158: Dee Caffari, part 1: Turning the Tide on Plastic

March 19, 2019 by Joshua
in Podcast

For context for today’s guest, those who know I’m avoiding flying might also know I’m learning to sail to explore off North America. When considering acting on their values, most people focus on the part they like of what they’re stopping. They don’t seem to have trouble ignoring undesired side-effects, like the pollution flying causes.

Sailing and the other things I’ve replaced flying with have given far more than I could have predicted at a fraction what I used to spend on flying. Among its many benefits is the sailing community.

In that community, today’s guest, Dee Caffari, is off the charts. Once a school teacher, she started sailing to world-athlete levels. Now the international sailing community calls her a legend. Watch her videos. They look like they’re from movies but they’re her life, which she describes in our conversation.

She’s gone around the world in both directions, won races, led teams, been named an MBE. She shares her experiences, since sailing spans calm sunsets to life-and-death struggles with forces that can level cities. Her global vision has also revealed to her the growth in plastic, global warming effects, and other environmental problems. She works actively to reduce her personal impact and others’.

With the level of change in everyone’s lives to reverse the effects we’ve had on the earth, I find the magnitude of her change and how much she loves it refreshing. Most people act like the smallest change is too much. They want to learn how to keep doing what they’re doing and still feel like they’re changing.

Read the transcript.

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