November 2023 Newsletter
In 2022, 12 Paramount productions received our EMA Green and Gold Seals for Sustainable Production. The EMA Green Seal is a two-tier recognition program honoring progress in sustainable production practices across movies, TV shows, filmed commercials, and print advertising.
Who wants to get involved with something destined for failure? Though our environmental issues are legion and progress is slow, we must maintain hope. Thankfully, many educators, advocates, and activists remind people that good things are happening. We spoke with Alaina Wood to learn how a modern climate influencer keeps her audience's morale high.
Alaina Wood is a sustainability scientist, climate communicator, and climate justice activist based in the mountains of East Tennessee. At the start of the pandemic, she founded the climate education and activism platform the Garbage Queen, which aims to combat climate doomism and eco-anxiety through climate optimism, and now she produces videos for her global audience of over 500,0000 to keep them engaged in climate activism.
First, you have an intriguing designation as "The Garbage Queen." Can you tell us the story behind that name?
Before becoming a climate communicator, I worked in the solid waste industry doing environmental compliance and design work for landfills, recycling centers, and composting facilities. Having a passion for solid waste is quite uncommon, especially for a young scientist, and because of that, my colleagues gave me the nickname "the trash queen". When choosing my username as a climate communicator, I almost went with @thetrashqueen, but someone already took it! So I went with @thegarbagequeen instead, and the rest is history!
You have an incredibly engaged audience in the hundreds of thousands. Early on, what type of messaging did you find worked the best to gain a wider audience?
The first-ever environmental video I posted was about how I don’t consider myself zero waste but rather low waste since producing a mason jar’s worth of garbage isn’t affordable or accessible for most people. Once I realized that other people felt the same way, I began to post more about realistic, sustainable living while discussing some climate science and policy.
According to your website, you live in the Appalachian Mountain area. How do your location and culture affect the way you message?
Being an Appalachian environmentalist and climate activist hasn’t been easy, but it also made me who I am today. Climate change was an incredibly taboo topic growing up in Appalachia, and honestly, it still is here today. Because of that, I’ve learned how to navigate just about every climate denial talking point. I’m even helping carry on the Appalachian storytelling tradition through my work as a climate communicator. Above all else, though, the landscape here inspires how I message since the mountains and rivers don’t have a voice, but I do.
One of your popular series is a weekly good news video. Why is it critical for the environmental movement to amplify the good?
The answer is simple: without hope, movements fail. Fear will only motivate people so far, and they give up if they never learn about solutions and progress. I’ve witnessed this firsthand on social media, and it’s something I’ve been trying to avoid happening again ever since. That’s why I started my weekly Good Climate News series, and it’s also why I predominantly discuss climate solutions on my page now. I want to remind people that despite all the issues, good is happening worldwide, and more good is possible if they don’t give up on their activism and advocacy.
Finally, what are you working on, and how can our audience support your work?
2024 is going to be all about getting engaged with climate solutions! I have quite a few content series currently in production where I’ll be talking with experts, uplifting frontline communities, and hopefully inspiring change at a grassroots level. I’m excited for my audience to watch these series when they go live, and the best way they can support my work is by sharing my content. My goal is to inspire people to continue to fight for a better future, and I hope my content does just that – because it certainly does for me!
