Welcome to this episode of Hardware to Save a Planet. Today, we have something special for you. 2023 has been an amazing year of growth for the Climate Tech industry, with a ton of new companies being founded, new funding rounds, purchase agreements, and technology breakthroughs. Amidst all of that, there are more and more people who are not working in Climate today but want to move their careers in that direction. 

So, for today’s episode, we’ll revisit ten guests who shared advice on that topic. These clips are all responses to the question I ask everyone, which is, “What advice do you have for someone not working in climate today who wants to do something to help?” 

Let’s start by meeting our ten guests. Links to each guest episode are also provided in case you want to come back and listen to the full episode later:

  1. Paul Lambert, Founder and CEO of Quilt [Link]
  2.  Tom Gurski, Founder and CEO of Blue Dot Motorworks [Link]
  3. Kim Baker, Senior Director of Innovation at Elemental Excelerator [Link]
  4. Mike Kelland, CEO of Planetary [Link]
  5. Nirav Patel, CEO and Founder of Framework  [Link]
  6. Silvain Toromanoff, Co-Founder and CTO of NeoCarbon  [Link]
  7. John O’Donnell, CEO of Rondo Energy  [Link]
  8. Doug Woodring, Founder and MD of Ocean Recovery Alliance  [Link]
  9. Devon Wright, Co-Founder and CEO of Lumo  [Link]
  10. Shely Aronov, Founder and CEO of InnerPlant  [Link]

Episode highlights

  • Paul Lambert [01:59 – 02:38] – Find the intersection of your skill set and its impact on climate change and start from there.
  • Tom Gurski [03:10 – 03:47] – Climate change companies are regular organizations and need people with regular skill sets; just hop on.
  • Kim Baker [04:11 – 05:02]- Start local and then spread your wings.
  • Mike Kelland [05:30 – 07:02] – Start with the basics, read up and understand the big challenges and the levers to address them. Next, identify your calling space and join in.
  • Nirav Patel [07:34 – 08:35] – Start a company and prove that things can be done differently.
  • Sylvain Toromanoff [09:10 – 10:20] – Join a climate change community and see the big picture and then get inspired by a space that aligns with your interest. 
  • John O’Donnell [11:10 – 11:37] –  Bloom where you’re planted! Figure out how you can make the organization you work at more climate-sensitive and sustainable.
  • Doug Woodring [12:10 – 13:03] – Get all hands on deck. Pick a topic after your heart, learn about it and become an advocate for it. You can also donate or volunteer your time to climate change companies.
  • Devon Wright [13:40 – 15:13] – Find your passion and bring it to the forefront. Start talking to people in the field and start learning. The cascading effect will connect you to more people in the field and lead to greater learning.
  • Shely Aranov [15:37 – 16:22] – If you try, you might fail, but if you don’t try, you will definitely fail.