Today is my first official blog post for Wild City Plants. While this project has been a long-developing idea, I've finally decided to move forward with it. As I continue working to set up my online presence, design/introduce new products, and conduct my research, I wanted to start sharing a bit about myself, why I'm doing this, and what I hope to accomplish.
First, let me introduce myself. I am in my late 20s, a transplant from Minnesota to Texas, and I have my B.A. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota. I have two cats and a dog, enjoy astronomy and gardening, and my favorite book - so far - is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. My favorite places to travel are the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) in Minnesota and the islands of Puerto Rico.
So, why did I start a business centered around climate change mitigation? I believe that we all need to begin using our energy toward the pursuit of a single purpose, which is to help avert our impending climate disaster. I believe this is the best way for me to help pursue that goal.
That said, I didn't start out here. I began my career advocating for better healthcare policy and saw the failures of America's healthcare system. I later moved into property management, where I saw ballooning rent rates and disparity for local communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I moved to Texas and began working in sales, where I came to learn about the wealth, influence, and shortsightedness of the Oil and Gas industry.
In each case, I wanted to help benefit my community, the environment, and our planet, but never felt like I was in the right place to do so. In some cases I even felt I was actively working against those desires. Eventually, I realized that while humanity has accomplished great things and created incredible marvels, we have backed ourselves into a corner by over-consuming the resources of our planet without responsibility.
In February of 2022 I came to a conclusion that I, and the rest of us, only have one viable option for the future. All of humanity, from the individual to the international conglomerate, must direct our energy to fixing our climate. It is not a matter of choice, but of need. And while we have a tendency to resort to fatalism, one only needs to look around our modern world to understand that with combined effort, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. It's what makes humans the dominant species on the planet: we can overcome any obstacle, once we confront it and focus our energy on it.
Nature has provided us with the source of our demise, and has also provided the source of our salvation. Plant life on our planet directly stores carbon from the atmosphere and can sequester it for millennia given the proper conditions. You can read about my research over on the research page once I begin putting out public information, but my intent is to scale up some of the smallest life in order to effect our climate on a macroscopic level.
Just as the actions of one can be multiplied by the many, so the too can the effects of a single organism when multiplied on a planetary scale. I look forward to starting this journey and seeing how Wild City Plants grows, and to seeing progress that is supported by all of us.