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The #CLinAction Competition Winner

October 2024 by Lucia Simmons

To mark surpassing 100,000 Carbon Literate citizens this summer we ran the #CLinAction competition and are now delighted to announce the winner!

As a recap…

We invited you, the Carbon Literacy community, to celebrate your contribution to this milestone by sharing your Carbon Literacy pledge in action.

We were blown away by the sheer volume and eclectic mix of submissions – all of which reflect the scale, diversity and ingenuity of action that Carbon Literacy drives.

However, we could only select one lucky person to win the Patagonia prize bundle…

And the winner is…

Peter Knapp, Air Quality Specialist & Journalist

Pete is an air quality scientist. But, recognising that people respond to stories, he decided to change his career from science to journalism.

As part of his Carbon Literacy training, led by Susi Arnott of Walking Pictures, Pete pledged to interview people from diverse backgrounds on their stories around climate action, to help others to feel empowered.

This summer, he put his pledge into action when he embarked on a journey to Europe to make six short films featuring stories of people directly affected by wildfires – all without flying.

The project aims to platform the actions taken by people around Europe in response to the increase in scale and severity of wildfires, and how community action is at the heart of it.

His journey, made entirely by train, bus, boat or hitchhiking, took him from London, down to the boot of Italy, east to Greece and all the way back west to the northern point of Portugal, where he took the time to film a short video about how his Carbon Literacy training inspired this journey.

“Before I made the pledge in 2021, I was an avid globetrotter, and I rapidly changed my travel, diet, and lifestyle. The Carbon Literacy Project helped me to join all these dots together and to make pledges that changed my individual choices as well as understanding the systemic changes we need.”

Now, having interviewed 48 people – from firefighters to an animal shelter owner – he’s back in London where he is working on bringing the films together. We can’t wait to see them! Find out more about the project here.

Pete’s story is an inspiring one. We may not all be scientists or filmmakers, but we can all use our unique roles, passions and experience to advocate for a safer and healthier collective future – and practice what we preach in the process. What’s more, his epic journey shows that low-carbon travel is feasible – and fun!

Congratulations, Pete!

Special commendations

While only one person could win the ultimate prize, with so many exceptional submissions, we wanted to shine a light on a few special commendations.

Bryan Woodward, Fertility Expert

Pollution and poor air quality affects all areas of health, including fertility. Fertility Expert Bryan knows this all too well.

So, as part of his Carbon Literacy training led by Dr Rose Deakin from De Montfort University, Bryan pledged to travel more sustainably.

Taking this pledge to the extreme, he cycled over 400 miles from Leicester to Amsterdam for an annual conference this summer, saving approximately 67.9kg CO2e – the emissions equivalent to driving 175 miles in a car.

“I would totally endorse cycling to professional conferences as there are clear CO2e savings compared to other modes of transportation. Cycling also increased my fitness and enabled me to see parts of England and the Netherlands that I would otherwise have missed.”

Bryan has stayed committed to his pledge and has since cycled to another conference – this time a shorter but still impressive 40 miles from Leicester to Birmingham.

While we’re not saying we all need to become endurance cyclists, we can all set our own goal posts for travelling more sustainably – be it by active or public transport.

Cameron Duncan, Solar Design Engineer

Cameron undertook Carbon Literacy training led by Dr Richard Hodgkins while studying Geography at Loughborough University. At the time, in spring 2023, he was also working as a Solar Design & Sales Consultant at SunGift Solar.

Simultaneously inspired by the training and a guest lecture on renewable energy in the Global South, Cameron pledged to use his work connections to install a solar PV system in rural Malawi.

Fast forward one year, and Cameron had successfully achieved his goal, having installed solar powered water pump irrigation systems in numerous rural villages in Malawi. This extraordinary project highlighted the necessity, practicality and scalability of localised renewable energy projects in the Global South to address the very present impacts of climate change.

A unique set of circumstances aligned to allow Cameron to carry out this niche pledge, but it shows how Carbon Literacy training helps us leverage our unique roles to have a far-reaching impact beyond what we might have otherwise imagined!

Thank you

Thank you to all the Carbon Literate individuals who shared their own inspiring Carbon Literacy action pledges using the #CLinAction hashtag during the competition!

We encourage you to continue sharing how you put your Carbon Literacy into action using the #CLinAction hashtag across your social media channels.

After all, sharing the work you are doing to contribute to a better world for all is just as important as the work itself!

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