CU student innovations in solar power and food access

April 2021 Grant Recipient: Simon Julien & Cat Jones

This month we partnered with the University of Colorado Boulder for our first ever online pitch night. A dozen Gretas members joined the pitch night and we are excited to announce our April grant recipients, Simon Julien and Cat Jones!

Simon Julien's project, SolMate OS, gives solar power producers the control ability to ramp up and down their power production when the grid needs it. Having the ability to mimic coal and natural gas plants by ramping power on command when the power grid is in need (and thus paying more lucratively for power), is the final stage of operating a 100% renewable power grid. This will result in clean electricity from our power grid and a huge reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel generation that disproportionately impacts communities of color. Cat Jones's project, Planet Green, creates a resource that allows individuals to work toward more food sovereignty and adapt their land use to become more sustainable. This innovation is a digital app platform that provides free & accessible resources related to local community gardening & urban farming to low-income families and community members who want to expand their options for food security. Planet Green Provides a digital platform for communities to share resources and learn about their options with food access or learning to grow their own food. We'll be sharing more about our grant recipients and their stories. If you feel inspired to get involved or learn more please reach out to info@1000gretas.org.

Other climate content to check out... When it comes to reducing carbon emissions "No single solution to this problem exists. It will require concerted effort from all parts of society, above all governments, but also engineers, scientists, economists, teachers and farmers," according to atmospheric chemist, Dave Lowe. Read more about the importance of working together to solve for climate change here.

Climate activist Vanessa Nakate was cropped out of a picture that was shared by the A.P. Rather than let that stop her, Nakate has written a book due in November, and co-founded 1 Million Activist Stories. Learn more about this incredible Ugandan climate activist here. ‍Our friends at ReKaivery are on a mission to raise $20,000 within the next 30 days to help support the launch of their first food hub, a place where you can buy Farmer's Market products inside of a grocery-store-like space! Help them kickstart this awesome project here.

Member Announcements Sending out a big thank you & welcome to our newest 1000 Gretas members. Excited to have your support! Meet Trevor Tuck! We have a new member on our team helping with the forum and member engagement. We asked him to introduce himself:

"Currently, I'm rooting my energy into three central ethics of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. I aim to create ecologically mindful and resilient lives practicing permaculture. I do this for human flourishing and relationships. I believe practicing intersectional and social permaculture is critical to the human story. I come from a family line of farmers, innovators, and game-changers. I've seen how our current large agricultural practices are turning this world into a desert. I've seen humans all over the world struggle to find clean water, and water changes everything. We are at a crucial point as sapiens. I'm answering the call for myself and the generations to come. As I see it, this call invites all humans to step into a regenerative ecosystem. I am joining in with others to heal our lands and relationships as we reclaim our innate connection to nature, the land, food, water, and each other. It's an opportunity to bring a sense of deep generational healing and shining ecosystems. I'm encouraged; I see people everywhere holding onto a healthy sense of cynicism while never abandoning hope and positivity for one another. All the while, they are chasing after a thriving world. Permaculture is that for me, giving me a glimpse into this potential paradise."

Not yet a 1000 Gretas member? If you want to join us in our mission to support climate change solutions check out our membership page to learn more. We'd love to have you. If you have joined us, please help us spread the word to your family, friends, or anyone you know who is interested in taking action.

ClimateRaise promotes women entrepreneurs

March 2021 Grant Recipient: ClimateRaise

We are excited to announce our March grant recipient, ClimateRaise! This group of women entrepreneurs and investors finds and promotes great women-led clim

ate startups. Inspiration for ClimateRaise came when investors told them that they “couldn’t find any women entrepreneurs” and the ClimateRaise co-founders immediately came back with an initial list of 80 women. That idea turned into the ClimateRaise newsletter where they provide an ongoing list of vetted women-led companies open to investment opportunities. Now they work to curate their list of women entrepreneurs, promote them, and also to provide introductions that can bring these startups to life.

One of our 1000 Gretas members had this to say about ClimateRaise, “We love this! It’s an important mission. Keep at it, we believe in the importance of having diversity equity & inclusion involved at the highest levels in the climate change movement so that we have a variety of voices and visions. Otherwise we are doomed to make the same mistakes as the past. Change has to happen holistically in all aspects of life.”

Interested in learning more about early-stage climate startups led by women founders? Subscribe to the newsletter. If you have a climate focused startup founded by women, or you know someone who does, founders can apply here.

Other climate content to check out... ✉️ Open invite alert! Sign up for a zoom session on Apr 15, 2021 to play The Climate Action Simulation, a highly interactive, role-playing game that uses the En-ROADS model, built by Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan's Sustainability Initiative, to explore climate solutions.

🍔 Would you try a burger made of kelp? Brooklyn based, women-led, AKUA is making kelp jerky in addition to this vegan kelp burger that uses regenerative aquaculture. They were named one of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas for Food in 2020. We learned about AKUA from ClimateRaise! You can learn more and order some kelp jerky here. 📚 What if the government took serious, federal action to combat climate change? Imagine if we could bypass the red tape, and if the US government became the largest purchaser of clean energy. If we’ve piqued your interest, check out this Wired article, Climate Change Needs an Operation Warp Speed.

Member Announcements Sending out a big thank you & welcome to our newest 1000 Gretas members. Excited to have your support! Voting News! We'll be sending more info about our April voting in the coming weeks. We are working on a special opportunity to join virtual innovator pitches. Looking for more ways to get involved with sustainable projects? We have a special invite to share with our community from our partners at the Impact MBA program at Colorado State University. Here are the details:

The Impact MBA at Colorado State University enrolls an international cohort of students who are passionate about using their business skills to address global challenges. Students either pursue social entrepreneurship or corporate sustainability and all students enroll in core business classes designed to prepare them with the scientific foundation and business acumen to influence change. We are always looking for mentors for our entrepreneurial students. We are also on the lookout for host organizations with sustainability initiatives that could use the assistance of an MBA student for our summer corporate sustainability fellowships. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to Shelby Sack, Program Manager: Shelby.sack@colostate.edu.

Not yet a 1000 Gretas member? If you want to join us in our mission to support climate change solutions check out our membership page to learn more. We'd love to have you. If you have joined us, please help us spread the word to your family, friends, or anyone you know who is interested in taking action.

Perennial activates new audiences

The latest updates in our sustainability mission

1000 Gretas continues to grow and add new members as we expand this effort to curb climate change. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm!

February 2021 Grant Recipient: Perennial

We are excited to announce our next grant recipient, Perennial! They are utilizing time-tested business strategies to grow audiences for climate change organizations. We were inspired by their message that there is hope. According to research from Yale, 20% of the U.S. population wants to start using their voices and dollars to tell government and business leaders to take action - they just don't know what to do, and haven't been invited.

Perennial's work will activate this 20% of the U.S. population, by using the same research, data-science and marketing tools that large for profit companies use to get more new customers. It works for them to get customers and make more money; it will work for us to get more climate-active people and reduce emissions. For example, Perennial will get more donors and volunteers for organizations lobbying for climate change action. This will, in turn, allow these organizations to more effectively influence elected officials to more quickly enact a carbon-fee and dividend structure. This will incentivize businesses across sectors to reduce emissions by increasing efficiencies, switching vehicle fleets to EVs, sourcing energy from sustainable sources, and participating in reforesting for offsets. 🚪 Opportunity Alert! The Perennial team is looking for a Google Ads guru. If this fits you or someone you know, please reach out to info@1000gretas.org for further details.

Other climate content to check out... ✊ The founder of Perennial was inspired by the research of Erica Chenoweth from Harvard University. One of her major findings is that it takes 3.5% of a population actively participating in a movement to ensure serious political change. Read more about her fascinating research here.

📺 "The way we are thinking about climate change is preventing us from solving it," says Elizabeth Sawin in her TedTalk, The Power of Multisolving for People and Climate. She explains how a multisolving approach helps protect the climate while also providing other co-benefits, such as improving health, disaster resilience, the economy, and access to healthy food and clean water. Watch the TedTalk to learn about multisolving here.

Member Announcements Sending out a big thank you & welcome to our newest 1000 Gretas members. Excited to have your support!

For those looking for more ways to get involved, we have just launched the 1000 Gretas member forum. This will be the home for the community to ask questions, share information & expertise, and make announcements. Please check it out and sign up. We'd love to hear your feedback. Voting Reminder! The March grant recipient selection will begin this weekend so keep an eye on your inbox to cast your vote. Not yet a member? If you want to join 1000 Gretas in our mission to support climate change solutions check out our membership page to learn more. We'd love to have you. If you have joined us, please help us spread the word to your family, friends, or anyone you know who is interested in taking action.