing ideas andreflecting on those types of
things. So we hope people willbe interested in in the course
and be able to use it, down theroad within their community.
Abigail Garofalo (11:13):
Mhmm. I love it. And I love the course
because you the big thing is youdon't know what you don't know.
And, people who do feel reallypassionate about climate work
maybe don't feel comfortabletalking about it because they
feel like they need to beequipped with more information.
And I I teach I focus veryclosely on climate
communications in my MasterNaturalist course, and, you
(11:35):
know, what we learn is is youcan have all the information you
want, but if you don't know howto talk about it, it's not going
to get many places.
Right? And so even if you don'thave all the information, but
you have those communicationskills, you will probably be
more successful, in incommunicating because you know
how to kind of troubleshootdifferent scenarios and, you
(11:58):
know, best practices in talkingabout these things. And I think
that's so important in havingthis empowered citizenship in
these communities of people whojust know, and have that
influence. And I love that it'sactually not a volunteer model
because something that I feellike is a little restrictive of
Extension of the volunteer modelis, it can only be used for
(12:19):
volunteer activities versus, youknow, if I have somebody in an
organization who wants to takethis as part of their work,
their supervisor really feelslike this is an important
initiative. They wanna have thisperson be their, like, climate
change expert in the company tohelp guide policy or whatever.
They could have them do that,and then they could do that as
part of their paid work, whichis really cool and, because all
(12:43):
of that is valuable. It all addsto the actions on climate
change, which is really amazing.So I'm excited to see this. I'm
I my I had my some of mycommunity members as part of the
pilot, and they really enjoyedit. And I've been seeing it grow
from the beginning, and I hopeto get trained as well to be an
instructor. So we'll be offeringit more in Cook County. I know
(13:04):
there's a lot of interest uphere, so very cool.
Duane Friend (13:07):
And that example you gave about the the the work
skills and those types ofthings, that's a perfect example
of of how we hope it gets usedin a lot of cases.
Abigail Garofalo (13:15):
Yeah. Or government leaders, you know,
like, having someone who knows.I feel like there's a interest
that we you know, the people whopersonally call Extension.
Right? Like, they have phonecalls. They don't just email us.
They phone call us in or theystop by. I had an individual who
did that the other day. Theystopped by. I wasn't there, so I
called them back. And theywanted to know a lot about how
(13:35):
oak trees are going to beaffected by climate change and
parkway trees and specificallybecause they're replacing a lot
of the ashes in their community.And I was like, this is a person
who's, like, thinking and has asa a member of their community,
can talk to their communityleaders as and say, like, I'm
thinking about these things. Areyou? And the answer is probably
(13:57):
yes. Right?
Because cities are investing alot of time and money in trees,
and so you wanna make sure thatthey are thinking about these
things. But it's good to havevoices in your community to make
sure those things are happeningor to at least just say, this is
something that I, as a communitymember or this community in
general, cares about because I'minvesting money and time in this
community.
Amy Lefringhouse (14:16):
And so I had a little bit to add to that. Just
going back to where you said,you know, you don't know what
you don't know. And sometimes wedon't realize the connection
that is happening in your yardor in your streets or, you know,
(14:37):
on the electrical grid, youknow, you don't realize that
connection to then our climateand our weather patterns, and
those two coming together andand affecting one another. And
this course kinda takes youthrough, you know, internally,
how does climate and weatherincorporate into your life, what
(14:57):
are the outside weather patternsand things that are happening in
your neighborhood that areaffecting you, so then in your
neighborhood, then in yourcommunity, you know, it it kinda
goes through just different,levels of your life and how
climate can impact those, andthen how to talk about it, how
to, you know, look for solutionsthat might be applicable in your
(15:21):
community. And I really likethat model, in the course
because, you know, what affectsyou, you're gonna you're you're
gonna really care about. But itis a good way to get involved in
in climate action. Just thatstep one, informing yourself,
educating yourself.
Abigail Garofalo (15:39):
And, Amy, you brought up a good point. It's
the Master Gardener, MasterNaturalist model is this, but
the stewards is is without thevolunteer element. Is this idea
that, you know, we educatecommunity members because we
recognize that content and workin communities coming from their
own community is better receivedand more likely to create change
(16:02):
and positive impacts. And, also,they're able to bring that
feedback back to us that, like,that's actually not good for my
community or that is what weneed versus what we don't need.
And so training stewards ofcommunities for them to go be
kind these stewards orambassadors in within them, are
able to make more of an impactthan if every single one of us
(16:25):
went and visited each of theseindividual communities ourselves
and came as the Extensionprofessional talking about these
things.
This is what you should know.You know, of course, we don't
really teach like that anymore,but that's that's how it could
come off versus, you know, myneighbor who took this class and
was really impressed and appliedit to their own learning and
their own knowledge and theirown skills. And now they're
talking to me about it. Wow. Itrust them way more than I trust
(16:46):
Abigail, who I have met once.You know? So I think it's really
cool.
Amy Lefringhouse (16:50):
That's a great point. Yep. A great point,
Abigail.
Abigail Garofalo (16:54):
Well, we've been talking about some some,
more specifics, and you've beenI've been giving some examples,
and we've been talking aboutthose. But what are some success
stories that you've encounteredwhen, individual or community
actions have led to significantenvironmental improvements?
Duane Friend (17:08):
Well, if we wanna look at at Illinois altogether,
most of the work is up in yourarea, Abigail. It's, for as far
as community.
Abigail Garofalo (17:15):
We have a lot of people. It's not because the
work is being done elsewhere.Yeah. There's a lot of people
and a lot of resources investedinto my area. So
Duane Friend (17:22):
And, actually, the one that I was gonna mention,
and I'm I'm not sure I'm gonnaget the the the complete name
right, and then you probablyhave heard of it, Abigail. So if
I get the name wrong, correctme. I think it's Crossroads
Community Climate Collaborative,C4. So this is, basically, a
multi community collaborativewhere they're looking at, a
(17:45):
number of different initiativesdepending on what the community
what each community needs, butit's it's something that's going
on in the, I think, the westside of Cook County in
particular. But, there are, Ithink, over 30 initiatives that
they're hoping to work on, youknow, things like improving, or
(18:05):
adding green infrastructure,community gardens, composting,
then they get into talkingabout, you know, individual
well-being.
So there's just a number ofdifferent sections, and one of
the in each sections, they'vegot 3 to 5 different
initiatives. And so that's kindof a work in progress. And I
think in some cases, you know,if we wanna talk about
successes, we we probably haveto wait a little bit on some of
(18:27):
those. But, I think that's justa great example of how these
communities can come together asa larger grouping and look at
these things, but then takethese things that that maybe
have been planned out and seehow they apply to their
individual communities. So, Ithink that's just a great
example of some communityinvolvement and community
(18:50):
planning that can go into someof these things.
Abigail Garofalo (18:54):
Definitely. And if sometimes too these kinds
of successes go a little bitunder the radar. Maybe they're,
like, little really local. So ifany of our listeners as well
have, like, something that theyfeel is like a really big
success or it even doesn't evenhave to feel like a big one, a
little one, and they wanna sendthat our way and, we can kind of
highlight those things and givesome kudos to that climate
(19:14):
action that you all are makingin your local communities, we
would love to hear it. So youcan find our contact information
all on the website. And howeveryou're listening to this now,
it's probably on there as well.So, feel free to reach out to us
and tell us your successes. Italways makes us feel good about
this work too. So
Amy Lefringhouse (19:32):
I think it's neat communities. The readiness
of, you know, communities. Somecommunities are further along in
some initiatives. Maybe they'vehad long term initiatives, you
know, food waste composting.Maybe they've had long term,
initiatives happening, but thennow they're all kinda putting it
together to just show theirimpact, you know, on climate
now. You know? Some othercommunities might not even
(19:55):
climate initiatives might nothave even been in in
communicated or talked about ordiscussed in in city councils
or, you know, village meetingsor things like that. So the
there's different readinesslevels, I guess, of each
community, but it's cool to seethose success stories that have
come along just to just to seesee where we could go, you know,
(20:18):
where a community could go.
Duane Friend (20:20):
Well and if we wanna look at at the state too,
I mean, Illinois as a whole isdoing a lot of different things
to to try to do climatereadiness. I was gonna give one
example there for the town ofPembroke, which is out, east of
Kankakee. It's a smallcommunity, kind of an
underserved community. Theydon't have natural gas lines
(20:43):
into that community, so, they'vehad to use, like, wood or
propane, and in some cases, fortheir energy usage. So there was
a program that went in andprovided for some houses
upgrades in terms of theirenergy efficiency for, heating
and cooling. And, again, energyefficiency, so we're cutting
down on that carbon footprint.So, again, it's relating to the
(21:05):
climate change in that regardalso.
Amy Lefringhouse (21:07):
I also think in the agricultural community,
there are lot more talking aboutclimate smart agriculture, cover
cropping, funding coming downfrom the government, and cost
share programs that are fundingcover cropping, pollinator
planting, tree planting, all ofthose climate smart practices
(21:30):
are really being discussed andrealized that it that it
connects again to to climatechange. And
Duane Friend (21:36):
Well, I was just gonna say, and in terms of of a
really big impact, I mean, whenwe look at at the the ag side of
things and we look at soils andwe look at the amount of carbon
that goes into organic matter,which carbon's our organic
matter is 58% carbon. You know,when we when they can cut down
on that soil erosion so theykeep that soil in place, the
(21:59):
less tillage that's done, you'redestroying less of that
structure so you have lessorganic matter decomposition. I
mean, we're talking aboutmillions of tons potentially of
carbon that can be, if not keptin place, that much can be added
to soils as well. So it's just aa huge area where where that
(22:21):
carbon can be used in storage.
Amy Lefringhouse (22:25):
Mhmm.
Abigail Garofalo (22:25):
Well, and that's, in thinking about too,
sometimes it's just a matter ofsuccess is, like, recognizing
and conglomerating that effortsaren't just happening in small
spaces, right, or in smallareas. One of my favorite things
I like to point to is the, theChicago living corridors map. So
that is a map of organizations'landscapes that they have either
(22:51):
certified or or, like,recognized in some kind of way
of doing environmentallyfriendly practices. And so so
that map showcases that in thisbig area, each dot is a is a
property that's making effortsin reducing chemical usage,
reducing stormwater runoff,improving wildlife habitat,
(23:12):
things like that. And so itshows that, like, oh, what
you're doing on your smallproperty matters, and being able
to showcase that connecting themmakes a difference and impacts
the environment in that area isso, valuable because that
changes the culture of it.
Right? It's not just thestandard of, well, this is what
(23:32):
we do on our landscapes. This iswhat we do on our lawn. It's,
oh, wow. Look at all thesepeople who are also doing things
seeing these things. Maybe Ishould try it too because I'm
not just a like, you know,starting something brand new.
I'm not starting from scratch.So, yeah, sometimes it's just
about showcasing the cool thingsthat are happening in the first
place, and that's a success initself.
Amy Lefringhouse (23:54):
I would agree. Recognizing those patterns that
there are patterns out there andlook. We're connected to a
bigger picture.
Abigail Garofalo (24:01):
And then it is connected to climate change in
the first place. A lot of peopletoo, like, forget that it's all
climate related, like Duane wassaying. Like, oh, just because
you're doing this, that isclimate related. Look at that.
It's crazy. Like, we, pickedthis topic for a reason for this
season or something.
Amy Lefringhouse (24:15):
So, Duane, how can people stay motivated and
hopeful, in the face of dauntingchallenges sometimes that are
posed by climate change? How canwe keep going?
Duane Friend (24:28):
You know, I I think it's one of those things,
and and I know you guys, youtoo, have heard me talk about
this before. But me being alittle bit older, I I lived
through this, in the sixtiesand seventies. And if if anybody
lived through the that timeperiod, you know what the water
quality was like back then. Youknow what the air quality was
(24:48):
like back then. It was horrible.As I I mentioned in in multiple
talks, you go back into thefifties and sixties. There were
rivers that caught on firebecause of so much stuff in
there. Smog issues in incommunities from vehicle
emissions were just terrible.You know? And in the early
(25:09):
seventies, we everybody we madea decision because Congress
actually, went ahead and didsomething.
They passed legislation to setup ways to make water quality
better, make air quality better.And just like we hear sometimes
today, you know, there werepeople that said, oh, this is
gonna ruin the economy, and andthis is just gonna be terrible.
(25:33):
And, you know, we got throughit. We we went through it, and I
don't think anybody can denywe're not at a better place. The
economy is still fantastic andprobably better off than it was
before.
So I I think it's just one ofthose things where, yeah, it
seems like it's daunting, and itwill take some work to get
through it. But we've done thesekind of things before, and we
(25:56):
can do it again. So I I don'tsee it as something that's
impossible to do. Yeah. It's aworldwide issue, but we do our
part. That's still cutting backon on what's happening. So you
know? And and one person bythemselves, you know, even if
they're doing their part,they're doing their part. So I
(26:16):
think people can feel good aboutthat, when they are.
Abigail Garofalo (26:20):
I always tell people who feel like I don't do
anything related to climatechange. It's just my house. Is
that gonna matter? All thesethings that see these other big
issues that are that are reallythese other big, organizations,
corporations, whatever that I Ican't I don't have any say in or
whatever. And I'm always like,well, you never know if you're
gonna talk to someone who couldmake a difference or influence
(26:42):
someone or know someone whoknows someone.
And, you know, that's that's thebig thing that I work on, in
Cook County is changing theculture of landscapes. Right?
Like, what does it look like tohave a pretty landscape? And I
think that changing the cultureof climate change, you never
know if you're gonna talk tosomebody about climate change or
about something that's that'simpacting our climate that in
(27:04):
someone who is in a position tomake a difference or or has
those kinds of of, abilities andpower. And so I I never want
people to feel like they arepowerless because their voice is
power.
It what you were talking about,though, is kinda like when, when
you're you're either sitting inclass or you're teaching in
front of a group of people, andyou may have someone in the back
(27:27):
back row that you think, oh,they're not paying attention or
they're they're not reallyinterested in what you're
talking about. And you find outlater, maybe that person comes
back to you or you find outthrough somebody else that, you
know,
Duane Friend (27:40):
that person has become very interested in
whatever it was you were talkingabout and is doing something
now. So you can't always justjudge someone by, you know,
whether they're they're they'resitting there, whether they're
they're, you know, gettingactively involved at the time
because there are some folkslike that that, maybe won't say
(28:01):
a whole lot at the time, but youyou've really affected them.
Yeah. Talk about successstories.
Abigail Garofalo (28:06):
You were talking about how, you know, the
Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act,things like that, the ozone
layer. Like, all of those aresuccess stories of large action
that was collectively done toimprove environmental quality
and conditions. And, those arethings that we need to tout as
(28:28):
successes and say that's ourthat's it's possible. That's our
light. Right? And the urgency isstill there because the urgency
still needs to continue, butthat hope, I think, can be
really motivating.
Amy Lefringhouse (28:41):
See, I agree. Whenever I've heard you say that
before, Duane, in other talks,and it does make you like, oh,
yeah. I mean, that was 1970.Wasn't that long ago,
Duane Friend (28:51):
thank you
Amy Lefringhouse (28:52):
and we made a shift in right.
Abigail Garofalo (28:54):
It wasn't.
Amy Lefringhouse (28:55):
It really wasn't that long ago. We did
make a quick shift. I mean, insociety and, you know, big
picture, that was a quickturning of the the boat, you
know, to start makingenvironmental improvement. So we
can do it. It's it's I alwayslove it when you when you say
that story.
Duane Friend (29:12):
And the one thing I challenge some folks that
maybe are out there gettingtheir masters, getting their
PhD, and, or thinking aboutthat, what what area they wanna
go into, I challenge someone outthere in that realm to think
about doing research on ifyou're looking at energy usage,
(29:33):
find doing research on findingsome ways to change our change
away from carbon based fuels. Ifsomeone can do that, not only
will they be will they get theNobel, they'll probably be very
rich for doing it. So that's andsomeone on the ag side, if they
can find a way to make if theycould find a way to make, no
(29:56):
till farming with cover crops anoption that would be equal to or
better than the way farming isdone for the most part today, be
the same thing with that. So Ichallenge someone to go out
there and do that.
Abigail Garofalo (30:08):
Mhmm. Yeah. And even, the every person, I
challenge you to think about,you know, what are you doing?
What's what where are yourvoices in your company you're
working for, your localcommunity to think about, you
know, what is, you know, what ismy community doing towards
climate action? What is myorganization doing? Do I have a
(30:29):
voice in that? Alright. Well,kind of our last question. What
are some common misconceptionsabout getting involved in
climate work, and how would youaddress them?
Duane Friend (30:40):
I think one of the big things with this, a lot of
people, first of all, think thatthere's a lot more denying from
other folks on climate changethan there's really out there,
and I think folks are afraid totalk about it, in light of that.
Mhmm. So I I think that's one ofthe the one of the most common
(31:02):
misconceptions is there's a lotmore deniers out there than
people think there's a lot moredeniers out there than what's
actually out there. And then Ithink people are very
apprehensive about talking tosomeone that may be thinking
along those lines. And,hopefully, that's one thing with
this Climate Stewards course,shameless plug, that hopefully
(31:22):
would give people at least arethey gonna be experts on it by
the time they get through withthe course? No. But they're
gonna have have at least aknowledge of those skills that
they can work on to be able toto talk to different audiences,
different groups no matter whatwhat side of the the spectrum
they're on and to be able to dothat in a civil fashion.
Abigail Garofalo (31:42):
Yeah. That's such a good point. I have, an
assignment I give my MasterNaturalists every year is to
havea conversation about climate change with anyone, and
the first assumption they make,and it's not written in the
assignment, is they have to talkto a denier. And like the then
I'm like, that I never saidthat. You're welcome to, or
someone who does deny climatechange. And I was like, you
(32:04):
don't have to do that. Like, youcan talk to your person
perfectly like minded friend orneighbor, but they're always
very surprised. And when they dotalk to someone else because
there's usually even similarsentiments, or and sometimes
too, it's like the despairconcept as well. But it I don't
know. So every every, reflectionI get about it is everyone
(32:28):
always says, yeah. It was kindasad, but it felt really good to
talk about it. And I thinkthat's pretty cool, to kinda
have that little bit ofanecdotal information from
people that feels good to talkabout it because it feels heavy
on everyone's minds.
Amy Lefringhouse (32:41):
Yeah. I just like to I'm more of a non
confrontational communicator. SoI'm always like, well, what do
you think? And so we just have aconvert it's more just have a
conversation about, you know,what's happening. Do you do we
know any data? What is the datathat we both, you know, share in
knowledge? What's the knowledgethat we both share, I guess, is
(33:03):
what I was trying to say, but Idon't know. Just talking about
it and bringing it up and havinga conversation, that's, like,
step one, and it's verynonthreatening. And, you know,
again, climate stewards course,you know, gives you gives you
some of those tools to to beable to have those
conversations.
Duane Friend (33:22):
And, hopefully, as we get more and more people that
have gone through the course,especially within local regions,
they can maybe even form theirown groups.
Amy Lefringhouse (33:31):
Mhmm.
Duane Friend (33:31):
Climate stewards communities and Yeah. Go off and
change the world there.
Amy Lefringhouse (33:35):
Change the world.
Abigail Garofalo (33:37):
I love it. I love well, that's a great, kind
of endnote for this this kind oftopic, and we really appreciate
it, Duane, sharing all of yourknowledge and and, thoughts on
action related to climate changeand what we can do. So we are
gonna finish today's episodewith everyday observation where
we highlight the mundane andnormal of our environment that
(33:58):
is actually really interesting.Amy, you're gonna kick us off.
Amy Lefringhouse (34:03):
Sure. I think I'm gonna share I don't know. I
always have some kind ofdifferent thing to share, but
I've been judging 4=H naturalresource projects, and,
obviously, we at Extension, 4-His a big part of our youth
development program, and I getto go in and and, talk to young
(34:25):
people who are doing naturalresource related projects every
year, and every year I am alwaysblown away. They are so awesome.
The projects are awesome. Kids,you know, sometimes you get you
might get into that thinkingthat, oh, kids play video games
all the time and this and that,and, yeah, they might do that
(34:48):
more than we did when we wereyoung, but they're also doing
some really neat things outthere, and I I just get inspired
every year, when I see theirprojects and the work that
they're doing. And I encourageeveryone all of our listeners,
you know, volunteer to be ajudge or encourage young young
(35:10):
folks to do a natural resourcesrelated project. We always need
more projects, but it always afulfilling job.
Abigail Garofalo (35:19):
I love this section because we always get
little insights into theExtension life and people's work
in Extension as well because Ijust feel like the job is a
little weird. There's, likewe're always doing something
different and, so it's cool tohear that that's another part of
it. So great. Well, Duane,what's your everyday
observation?
Duane Friend (35:36):
Alright. So this happened just yesterday, and I'm
gonna preface this by saying I'mjust an occasional runner. I try
to get out a couple of times aweek. But late yesterday
afternoon, I got out and, hadseveral people say, oh, it's
really hot out. And I said, no.
I'm I'm going. So I got outthere and just being out there
(35:56):
and seeing that blue sky andthose clouds in the after the
rain, there was that little bitof smell from the moist soil,
going through trees or someareas where trees were over both
sides of the road and justsmelling that those trees, going
past a cornfield, getting thatlittle whiff of corn pollen. I
(36:17):
just to me, that was justheaven. So, that was fantastic,
just seeing that natural worldout there.
Amy Lefringhouse (36:25):
I love how the how nature just opens all of
your senses, right, and thesmells and the sights and the
sounds and just it's just suchgood therapy. Abigail, your
turn.
Abigail Garofalo (36:39):
Right. Yes. It's my turn. I was so I, have a
native garden. I have a lot ofdifferent things that grow, and
I think I've mentioned thispreviously at some other time
and the times that we've done,you know, everyday observations
and spotlights and stuff likethat. But now is the time that
my swamp rose mallow isblooming. And so those are,
(37:01):
like, the native hibiscus toIllinois, and I actually got the
seeds from a friend, and he andso I've been starting a little
seed sharing with work and withwith other people I know. And so
I planted this, like, I don'tknow, like, 3 years ago. I threw
the seeds out 3 years ago. I gotthem in April, and I was like, I
don't think these are gonna comeup this year, and they didn't.
And I completely forgot aboutthem. And then last year,
(37:24):
something tall started to growup, and I had planted a dahlia
right there, like, a big dinnerplate dahlia, so it was really
big. And so I thought it was thedahlia. Well, then I was like,
this is not the same as thatplant. These are different
plants. And so it came up, and Iwas like, it's a swamp rose
mallow. And they're really tall,but they're these gorgeous,
like, hand sized flowers, and ahibiscus, nonetheless. So it's,
(37:49):
like, really weird looking for,like, a native plant. Yeah.
And, they only each flower onlyblooms for a day. And so, it's,
like, a little fleeting, but Ihave so many now. And so now
this is their 2nd season. So nowthey, you know, they come up
there a little slow at first,and then this year, they're,
like, everywhere. And so I'mgonna actually end up
transplanting them becausethey're a little tall. But, man,
(38:12):
I like, every morning I wake upand my partner's, like, laughs
at me because I'm always like,there's another one. There's
another one. There's anotherone. Do you see another one?
I'm, like, taking all the photosI can. I'm like, stop taking
photos. You have 18,000,000photos of this of this flower.
But, man, are they just, gosh,like, blowing my blowing my
brain every morning when I see anew one, and and then they're
(38:34):
gone. By the end of the day,they kinda flop and just fall
off. And then they do produceseeds, but I had, like, a weevil
really eating them up last year,and I was like, you know what?
You're hungry. It's fine.
Amy Lefringhouse (38:43):
Yeah. Yeah.
Abigail Garofalo (38:44):
So but but yeah.
So that's my kind of everydayobservation. I just get to
really enjoy the the queen of mybackyard for the next few month
like, month or so of of, myswamp, rose mallow.
Amy Lefringhouse (38:55):
Oh, that's awesome. Nature gives. Right?
You just put out a seed and youbarely have to I mean, you said
you just bloop, and then thereit is.
Abigail Garofalo (39:04):
I really forgot about it. I really was
thinking it's a dahlia, and Iwas like, this is a dahlia.
Nope. So
Amy Lefringhouse (39:11):
That's awesome. I love it.
Abigail Garofalo (39:13):
Well, this has been another episode of the
Everyday Environment podcast.This is our last episode of the
season, and we have so enjoyedhaving all of you along on this
journey as we explore all thingsclimate change in our inaugural
season.
This podcast is a University ofIllinois Extension production,
(39:35):
hosted and edited by AbigailGarofalo, Erin Garrett, and Amy
Lefringhouse.
Matt Wiley (39:43):
University of Illinois Extension.
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