Climate Action Figures

John Whidden

A safe place for youth to share steps they are taking to mitigate climate change.

  1. 1d ago

    Season 3, Episode 26: Prasiddhi

    Host John Whidden welcomes 13-year-old Indian environmentalist Prasiddhi, founder of Prasiddhi Forest Foundation, who has planted 200,000 trees toward a goal of 10 million and built a global following to spread hopeful, action-focused climate messaging. She describes starting after the 2016 Varadhah Cyclone in Tamil Nadu, learning fundraising, creating a seed-collecting “kids army,” and growing a nursery capable of 30,000 saplings. Prasiddhi discusses attending UN COP conferences (including COP29), her UN-accredited NGO’s work helping youth attend, and her two illustrated books—"Prasiddhi’s Amazon Rainforest Adventure" and "Prasiddhi’s Great Barrier Reef Adventure"—which each fund one planted tree per purchase. She argues for balancing reality, hope, and responsibility, redefining success beyond GDP, and showcases her green career-matching tool, greenbuzzai.com. 00:00 Welcome and QuickFix 01:05 Meet Prasiddhi and Mission 02:00 Passion School and Balance 03:07 Family Support and Social 04:31 Early Planting Journey 07:16 Cyclone Spark and 100K 09:39 COP Connections and Youth 11:01 Books That Plant Trees 14:17 Hope Reality Responsibility 16:50 Redefining Success and AI 19:54 Seeing Through Child Eyes 22:29 Countries Doing It Right 25:12 Future Purpose and Values 26:56 Climate Action Believe You 28:30 Hopeful Inspirations Closing https://prasiddhiforest.org/ https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=prasiddhi&crid=668OLOP0VJDH&sprefix=prasiddhi%2Caps%2C138&ref=nb_sb_noss https://greenbuzzai.com/ https://thegreenpillar.com/books/ climateactionfigures@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/climateactionfigures https://www.instagram.com/climateactionfigures/ https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateActionFigures

    31 min

  2. May 19

    Season 3, Episode 25 Sophia

    Host John Whidden introduces a QuickFix from Janice in Calgary encouraging “no mow May” to protect invertebrates, then interviews Sophia, a third-year environmental engineering student focused on drinking water and microplastics. Sophia recommends boiling or filtering water and explains concerns about bottled water, including plastic-related endocrine disruptors and potential bacterial biofilms. She describes her microplastics research on how particle shape affects settling and treatment, noting flat plastics may slip through systems. Sophia also shares her youth transit advocacy, inspired by childhood mobility barriers, which helped make transit free for youth under 13 in Regina and expanded nationally. She discusses involving youth through leadership opportunities and funding strategies, reflects on awards and positivity in climate work, shares her own low-car lifestyle, and outlines steps for better, safer, more frequent transit systems. 00:00 Welcome to the Show 00:27 QuickFix No Mow May 01:25 Meet Sophia 02:03 Drinking Water Tips 03:49 Microplastics Explained 05:55 Reducing Plastic Pollution 07:27 Youth Transit Advocacy 10:41 Scaling Youth Climate Action 13:17 Awards and TEDx Impact 14:47 Staying Hopeful 15:46 Car Free Climate Action 16:10 Building Better Transit 19:01 Hope and Farewellhttps://video.igem.org/w/8QuTT9pE784FakJrccZLYB https://chem-eng.utoronto.ca/news/igem-toronto-engineering-biology-for-global-impact/ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UPUWBpSS7po https://www.fesplanet.org/ https://www.poparide.com/en-ca/ climateactionfigures@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/climateactionfigures https://www.instagram.com/climateactionfigures/ https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateActionFigures

    21 min

  3. May 12

    Season 3, Episode 24: Alice

    In the 77th episode of Climate Action Figures, host John Whidden welcomes Alice, a Switzerland-based veterinarian who no longer practices clinically and instead works toward One Health through policy and research. Alice explains that veterinary careers extend beyond treating animals into areas like food safety, prevention, research, and education, and describes moving from clinical work in Italy to policy work in Brussels via a veterinary trade association, then to research in Switzerland to build expertise for future policymaking. She outlines One Health as the interdependence of human, animal, and environmental health, citing food systems and climate-driven shifts in vector-borne diseases as examples, and argues that healthy humans depend on healthy environments and animals. Alice compares sustainability in Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland, shares her climate action of saving surplus perishable food through local initiatives, and says hope comes from connecting with committed advocates like Harshita. 00:00 Welcome to Episode 77 00:32 QuickFix Mailbox Hack 00:55 Meet Alice in Switzerland 03:22 Vet Without Patients 04:29 Finding One Health 07:41 Breaking Into Policy 09:38 One Health in Action 12:49 Moving for Sustainability 15:36 Harshita and Youth Advocacy 17:15 Food Saving Climate Action 19:23 Hope and Closing climateactionfigures@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/climateactionfigures https://www.instagram.com/climateactionfigures/ https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateActionFigures

    22 min

  4. May 5

    Season 3, Episode 23: Twila

    John  hosts a unique episode of Climate Action Figures featuring his daughter, Twila. The QuickFix highlights “Adopt Don’t Shop,” encouraging pet adoption and volunteering at local shelters. Twila shares her climate actions, including conserving and reusing water (collecting shower warm-up water and catching sink water for plants), thrift shopping, growing herbs, using reusable bags and cups, combining errands into one trip, and installing solar panels. They reflect on John’s long-running environmental habits while Twila was growing up—cool house temperatures, composting, walking to school for rewards, bringing reusable containers to restaurants, and hang-drying laundry for calculated energy savings—along with humorous stories about cooling leftovers outside and wildlife getting into food. Twila says hope comes from friends’ small changes and youth becoming more environmentally aware. 00:00 Meet Twila 00:43 QuickFix Adopt Don’t Shop 02:12 Why Twila Is Here 02:52 Twilas Climate Actions 04:47 Growing Up Eco 05:21 Cold House Stories 06:08 Early Eco Habits 09:03 Walking To School Bribes 11:03 Hang Dry Math 12:34 Twila Grills Dad 14:42 Cooling Food Outside 16:53 Wrap Up Hope climateactionfigures@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/climateactionfigures https://www.instagram.com/climateactionfigures/ https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateActionFigures

    19 min

  5. Apr 28

    Season 3, Episode 22: Gokul

    Host John Whidden welcomes Gokul from Kerala, India. Gokul connects cultural practices to science and explains youth climate organizing through YOUNGO’s local, regional, and global Conferences of Youth ahead of COP. A final-year Ayurveda student, he describes how climate change disrupts Indigenous/traditional medicine by affecting medicinal plants, potency, treatment protocols, and trust, with implications like antimicrobial resistance. He presents Govardhan, an app envisioned as a global repository and “social media for biodiversity” to share medicinal plant uses across countries, and Climate Entertainment, a youth-friendly way to translate UN climate language. He also mentions COP participation via Ukraine and Egypt accreditation, advocates protecting nearby species through turtle-egg protection in Kerala, and says hope comes from engaged audiences who share and support climate content. 00:00 Welcome to the Show 00:29 QuickFix Yard Cleanup 01:10 Traditions and Turmeric 03:04 Kerala Roots and Youngo 04:33 Ayurveda Meets Climate 05:56 Govardhan Plant App 08:08 Climate Entertainment Project 09:18 Indigenous Medicine at Risk 13:24 Ukraine COP Connection 14:36 Climate Action and Hope 16:42 Final Thanks and Subscribe https://sites.google.com/view/govardhan-app-web https://www.climateentertainment.com/ climateactionfigures@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/climateactionfigures https://www.instagram.com/climateactionfigures/ https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateActionFigures

    18 min

  6. Mar 31

    Season 3, Episode 21: Carter

    Host John Whidden interviews Carter Mochinski from Lake Country, BC on Climate Action Figures. They discuss a QuickFix from Roger in Calgary about writing to companies as an investor, and Carter’s view that civic engagement with MPs/MLAs and corporations matters. Carter explains the Center for Global Education (CGE) and how it supports global climate education and youth participation. He shares highlights from attending COP30 in Belém, Brazil with CGE, including meeting Canada’s environment minister and interviewing a UNFCCC official, while criticizing limited youth access to negotiations and the presence of oil lobbyists. Carter describes nature-based AP Seminar education, learning from Syilx/Okanagan elders and 13-moon calendars, his political aspirations, and his personal climate action of eating less meat, using beans and chickpeas. He draws hope from 13-year-old UNICEF advocate Prasiddhi Singh. 00:00 Meet Carter 00:28 QuickFix Letters 01:46 CGE Climate Education 02:55 COP 30 Highlights 03:49 Youth Voices At COP 06:27 Fixing The COP Process 07:26 Nature Based Learning 09:28 Vitamin N Connection 11:16 Politics And Diplomacy Goals 15:00 BC Resource Tensions 16:21 Indigenous Wisdom 18:01 Food And Climate Action 19:15 Hope From Youth Leaders 20:26 Closing And Farewell https://corporateknights.com/climate-and-carbon/carbon-tax-crusader/ https://cgeducation.org/ climateactionfigures@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/climateactionfigures https://www.instagram.com/climateactionfigures/ https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateActionFigures

    22 min

  7. Mar 24

    Season 3, Episode 20: Chris

    In Season 3, Episode 20 of Climate Action Figures, host John Whidden welcomes Chris from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and shares a QuickFix from Shaurya recommending the Outrage and Optimism podcast for hopeful climate conversations. Chris explains CPAWS’s conservation advocacy and public engagement, then details CPAWS Southern Alberta’s Youth Conservation Collective (YCC), a program for 15 to 18-year-olds that supports marginalized youth and others with environmental passion through mentorship, networking, field trips, and youth-led conservation projects tied to CPAWS campaigns (e.g., coal mining impacts on waterways and trout, sustainable forestry and stewardship). YCC is funded primarily by Environment and Climate Change Canada. Chris cites Steve Irwin as an inspiration, encourages writing MLAs/MPs as climate action, and finds hope in building community, especially through YCC. 00:00 Welcome and QuickFix 01:23 Why CPAWS Matters 03:03 Youth Conservation Collective 04:00 Who Can Join 05:09 Mentors and Matching 05:56 Apply and Program Flow 07:18 Projects and Campaigns 09:09 Time Commitment 10:47 Year One Highlights 12:28 Building Conservation Community 13:18 Funding the Program 14:09 Chris Inspirations 15:17 Climate Action and Hope 17:12 Closing Thanks https://www.youtube.com/c/outrageandoptimism https://cpaws.org/ https://cpaws-southernalberta.org/education/youth-experiences/youth-conservation-collective/ climateactionfigures@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/climateactionfigures https://www.instagram.com/climateactionfigures/ https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateActionFigures

    18 min

  8. Mar 17

    Season 3, Episode 19: Willow

    Climate Action Figures celebrates passing 2,500 podcast downloads, sharing a listener QuickFix from Linda in Indio, California about switching from plastic reusable bottles to aluminum, and discuss recycling energy savings. They interview grade 12 student Willow McGrath from St. John, New Brunswick, who describes how nature and camp shaped her environmental passion and her work leading Earth Ed Experiential Learning. Willow explains receiving a $3,000 Ocean Wise grant to run environmental education visits in local elementary schools, add green spaces like planters and an outdoor classroom, and create a 10-poster campaign with youth artists across Canada. She recounts representing youth at conferences, including Ottawa’s National Forum for Environmental Learning and the World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, where youth co-wrote the Global Children’s Call to Action. Willow shares concerns about an AI data center proposed on wetlands, AI’s impacts on learning and energy use, her birch-tree magnetic field research, plans to study environmental science, her love of houseplants, and hope from like-minded communities. 00:00 Welcome and Milestone 00:42 QuickFix Aluminum Swap 01:45 Willow’s Nature Roots 02:45 Camp and Earth Ed 04:13 Ocean Wise School Program 07:02 Conferences and Youth Voice 10:04 AI Data Centers Concerns 13:24 Staying Balanced and Research 15:45 Future Career in Conservation 16:44 Plant Mom Climate Action 17:57 Hope and Closing Thanks climateactionfigures@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/climateactionfigures https://www.instagram.com/climateactionfigures/ https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateActionFigures

    20 min
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About

A safe place for youth to share steps they are taking to mitigate climate change.

Information

  • Creator
    John Whidden
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    80
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Climate Action Figures
  • Show Website
    Climate Action Figures