The #1 Easy Thing You Can Do For the Environment You’ve Never Heard Before

Spencer R. Scott, PhD
7 min readJul 20, 2021
Seaside Buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium) native to the coastline of the western United States.

Having a hard time giving up meat? Still really want to take an airplane to a tropical beach? Not ready to chain yourself to an oil pipeline? Don’t fret, I will give you one easy solution to help with climate change. If you do this ONE thing well. You might find doing all the rest easy, too.

I want you to grab your phone, head outside, close the door, and… download an app. I know, I know, hear me out. My task for you is to download Seek. It’s like Pokémon Go but for the real life plants, animals, and fungi around you. (I promise this isn’t sponsored, it’s just the app I happen to use. Use a different app if that will make you happy). Now go on a walk, look around, really look, and start identifying any organism that jumps out at you. It’s okay if you get a little addicted. Don’t be embarrassed, nature is cool.

You might be wondering, “How is going on a walk to identify plants going to help with climate?” Let me rewind a bit.

When we moved to a small town called Guerneville a year ago I couldn’t have named more than three of the plants that tangle along the road toward town: blackberry, oleander, and poison oak. One food and two poisons, a minimum plant literacy. In our own backyard, I could of course name the world-famous Coastal Redwoods that cradle our home, but I…

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Spencer R. Scott, PhD

Synthetic biologist & philosopher focusing on the climate crisis. PhD in Bioengineering, fledgling in regenerative farming. (Seeking Writing Agent)