Creating a Carbon Literate Society: Michelle Li

Michelle Li, founder of Clever Carbon, sits down with Green.Org to discuss her vision on a carbon literate society.

What is Clever Carbon?

The goal at clever carbon is to teach people about their carbon footprint in a hip, modern, and relatable way. Ultimately, they want to enable #clevercarbondecisions for all. When you’re buying an item at the grocery store, you can make a decision based on nutritional content, branding, price – why not carbon footprint?

In fact, many innovative and hip brands like Oatly and Allbirds are paving the way and already including carbon footprint data directly on their packaging or website.

By teaching people about their carbon footprint and helping them realize they have one in the first place, carbon footprint data will actually be relatable and useful to consumers. The hope is that as consumers become increasingly #carboncurious, more brands will see the value in publishing their carbon footprint, leading to increased transparency and accountability by all. Start your carbon literacy journey by taking clever carbon’s hip and fun 2 min carbon footprint quiz! https://clevercarbon.io/quiz/

A Quick Profile on Michelle Li.

Michelle launched her career in Silicon Valley where she worked for some of the biggest names in tech including Jawbone, Salesforce, and DocuSign. A TEDx and Dreamforce speaker, Michelle is able to capture audiences and break down complex matters into digestible and delightful sound bites. See her TEDx talk on carbon footprint literacy here.

A proponent for making sustainability the new norm, Michelle founded clever carbon to help teach people about carbon footprint in a hip, fun, and relatable way. She believes a carbon literate society is one where transparency and accountability will flourish and one worth striving for. Join her in a fun and engaging feel-good session that will leave your employees fulfilled and inspired!

Michelle, thanks for being here today. Tell us a little bit about you and your background: 

I launched my career in Silicon Valley where I worked for some of the biggest names in tech including Salesforce and DocuSign. A proponent for making sustainability the new norm, I founded clever carbon to help teach people about carbon footprint in a hip, fun, and relatable way. I believe a carbon literate society is one where transparency and accountability will flourish and one worth striving for.

What is a fun fact about you?

I’m in love with all things vintage. Love the design and the story behind the item, and it also happens to be more sustainable!

Michelle Li’s TedX Talk

Why do you think climate change and sustainability is such an important topic today? 

Our resources are finite and climate change is increasingly showing up in bold ways from extreme weather to loss of wildlife. Protecting the planet and its people is of utmost importance.

What do you envision your industry looking like 10 years from now?

The work that Clever Carbon does will hopefully inspire more companies and brands to take a fun and hip spin to sustainability. I hope every company whether small or large will embrace sustainability through employee engagement and is incorporated into the goods or services they produce. I envision every single brand leveraging sustainability as part of their marketing messaging.

What can the average person do to make a difference? 

Become carbon literate and start talking to everyone about it – family, friends, coworkers, strangers, and brands. Use your voice to leave reviews and ask them to carbon label. Just like nutrition labels help us make a decision on what we consume in our diet, carbon labels can help us make a decision on what we consume in every aspect, from food (ex. carbon footprint of a burrito) to the shoes we purchase. Carbon labelling helps brands be transparent and accountable, something that we can all benefit from.

Michelle, thank you for joining us and sharing your vision for a Carbon Literate Society.