Climate Check: Stories and Solutions

Our host Audrey is joined by Madeleine MacGillivray, Climate Justice Lead at Seeding Sovereignty, to discuss the health impacts of microplastics, why recycling isn't enough, and how New York's Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA) could transform the way we deal with plastic waste. We also explore the power of hyperlocal civic action, building stronger communities, and share practical tips for Plastic-Free July.

DISCLAIMER: This episode was recorded before the adjournment of the 2026 New York State legislative session in June and makes reference to New York’s Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA), which failed to advance through the State Assembly before the legislative session ended.

Resources: 

• About Madeleine: https://www.madeleinemacgillivray.com/about

• IG: @madeleinemacgillivray 

• About Seeding Sovereignty: https://seedingsovereignty.org/

• IG: @seedingsovereignty

• Seeding Sovereignty’s Community Action Portal: https://seedingsovereignty.org/cap-landing-page

About PRRIA: 

• Senate Bill S1464A: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S1464/amendment/A

• Beyond Plastics: https://www.beyondplastics.org/nys-packaging-reduction

• Beyond Plastics Report on Lobbying: https://www.beyondplastics.org/publications/prria-lobbying

• Beyond Plastics Report on Cost Savings: https://www.beyondplastics.org/press-releases/ny-packaging-reduction-save-400-million

‘Skip the Stuff’ Bill:

• Climate Check Podcast Episode: https://350brooklyn.org/podcast/june-2023-skip-the-stuff-no-more-plastic-take-out-waste/

Studies of Health Impacts of Microplastics:

• Study of Microplastics in the Heart: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822

• Study of Microplastics from Tea Bags: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b02540 
• Microplastics from Disposable Coffee Cups: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/to-go-coffee-cups-release-microplastics-study#What-influences-release-of-microplastics 

• Microplastics from Textiles: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/microplastics-from-textiles-towards-a-circular-economy-for-textiles-in-europe 

Our host Audrey is joined by Alex Beauchamp, Northern Region Director at Food and Water Watch. Food & Water Watch fights for the safe and healthy food, clean water, and livable climate we all deserve. 

In this episode, Alex talks about the proposed bill to ban mega-dairies in New York State. Alex brings us through the issues with mega-dairies, what the bill would do, and what it's going to take to pass it.

Based in Michigan, Alex oversees all Food and Water Watch's organizing work throughout the region with a particular focus on New York. Alex started as an organizer with Food & Water Watch 17 years ago and has served as the Region Director since 2012. He has led the New York team to victories in winning a statewide ban on fracking, a cryptocurrency mining moratorium, a landmark gas ban in New York City, and shutting down the Danskammer and Astoria NRG fracked gas power plants and defeated several fracked gas pipelines proposed throughout New York.

Resources:

• Read the bill and track its progress: Senate Bill S6530
  
• Tool to tell your legislator to support the bill
• Food & Water Watch Website
  
• Food & Water Watch Factory Farm Nation Report
• Food & Water Watch Farm vs Factory Interactive Resource

Our host Audrey is joined by Katherine Alford, Co‑facilitator of Third Act NYC — a member organization of folks aged 60+ dedicated to protecting our planet and our democracy. Third Act NYC has collaborated on major climate actions including the September 2023 Climate March, Summer of Heat, the Albany Teach‑in for the Superfund Act, and Sun Day.

In this episode, Katherine explains why distributed solar is one of the most affordable and empowering climate solutions for New Yorkers, and walks us through the process of getting legislation passed in Albany. Along the way, she reflects on intergenerational organizing, the role of storytelling in policy work, and the personal experiences that fuel her commitment to climate justice.

Katherine’s “second act” included a celebrated career in food — as a 4‑star chef, Greenmarket Manager, and Director of Peter Kump’s Cooking School (now the Institute of Culinary Education). She spent 20 years working at the Food Network and is the coauthor of the activist cookbook, "Rage Baking: The Transformative Power of Flour, Fury, and Women’s Voices".

Third Act NYC Resources:

• Third Act NYC Website: https://thirdact.org/nyc/
• Webpage about Climate Policies: Third Act Advocates for New York State Climate Policies
• Video Explainers about Solar Energy & the NY Power Grid: https://thirdact.org/upstate-ny/2026/02/17/solar-energy-the-ny-power-grid-with-prof-richard-perez/

ASAP Act:

• Senate Bill S6570A: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S6570/amendment/A
• Assembly Bill A8758A: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A8758/amendment/A
• Study on $1B savings by Synapse Energy Economics for the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_7B7gHlzZ7QlEewtJ-X_QfRQtDyNvf-J/view
• From Third Act NYC: NY’s ASAP Act – Accelerate Solar for Affordable Power
• ASAP One-Pager: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1em5EqCk6IW4wyTs0SQjUKuQCUevryMU7/view

SUNNY Act:

• Senate Bill S8512A: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S8512/amendment/A
• Assembly Bill A9111A: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A9111/amendment/A
• From Third Act NYC: Plug-in Solar – The SUNNY Act
• SUNNY Two-Pager: https://www.canva.com/design/DAHDjum5o30/r4FrP_GioEHEisFchfO0vw/edit

Solar Permitting:

• Senate Bill S5781A: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S5781/amendment/A
• Assembly Bill A6270A: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A6270/amendment/A

NYS 2019 Climate Law:

• Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (CLCPA): https://climate.ny.gov/
• Senate Bill S6599: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/S6599

Our host Audrey is joined by Jodi Smits Anderson. Jodi is a subject matter guide (SMG) and collaborative leader with deep experience in embodied carbon, energy codes, the AIA Framework for Design Excellence, and identifying the synergies between the false silos we have created in her industry. She is the Founder and CCDD of 2bGreener, LLC, consulting on and offering education, integration of sustainability into business practices, and inspiration through connective and engaging presentations. Sustainability, resilience, health, equity, joy, education, justice and Nature are all linked, and recognizing this and thinking in this way changes everything for the better. Jodi is a Fellow of the AIA, has spoken nationally at Living Futures, USGBC’s Greenbuild, NACUBO, DesignWell, and NESEA conferences. She also has a blog-site, and has been a co-host of @DiscoverSustainability on YouTube offering 70 inspiring interview sessions. Jodi is a co-founder of the Albany Riverfront Collaborative seeking to heal the infrastructure and community damages of the past in Albany, NY, and has taught Systems Thinking and Professional Practice at SUNY ESF and RPI respectively. Jodi’s passion for this work is, frankly, that it is more fun to work with great people and more joyful to learn and evolve that work over time. And we have so very much work to do!

• Previous Climate Check Episode on Local Law 97
• 2bgreener Website
• Urban Green Council & Local Law 97
• Northeast Sustainable Energy Association Website
• Old Blood and Strong Language Blog Post

Our host Audrey is joined by Erika Jozwiak and Katie Zwick, admin members of North Brooklyn Mutual Aid.

North Brooklyn Mutual Aid is an entirely volunteer-run collective of neighbors helping neighbors and working to create a more equitable neighborhood. Their efforts began with a focus on access to food and medical supplies during the pandemic, partnering with local food pantries and soup kitchens, housing complexes and cooperatives, senior centers, and hospitals.

• North Brooklyn Mutual Aid Website
• North Brooklyn Mutual Aid Community Initiatives

Our host Eva is joined by Dr. Anton Seimon, climate scientist. From a home base in the Hudson Valley, Anton leads research programs on diverse themes in the atmospheric and environmental sciences.  Current projects include classifying a new type of windstorm and developing warning systems for it, monitoring climate change impacts in alpine watersheds of the tropical Andes, and mapping surface airflow of high-intensity tornadoes. For the National Center for Atmospheric Research, he serves on the steering committee of the Community Climate Intervention Strategies group, which works to develop interdisciplinary research on climate interventions – technologies to reverse climate change – to achieve a sustainable climate. A National Geographic Explorer and six-time grantee, Anton is active in science education, developing content for the Society’s education, television, print and web media, and also served a juror for the New York WILD Film Festival. And for the graduate program in Environmental Policy at Bard College, he strives to make global climate change understandable in Hudson Valley contexts in his climate science classroom. 

• Anton’s National Geographic page

Our host Eva is joined by Abby Jordan, Climate Education Program Manager at the National Wildlife Federation. Abby Jordan is a Brooklyn native, the daughter of immigrants from El Salvador who settled in Brighton Beach. She was an Environmental Fellow at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and Climate School, where she earned her Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy (MPA-ESP). Abby has extensive field science education and environmental stewardship experience. Having lived through the devastation of Hurricane Sandy when she was 18, Abby is deeply passionate about climate education and coastal resilience.

Through volunteering, she started to heal her trauma from the storm, helping build oyster reefs with the Billion Oyster Project, planting beach grass to fortify sand dunes with RiSC, and running emergency preparedness workshops with NYCEM.  She is currently the Climate Education Program Manager at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), helping to run their NYC & NYS climate science education programs for high school and middle school students. Fun Fact: She is an avid open-water swimmer and free diver who loves swimming in the ocean all year.

• Resilient Schools and Communities (RiSC)
• Program Climate & Resilience Education Task Force Youth Steering Committee (CRETF YSC)
• Documentary: "Where It Floods: Planting Hope in Coney Island"

Brynn is joined by Julie Raskin, Executive Director of the Sanitation Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of New York City’s Department of Sanitation. We all touch trash every day, but do you know what happens after you put it in the bin?

Julie explains how our waste is actually full of valuable resources that can save energy and money if properly sorted and processed. Educating everyone from toddlers to large businesses about NYC’s climate champions in uniform is the mission of her team. Listen to fascinating anecdotes about truck routing, waste audits, free Yankees tickets, and yes...rats.

●     Sanitation Foundation https://www.sanitationfoundation.org/

●     DSNY https://www.nyc.gov/site/dsny/

●     Trash Academy https://academy.sanitationfoundation.org/

●     Annual waste characterization https://www.nyc.gov/site/dsny/resources/statistics/total-annual-collection-diversion.page

●     Youth Education Team https://www.sanitationfoundation.org/youth-education

●     Food Waste Fair https://www.sanitationfoundation.org/fwf

●     Big Spring Clean https://www.sanitationfoundation.org/nyc-big-spring-clean

●     Summer Sports Clean Up https://www.sanitationfoundation.org/upcoming-events/2024-bronx-series-yankee-stadium

●     Adopt Your Spot https://www.sanitationfoundation.org/adopt-your-spot-nyc

●     C is for Compost https://form.jotform.com/243037900359153

●     Employee Engagement https://www.sanitationfoundation.org/corporate-membership-copy

●     311 complaint line if landlord notcomposting https://portal.311.nyc.gov/sr-step/?id=010817c7-4a2d-f011-9d48-7c1e529c7bcd&stepid=6244a302-8d58-e811-a836-000d3a33b56b

●     Smart Compost Bins https://www.nyc.gov/site/dsny/collection/residents/food-scrap-drop-off.page

●     Follow Your Waste game https://www.followyourwaste.nyc/

Audrey is joined by Jaqi Cohen, Director of Climate and equity Policy at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. TSTC advocates for increased mobility in the greater NYC region. Its priorities are expanding public transit, creating safer streets, transitioning away from fossil fuels, and fighting for equitable funding of transportation projects. Their approach is talking to communities to learn about the history of the neighborhood and what its residents’ needs are. Jaqi’s time at TSTC began when the pandemic decimated ridership and is currently in the exciting infancy of congestion pricing, two unprecedented milestones in transit. 

●     TSTC https://tstc.org/

●     TSTC gala on May 9th, 2025 https://tstc.org/gala2025/

●     NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign https://www.nypirg.org/straphangers/

●     New York State Transportation Equity Alliance https://nystea.net/

●     Congestion Relief Zone https://congestionreliefzone.mta.info/

●     Cross Bronx Expressway project https://www.crossbronx.info/

●     Bronx River Alliance https://bronxriver.org/

●    Transportation Alternatives https://transalt.org/

●    Riders Alliance https://www.ridersalliance.org/

Our host Eva is joined by Rachel Coyle, Coalition Organizing Fellow at NY Renews. Rachel is a climate advocate and activist based in NYC. She holds a bachelor's degree from Fordham University and, prior to joining NY Renews has worked as a sustainability consultant supporting businesses with carbon accounting and decarbonization efforts and as a community organizer for climate & housing justice issues in Harlem with WE ACT for Environmental Justice.

NY Renews website: https://www.nyrenews.org/

NY Renews Mailing List: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/join-us-to-fight-for-climate-jobs-and-justice

NY Renews Fund Climate Campaign: https://www.nyrenews.org/fcc

New York City Environmental Justice Alliance Report on Affordability of Cap-and-Invest: https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/analyzing-affordability-supporting-households-under-new-yorks-cap-trade-and-invest-policy/

WE ACT Climate Justice Working Group: https://www.weact.org/home-3-2-2-2/getinvolved/membership/cjwg/