Celebrating Earth Awareness Month

Prophet celebrated Earth Awareness Month with a series of events to raise internal awareness and find measurable ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Throughout the month, Prophet’s global offices held shoe and clothing drives leading to an impressive number of items (600+) being donated to local organizations to help combat the growing number of textiles ending up in U.S. landfills (85% of all discarded clothing). Offices also participated in an informative, earth-month-themed trivia event. Prophet partner, Tosson El Noshokaty hosted an internal learning session on decarbonization and how we can apply this thinking to assist our clients. Finally, the capstone event was a panel discussion on sustainability with representatives from two Prophet clients, Cool Earth and Rainforest Partnership.  

About the Panelists

Cool Earth is a climate change charity that champions the relationship between people, rainforests, and climate. The organization gives cash directly to rainforest communities, to fund the root causes of deforestation, and protects vital carbon sinks. Cool Earth also aims to increase inclusion and connection to produce collaborative climate solutions across geographies. Through a series of working sessions and stakeholder interviews, Prophet co-created a revised set of corporate values and behaviors.  

Rainforest Partnership is an environmental organization working to conserve rainforests around the world. They work to create sustainable livelihoods in areas affected by deforestation, aim to increase biodiversity, and champion long-term forest protection by working directly with indigenous and local communities as guardians and economic participants. Prophet worked with Rainforest Partnership to redefine and activate new brand positioning and architecture framework. 

Client Panel Recap

Hannah Peck, deputy director, Magda Pieta, partnerships manager at Cool Earth and Niyanta Spelman, Founder and CEO of Rainforest Partnership joined Prophet for a moderated conversation that focused on everyday actions that we can do impact rainforest conservationism and sustainability. 

Four takeaways from the discussion: 

1. Avoiding inaction in the face of the staggering size of the climate crisis is incredibly important. 

“[We must] keep banging the drum and continue talking about it to get as many people on board as you can. There is no one magical thing that will fix it all. We need to make sure that we keep staying front and center in people’s attention and focus”

Magda Pieta, Cool Earth 

“[We should think through] how we can be an example. Grab a glass instead of grabbing a plastic bottle. Find what is the easiest for you to start doing and incorporate it into your home”

Niyanta Spelman, Rainforest Partnership

2. Even in the face of the current odds and predictions, we can still dream big.  

“Stabilizing the climate is this generations biggest challenge”

Hannah Peck, Cool Earth

“Can you imagine what we can do together? A world where 145 countries would actually write something down that they are going to end deforestation by 2030″

Niyanta Spelman, Rainforest Partnership

3. Every small change has a waterfall effect that can create real change, beyond just recycling, e.g., getting involved with World Rainforest Day or contacting local politician(s).  

Let’s [drive change] together. The sum of our parts is so much larger. Everyone can be an amplifier, no matter where you are in the world, what role you play, and whomever you know”

Niyanta Spelman, Rainforest Partnership

“One thing I recently realized I could change easily is where I bank, I can choose a more ethical bank… You can also write to your local politician about something you care about in your local environment to make an impact”

Hannah Peck, Cool Earth

4. When choosing what organizations to work with or donate to, it is pivotal to choose ones that are working in partnership with individuals on the ground.    

“Funding is almost always the biggest challenge for every rainforest conservation organization. The most impactful organizations are the ones that work closely on the ground. You should choose where you give money carefully and pick those that are the most impactful and work in partnership with communities”

Niyanta Spelman, Rainforest Partnership