WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE ...?
What’s Your Favourite ...?
Climate activist, illustrator and creative director Sarah Lazarovic on inspiring podcasts and the best workout for mind and body.
By Nicole Keen
WRITER, ILLUSTRATOR AND CLIMATE communications strategist Sarah Lazarovic knows that it’s easy to feel powerless in the face of climate change — but, she insists, there are many ways to make a difference. She's currently a remote advisor to the non-profit organization Rewiring America, which encourages homes and businesses to shift to clean electricity sources. Through her advisory work and her chatty, informative Substack blog “Most Vibrant Planet,” Lazarovic encourages people to get involved in the cause.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF SARAH LAZAROVIC
In 2014, you published a book called A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy. What’s your relationship with consumerism like today?
I try to buy everything I can on Poshmark [Canada], and I try to buy good quality things that are built to last, with warranties that will be honoured. To me, it’s amazing that you can bring stuff back to Patagonia and they’ll repair it or replace it.
You recently recorded your first podcast. What podcasts do you listen to?
My favourite climate podcast is Volts with David Roberts. A Matter of Degrees with Dr. Leah Stokes and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson is another wonderful one.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your work with Rewiring America?
A lot of people don’t realize how much power they actually have to reduce emissions. To be able to preach that message is such a delight. Approximately 42 percent of energy-related emissions come from our homes! Hugely [impactful] things you can do: get a heat pump or switch to an electric car. Canada’s charging infrastructure is only getting better.
Who are your Canadian climate heroes?
I have lots: climate activists Tzeporah Berman and Cat Abreu, David Suzuki Foundation community organizer Jode Roberts, Indigenous rights activist Autumn Peltier and Mihskakwan James Harper, renewable energy advocate.
On Substack, you end all of your posts with a link to a dance video, and I understand that you take weekly dance classes. Why is dance so important to you?
I do Reggaeton, Afro, house and hip hop at City Dance Corps [in Toronto]. Dance is sort of preventative medicine as you get older. Remembering choreography is really good for your brain. It’s also about creating a community, because where else would I dance with people ranging from 25 to 65 years old? CAA
“A lot of people don’t realize how much power they actually have to reduce emissions. To be able to preach that message is such a delight.”
An illustration from Lazarovic’s Substack about the benefit of heat pumps; a Patagonia jacket being repaired with a patch. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SARAH LAZAROVIC; KERN DUCOTE/COURTESY OF PATAGONIA
An illustration from Lazarovic’s Substack about the benefit of heat pumps. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF SARAH LAZAROVIC
A Patagonia jacket being repaired with a patch. | PHOTO: KERN DUCOTE/COURTESY OF PATAGONIA
“A lot of people don’t realize how much power they actually have to reduce emissions. To be able to preach that message is such a delight.”