Doorae Shin fell in love with Hawai‘i as a freshman at the University of Hawaii’s Mānoa campus on O‘ahu. The state’s majestic mountains and breathtaking coasts captivated the East Coast

Doorae Shin fell in love with Hawai‘i as a freshman at the University of Hawaii’s Mānoa campus on O‘ahu. The state’s majestic mountains and breathtaking coasts captivated the East Coast native. But while walking through campus and around the island she noticed EPS foam (better known as Styrofoam) food packaging littering the streets and sidewalks. Shin soon learned about the devastating impact Styrofoam debris has on marine ecosystems. In the fall of 2012, with help from the Surfrider Foundation, Shin led a group of students on a petition drive calling for a ban on Styrofoam products on campus. The petition gathered 1,000 signatures and the university passed a resolution banning single-use foam packaging from all campus dining locations. Following this victory, Shin spent two years campaigning to get the state to ban Styrofoam products. When the initiative failed, she joined an effort pushing a county bill to ban Styrofoam on O‘ahu, which is also home to the state capital. Shin will soon start working as the first student sustainability coordinator for the University of Hawai‘i system.

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Why generational pressure is the key to climate change policy? Watch Dan Esty on Big Think New videos DAILY: https://bigth.ink/youtube Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos:

Why generational pressure is the key to climate change policy? Watch Dan Esty on Big Think New videos DAILY: https://bigth.ink/youtube Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos: https://bigth.ink/Edge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAN ESTY Daniel C. Esty is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the Yale Law School. Known for his innovative policy ideas and commitment to transformative change, Dan served as head of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection from 2011 to 2014. He is the editor of "A Better Planet: 40 Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future." Purchase "A Better Planet: Forty Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future" here: https://bigth.ink/Esty ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSCRIPT: The key to progress on environment broadly and on climate change in particular is to change values. I think this has to be understood as in some regards an ethical issue, a moral issue and one has to see it as a wrong to contaminate the planet and to put at risk the future of humanity on the planet. And I think that change is coming and curiously but perhaps not really surprisingly it is coming from young people much more from the generation that’s currently in positions of leadership. Greta and other young people are out there saying to the leaders and political positions of power not only in the United States but across the world step up. You need to do more. And I think we have seen again and again that transformational change is often driven by generational change. And I think it’s almost certainly going to be true on climate change. Fifty years ago if we’d had this interview I’d probably be smoking or maybe smoking a pipe as a professor. That’s so unacceptable now you don’t even have to tell me that I can’t come in and light up a cigarette. Norms have changed. Values have changed. We know now that that’s completely unacceptable and a threat to public health. And I think we’re starting to get there on climate change. Things that might have in the past seemed normal, acceptable, even if they seemed a little bad, a little bit of harm are increasingly totally unacceptable and we therefore have I think the foundation for the kind of generational change and change in values that can really drive us more quickly towards climate change solutions. And in our Better Planet book there’s a really beautiful essay by one of the students at Yale, one of several student essays in this case by a guy named Paul Rink spelling out how young people in particular are starting to drive some of these court cases where they take on both the government and the big energy industry companies and say it’s up to you to make our future secure and you’re not doing the job you need to do. ABOUT BIG THINK: Smarter Faster™ Big Think is the leading source of expert-driven, actionable, educational content -- with thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, we help you get smarter, faster. S​ubscribe to learn from top minds like these daily. Get actionable lessons from the world’s greatest thinkers & doers. Our experts are either disrupting or leading their respective fields. ​We aim to help you explore the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century, so you can apply them to the questions and challenges in your own life. Other Frequent contributors include Michio Kaku & Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Michio Kaku Playlist: https://bigth.ink/kaku Bill Nye Playlist: https://bigth.ink/BillNye Neil DeGrasse Tyson Playlist: https://bigth.ink/deGrasseTyson Read more at Bigthink.com for a multitude of articles just as informative and satisfying as our videos. New articles posted daily on a range of intellectual topics. Join Big Think Edge, to gain access to an immense library of content. It features insight from many of the most celebrated and intelligent individuals in the world today. Topics on the platform are focused on: emotional intelligence, digital fluency, health and wellness, critical thinking, creativity, communication, career development, lifelong learning, management, problem solving & self-motivation. BIG THINK EDGE: https://bigth.ink/Edge If you're interested in licensing this or any other Big Think clip for commercial or private use, contact our licensing partner, Executive Interviews: https://bigth.ink/licensing ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Big Think here: 📰BigThink.com: https://bigth.ink 🧔Facebook: https://bigth.ink/facebook 🐦Twitter: https://bigth.ink/twitter 📸Instagram: https://bigth.ink/Instragram 📹YouTube: https://bigth.ink/youtube ✉ E-mail: info@bigthink.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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As weather patterns change, bringing stronger storms and droughts, we need to free more land to absorb flooding, recover hydrology and enhance natural systems to sequester CO2. Our automotive age

As weather patterns change, bringing stronger storms and droughts, we need to free more land to absorb flooding, recover hydrology and enhance natural systems to sequester CO2. Our automotive age has brought unprecedented mobility, at a steep cost. From extraction to tailpipe emissions, gas cars are an environmental disaster. To accommodate the car, whole #Ecosystems have been lost as paved surfaces cover soil and absorb heat. EVs will not change that. Add to that, the ¾ of arable land converted to animal agriculture - and we have a recipe for disaster. What can we do about it? Bill Selby, Emeritus Professor at Santa Monica College, Author, The California Skywatcher, Understanding #WeatherPatterns Paul Beckwith , Climate Scientist Dale Walkonen, Host https://www.heydaybooks.com/catalog/the-california-sky-watcher/ Edited by Michael Barba and Mike Coe Thumbnail, Eric Dehais For more information about #ClimateChange, visit the FacingFuture Library at https://facingfuture.earth/library.

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Pro-athletes are entertainers. Being healthy means something else. Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/c/bigthink Up Next ► Harvard professor debunks the biggest

Pro-athletes are entertainers. Being healthy means something else. Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/c/bigthink Up Next ► Harvard professor debunks the biggest exercise myths https://youtu.be/n6AwsVGJDOY There's a cost to keeping your body running. For every five breaths you take, one is paying for your brain, one is paying for your liver, and another is paying for your muscles.  On average, your body spends about 1,400 calories per day just keeping you alive, even if you're doing nothing else. This helps explain why we tend to avoid unnecessary physical activity.  For our ancestors, finding food could be incredibly difficult, so they didn't waste energy. Today, even though have energy sources ready at our fingertips, we still naturally protect how we spend that energy. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/explain-it-like-im-smart/physical-activity/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Daniel Lieberman: Daniel Lieberman is Edwin M. Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences and a professor of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He received degrees from Harvard and Cambridge, and taught at Rutgers University and George Washington University before joining Harvard University as a Professor in 2001. He is a member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Lieberman loves teaching and has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers, many in journals such as Nature, Science, and PNAS, as well as three popular books, The Evolution of the Human Head (2011), The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease (2013), and Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding (2020). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read more of our stories on physical activity: Do we really need to walk 10,000 steps a day? ► https://bigthink.com/health/10-000-steps-a-day/ This molecule may be the “secret sauce” of exercise — but it won’t work as a pill ► https://bigthink.com/health/lac-phe-exercise-pill/ Does sex count as exercise? Scientists describe the physical demands of intercourse ► https://bigthink.com/health/does-sex-count-as-exercise/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. ► Big Think+ Make your business smarter, faster: https://bigthink.com/plus/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want more Big Think? ► Daily editorial features: https://bigthink.com/popular/ ► Get the best of Big Think right to your inbox: https://bigthink.com/st/newsletter ► Facebook: https://bigth.ink/facebook ► Instagram: https://bigth.ink/Instagram ► Twitter: https://bigth.ink/twitter

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