Good Energy Podcast: Episode 4 – Barbies, Penguins and Kittens?

Mallory Whitfield

Barbies, Penguins and kittens? Yep, you heard that right. On today’s episode of ADT Solar’s Good Energy Podcast, we’re going to be covering it all. Hi I’m your host Mallory Whitfield and on today’s show, my co-host Daren and I are going to be talking about the environmental impact of Barbies. I’ll be chatting with Penguin expert Dyan Dinapoli about her role in the rescue. Efforts of more. 40,000 Penguins from an oil spill. And our very own Shay Thomas will join me along with a special adorable furry friend to talk about some eco tips for pet parents. So let’s dive right in.

Daren Wang

Hey, Mallory, what’s up?

Mallory Whitfield

Hey, Daren, it’s good to see you again.

Daren Wang

It’s good to see you. You ready to Talk about some good energy.

Mallory Whitfield

Of course, as always, some renewable energy, some tech news, all that good stuff. What you got for me this week?

Daren Wang

So I want to talk about Fervo Energy and this remarkable breakthrough in in geothermal technology. It’s all right now, actually. Can we talk about Barbie?

Mallory Whitfield

Barbie, like the movie that. Everybody’s been talking about?

Daren Wang

Well, I mean, come on, I I don’t have any. I don’t have a pink shirt on, but I kind of. Want to have a pink shirt? On right now, yeah, I mean, let’s let’s, let’s talk. A little bit about Barbie.

Mallory Whitfield

OK, but how is Barbie related to the Good energy podcast?

Daren Wang

I mean, who has better energy than Barbie?

Mallory Whitfield

Well, yeah. But sustainability wise, like I don’t see the connection.

Daren Wang

OK. Well, OK, I’m going to be a little bit of a downer here because…

Mallory Whitfield

Good energy, Daren. Good energy.

Daren Wang

So Barbie Barbie has a sustainability problem and I want to talk a little bit about that. So you know they sell over 60 million Barbies every year and…

Mallory Whitfield

Yeah, Daren, every girl knows that people play with Barbies like it’s very popular.

Daren Wang

And each one of those adds up to 660 grams of carbon emissions. Each of those those Barbies. And in fact, toys are the most plastic intensive consumer good in the world.

Mallory Whitfield

I mean, yeah, there’s a whole patch of garbage full of plastic in the Pacific Ocean. I Mean it’s a problem.

Daren Wang

Yeah. And you know. One of the things I say is that. I just saw that I I just saw this report that in seven years emissions from plastics are going to surpass the emissions from fossil fuel energy generation.

Mallory Whitfield

So you’re saying Barbie is terrible?

Daren Wang

I’m saying that Barbie has a problem, but we should. There are ways to deal with this, don’t you think?

Mallory Whitfield

I heard a report that Barbie and Mattel in general were aiming to replace a lot of these plastics with bioplastics and recyclable plastics and things like that. Right? So they’re….

Daren Wang

…Trying and in fact I do know that in 2019 Barbie manufacturer made a made a pledge that by 2030 of their products would be recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastics which is a really worthwhile goal to have. At this point, they’re now sourcing 93% of their paper and wood fiber for the packaging from recycled or Forest Stewart Council products, so you know they’re making some real efforts and and they have several lines of of toys that are made from recycled plastic. So you know, there’s some efforts and one of the things about Barbies and and toys in general, I mean the thing recycling them in general is it is a challenge because they’re seldom just one thing. There’s electronics, there’s metal and all that. And breaking those down into component parts makes them pretty much unrecyclable.

Mallory Whitfield

But you know what? Many Barbies get handed down for generations? Like when I was a kid growing up, I played with my mom’s Barbies from, like, the 60s, and I’m pretty sure my 10-year-old niece still has some of. Those same barbies.

Daren Wang

See, that’s the best recycling. That is the best recycling is to have those kind of goods reused over and over again. I mean not only is it sentimental, right? I mean, it’s wonderful that you’ve played with your mom’s dolls, but it’s also, the idea that plastic doll made in 1967 sees a whole new life and then another generation of life with your your nieces. That’s fantastic.

Mallory Whitfield

And, you know, Barbies have been inspiring girls and kids and women for generations now, right? Like I think I’ve read that one of the early Barbie jobs. You know how there is, like, hundreds of all these different types of Barbies, and they all have different roles and professions. One of the earliest ones was an astronaut before we even set foot on the moon.

Daren Wang

It’s, it’s fantastic, it’s fantastic. You know, I was, I. I noticed the other day that they have an eco leadership team set of Barbies and they include a conservation scientist, Chief Sustainability Officer and environmental advocate with the picket sign. I love the picket sign. But my favorite is they have a renewable energy engineer Barbie, who also happens to have a couple of solar panels with her.

Mallory Whitfield

So that Barbie can come work for ADT Solar, right?

Daren Wang

Yeah, she’s a solar installer. I mean, what’s better than that. We can, we can. We can have Barbie as a coworker.

Mallory Whitfield

Well, and I know that there’s a Jane Goodall Barbie, which is amazing and inspiring, right? The environmentalist, you know, conservationist Jane Goodall.

Daren Wang

And I would I I have to point out that Jane Goodall is 100% recycled plastic. Gotta love that.

Mallory Whitfield

And you know. Another Barbie that I heard about was a polar marine biologist Barbie who was in a collaboration with National Geographic. She comes with a Penguin, which actually brings me to the guests that would be speaking to Dyan diNapoli, who is the Penguin lady. She’s a Penguin expert, just like this Barbie.

Daren Wang

That’s fantastic. So let’s hear from polar marine biologist Dyan.

Mallory Whitfield

Hi, welcome to our amazing guest, Diane diNapoli. Thanks for joining. Us thanks for having me. So you are a Penguin expert, right? You’ve done multiple Ted X talks about penguins used to work for the very prestigious New England Aquarium in Boston. And you’ve written a couple books that I can see behind you, a children’s book about penguins and the great penguin rescue, which tells the story of a very amazing large scale penguin rescue that you were involved with. Can you tell us a little bit about that story?

Dyan diNapoli

Sure. So the Cliff notes version of that is that in the summer of 2000, a ship named the Treasure sank off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, and 20,000 African penguins were covered with oil. And I was a member of the first team of penguin experts to fly there from the United States to help train and supervise this massive group of volunteers. Twelve and a half thousand of them and all who had no experience doing anything like this. And they were extraordinary. And in the end, 95% of those 20,000 oiled penguins were saved and released back into the wild. And it was the world’s largest and most successful animal rescue ever undertaken, and still stands as such to this day. And those volunteers are the true heroes of this rescue effort.

Mallory Whitfield

Wow, that’s amazing. And you mentioned that the penguins, it was an oil spill and that’s the reason that they had to be rescued and rehabilitated. Can you share a little bit more about how oil spills and our use of fossil fuels is really affecting wildlife like penguins?

Dyan diNapoli

Our use of fossil fuels is impacting penguins in a major, major way. There are 18 or 19 penguin species, depending on which scientists you talk to, 13 or 14 of those are listed as threatened, near-threatened, or endangered, and the number one threat to all penguins today is climate change, global warming. And the number two threat is overfishing. And so basically all of the threats are anthropogenic or human caused in. Facts and so global warming or climate change is impacting different penguin species in different ways, but generally the the biggest impact is the making it harder for them to find food for various reasons. For example, in Antarctica with the emperor penguin. Or not the emperor, I’m sorry, the other three species there: the chinstrap, the gentoo and adalie. Their primary food source is krill. And that krill grows, essentially their nursery is the under surface of the ice. So if there’s less ice, there’s less krill production, less food for the penguins to eat, and because of global warming, there is less ice in Antarctica than there used to be. So that’s just one of the many examples of how climate change is impacting penguins.

Mallory Whitfield

And you mentioned in Arctica and I know in your most recent Ted talk you talked about how there’s actually, rain in Antarctica right? Which wasn’t a thing before. Can you talk more about that and how that’s affecting the?

Dyan diNapoli

Yeah. So my first trip to Antarctica, I’ve been four times now, and the first time was in 2009. And when you go as a tourist, I was going as a lecturer on a ship that was bringing tourists there. And three of my four trips have been that and when you’re doing that, you’re going to the Antarctic peninsula. You’re not going to the interior where the researchers go. So you’re on the peninsula, where three of the four Penguin species, the three I just mentioned live and breed and raise their young and until maybe 50 years ago it was extremely rare to see rain on the Antarctic Peninsula, and I didn’t know when I went in 2009 that there was ever rain in Antarctica and I remember our last stop was at Port Lucroy and there. Was all these little, tiny Gentoo penguin chicks and at that point they’re covered with this fluffy down and they can’t waterproof. That down and they were just, it was raining and they were shivering because they were wet and cold, but they were too large to get underneath their parents for protection and warmth. And I just remember standing there being so shocked. That I’m in Antarctica and it’s raining. And look how it’s impacting this entire colony of chicks. And so between 2009 and now there’s been an increase in the intensity and the frequency of rain on the peninsula and that’s predicted to keep increasing unless we really do something about reversing climate change.

Mallory Whitfield

Yeah, that’s so heartbreaking to imagine those little baby penguins just shivering because of the rain and the rain. I mean, that had never even occurred to me. It makes total sense. But I heard you say that in the Tedx. That’s one of those very visible effects of climate change, yeah.

Dyan diNapoli

Well, there was another incident too. Just in the last couple of years of an Adelie Penguin colony where in two seasons they had these huge downpours over the period of just a couple of days. And in those two recent breeding seasons in this one particular adelie Penguin colony in East Antarctica, out of 80,000 chicks that were born, 2 chicks survived. And that’s because of these heavy rains, yeah.

Mallory Whitfield

Oh my gosh. Yeah. So what can we as individuals do to help? You know, like, I mean, there’s so many things with climate change, but like with the Penguin specifically, are there specific things that we can do in our own lives to try to take action, to try to help reverse or at least, like, stop this situation?

Dyan diNapoli

You know it’s. People ask that a lot and I think if we can each, there’s so many little things and of course a lot of this is at the corporate level and the industrial level. But as individuals, we also can make a difference through our own actions. And so I always recommend that. People will go and find one of those online carbon footprint calculators and you can figure out how much carbon when I’m putting into the environment every year and those calculators usually come along with a guideline of here’s some tips and things you can do to reduce your output and your impact, and so I always recommend starting there because I think we all can make a difference in our daily lives. I think people tend to think well, I’m just one person. What difference can I make? But when we come together and work as one, we can achieve extraordinary things and the Treasure oil spill rescue was an example of that. All the experts in the world weren’t enough of us to save those Penguins alone. But because all these volunteers came from all over the world, we achieved this incredible result and I extrapolate that. I think it’s very similar. And if people want to do something very specifically to help the the Penguins on my website thepenguinlady.com, there’s a help penguins button. And if you click on donate, it brings up a list of all the penguin rescue research and conservation groups throughout the Southern hemisphere, and you can very Direct your money and your support to specific species or specific area if you like, and that’s helping them as well. And then one other really cool project that kids and adults can enjoy is if you go to penguinwatch.org. There’s all these cameras set up in colonies throughout the Antarctic region, and every time I go I find find them. I take pictures. Of them and they just are constantly taking photos and you can go to penguinwatch.org and volunteer to count the number of Penguin adults and chicks and eggs in each photo. And the purpose of this whole project is to monitor. The impact of climate change on Penguins in this region in Antarctica, so you’re helping the scientists collect their data and helping them do their.

Mallory Whitfield

That sounds like such a great idea, especially for families to get involved with the kids. And speaking of kids, can you just remind I know you mentioned your website, but where can we find your books, your children’s book, and your other book?

Dyan diNapoli

So All About Penguins is the kids book, and it is beautifully illustrated by Rav Schuell, you can get them on any online stores, Amazon or you can order them. You know, you can ask your local bookstore to order. For you. But yeah, pretty much there. I’ve seen them target and Walmart and the the typical online stores you. Can find them.

Mallory Whitfield

Well, cool. Is there anywhere else we can connect with you online and learn more about your? Work other than your website.

Dyan diNapoli

Well, I have my Ted X talks are all on. If you go to YouTube, you can look up. There’s five now plus my Ted Ed video for Penguin concert. Vision for kids and those are short animated videos that are designed as sort of a jumping off point for lessons in the classroom. And there’s a huge library of them. So for any teachers or parents, if you have a child who’s really interested in learning a little bit about something, the Ted Ed Video library is phenomenal. And so. So I’m on Ted. With talk about Penguin conservation for kids and then the five Ted X videos you can find on YouTube and some of them are actually on the main Ted website as well.

Mallory Whitfield

Well, awesome. Thank you. So. Much for sharing your knowledge with us and for helping to help the Penguins, we really appreciate it, Diane.

Dyan diNapoli

Well, thank you. Thank you for having me on and helping me help them.

Mallory Whitfield

Next up, we’re talking with ADT Solars own Shae Thomas, where you can make a difference a look at some of the actions you can take today to make things better for all of us. Shay is a senior designer for ADT Solar, but it’s her passion for all things sustainable that really makes me want to talk with her. Hi, Shae. I see you have a furry friend. We’ve actually been talking about animals this whole episode and I thought that you might have some great eco tips for pet owners to share with us.

Shae Thomas

Today, yes, absolutely. I’m here with Misty right now and we’ve got a couple eco pet practices that you can definitely keep in mind moving forward with your fur friends. Number one on our list is don’t over buy. It can be really tempting to get a lot of different items for your favorite fur friends, but make sure that when you’re buying things, you’re selecting things that are made with healthier materials and if you need to buy some items in bulk, make sure to pick items that make sense to buy in bulk.

A second item to consider is overfeeding. Yes, they’re really cute. And yes, we always want to give them treats, but it can help to avoid weight-related illnesses when we consider making sure that we keep our pets on their diet. Also in the industry of agriculture, there’s a huge eco impact with how food production is done in the pet industry.

Number three on our list is going to be reuse items, so your cat litter your packaging and your food bags and things can be used for a number of different seconds, practices and items. So whenever you can reuse them, go ahead and do so. But also when you’re purchasing things, look for products that come in upcycled options. Or even consider buying items.

Four on our list is buying local. It’s something that only helps the local economy, but also a lot of times local items use less transportation and less packaging too. And finally, when we get to the nitty gritty, buying biodegradable products like your poop bags and your cat litter will help to not only give you options to get rid of the waste in a way that makes sense for you, but also in a way that’s a little bit better for the environment as well.

But a final note, if you don’t currently have a furry friend and you’re considering getting one, definitely consider adopting. There’s a ton of shelters all around the country that are looking for forever homes for a lot of these fur babies, so definitely check them out.

Mallory Whitfield

Yes, always adopt, don’t shop whenever possible. Thank you so much, Shae.

Shae Thomas

Thank you.

Mallory Whitfield

That’s it for good energy this month. If you’d like to learn more about solar and what’s going on in the world of clean energy, check out our blog@adtsolar.com for everyone here at good energy. I’m Mallory Whitfield. We’ll see you next time. For now, keep the sunny side up. This podcast is being made available for educational purposes only. The information contained herein should not be construed as an offering of professional advice or an offer to sell or solicitation to buy any products or services. This podcast is the sole property of ADT Solar and may not be reproduced. Or posted without the prior written consent of ADT Solar. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the thoughts or opinions of ADT or our.