A Holistic Approach to Climate Action—With Christopher Gavigan
On a perfect fall morning, rustling leaves, wind chimes, bustling bees, and a delightfully fluffy dog welcomed the Bedford 2030 team to Christopher Gavigan’s bucolic Bedford home for an interview.
Christopher, the co-founder of The Honest Company, the founder of PRIMA, and the CEO and Executive Director of Healthy Child Healthy World, has spent a lifetime devoted to wellness and sustainable living. We were eager to explore his philosophy on climate action as an entrepreneur, author, parent, environmental advocate, and healthy living extraordinaire.
Climate action starts at home, and Christopher has fully immersed himself in his role as a Climate Hero, from how he designed his home and what he nourishes his body with to the wisdom he imparts to his children.
Parents grapple with the everyday challenge of raising their children during an existential planetary threat. There’s no guidebook to parenting through this, but Christopher is ready to lead by example as a proud father of four.
Harmony Dixon, Bedford 2030: It seems like climate action is fun for you. You’re enjoying picking out your food and feeling the closeness to the planet, so it’s not this task that you have to undertake; it’s something that you incorporate into your everyday life.
Christopher Gavigan: I think the biggest expression of your values is how you live your life and what you prioritize. If someone said climate and planetary health and awareness and consideration is my top note, I’d say no; it’s a foundational base of who I am. It’s how I make all of my decisions and the filter that I put it
HD: You’re a dad, so climate change is deeply personal. How does being an environmentalist affect how you parent?
CG: My kids would say I’m super dark green. That goes for everything from food choices, to accountable and sustainable choices in our built environment, to how we care for our property. It’s the in, on, and around philosophy, and you can’t get away from it. One of the greatest responsibilities as a parent, and duties of a parent, is to instill a level of communication and empowerment around the choices that we have. If you want to look at your future, look at your daily choices and how you’re living your life. Small, deliberate, consistent actions that are informed and thoughtful equal a life well-lived.
HD: Are the kids receptive or rebellious?
CG: Both. And you expect that. You want that. You want them to be critical thinkers and ask the question: why? I don’t come down, I come from below, lifting up the energy. When it comes from a power dynamic that feels heavy and dictatorial, it doesn’t come from a place of harmony and collaboration. I want them to feel empowered to make the choices themselves. To understand the information, to assimilate it in their own way, to ask the questions of why and why not, to think about it in a thoughtful way. Often, they push back. Like, “c’mon Dad, that’s not that bad.” No, actually, let’s think about it. Let’s get some information. Let’s do some research.
At Bedford 2030, we’re all about community connection and empowerment. However, talking about the climate crisis isn’t always easy.
HD: How do you bring up climate activism, eating well, or your day-to-day environmental actions with your neighbors, your friends?
CG: I think it’s best with your peers to be subtle about it. To let your actions speak, and have them lean into it. So if it comes up in conversation how I live or what I eat or what I drive, I typically try to weave it in as a data point. And if they pick up on it, great, and if they ask questions we can dive in, but I try not to go heavy-handed with it. The brands I’ve built, particularly from a tone and manner perspective, feel like warm hugs of trust. I think a trusted platform, a trusted person, a trusted confidant, friend and advocate is someone who doesn’t feel challenging and heavy and strong.
HD: What advice would you give someone, if they asked, and you were not asked to be subtle, that they could take to get started on their climate action journey?
CG: I typically like to start on a climate action journey with what they’re putting in their mouth. Our food becomes us. We are our food. I love that even from the cellular biology of it all, you know the dirt that local food comes from. I want that bacterial world to come in and on and through my body.
Christopher shared the inspirational journey of renovating his cozy, historical home with a marriage of legacy, story-laden materials, and modern technology to reduce fossil fuel consumption—creating a healthy, authentic, and low-energy-cost home.
HD: What have you done to make your house more sustainable?
CG: The big one we did from a systems and infrastructure perspective was a big geothermal install. In the front courtyard, we went down 480 feet to bring air up to the system which then converts it into both your heating and cooling. It was a big investment, but outside of the state tax credits, the federal tax credits, and the annualized savings, it’s going to have a payback in 4 and ½ years.
HD: That’s really fast!
CG: Then, for energy use, we work with the state utility and then do all the green buy-backs. This is essentially a net-zero home when it comes to our energy impact.
One of the biggest things we bring into our home every day is cleaning products. What you’re putting on your body, your skin, and on your countertops—eventually, that’s going to be transferred into your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. So we’re very thoughtful about all of our cleaning products because that really influences our health and indoor air quality.
Bedford 2030 is a small but mighty organization, and we couldn’t make an impact without the help of our generous donors. Christopher Gavigan believes in our mission to educate and empower our community, and it’s only with his help (and people like you) that we can hope to ensure a happy, healthy, and sustainable Bedford now and for the future.
HD: You’re such a big supporter of Bedford 2030. I would love to know why you think the work Bedford 2030 is doing is so impactful, especially right now with the urgency of climate change to help community members take climate action.
CG: It’s really rare to find a community-based organization that says, “Okay, let’s wrap our arms around our neighbors and help each other.” I love the fact that there’s an organization that really helps showcase both the opportunities and responsibilities in a non-dogmatic, and non-scary, and non-threatening way. Bedford 2030 is about empowerment, education, helping each other, showcasing what we can do, and the art of the possible. It’s with a sense of urgency and accountability–we have to do something, and we must. It starts here, and it starts at your dinnertime conversations with your kids. It starts with what you’re doing, how you are powering your home, and how you care for your body, and it starts every day. I was very thrilled and excited to learn about Bedford 2030. I did everything I possibly could to get my way in and do what I can to support the organization from near and afar. Donations, helping with events, and being thoughtful on where I can show up and how I can lend my voice and actions for the better.
The small, everyday choices matter as much as the big ones. Climate activism looks different for everyone, and the diversity of choices and actions within our community propels the movement forward. Christopher Gavigan exemplifies the practice of starting climate activism at home and making it a lifestyle.
Be a Climate Hero
If you, too, would like to be a Climate Hero, consider donating to help Bedford 2030 advance our mission of grassroots activism for the climate.
Also, you can sign up for our Energy Coaching and Rooted Solutions Coaching programs—we’ll connect you with a professional to help you on your journey to an energy-efficient home and climate-smart yard. It’s complimentary!