Meg Haywood Sullivan On Climate Justice And Staying Loud This Earth Month

Meg Haywood Sullivan is a sustainability consultant, photographer, artist, and environmental activist. To kick off Earth Month, we sat down with Meg to discuss her roles in environmentalism, climate change, the Willow Project, and how we can make the most of Earth Month. 

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey in environmentalism and sustainability. 

I began my career as a snow sports photographer. While traveling the world photographing athletes for magazines and ski brands, I saw firsthand the effects of our changing climate on the places I was capturing. It was deep in these mountains that I realized the power of using creativity to make a positive impact.

Fast forward to today, I’m a sustainability consultant and creative based in Sausalito, CA. I’ve created campaigns for Fair Trade, photographed stories about plastic pollution mitigation in Indonesia, and helped companies develop and communicate their sustainability plans. My heart is happiest when I’m collaborating on a project knowing it will have a positive impact on our world.

What does your job as a sustainability consultant entail, and what have you learned from being a sustainability consultant? 

My area of expertise in sustainability revolves around bridging the gap between media and science. I assist companies and nonprofits in establishing sustainable initiatives while also discovering innovative ways to connect with their target audience. In the past two years, I’ve also returned to academia, where I’m currently pursuing a master’s degree in sustainability at Harvard. Some of the biggest takeaways from my work and schooling are:

• Sustainability isn’t just about being good for the planet, it’s also about acknowledging different cultures and meeting communities where they are.  
•  For there to be environmental progress, there needs to be social justice. The two are intrinsically linked.
• This is the best time in the history of the planet to be alive. We have the power to use opportunity, technology, and science to enable renewable energy and protect our planet’s invaluable biodiversity.

 

You're connected with a handful of amazing non-profit organizations -The Explorers Club, Protect our Winters, and Surfrider- can you tell us a little bit about these organizations and the best ways to aid them? 

These organizations do a fantastic job of advocating for the planet, supporting explorers, and pushing for important policies to protect the natural world. Easiest ways to get involved? Signup for their newsletters, follow their social media and get involved in chapters where you live. And if there isn’t a chapter nearby, start one! Nonprofits are in constant need of support, and everyone has unique skills that could support the cause. 

Let's talk about the Willow project. Can you explain for those who don't know, what exactly the Willow Project is and its’ effects? 

President Biden’s Bureau of Land Management has just finalized approval for the Willow Oil Drilling Project.  This proposed massive expansion of oil & gas drilling will threaten wildlife, ecosystems, and native communities in Alaska’s pristine Western Arctic and add more than 280 million metric tons of climate pollution to the atmosphere over the next 30 years.

It’s a myth that Willow will help address current inflation and high energy costs. It will take years before Willow produces a single drop of oil, and the project will merely lock us into decades of fossil fuel development at a time when we need to be rapidly transitioning to clean energy sources.

How can we continue to support the fight against Willow? Stay. Loud. 

A Congressional letter to pause Willow Project Developments is ready to send to the Department of the Interior and we need as many reps to sign on. Automatically send your reps an email to sign the letter here. 

Are there any positive changes or initiatives going on in the environmental space that you'd like to mention? 

There’s something called solutions journalism that I truly think will help the environmental movement and our mental health.

Traditional journalism tends to explain an issue while leaving out the resolution to the problem. Solution-Based Journalism on the other hand reports the whole story, including solutions to support social change. 

According to the Solutions Journalism Network, readers of solutions-­based articles not only indicate that they feel more informed by reading solutions stories, but that they want to continue to learn about the issue and are inspired to work toward a solution. 

To top that, solutions journalism has been found to strengthen communities, advance equity, build trust, increase civic engagement, and depolarize public discourse.

We've been seeing some extreme weather events in California lately, including a lot of snow and rainfall. Can you tell us a bit about how this relates to climate change?

The weather in California has been nuts this past winter. Climate change is causing a lot of disruption to weather patterns around the world, and California is no exception. As the climate warms, it causes changes in the way that water moves around the atmosphere, which can lead to more intense storms and heavier precipitation.

It's a serious problem, but the good news is that there are things we can do to address it. One of the most important things is to start framing the problem in terms of solutions. Instead of just talking about the negative effects of climate change, we need to focus on what we can do to solve the problem. This will help people - and most importantly politicians - feel more motivated and empowered to take action.

I spoke with Sylvia Earle last week, and she had some really inspiring thoughts on this topic. She said that "now is the best time in human history to be alive. We have all the tools to solve the climate crisis at our fingertips." I think that's a really powerful message, and it underscores the importance of taking action now, while we still have the chance to make a difference. 

 

We've seen you're also a wonderful artist, can you tell us a bit about the intersection between art and science and what it means to you? 

Over the past few years, I’ve been working on a project that uses creativity to explain science concepts to children. I believe that the beauty of the arts is their ability to tell stories and ignite imaginations that can connect children to the natural world outside the confines of a classroom.

My ultimate goal is to turn this project into a TV series someday.

What are you doing this Earth month and how can we make the most of it? 

Activism works. Hard stop. Before embarking on a career of environmental service 10+ years ago, I never envisioned myself working daily with world leaders, activists, and corporations to fight for climate action and policy change. Oftentimes it feels like yelling into an echo chamber where talking outshines true action…

But over the years I realized that to create systemic change there needs to be constant boots on the ground from both grassroots activism and government action. Our voices count, but we need to use them!

DM your favorite climate voices, reach out to folks on LinkedIn, attend protests, and organize around important local issues. The little steps you make today will snowball into greater action. And remember climate advocacy doesn’t have to be perfect, so don’t let that hold you back from getting out there. There is an incredible global community in this movement, and we are happy you are part of it with us.