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July 17, 2023 49 mins

What if becoming a parent could change how we view the climate crisis and motivate us to take meaningful action? Join me and my co-host Parisa Wright, along with our special guest, actor and parent Paul Ready, as we tackle eco-anxiety head-on, discussing the overwhelming emotions that can arise when confronting this important issue. From the 2018 school climate strikes to the everyday challenges we face as individuals and parents, we share our stories and struggles with trying to make a difference for the environment.

Embarking on a journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle can be daunting, but don't worry - we've got you covered! Together, we'll explore practical steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint and influence those around you. Learn how simple changes like reducing meat consumption, supporting local farms, and using public transport can make a significant impact. We're not perfect, but we're committed to doing our part, and we'll share our experiences along the way.

Community-led environmental action is a powerful force for change, and we'll discuss how you can make a difference in your own circles of influence. From setting up green teams in schools to engaging communities through theatre and storytelling, we explore the power of conversation in normalising sustainable lifestyle changes. Tune in as we examine how you can use your unique skills to create an impact on the world around you, and how talking about the climate crisis can create a ripple effect, inspiring others to take action too.

About Paul Ready:
Paul is a British actor, known principally for his work on stage, but he has also appeared in television, radio and films.

About Parisa Wright, Founder, CEO of  pioneering sustainable living charity Greener & Cleaner:
www.greenerandcleaner.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/groups/greenerandcleaneruk

ABOUT ME - AYESHA MURRAY
I'm an accredited career coach with over 20 years experience in the corporate world. Having experienced the working parent juggle first hand, I now coach people through their career and life challenges.


WORK WITH ME
I'm here to give you the confidence, self-belief and support to help you design a life that works for you and your family. Through tried and tested approaches, tools and methodologies, you'll leave the coaching process with clear direction, motivation and energy.

If you'd like to find out more about how coaching could work for you, book a free 30 min call at https://calendly.com/ayeshamurraycoaching/discovery-call


CONNECT WITH ME
Website - www.ayeshamurray.com
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/ayeshamurray75
Instagram - www.instagram.com/ayeshamurray_coaching


DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guest speakers. Please conduct your own due diligence.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Parent Equation podcast with me, aisha
Murray.
This podcast series is full ofinspiring stories from working
parents who are passionate aboutdesigning a life that works for
them and their families.
Working parents like you whowant a purposeful, rewarding
career alongside a balancedfamily life.
This episode of the ParentEquation, which is the last in

(00:29):
season two before we break forsummer, so I'm very happy to
have a co-host today in the formof Parisa Wright, and Parisa is
the founder of Greener andCleaner.
Welcome, parisa.
Thank you, hi there.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
And our guest today is Paul Reddy, who is an actor
and a parent, and this subjecttoday around eco-anxiety is very
close to his heart.
So welcome Paul.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, thank you very much.
It's great to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
So to kick off, i suppose, a question for you,
paul Did becoming a parentchange your perspective on
climate change?

Speaker 3 (01:04):
I, yeah, I mean, i think it's changed a lot My
perspective, although it's notlike I was.
I suppose my awareness of thesituation we are in has got
deeper and deeper as I've donemore reading around it, and you
know I'm just looking at theworld and seeing what's

(01:26):
happening.
But I think before I had kids,it was definitely a kid.
Before I had a kid, it wasdefinitely in my thinking
already, because so 2016,?
so my kids, six or six and ahalf, as she likes to make sure,

(01:48):
i know It's very important,yeah, and now she's going to
start marking the three quartersand the quarters.
It's just any excuse really.
But you know, when I was talkingto my wife about having kids,
when we were talking, one of ourconversations was about like
the future, because I think, youknow and that was the

(02:10):
environmental future, becausethey were even then, even before
2018, was it when the bigprotests started?
Even then there was thisdialogue, this narrative about

(02:31):
like the planet is heading for,you know, a very dangerous
situation.
So it was in my thinking then.
But anyway, we decided to havea kid and we were lucky to be
able to have a kid and wouldn'tchange it for the world, but I

(02:53):
suppose has it changed?
I suppose it's up the stakesfor me, but how that plays out
in my life because it has up thestakes, but the stakes are so
huge that you know working out,and not just so huge, they're so
confusing.

(03:14):
You know the narrative aroundit is so confusing.
But yeah, i couldn't.
I think when the big protestshappened in 2018, that was a
real wake up call for me.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
But I think you're right in saying that the stakes
are so high and as a parent itbecomes hugely overwhelming.
You know we have everythingelse we're dealing with with
parents anyway, just the normalthings we'll have to struggle
with every day.
juggle with And then we havethese stakes on top, which, I
suppose, for normal parents, aswe all are in your experience,

(03:50):
Paul, how do we try and bringout I suppose, diffuse some of
that so we can actually start tomake a difference every day?

Speaker 3 (04:01):
I mean that's a huge.
That's huge, I mean, i suppose.
I suppose, to balance it out, ithink what I would say for
myself is I think the line ofwork that I'm working in anyway
is deals with quite epic stories.

(04:25):
These epic stories that makedrama, that make tension and,
like you know, there's a wholerange of films at the moment
which are, you know, man, woman,surviving against you know,
it's been a story survivingagainst the beast, just
surviving against, you know,evil superheroes, and also

(04:48):
surviving against climate, andit's, it's, this is a story, you
know, this is a story we telland we've told for probably
centuries.
So I think sometimes I have toreally step back to, kind of to

(05:12):
step away from the overwhelm,because I think from the place
of overwhelm you can't doanything, and I think I
certainly have been throughperiods of being entirely
overwhelmed.
I mean, still, if I read anarticle I read many articles,
and when I've, when I've readone of those articles, maybe
about you know wildfires, youknow raging in Canada at the

(05:37):
moment, or you know ice melt oryou know whatever there's a lot
of very heavy articles out therelike it's very difficult, my
temper gets very short afterthose, just like if you catch me
in the wrong moment becauseit's so, i'm like how the hell
do I deal with that?
what I've just read, i thinkyou know and I think you can't.

(06:06):
I mean, i think I'd put thequestion back to both of you,
like how would you ever?
how do we deal with this?
like the gravity of this.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
I was going to ask and I suppose feed in that, like
Paul, i guess my light bulbmoment was also 2018, when the
children were doing the schoolclimate strikes on the Friday to
the future, and you know, youwould see images on television
or down the high street of fiveyear olds or 15 year olds

(06:45):
putting aside, effectively,their childhoods in order to beg
us adults to do something, andthat, for me as well, was
definitely the wake up call ofmy God.
How can I be part, you know, besomebody who I feel is
reasonably compassionate,reasonably intelligent, and yet
we're in this situation wherechildren are having to do that
And I'm not doing enough, and Ithink for me, what helped me was

(07:09):
with the overwhelm, was likegoing right.
Where can I start?
And I think, identifying that alot of the people who weren't
engaging were seeing assomething far away, something
about polar bears, somethingabout, you know, a third world
country that wasn't relevant tothem, and and trying to help
them find ways that it wasrelevant to them, but also like
practical things they could do,and I think, for me, helping my

(07:34):
family take steps and thenhelping have a wider impact by
helping other people, by settingup the charity so that they
could know what they could do ina practical way with some like
kind of like hand holding, butalso like really sharing, like
real life examples from localpeople who were like them.
That's what I found helped medeal with it and, if I'm honest,

(07:55):
sometimes I just can't read,watch the news.
My God to have periods of timewhere I try not to watch the
news and I just try and focus onwhat I'm able to do.
But I mean, it is useful to havethose external voices to go.
Actually, you know, don't focuson recycling, look at your
energy provider is or look athow you're traveling.
But then, once you've got thatinformation about how you can

(08:16):
make impact, i think having thatinformation, then being able to
do things, is really powerful.
And for me, in terms of dealingwith my anxiety and I don't
know if you found that, paul,that that some of the steps that
you've been able to take that,okay, they don't solve that
anxiety we still got those firesburning, but every time you
find a new way of having animpact, whether that is
something in your own home orgetting involved in something

(08:38):
locally or, you know, talking toa politician or whatever it is
That sort of like, soothes thesoul a bit, i think, and helps
deal with that anxiety, becauseyou're not being held for ransom
entirely by politicians andbusinesses.
You don't care.
You are able to have, make youknow, take some steps and then
sort of collaborate with othersto have more, more impact.

(09:00):
I don't know what you thinkabout that.

Speaker 3 (09:04):
I think.
Well, i mean, i mean, the factis there are people, including
yourself, doing extraordinarythings And and you know, within
the industry I work in as well.
So I suppose one of the things,one of the things I can do, is

(09:27):
kind of with my little bit ofI'm going to faint, but you know
, my little bit of being knownis sometimes get behind some
ideas that can help them get outthere a bit more.
So I find that is like, forexample, in the industry I'm

(09:52):
working in, equity are workingon something called a green
rider.
So the green rider is which issomething I'm definitely going
to get behind.
The green rider is what anyactor can do to in conversation
with the producers who are alsobehind the idea To make requests

(10:16):
to lower their impact.
So you know, i did a film inEurope, a few places in Europe,
and I was able to ask them if Icould not fly and take trains
instead trains and ferries.
It turned out, and most of thetime when they're big, this is

(10:40):
an effort show and I think whenthey've, when they've got money,
they can do that, although Ialso worked on a low budget,
very low budget film recently inIreland and they were also very
happy to get me there by veryand train.
There's always something you cando personally.
Apart from that, apart from thestuff I've done in my life

(11:02):
which is not a vegan I've triedto be a vegan but I had ever I
meet I eat a lot more vegan food.
The way I travel, i kind of I'mmainly local, really as far as
I travel around on my bike, youknow, to get the shop in and you

(11:24):
know whatever an electric bikewhich is like.
I'm lucky to be able to affordthat.
But I make a lot of choices to.
You know, i try and grow somevegetables.
I've got some outdoor space,but most of the things I take,
most of the choices I make withour family, make me feel better
anyway, not just about, not justabout, you know, facing the

(11:48):
climate.
They're actually also.
They actually make me feelhealthier and make me feel more
connected in a way.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
Absolutely.
I think with kids it's soimportant to get them on this
journey early and make itenjoyable for them.
So I know with mine it's alittle thing like they put the
recycling out.
It's a small job but theyunderstand why it's happening.
They're part of that processevery week.
Or taking my cycling totrampolining with my little girl
, right past your house, paul,every Monday.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yeah, okay.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
And she loves cycling , So why, why wouldn't we do
that as opposed to jump in thecar?
Because she loves it.
It's a shared experience, then.
I love watching her little bumjiggle up and down in front of
me on the bike.
I think it's the most adorablething in the world, So that just
brings me joy anyway, and it isdoing something towards this
great big subject I'm talkingabout.
So I think it's how can weinvolve them, tap into their
passions as young people?

(12:38):
Yeah, that's so cool, So itfeels.
Then it's a shared family goalthat I enjoy being part of,
rather than this overwhelmedchore I should be doing more
kind of feeling.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, absolutely.
And my kid too, like I don'tknow where she got the idea.
Somewhere she got the idea tocollect litter on the way to
school.
She did it once and that'sprobably her like well, i've
done that now, but yeah, it was.
Wherever that came from, it wasbeautiful.

(13:11):
I mean, i think she thinks ourhouse is a tip, like often
she'll say your bedroom isdisgrace.
So maybe she just wants atidier world.
But for whatever reason, great.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
And then Parisa a lot of the inspiration I get from
my day to day management of thisoverwhelming crisis is when you
came onto my podcast last yearand talk about normalising all
of this and actually just tomake just doing something is
better than nothing.
So I suppose could you maybespeak that little bit just to
kind of maybe recap on somethings you talked about which I

(13:45):
think is so important to revisitin this conversation.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think interestingly Ithink Paul kind of nailed it
which is like you can take stepsin your own household and you
can use your different spheresof influence so that can be at
work, that can be a PTA, thatcan be a residence association,
that can be a church group, thatcan be a gymnastics club you

(14:10):
know your bridge club, whateverit is And you can make changes
there.
So, even if you havecouncillors or MPs who are
uninterested because they don'tthink is a vote winner yet or
whatever the reason, or you feelthat you know the people who
are interested are hampered bythose who aren't, you can still
make changes that have an impact.
You don't need to feel held forransom by the system, kind of

(14:30):
thing.
And I think also what wasinteresting about what Paul said
was there's a lot of people whofeel that they'll be judged if
they say but I've only cut downmy meat, or we do, we now do two
veggie meals a day, but we'renot, you know, a week, but we're
not vegan, or we still have acar, or actually like.
I really think people need toget away from this idea of like

(14:53):
the people who don't want you tochange will bandy around words,
like hypocrite and not goodenough, but the people who
genuinely want change.
You know, like I don't carelike by being alive and having a
child, you could arguably sayI'm a hypocrite, but I'd much
rather be a hypocrite doingsomething than be a horrible
person doing nothing and justtrying to tear everyone down and

(15:15):
just happy to see the worldburn.
Basically, or going it's toolate.
I'd much rather be doingsomething And I think we've just
got to make people brave to go.
Okay, i'm going to try thisthing, i'm going to try that
thing.
And when it comes to food andtransport and all this stuff,
i'm not perfect.
I founded and set up thissustainable living charity but I
still eat some meat.
But we've just massivelyreduced our meat consumption.

(15:37):
So like we eat half the amountof meat or less than we used to
eat And we try and we save a lotof money that way, but we try
and use some of that money tomake sure that the meat that we
eat is ethical, so it's organic.
So we try and do what we canwith the meat that we are going
to have.
We try and eat more vegetablesand fruit and other alternatives

(15:58):
And, like Paul said, we try andgrow some stuff locally or
support local allotments andlocal farms by growing, by
buying locally, buyingseasonally, that sort of thing.
And again, with car, paul is aninspiration to me, honestly.
He's got a cargo bike and hegoes around with his daughter
and I think that is amazing,considering this borough where

(16:20):
we are based is a pretty pro carand anti anything else.
It doesn't feel entirely safeAnd I would love to feel safe
enough to cycle around.
Like you know, given what I doAnd I've given up my career of
20 years last year as a lawyerto focus on this full time
because I don't for me there'snothing more important I can do
with my skills than try and geteveryone on board and everyone

(16:43):
involved and feeling they can dosomething.
But yeah, it's essentially, dowhat you can.
So we still have a car, we justuse it a hell of a lot less
than we used to.
You know, people are like whydon't you have an electric?
Well, actually we have a hybridcar.
We only use it once every week,once every two weeks.
We just use public transport.
We walk the rest of the time,you know, and if I felt brave

(17:04):
enough I'd cycle as well.
But yeah, essentially at themoment, if I had an electric
vehicle, we'd probably use thecar a lot more.
That would mean there'd be morecongestion, more other people
sitting in cars.
I would be modelling thebehaviour of it's good to be in
a car for a two minute journey,which I don't think it is And I
think that the people who aredisabled, the people who are
elderly, the people who haveheavy shopping, people who have

(17:26):
six kids and need a car, thoseare the people who need to be
prioritised for using the roads,and those of us who are healthy
enough to walk and cycle, let'sjust do that more.
You know, i'm not saying giveup the car.
I haven't given up the car.
But you know, just do it lessSame with me.
Do it less Same with energy.
Ok, you can't have solar panels.
Maybe you can't afford an airsource heat pump.
I know I can't.
What I can do is make my homemore energy efficient.

(17:46):
So it's about finding thosepractical steps to start on your
journey rather than thinking ithas to be perfect.
It's, quite frankly, if someonecame to me and said I literally
can't do anything with my life,i can't change anything in my
life, but I can do, i can writeemails.
I'd be like, literally the mostpowerful thing you can do is
write to your counsellor, writeto your MP and tell them that

(18:08):
you want changes to make iteasier for you to make those
changes that you can't affordnow.
Whether that's making your homemore energy efficient, whether
that is cycling and walkinginstead of being in a car, you
know whether that is the waythat you bank, whether all of
those things you know we reallyneed the support of our
government and of businesses tomake those changes.
So, if you did nothing else,but you just worked out for the

(18:28):
first time in your life who yourcounsellors and your MP are,
who the big brands are that youwant to buy from but don't seem
to be changing, and talk to them.
You know you can make a bigdifference.
So, looking at energy, lookingat transport, looking at food,
looking at buying less stuff wequite frankly don't need, you
know we buy more clothes perperson than any other European

(18:49):
country and traditionallypre-loved or second hand has had
a stigma attached to it.
But now it's one of the highestbooming industries, is pre-love
clothing and like vintage, andyou know all of these sites have
, you know done brilliant thingsfor that.
But like really thinking aboutwhether you need that new item
because clothing industry, youknow it creates.

(19:10):
Second, it's the second biggestpolluter after fossil fuels,
second biggest waste of waterafter agriculture.
So it is a real problem for theworld how much clothing we go
to through, you know, going fromlike two or four seasons a year
to 24 seasons a year in shopslike you know, h&m and Primark,
and all that sort of stuff.
That's sort of pressing onpeople's insecurities to make

(19:31):
them feel like they constantlyneed to buy stuff They don't
need, 70% of which tends to bemade of plastics anyway, because
it's polyester, etc.
I think it's just thinkingabout changing and making
changes in impactful areasrather than having to be perfect
.
I think that's what I would sayto people.
And yeah, i'm not perfect,paul's not perfect.
We're just human beings tryingour best and I'd much rather be

(19:53):
that than be too scared to doanything and leave my kids to a
horrible future without at leastgiving it a go of protecting
them.

Speaker 1 (20:00):
He ruined my illusion .
now I thought you're bothperfect.
I didn't mind.

Speaker 3 (20:04):
Yeah, I did before I came on this.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
It's a way to find out.
Let's talk a bit aboutcommunity.
maybe, unless, paul, you hadsomething to add there.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
I did.
I did because I think whatyou're so amazing at is making
action seem possible.
There's a couple of things I'dsay about it and I'll probably
get lost on the way to sayingthem, But when I was talking
about overwhelm, it's very likeit's taking a step right back.

(20:39):
The human being, this consciouscreature, the conscious
creature who's conscious oftheir own mortality.
I don't know any other creaturethat is.
We might find there in thefuture.
We might find so, But what thatdoes to the subconscious and
the choices we make in our lifewhich is something I'm

(21:00):
interested in as an actress, asa storyteller, We might.
These are not my ideas.
I read a book called what's itcalled?
The Denial of Death, by ErnestBecker, an incredible book who
said we can't possibly live withthe idea of our mortality on a

(21:29):
day-to-day basis.
It's too overwhelming.
What we do is we make choices,He said at some point.
We take as big a bite of lifeas we feel comfortable with.
That might mean we have afamily and we work in a

(21:50):
particular job that's as secureas we can make it.
It could mean anything.
I've chosen to be not secure.
I've chosen to be an actor andthere's a writer's strike coming
up.
God knows when I'm going towork again, But anyway, that's
my chunk, That's my bite of life.

(22:11):
The bite of life is in positionto mortality.
Talking and thinking about theclimate crisis, which is an
existential crisis, isterrifying, I think, of course

(22:31):
it's.
What do you do, standing infront of that?
Do you deny it and go?
it's all nonsense?
Or do you live a hedonisticlife?
Do you try and do somethingabout it, like you, Prisa?
It's a big question.
What do we do in the face ofour mortality?

(22:53):
That's what, majorly, we'retalking about.
Step back, I think.
Where I come down, when I'm notbeing overwhelmed, where I come
down is I have hope, but Ithink hope can't be empty.

(23:18):
So the only way you can havehope for me again this is not my
idea, this is like I don't knowwho said it, but maybe Rebecca
Sonnetz or something there'sonly hope in action, And I think
, because if you're not doinganything, then I think you're
left to the mercy of the feelingof being left to the mercy and

(23:41):
powerless is no good for yourmental health, apart from
anything else.
So I think that's what you showto me, Brisa hope in action.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
Thank you.
And I think that applies tolife in general, actually, not
just climate, obviously, but anyaction.
We all have choices to make.
We all have choices around theemotions we choose to have today
, the path we're going to take,the conversations we're going to
have, the decisions we're goingto make it's all our choice.

Speaker 3 (24:09):
Totally.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
And giving ourselves that hope because we know we've
got agency over not everything Imean our lives by all means but
we have agency in the life weare creating in these sort of
small little bubbles and, asPrisa said, the spirit of
influence we have.
So that choice, and thatintentional choice, is vital.

Speaker 3 (24:28):
Absolutely yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
So let's talk about community, because I think
obviously we are very lucky, thethree of us, because we live
quite close together, which isnice, hence where this
conversation is happening, andfrom a community point of view,
i suppose, how can we, i suppose, feel less isolated in this
hope, in this action we'retrying to take, but in our small
bubbles or small families, howcan we get behind the community

(24:54):
spirit more so we feel lessisolated, we can do more
together?
Prisa, maybe you can start, orPaul.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
No, I think Prisa have to start.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
I don't know.
Well, like we said before,there are different spheres of
influence.
So you can and I know amazingwomen who've done this.
They've set up little greenteams in the PTA at school, or
they've set up little greenteams at their church.
Actually, many amazing men havedone that as well.
I've set up amazing green teamsat their church group, at their

(25:24):
church.
They've set up green teams inresidence associations.
That is really nice because whenyou set up something like that,
it brings out of the woodworkpeople who are interested, and
it may be that they'reinterested just in flowers or
just in trees, or they might beinterested in energy, or they
might be interested in cyclingor walking or whatever it is,
but it doesn't matter becauseit's all part of the same puzzle

(25:46):
and everyone brings theirdifferent skill sets.
But it's just that you haveeach other's backs and you can
talk to each other and you canfeel heard and you don't feel
like you're screaming in thewind on your own kind of thing,
which is really amazing.
And then, on top of that, whenI was on maternity leave and I
was watching those strikes, ireally liked a lot of the online

(26:08):
social media Facebook groupsand other groups where they were
like zero waste London ordifferent groups where you could
learn things but also just seeother people's stories and hear
that other people are in thesame boat and worried about it
and trying different things Thething that I think I got out of.
I got a lot out of that, but atthe end of it I decided to set
up my own thing because I feltlike there was a problem with

(26:30):
siloing.
I think a lot of those Facebookgroups and even some charities
are very focused on just airpollution or just veganism or
just reducing consumption orjust energy, and I just felt
like actually it all has to betalked about in the round.
You kind of need aone-stop-shop place where anyone

(26:50):
can come with any question andthen there'll be someone else
from the community who knows theanswer to that.
No, not everyone, but someonewill know.
And so I ended up setting up aFacebook group, a community
group called Greener and Cleaner, and it grew from like 20
people meeting above a pub oncea month to about 3,000 people
within about three months orsomething, and now it's 7,500

(27:11):
people online, because we have alot of people who share their
stories of what they're doing,ask questions, ask for advice.
Signpost funding, signpost,awesome events going on, and we,
from the very beginning, wereputting on two events a month
and all of those were led bylocal people going oh, i've got
this skill, or I can show youhow to prune a tree, or I can
show you how to, you know, sew areusable gift bag, or whatever

(27:35):
it was, which was wonderful.
And now we've set up acommunity hub in our shopping
centre, which is basically thenatural evolution of this, a
mainstream setting, so that evenpeople who are not on social
media which a lot of peoplearen't depending on their age,
depending on what they'reinterested in, can just walk by
and go.
Oh, actually, there I can ask aquestion, because it is
overwhelming.

(27:55):
There's so much information,there's so many areas you could
change in.
You know, it's so much nicer togo to somebody who you know is a
local resident and say, look,where can I start?
Or I've done this, but whatshould I do next?
And for someone to go.
You know what, if you're goingto focus on anything, look at
these three things, and theeasiest thing to do in those
three things is X, y and Z.
And just to give you a startingpoint, so that A you're seeing

(28:18):
you're not alone, you're seeingwho you can collaborate with,
you can volunteer your time, youcan give your examples, you can
lead a workshop.
But also you know you've gotthat sort of hand holding of you
know, when you have a child forthe first time and everyone's
telling you if you do this, i'lldie, if you do this, i'll die,
if you do this, they'll die.
And if you're a parent andyou're dealing with climate
anxiety.
Now it's a bit like that whenyou look online because you're

(28:39):
like sugar.
There are so many differentthings I could be or should be
doing And I'd ah.
And online can be like reallyoverwhelming for that.
And I think having a physicalspace to go to and actually talk
to a human being and go well,this is my situation And I
definitely can't afford an EV orsolar panels, so what can I do?
Or whatever your situation is,and having a human being talk to

(29:03):
you, i think is really powerful.
So what we're trying to do iscreate a blueprint for these to
roll out across the UK, becauseI believe every community should
be able to have one, and thereare amazing transition town
movements.
There are amazing climate hubsthat try to do similar things.
They have certain issues, sowe're trying to help deal with
those issues, to help thosepeople who are running those
hubs through research that we'redoing.

(29:24):
But ultimately, whatever themodel, i just think communities
helping each other, sharingtheir knowledge locally and
sharing their examples locallyThat's the answer, because then
no one feels alone, no one knows, there's somewhere they can go
five days a week for support orto learn the skills they need,
whether that's sowing orinsulating their home or growing
vegetables.
It's free because it's run bythe community and it's a

(29:45):
charitable thing.
So I think there's lots of waysof getting involved.
You don't have to go to theextreme of what I did, but you
can push for something like thatin your community.
You can support something likethat in your community.
You can reach out to ourcharity for advice.
But also, as I said, thinkabout what are your spheres of
influence.
Is that helping set up a greenteam in your PTA or in your

(30:07):
church group or at your cyclingclub And maybe going from there?
I think that's a really goodway of engaging with community.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
It also sounds like it's completely free of judgment
, which social media is not.
So as soon as you put yourselfinto that social media space,
there is judgment coming at youfrom all angles.

Speaker 2 (30:27):
You can't really say anything without being We do
have quite strict judgment-freerules on our side, because that
was another thing that worriedme about what I saw on some of
those zero-waysites or whateverNot just zero-waysites, but
different Facebook groups.
Someone would say that I can'tget my husband off Coca-Cola.
Is it better for him to havetwo-liter bottles in plastic or
aluminium cans?
And 50% of the comments arepeople saying it's disgusting

(30:48):
that you're having thosechemicals.
Blah, blah, blah.
That doesn't help anyone.
That means that woman'sprobably never going to ask a
question again and will justshut herself off and just go out
.
Really, judgment doesn't helpanyone, whether that's people
judging on food or cars orwhatever it is.
I think conversation andsharing examples of how

(31:09):
practically people have managedsome of the obstacles we all
have, i think that's what'shelpful, and giving people the
time to come to each of thesedifferent solutions in their own
time, i think is reallyimportant.
So I think, yeah, judgment-freezones are really important.
Absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
And Paul, what do you think on that community angle
then?
Where does your involvement.

Speaker 3 (31:30):
Yeah, i mean I like other people to have ideas and
we go, oh yeah, that's a goodidea, fair enough.
No, i do come up with a bunchof ideas but I don't ever feel
like I haven't yet found.
I'm still working on how to getthem implemented.
So at the moment, i don't know.

(31:52):
I don't know.
I was going to say I love theidea of those big green weeks.
I'm yet to go, and I always go.
Oh, i could make a massive biggreen week in the community, but
I still go like, ok, where do Istart?
So, put on a small scale, i meanthe conversation around this

(32:13):
has moved incredibly in likethree years, like all five years
, like it was, and again, ithink that's because of the
protests and actually bringingit to light.
But you know, before that timeyou could feel like something is

(32:34):
off and something is wrong Andthen there definitely isn't
anywhere to go with that.
But now I mean it's in everyday, i don't?
you know, every day I will hearsomething about it, i'll see
changes happening And I whetherthat's people working in silos
or not I mean I've worked, ikind of.

(32:56):
I think I've worked in the silofor because I didn't know quite
how to where to go, or like,like who to get behind.
You know, even ExtinctionRebellion, when they started I
was like, yes, i felt reluctantto get involved, although I

(33:18):
backed the idea.
I I I'm not going to go intonow why I felt reluctant, but
there was something, thatsomething was stopping me there.
But I it's like people say now,you know, i've spoken to
someone the other day that wasjust stop oil, you idiot kind of
thing.
But but, but you know, I don't,I don't have a judgment for just

(33:42):
stop oil, because I think youknow they're going, they're
going, they see the, you knowthe extremity of of what we're
facing, and then that's the,that's their method of like,
trying to make an impact.
But I just think there are somany.
What I've learned is there areso many different groups, as per
Perissa and the hub there isequity, trying to equity again

(34:06):
have been working on gettinggetting pensions out of fossil
fuels And so, so that you knowlots of actors have their equity
pension.
And then there's the greenrider, then there's there's
people doing, there's peopledoing so much.

(34:27):
And I just think I think one ofthe things is getting beyond
fear and just turning up.
Right, you know, i'm, like me,getting beyond fear because, as
well, because, like you know,sometimes I'm Kevin from
Motherland, you know, like youknow, if I'm in certain, in

(34:48):
certain company, like I'm Kevinfrom Motherland on my own and I,
you know, I don't necessarilylike the attention.
So sometimes it's gettingbeyond fear, you know.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
No, i totally, totally agree with you.
And another amazingorganization that I'm sure you
come across is also Julie'sBicycle, who also worked with a
lot of organizations in the arts.
But what I was going to say, ithought what was interesting, is
that when Julie's talking aboutcommunity and we're talking
about engaging the community,actually theatre is exactly that

(35:24):
right.
Theatre, by definition, is abrilliant way of engaging
communities.
And I think, i think thatactually you're selling yourself
short because I think you sayyou can't.
You know, you don't want tolead or come up with great ideas
.
Actually, you've come up withlots of great ideas and you have

(35:44):
followed through actuallybecause, like, if you remember,
you told me about a piece ofwork that you're doing which is
piece of theatre kind of aimedat that sort of community sort
of starting conversations incommunities.
There's two projects thatyou're working on, one which is
more storytelling, one which ismaybe a bit more theatrical but

(36:04):
experiential, which are both,you know, i don't know if you
want to talk a little bit moreabout those, but they sound like
an amazing way that an actor,writer could reach out to their
community and, you know, is youknow that's what we're talking
about, isn't it?

Speaker 3 (36:18):
Well, i think you know, a lot of storytelling is
really powerful and I think it'spartly why I have was attracted
to it, because I've beeninfluenced by stories and I've,
like, i love playing differentcharacters.
So, on two levels, i think youknow part of the reason I enjoy

(36:42):
what I do and researching yourcharacter and trying to play as
different characters as I cantakes a mindset of empathy,
because you have to not judge.
I've played, you know, i'veplayed Kevin, who I who actually
, you know I try not to judge.
I did judge for a long timebecause I was like get your

(37:03):
stuff together.
I wanted to say to get yourshit together.
And that's what I meant getyour shit together, kevin.
And it took me a while not tojudge him.
But I've also played, you know,psychopaths who have very
little, you know very littlereason to like, but I've got to
find an understanding.
So I think theatre is reallyand storytelling is really great

(37:30):
for that, for being bringingpeople together and challenging
and celebrating humanity, youknow, and asking questions.
I see my wife works at TheGlobe.
She's the artistic director ofThe Globe, also brilliant actor,
but you know she does the workshe programmes is really

(37:55):
exciting in that way and theGlobe is a very democratic space
, you know, because you can seeeverybody.
There's no tricks really to it.
It's all about storytelling andit's often very, very powerful
and people can feel reallyaffected and included.
And also many, many things.

(38:17):
When lockdown happened, i waswondering what to do and I've
always, i've always, played withwriting, but I couldn't call
myself a writer, although I havewritten this piece while I was
working on a monologue, i thinkwhat can I do for you know, for,
about the climate and becauseobviously I had a lot of

(38:39):
feelings going on and lockdownkind of gave a bit of space for
that, and so I wrote a monologueabout one area of climate
change, because the problem iswhen I found I did about 17, 18
drafts of this and it startedsomewhere and ended up somewhere
completely different, becausethere's so many, you can't talk

(39:02):
about the whole of climatechange in one thing.
You have to have an in, and Ithink my in was.
I think ultimately it's aboutconsumerism.
So it was like telling a storyfrom somebody very much in our
society, in a Westernconsumerist society, and their

(39:27):
journey within that.
So, yeah, i did.
I suppose that's one way I canuse the skills or investigate
this very troubling subject, butyou're absolutely right, isn't
it?

Speaker 1 (39:44):
In that example you've played to your strengths.
You know the industry you're in, your storytelling ability,
obviously, ability to write.

Speaker 3 (39:51):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
And you're using something which you know you can
do to share, to provide insight, information, etc.
So I think I suppose for usit's what are our strengths as
individuals?
How can we exploit our strengths, get the message out there in a
different way to yours?
I'm not a writer, so I won't doit through writing or through
theatre, but there'll be.
You know, i talk to workingparents every single day, so how

(40:15):
can I encourage conversationswith them?
just organically, naturally.
And of course, parisa has anactual, tangible action vehicle
in greener and cleaner.
So we all have strengths.
We all have these things whichare innate.
We don't really understand themproperly enough, so how can we
exploit those, i think, to sharethis message?

Speaker 3 (40:35):
Talking is incredibly important, like talking about
this, because for many reasonsand I think you know, especially
if someone feels like isolated,like to be able to open up a
conversation about these kind ofthings, which I don't really I

(40:58):
find it difficult to understandat this point how we cannot be
aware of what's going on.
I mean, as far as the climate,i find it too.
But then I've made a choice tokind of, i've made a choice to

(41:25):
read about it.
I've made a choice to kind oftry to make some changes in my
life.
And there are other choices.
There are other choices whichsay I don't want to talk about
and I don't want to think aboutit.
And then there's a gray area inthe middle where people maybe

(41:46):
want to talk about it but don'tknow how to, or don't know where
to.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
And sometimes someone needs to hear about an idea
like three times before theythink it's normal.
Like, okay, so somebody hearsthat you've got a cargo bite.
They then find out that someonedown the road has got a cargo
bite.
They then see a cargo bite onthe road.
That's the point at which theygo oh, actually, maybe that's a
possibility for my life.
So, even when we're notnecessarily going, let's talk

(42:12):
about climate change, but we'rejust incidentally mentioning the
things that we are doing And ina judgmental way, just like, oh
, yeah, i need a dress forFriday night, so I'm going to
put down the charity shops onBeck and M High Street and see
if there's anything gorgeous inthere.
Otherwise, i'm going to borrowsomething off my sister.
Like that conversation suddenlymeans that those three women or

(42:32):
three men you talk to in thatconversation are just like, oh,
that's normal, is it?
Oh, you know, not just fromthat one conversation, but
because they will have heardabout it through different ways.
They will have seen somethingin the press, they will have
heard another person talkingabout it, someone else will have
said oh, i'm borrowingsomething.
And like that idea ofnormalizing things through
conversations, incidentally, isreally powerful as well.

(42:54):
You know, like it's kind ofthat nudge, that idea of that
nudge thing.
The more times you seesomething, the more times you
know, the more you think it'snormal and you think it's within
your realm of possibility Ithink is really interesting.
But I definitely agree, i thinkhaving more conversations so
that the people who are worriedabout it and don't know what to
do or don't feel that they'realone like I did actually

(43:16):
initially realize that they'renot alone I think that's really
important.
And also the people arethinking and making changes If
they hear the things that we'redoing in a non-judgmental way,
not that you're saying, oh, youshould be cycling, but that, oh,
yeah, i'll be there in about 20minutes because I'm just
cycling over or, you know, i'mgoing to just go and pop by this
place to get you know,incidentally, i think that's

(43:37):
really powerful.
But then the other element whichyou guys picked up on around
using your skills.
I think a lot of people arelike oh God, how can I use my
skills to address climate change?
And I think Paul's donesomething which is like really
obviously using his skills bywriting a piece that can then
inspire other people and getconversation going, get people

(43:59):
empathizing in a different waywhich is really powerful.
And I've used my skills asmaybe being a kind of a problem
solver or an organizer, as alawyer, to set up a charity and
try and create a model withamazing other people.
But the only way that I'veachieved that is from other men
and women mostly parents, if I'mhonest from the community
coming forward and going.
I really want to do somethingpowerful.

(44:20):
I know that on my own I canonly achieve X, but if I
collaborate with you guys tocreate this hub, to try and make
a blueprint for the country, totry and talk to people wider in
Southeast London, to make itmore inclusive and accessible,
then I know that I'll be havinga massive impact.
And so people I've got moms whoare graphic.

(44:41):
I know there are people who aredealing with illness in their
lives, who are single parents,who are dealing with being out
of work, and they're still going.
I want to do something Andthey're using their professional
skills, so they're going.
Okay, i'm a graphic designerHow can I help?
either greener and cleaner orfriends of the earth, or a local

(45:01):
community project around theenvironment?
How can I help it?
I'm a gardener How can I help?
I am a electrician How can Ihelp?
I am a brand consultant, i'm anadvertising creative, i am an
illustrator And I'm a managementconsultant.
I'm an accountant, i'm a lawyer, i'm a mum who's been working

(45:21):
in the PTA and organizing eventsthe last seven years of my life
And all of those skills are sopowerful for growing, have been
so powerful to grow what we'vedone from a tiny community group
to a charity And even now goingforward, like we had somebody
who's joined us recently who isan amazing pitch writer and

(45:42):
storyteller, and someone elsewho's helping us, a new person
to help us with graphic design.
We always need not just us, butany kind of community group or
charity trying to do anythingaround the environment always
needs help from people who'vegot skills and whether that is
their skills from their homelives or whether it's their
professional skills, and that'sa really good way that you can

(46:04):
maximize your impact, that youcan drive change.
I mean, paul himself is workingwith us, doing amazing things,
but also like using his voiceand his sort of storytelling
with us around our fundraising.
But also we're hoping tocollaborate, perhaps around this
monologue, and I just thinkit's really it's interesting for

(46:26):
people to think about what theycan do in their own lives And
if they want to have biggerimpact in their community.
To be assured that you willhave skills that people will
value and be desperatelygrateful for, because no charity
or community group can relysolely on one graphic designer,
solely on one person who's gotHR experience.

(46:47):
So I need a pool of people whoare willing to give a bit of
time here and there, and greatif you want to do four hours a
week, 10 hours a week, fantastic.
But if you can give an hour ortwo a month, that is really
valuable too.

Speaker 1 (47:00):
There's so much there , i'm going to have to draw our
conversation to a close.
I always hate doing, because wecould go on for hours and hours
.
There'll be so much greatcontent coming out.
Paul, you are certainly takinga lot of action, just to sort of
write that assumption that youwould say Yes, so if you could
go from this and believe in that, please.
That would be a good start.
So thank you both so much.

(47:20):
There's so much great contentthere inspiration for parents
and how just to get started, howto avoid judgment all these
things to talk about If you wantto find out more about you, so,
parisa, from your example.
If you want to find out moreabout Greener and Cleaner, where
can they find you?

Speaker 2 (47:34):
So we've got a website that's
greenerandcleanercouk and wealso have a very popular
Facebook group which is Greenerand Cleaner.
I think it's called Bromley andBeyond.
But if you put in Greener andCleaner into Facebook or into
Twitter or into Instagram andobviously our website, you will
find us.

Speaker 1 (47:55):
And if you happen to be in Bromley Glazedropping
Centre, as I am most weekends,you'll also find Greener and
Cleaner there.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
Upstairs next to Waterstones in the Glazed
Bromley.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
yes, And Paul about you, if anyone wants to sort of
find out more about your action,inspired by your action.

Speaker 3 (48:11):
Well, you know I don't really get involved in
social media, but I am onTwitter.
I lurk on Twitter, Don't we all?
So yeah, so I can be found onTwitter if anybody wants to get
in contact for any reason, orjust flag me down while I'm
going past on my bike.

Speaker 1 (48:29):
Yeah, oh, if anyone has any questions after this
listening episode, then by allmeans get in touch with me, and
I can always field questions toPaul and to Parisa And we can
always hopefully I'm hoping,we're hoping to collaborate with
Paul on his amazing monologueand do something wonderful with
that.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
So, yeah, if you're interested in sort of being on
the list of people we contactabout it, it's probably going to
be quite a small thing.
Maybe you know 20, 30 peopleperhaps, or something like that.
We'll talk about it and work itout.
But, yeah, if you want to getin touch with Asha, then she can
pass on your details andperfect.
That's, you know, a few monthstime, obviously, but I think

(49:06):
it's a really exciting thing tolook forward to And I'm really
really, you know, blown away byit.
So, yeah, i'm sure everyoneelse will be as well.

Speaker 1 (49:14):
Excellent.
Thank you so much.
Both Have a wonderful rest ofday in the sunshine And thank
you again.

Speaker 3 (49:20):
You too, thanks very much.

Speaker 2 (49:22):
Thank you, thank you both.

Speaker 1 (49:24):
To work with me.
Find out more at ishamariecom,connect with me on LinkedIn or
check out my free resources andquizzes at ishamariecom.
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