Hope in Action: Reflections from the 2024 1% for the Planet Global Summit
We're thrilled to introduce our guest writer for this blog post. Erin Melton, Experience Momentum's Public Relations Manager and phenomenal Coach/Personal Trainer is here to talk about her first-hand experience at the 1% for the planet summit. We hope you enjoy this peek behind the curtain as she shares the experiences she had through her week in San Diego while addressing why it is important to find hope in climate action.
Hope with Action
In the final hour of the 2024 1% for the Planet Global Summit, Sean Willmore, Ranger and Founder of Thin Green Line brought the entire auditorium to tears of laughter, of grief, and summed the entire week up in one simple sentiment.
"F*ck Hope. F*ck hope on its own. Hope with action is where we get shit done."
Experience Momentum has been a 1% For the Planet company for 11 years, each year growing more educated, driven, and connected to others like us. I had the privilege of attending the 1% for the Planet Global Summit in San Diego this past month with other companies from around the world that also want to use their business and their voice to create a positive impact on the environment.
The summit kicked off with a fireside chat from Serge Dedina, founder of WildCoast. He gave us an overview of several decades of California coast conservation work and continued with a discussion on where they plan to channel their impact moving forward. This chat really set the tone for the week ahead (and so did the delicious wood fired pizza).
The following morning was started at Pure Project North Park for a yoga class that I taught for my fellow Summit attendees. Huge gratitude to everyone who came and started their day with me. The preciousness of time is not lost on me, it was a privilege to have an entrusted hour to positively impact your health and wellness. Massive thank you to Clove & Twine for donating the JadeYoga mats for my class and allowing us to donate them afterwards.
Erin teaching yoga to 1% for the planet summit attendees.
Later that day Mandy Curo's Ancestral Land Acknowledgement and Kumeyaay Song welcomed us to the Natural History Museum. The live instrumental work paired with whale sounds by Joshua Miller put anything meditative I said in my yoga class to shame.
Environmental Learning
Breakout panel talks on "Financial Levers for Lasting Impact" and Michelle Mayther and her team's discussion on "Expanding Your Reach" made me rethink areas of our economy that impact climate change. I was left analyzing the structures that contribute to or fight climate issues. I was ideating on how to keep a keener eye on policy impacting the environment and how I can encourage others to look at these issues through the same analytical lens as me.
818 Tequila, Flickr, Patagonia Provisions, and Cell Signaling Technology had amazing keynote speakers. In some way they all touched on hope and growth, renewing my optimism that consumerism can continue to direct intention and funds towards philanthropy.
Closing out the summit with Thin Green Line's Sean Willmore and Constance Mwandaa, the first woman ranger in her village with Wildlife Works Kenya, was the most powerful hour yet. Learning what rangers go through, what conservation really looks like to protect wildlife from poachers, was an experience that I will not forget. It was inspiring to understand the passion and perseverance that fuels this work that is profoundly dangerous. Hearing about the unspeakable economic hardship that comes from the loss of these rangers, was painful to bear witness to, but ultimately amazingly impactful. In many countries caring about the environment, its creatures and its future, means putting your life on the line every day. I encourage you to read more about the work that Thin Green Line does so we can continue to learn and take inspiration from their passion and conscience driven mission.
Erin at the 1% for the planet global summit
Gratitude for 1% for the Planet
1% For the Planet Founder Kate Williams sent us off with a mission to share some gratitude for someone that impacted us that week. As Experience Momentum founder Shanon Tysland says, 'Carrying around gratitude and not sharing it is like carrying around a gift for someone and not giving it to them' so this was an easy task, and an important reminder.
I'm grateful for everyone at the conference, new friends and old, and the opportunity to learn from so many inspiring minds. I am grateful for 1% for the Planet for bringing us together in a time when so many companies are focused only on profit. I am grateful for the hope gained from so many optimistic voices that care about others and our giant shared home; but with that shared and strengthened hope comes responsibility.
So f*ck Hope. F*ck hope on it's own. Hope with action is where we get shit done.
Grateful to work for a company that follows hope with action; and grateful for the opportunity to share that with everyone that comes through our doors.Today, and every day afterwards- whatever that looks like.
We'll see you out there.
Follow us on Instagram @experiencemomentum to stay up to date on environmental initiatives and events!