Lucy Biggers, producer and host of One Small Step, speaking at our Earth Day Night event 2021
Lucy was a producer for Now This for 5 years and has ten years producing and editing experience. In that time, she covered sustainability stories and spoke to many influential people in that world, including Greta Thunberg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, before either of those became household names.
Just to name drop, she’s also met: Ron Howard, Bernie Sanders, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Amy Schumer!
A real turning point in her career was when she covered the Standing Rock protest in 2016. This gathering of activists were fighting against the Dakota Access Pipeline which would lock the US into many more years of fossil fuel infrastructure. Her coverage of those protests had millions of views and it was then that she realised the true potential she could have as a storyteller.
Topics covered on One Small Step
What happens to recycling? This story was prompted by questions like, Where does it all go? And thoughts like, Maybe I’m doing it wrong! Lucy literally found a recycling plant in her town, got a camera crew together and learned and showed how the system really worked. That’s where she learned about “wishcycling” where people put things in their recycling hoping they will get recycled which can be extremely problematic for facilities.
What to do with unwanted clothes? When you donate your clothes it is shocking to learn that they are not necessarily going to people in need. In this story, Lucy uncovers the huge secondhand market in African countries which has brought about perhaps unintended consequences-- for example, driving local manufacturing facilities out of business because they cannot compete with the influx of secondhand clothing. She said it may be better than sitting in landfill and releasing methane but it is not the solution!
Composting. This story was prompted by the admission, I know I’m supposed to do it but don't know how it works. Lucy again found a local composting facility in NYC and learned how food scraps breakdown into fertiliser which helps to keep nutrients in the soil and to retain moisture.
Giving up single use plastics. Lucy set this challenge upon herself for a month and would highly recommend it as a great introductory step to reduce your reliance on single use plastics in general.
Just add more trees? You often hear about companies planting millions of trees. This video reveals how it is much more important to stop deforestation in the first place than to plant new trees. Especially when this involves monoculture planting which does not benefit biodiversity. There too she talks about different startups that are making tree planting faster and that are changing the notion of “tree planting”.
Zero waste takeaway. When you order “to-go food”, you are left with all these leftover containers. The startup she reports on in this video allows customers to enjoy their meals from restaurants in reusable containers. You use and then clean them and the next time you order from them, you give the containers back.
Should I stop recycling? With all the worry over inefficient recycling practices and news about recycling being sent overseas, Lucy wanted to help us come to terms with our doubts about whether recycling is even worth the effort.
Final words of wisdom
Everyone has a part to play in the climate movement and yours doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Think about how you can take your talents and passions and then do something and create some action and momentum!
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Find Lucy via her social media handle: @lucybiggers