SF Bay Climate Tech: February 6 - February 12, 2023
Eggs and exercise in between conferences and clinks at climate happy hours!
Hi friends,
Start the week off in Hayes Valley at the Nature X Carbon meetup, or head to the Commonwealth Club on the Embarcadero for a talk on Housing as a Climate Lever with State Senator Scott Wiener. On Wednesday, head to Berkeley for with a panel and networking at the Haas School of Business on sustainable careers or find a new perspective at BAMPFA’s screening of the Karrabing Film Collective. If you’re in the South Bay, head to a talk on climate change in West San Jose from the Climate Reality Collective, or swing by the San Mateo Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission Meeting to get involved with local policy. On Thursday, head back to San Francisco for the USGBC Rising Leaders Committee Celebration and the Climate Tech Cocktails HH + Startup Showcase. Close out the weekend with yoga hosted by Bay Area Women in Climate Investing & Finance and Greenaction's 25th Anniversary celebration.
Cheers,
Alec and Sonam
Hot Take: Eggs are $7.99 (if in stock…)
Yes, this is a photo from the local grocery store. Chances are, it’s the same story in your neck of the woods.
There are a plethora of reasons why a dozen eggs are ringing in at $7.99 (if they are even in stock), from a highly potent strain of avian flu that has affected more than 57 million chickens, to 30% increase in the price of feed due to severe drought, to even accusations of collusion among suppliers. All in all, egg prices have increased 138% YoY according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Undoubtedly, some of these factors are due to climate change and its impacts on natural systems around us. But beyond that, what are the longer lasting implications for consumer behavior and what types of ‘eggs’ we might choose going forward?
I’m the first to admit my love of eggs, particularly buttery scrambled eggs my grandpa used to make me as a child. But as I’ve grown older and become more aware of the impact of climate change on our food systems writ large, I’ve begun to reevaluate my choices. A few years ago we switched to JUST Egg at our home - no, this is not a paid promotional piece, and we still use regular eggs for baking, the occasional sunny side up, and much else!
These plant-based eggs are made of mung bean and canola oil, with a dash of turmeric to give its yellow color and natural thickeners to make this concoction actually ‘feel’ like eggs. Mung bean is a drought resistant crop that can be produced through regenerative agriculture practices. When compared to chicken eggs, JUST Eggs use less water and land, and generate even fewer GHG emissions. As of last year, the company had sold the equivalent of 250 million eggs, saving 43.6 million kg of CO2, 9.1 billion gallons of water, and 13,446 acres of land. It even went to Congress to tout these stats.
JUST Egg’s clever ad truck outside of Congress in 2022. Source: VegOut Media
Back in the day when a dozen eggs were $1.99 instead of $7.99, plant-based eggs really couldn’t compete. But now it has far surpassed price parity, they are having their cake and eating it too. JUST Egg has become the second-fastest growing egg brand in the US since its launch in 2018. Andrew Noyes, the VP of global communications has said that the team has expanded distribution and increased shelf space in supermarkets to meet demand, clocking in at a 17% increase in sales over the course of 2022 with similarly strong figures in the new year.
Seems like all that extra revenue is going towards hiring some great ad agencies - I hope the trend continues ;)
Community Shout Outs
🌎 Climate Tech Cities
We are expanding! We started as an 8-person dinner and now have almost 3,000 members in our community. We’ve had people across the world reach out to us to start their own chapters - so we’re launching a new Climate Tech Cities organization to kick of 2023! If you have friends who are interested in becoming chapter leads, please share the word! Here’s to a global network of local communities making a positive impact!
Events This Week
🌳 Nature X Carbon Bay Area Monthly Meetup: Mon, Feb 6
🏘 Housing as a Climate Lever, with Scott Wiener: Mon, Feb 6
👩💼 Sustainable Careers in Business: Wed, Feb 8
🧩 San Mateo Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission Meeting: Wed, Feb 8
🎬 The Karrabing Film Collective: Wed, Feb 8
🌱 Net-Zero is Not Enough: Innovative Solutions to Cool the Planet: Wed, Feb 8
🌇 USGBC Rising Leaders Committee Celebration: Thu, Feb 9
🍹 2023 Climate Tech Cocktails HH + Startup Showcase!: Thu, Feb 9
🧘♀️ Bay Area Women in Climate Investing & Finance - Yoga: Sat, Feb 11
✅ Greenaction's 25th Anniversary!: Sat, Feb 11
Read on for more details about this week’s happenings and upcoming events this month
Upcoming Events
🔋 1.5 C - Sustainable Batteries Panel Event: Wed, Feb 15
🌎 Work on Climate Wednesday: Wed, Feb 15
🌿 Fujitsu ActivateNow Technology Summit, Silicon Valley: Wed, Feb 22
⚡️ DER Task ForceBay Area Happy Hour: Thu, Feb 23
🥗 The Earth on Your Plate: Thu, Feb 23
🥙 Meatless Meat Up: Plant-based Tasting & Workshop: Sat, Feb 25
🏥 Sustainable Healthcare Workshop: Mon, Feb 27
🌎 The Great Displacement with Jake Bittle: Mon, Feb 27
Events This Week
🌳 Nature X Carbon Bay Area Monthly Meetup
When: Mon, Feb 6th from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Where: SF Commons, 550 Laguna St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Please join us for the Nature X Carbon monthly meetup. The gathering is for people interested in or working at the intersection of nature and climate. Our intention is to host a space where we can meet each other, decompress, have important conversations, enjoy each other's company, and align our efforts for the collective good. This event is a potluck. Please bring food to share with our community. Vegan preferred.
🏘 Housing as a Climate Lever, with Scott Wiener
When: Mon, Feb 6th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Where: The Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero, Taube Family Auditorium, San Francisco, CA 94105
Join Climate One Host Greg Dalton in conversation with California State Senator Scott Wiener, followed by a panel discussion with Ben Bartlett, attorney and Berkeley vice mayor, and Jennifer Hernandez, partner at Holland & Knight, as we unpack the connections between housing, climate and justice.
👩💼 Sustainable Careers in Business
When: Wed, Feb 8th from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Where: Haas School of Business, 2220 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94720
HBSA Sustainability is excited to host "Sustainable Careers in Business", a panel featuring several professionals working within the intersection between business and sustainability (particularly in finance, consulting, and venture capital). Highlighted below are the panelists, logistical details, and the agenda for the event. Light snacks and drinks will be provided.
🧩 San Mateo Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission Meeting
When: Wed, Feb 8th from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Where: San Mateo City Hall, 330 W. 20th Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94403
The Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission was established in 2018. The City Council passed an ordinance on June 18, 2018 consolidating the Public Works Commission and Sustainability Commission into this new commission. It is the duty of the Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission, as an advisory body to the City Council, to advise on policies and programs related to environmental sustainability, transportation and infrastructure.
🎬 The Karrabing Film Collective
When: Wed, Feb 8th from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Where: Berkeley Art Museum & Film Archive, 2155 Center St, Berkeley, CA 94720
The members of the Indigenous media group the Karrabing Film Collective, based in Australia’s Northern Territories, use cell phones and handheld cameras to record daily life in their rural community and the obstacles they face with government entities as a form of grassroots resistance and community organization. The collective’s “improvisational realism” moves freely between past and present, fiction and documentary, to employ humor, staged scenes, and self-representation in order to investigate and analyze—as well as satirize—the social conditions of inequality, land restrictions, and environmental devastation that impact its members. The word karrabing, which translates as “low tide” in the Emmiyengal language, refers to the time ancestral communities come together, a collectivity outside of the official government.
🌱 Net-Zero is Not Enough: Innovative Solutions to Cool the Planet | LIVE
When: Wed, Feb 8th from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Where: Calabazas Branch Library, 1230 South Blaney Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129
This FREE series kicks off with an engaging scientific challenge: How do we know climate change is caused by us? It sets the stage for the presentations that follow, establishing why Net-Zero is not enough and why innovative solutions for carbon sequestration are a must. Subsequent presentations will explore innovative approaches to carbon sequestration, including kelp farming, concrete manufacturing, anaerobic fermentation, seeding marine clouds with seawater, the business environment that supports new enterprises focused on climate mitigation, and much more. The first presentation in the series begins two hundred years ago, with the French scientist Jacques Fourier puzzled by the question of why the earth is so warm. The talk summarizes, in lay terms, the solution to this mystery and the evidence accumulated, since Fourier, which leads to the conclusion that human activities, mainly the burning of fossil fuels, have resulted in the global warming that now threatens our existence on the planet.
🌇 Rising Leaders Committee Celebration
When: Thu, Feb 9th from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Where: SPARK Social SF, 601 Mission Bay Boulevard North, San Francisco, CA 94158
The USGBC NCC RLC is a voluntary committee made up of young and emerging professionals looking to grow and learn in the sustainability field. Members are often younger professionals, but also include members who have changed careers and are newer in the industry. The committee provides a chance for members to network, learn new skills, and find new ways to get involved in the community. The USGBC works to build better buildings, consume fewer resources, and promote sustainability in our daily work.
🍹 2023 HAPPY HOURS + STARTUP SHOWCASE KICKOFF!
When: Thu, Feb 9th from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Where: Capgemini Applied Innovation Exchange, 425 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
That's right, climate warriors...weee're back! New year, same goodness. CTC Happy Hours + Climate Tech Showcase! FREE drinks + food! Capgemini clients + partners! Badass Climate Tech Companies?!?
🧘♀️ Bay Area Women in Climate Investing & Finance - Yoga w. Krystle Sarkissian
When: Sat, Feb 11th from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Where: Omni Studios, 4834 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609
Women in Climate Investing & Finance is hosting a wellness and yoga event for like-minded women working within Climate Investing & Finance. Our goal is to build and foster a community of empowered women working to fight climate change. Please consider attending and joining us if you are working in clean and renewable energy investing, sustainable energy and infrastructure, climate tech, energy transition, and ESG!
✅ Greenaction's 25th Anniversary!
When: Sat, Feb 11th from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Where: Southeast Community Center, 1550 Evans Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94124
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice invites you to celebrate our 25th Anniversary! Enjoy good food, music, and video highlights of Greenaction's campaigns and victories, and honor Greenaction Community Leaders past and present!
Join the Fun!
Submit Events
We know all of you are cooking up great events that highlight the latest and greatest in our collective effort to save our city - and our planet! 🌍 We would love to spread the word. Please share any event details and we'll add them to the list.
Share Your Ideas
We're excited to grow the Climate Tech community in cities across the globe! What started as an 8-person mid-pandemic outdoor dinner has since morphed into a 3,000+ strong and ever-growing group of rockstars trying to change the world. We aim to be a community resource - built for and by our community. Share your thoughts!