Written by Billy Henshaw, Graduate Student, UW Atmospheric Sciences

I had always wanted to be a part of a startup focusing on “greentech”, innovative technological solutions to adapt to climate change or solve the climate crisis; I am intrigued by climate change as a social and political problem. Thus, I viewed climate solutions with a lot of curiosity and excitement. When I learned that Reduce, a greentech startup hoping to curb unsustainable consumerism, was looking for UW graduate students, I hopped on the opportunity. I am very thankful I did because there were a ton of things I learned about climate communications and what I want for a career.

Reduce’s main draw is its iOS app. Upon linking a debit or credit account, Reduce’s proprietary algorithms calculate a footprint for each purchase made from the account. On the dashboard, the user is greeted with the cumulative carbon footprint from all purchases made in the month. The app also allows users to offset their carbon footprint through purchasing of carbon offsets from UN-approved projects directly in the app. Over 90% of the proceeds from these offsets go directly to the projects.

My role within Reduce was managing social media accounts, actively putting out relevant content on sustainability and climate solutions, and writing blog posts twice a month. My weekly agenda with Reduce was to discuss the blog post topic, conduct research on the topic, write a rough draft of the blog, proofread the draft with the team, and post the final draft to the website and social media sites. While I came into the assignment with the expectation of building my skills communicating climate research and news to the public, as my term with Reduce progressed, the team involved me in more of their startup operations. For example, the last few months of my term, the team and I were brainstorming future services within the Reduce framework.

I was subconsciously hoping this project would allow me to experience the internal dynamics of a startup, and I am so glad to say that I was right. This opportunity given to me through the connections of PCC and ACORN opened the door for me to not only build digital communication skills which are so important for climate change awareness, but also to learn about how startups are run from the inside. As someone who wanted to apply my climate science knowledge towards climate and sustainability solutions, ACORN and PCC provided me with the necessary connections to pursue exactly what I was looking for. Perhaps most important, I built strong relationships with those working in my desired field. That alone makes the whole experience worth it.