Weâve been publishing Hothouse for more than a year now and experimenting with formats all the while. Based on your feedback, we think weâve hit on a winning formula. Each month, we publish two deeply-reported feature stories about how people are solving the climate crisisâand what can be done in your own life, community, company, and country.Â
The latter bit is crucial. Itâs one of the reasons we started Hothouse. As our readers know, merely digging into despair around climate change generates apathy more often than action. Thatâs why people avoid the news, climate news in particular: 28% say it makes them feel powerless. âItâs clear from our research,â says Rasmus Nielsen, the director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford in the UK, âthat news is something that leaves many people feeling depressed and disempowered.â His data is below.
But our readers have told us Hothouse is not a bummer. We donât avoid the bad news. We just focus on solutions. In fact, about two-thirds of you have said youâve taken an action or changed your thinking after reading Hothouse.
In the fight against climate change, we often hear individuals donât matter. Politics is presented as the best way to achieve a 2°C world. But politics is sometimes the last step. Peopleâs actions and attitudes almost always change first. Then communities and businesses follow (remember all those contagious solar panels?). Social norms shift, and politicians and judges (finally) catch up with the zeitgeist.Â
Thatâs why we think of Hothouse as original climate journalism with a way to act.
That brings us to a critical question: How do you want your solutions? In recent months, weâve refined our editorial approach, which has enabled us to deliver higher-quality and deeper stories to your inbox. Now weâre redesigning the âway to actâ a bit.
Our goal is to let you get the most out of Hothouse, share it with friends, and build a permanent resource of climate solutions for people to reference. Weâve laid out a few options below. We want people to be able to take the largest or the smallest possible step on the road to a cooler climate.
If you have a moment, please rank your favorites (itâs a 10 second survey) you can fill out right there. All feedback helps. You can see the options below. Thanks!Â
đ The index card option: For those who like it short, weâll fit our conclusion into a format that fits on an index card. Itâs short, sweet, and to the bullet point. We donât have enough space to go into the details, we can make sure to cover the essentials and link out to the rest. This is ideal for referencing the big picture, and sharing with friends. Â
đ The blueprint option: We go deep. Each âblueprintâ offers a detailed roadmap about a specific topic to take the smallest or largest possible step on a specific topic. If youâre looking to decarbonize your home, we walk you through it.  Â
đ The resource page option: We catalog the links, resources, and tips you need to get you started on your way. Unlike the blueprint option, weâre primarily focused on sorting through the best information out there, and then giving you the required reading and best resources to help you take the next step. Itâs less of a roadmap and more of a catalog to bookmark. We recommend organizations to get involved with, and useful apps and communities.Â
âď¸ Office hours option: We talk to you. Each month, we line up expertsâas well as the editor and reporter who worked on the storyâanswering questions about that monthâs theme over Zoom or Twitter Spaces. Itâs an interactive discussion about how you can apply what youâve learned that month. Â
Got an idea of your own not listed here? Submit it to us! editors@hothouse.solutions.
Love,
Mike Coren and Cadence Bambenek
Hothouse is a weekly climate action newsletter written and edited by Mike Coren and Cadence Bambenek. We rely on readers to support us, and everything we publish is free to read. Follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.
I am so impressed and challenged by the information shared here and in the comments of your readers. I am working on a post for Education, as well, so itâs a timely visit. It is an important post, and Iâve not taken enough time to write it yet just thinking and researching so far. https://markcon.org