Humans have an amazing ability to adapt to our climates. We grow crops that thrive in our specific ecosystems. We develop techniques that compensate for too little winter sun in Scandinavia, and too much sun in equatorial Africa. We build structures that match the prevailing needs — cinderblocks to withstand hurricane-force winds in Florida, flexible wood structures to move with the ground in earthquake-prone Japan. But what happens when environmental changes happen faster than we can adapt to them?

Well, we're going to find out.

But the most important thing to consider is the fact that everything is interconnected. Everything follows the old improv adage of "yes, and...."

Yes, we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. For content professionals, the impacts that we make at work will lead to more substantial outcomes than those we make as individuals. I know this to be true, which is why I'm doing this work.

But I also know that it's not the only thing we need to do. But we also need to prepare for what's ahead.

We also need to be flexible. If we live in areas with heavy storms and flooding, we need to not only prepare our own residences, but also our communities through wetland restoration, or even simple acts like cleaning debris out of neighborhood storm drains to prevent water from backing up.

Many areas of the Northeastern U.S. have been experiencing drought, leading to wildfires. This wasn't even a consideration when I was a child there, yet just this week we had family members need to evacuate their home in New Jersey because a fire threatened the community. California has long been acquainted with wildfire protection strategies — creating a defensible perimeter in the landscape, or using fire-safe plants — but now other parts of the country are awakening to this new reality. (Please, people: stock up on N-95 masks to protect yourself against the toxins in wildfire smoke.)

So when people dismiss sustainable content as a small effort, I think it's important to place it in a broader context. Sustainable content alone isn't going to fix this. But it is an important part of a broader sustainability strategy.

And even if you live in what you think is a "safe" area, please be prepared.

I do love a microgrid story. A community in Nigeria switched from diesel generators to solar. The community now has reliable, clean energy to power the town.

It looks like coal will be part of America's future. I have no words.

I get whiplash reading my email. For every email detailing someone's climate panic, there's another one that defiantly asserts that now is not the time to retreat on climate commitments. Quantis is leaning into the risk management angle, which seems to me to be the most practical approach.

In the midst of everything that's going on, I forgot to mention that it was Earth Day. So let's look at this more broadly as Earth Month. How do organizations begin to lead with purpose?

I volunteered at the local food bank this week. While we had enough food to cover this week's needs, many food banks are struggling from federal funding cuts. As everything is getting more expensive, there's less food available to support families in need. I don't want to trot out Maslow's hierarchy of needs, but I will: food is a foundational physiological need. We need to do better.

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Consulting

​Reduce your Scope 3 emissions​

Alisa Bonsignore

Founder, Strategist, and Author