4.3 Sufficiency with Lloyd Alter

My name is Heather McLeod and my guest today is Lloyd Alter.

Lloyd Alter is coming to Thunder Bay to be the key note speaker at the third annual Northwest Climate Gathering on October 17 and 18.

He is the author of two books: Living the 1.5 degree Lifestyle and The Story of Upfront Carbon;

He has a highly subscribed Substack and speaks all around the world.

We are so excited that he agreed to come join this year's Gathering.

When I was in Toronto a couple of weeks ago I asked Lloyd Alter to meet me for a coffee, and to record this conversation. A conversation which has since inspired me to compose a song:

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...you'll get the whole thing before we're done.

Lloyd Alter and I met off Dupont near Symington, a neighbourhood I roved the summer before I started high school. That was forty years ago - the neighbourhood has changed. Then it was a few islands of single family homes, surrounded by blocks of underused and often abandoned industrial spaces abutting the train tracks.

In a sprout of unplanned trees and garbage entangling grasses between Dupont and the train tracks that summer, my friend and I would bravely tag along to join late night parties of older kids. Where those fire pits hid is now exactly where my brother now lives, in one of the earliest condo developments filling in and building up this neighbourhood in the decades since my adolesence.

I walked and Lloyd biked to meet up at Hale Coffee company - a bright, open space with almost every table occupied. I'm afraid the sound bounced around and almost drowned our conversation on its' way to my microphone. My apologies. It might take a bit of effort to get the hang of discerning us amidst the crowd.

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I'm Heather McLeod. I checked out Take The Jump .org and it is great, full of resources with a bright and can-do tone. It reminds me of the Northwest Climate Gathering, empowering communities and individuals to make things happen from conversations to transformations. Like everything you hear on this show, you'll find links to that website as well as to Lloyd's Alter's substack "Upfront Carbon" at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca

Email SomethingDifferentThisWayComes@proton.me if you'd like to join my newsletter or point me towards news you think I should share on this podcast.

first verse

Lloyd's frustration really struck me. His focus on the good things he's been pointing out we should do for years - that we have yet to do. Like understand why insulation and mean temperature are so key to making our indoor spaces comfortable, or valuing urban mobility lanes over cars. That frustration with what is taking so long to change, made me think of all that I saw around us in that cafe that had changed. How many people live there. The bicycles and pedestrians and parks. The ebikes. The immigrants.

His frustration with Doug Ford and the Provincial government's determined gutting of important wins like bike lanes and environmental protection measures - that made me want to fan the flames of our democracy!

I think we are hard wired to pay more attention to what worries us, what threatens us, than what we welcome. It makes so much sense, when we're vulnerable to predators and weather and such.

But it means we discount the wins.

second verse

I love that image of Lloyd walking into make his presentation with a sturdy box under his arm, such a contrast to the delicate constructions his fellow students would have balanced in on their flat bases. Then he unfolds from a camp big enough to house two dozen, kitchen and all. And their jaws drop. He's blown the competition out of the water, even as he realizes that building is not really what he wants to do. He wants to figure out the least wasteful, the most beautifully efficient ways to do things. A caterpillar turns into a butterfly and leaves behind but the finest traces of its transformation. Nothing wasted is so cool.

third verse

It's true that living within our means, wasting as little as possible, is such a relief, such a comfort.

And once you get the hang of it, buying less, spending less, wasting less - isn't really hard.

It's satisfying.

So come and meet Lloyd Alter at the Book Chat on Friday October 17 starting at 7 pm.

It's the kick off to the Northwest Climate Gathering. Free! But spaces are limited so we ask you to register at www.NorthWestClimateGathering.ca

The book chat on the Friday will be at Entershine Bookstore.

Then on Saturday October 18 the Gathering moves to Lakehead University, on Tamblyn Lake right in the heart of the campus.

Parking is free on campus on Saturdays. There are lots of designated spaces to lock up your bike. You can charge your EV for free. Buses are running. It's on the TransCanada Trail so you can even hike there if you choose.

From 9- about 4 we'll be gathering in the Faculty Lounge and around the Firepit. Lloyd will be our keynote speaker. Lots of local organizations will introduce the Climate Action they do here. Lots of great people to meet, conversations to join.

This is the third annual NorthWest Climate Gathering and every year it just gets better. Come build hope, connection and perspective.

There are a group of Teenagers who are creating an amazing day of fun and activities for kids 2-12, a camp for the youngest members of the family to enjoy so the older ones are free to focus on the Gathering, close at hand but not required to supervise their kids. All free.

There is a free lunch for everybody.

The whole thing is free. I will be there. I hope to see you there.

Register please, it is so helpful. Go to NorthwestClimateGathering.ca

Now here's the song my conversation with Lloyd Alter inspired:

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I'm Heather McLeod

This podcast is intermittent at the moment, but there are now dozens of past episodes available on the podcast provider of your choice for your listening pleasure.

Go to SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca for links to everything referenced.

theme out.