Your hard-earned money is cheating on you

Shocked at this betrayal, but we'll get through this thanks to sustainable finance solutions.

View this email in your browser Arlan Hamilton's Secret Agenda   Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, Arlan Hamilton, recently announced her (not so secret) secret agenda:  "I want to help other people gain wealth. I want us all to spend our wealth on ourselves and catalyzing others." Do you want in? Let Arlan show you how she went from homeless to making millions in under five years - totally free - here. Read: money makes the world go poo poo Estimated reading time: 3 minutes September Topic: Sustainable finance This week's module: 1. READ | 2. LISTEN | 3. ACT | 4. REFLECT Welcome back to Changeletter by Soapbox Project. I'm the author, Nivi Achanta, and I make it easy for you to fight climate change in 3 minutes every week.   What's up this week For the first time in two years, I'm ACTUALLY writing this Changeletter content ahead of time. I always say I'll plan ahead, but I never do. Until now. 🎉   When you read this, I'll be in NYC (reply if you want to meet). It's been three months since I've shattered my ankle. I've still got months or years to go before getting back to "normal" but 2021 is all about finding the joy in new normals. So here I am, on vacation!   I have a lotttttt of thoughts about air travel, vacation guilt, and more, but we'll save that convo for when I get back.   For now, let's talk about 💸responsible money management💸!   When I found out that my hard-earned money was being used to fight climate change, I was shocked. I'd never really thought about what happens to my paycheck once it hits the bank. Turns out, the biggest banks in the world are propping up — and expanding — the fossil fuel industry.   Soooo sustainable finance is September's topic. Let's start with our READ module, which is a super thorough overview of the climate harms the financial industry is causing. It's a 2019 New Yorker article by Bill McKibben, the environmentalist who started 350.org.   Reply to this email telling me what's stopping you from responsible banking/investing.(Whether you just didn't know about it, it takes too much time, it's not available in your country, etc. — anything is fair game. I'm so curious to know, and I'll reply post-vacation.)   From the Soapbox Everything below is included if you're a member of our Soapbox community.   ARTICLE | Free resources on sustainable investing from SustainFi   EVENT | 9/9, 2pm PST — Soapbox members gathering (virtual). Join our community to meet like-minded people and take action together on issues you care about! We hang out at least once a month, and we also have in-person gatherings in cities where it's safe to do so. Last week in Seattle, we did a farmers market hang and took action on toxic food packaging!   EVENT | 9/15, 5pm PST — Sustainable finance workshop. You'll learn about responsible banking, investing, and financial education with the founders of Mighty Deposits, Carbon Collective, and SustainFi, and we'll give you some time to take action (finding a new bank, etc.)   FREE COURSE | We're launching our first bite-sized sustainability course! It'll only be seven days long and take you ~20 minutes each day to complete the content and the actions. We'll cover topics like sustainable finance, corporate activism, food justice, and more. Simply click this link of a cute piglet and you'll receive the course when it's ready — no signup required since I have your email xoxo     Your bite-sized actions   Divesting from fossil fuels basically means pulling our money out of oil and gas. You can read the full article to learn more, but the best way to get caught up with divestment AND take action is to attend our sustainable finance workshop on 9/15.   Takeaways from the article "Money is the Oxygen on Which the Fire of Global Warming Burns":   We literally don't have enough money. A study found that warming the planet by 3 degrees celsius before 2100 (which we're on track for) would do 551 TRILLION $ in damage, which is more money than currently exists on the planet."   Divestment pressure works. "Funds worth more than eleven trillion dollars have divested some or all of their fossil-fuel holdings. And it has been effective: when Peabody Energy, the largest American coal company, filed for bankruptcy, in 2016, it cited divestment as one of the pressures weighing on its business." Say yes to peer pressure 😉   Divesting from fossil fuels will not break the world. Big Oil likes to tell us that if we divest, our whole economy will come crashing down, but that may not be the case. Let's look at Chase — "Fossil-fuel financing accounts for only about seven per cent of Chase's lending and underwriting". If we divested, Chase would lend to solar/wind/other renewable companies and be just fine. But oil and gas wouldn't. Hee hee. 😈   Fossil fuel investing is destructive and unprofitable. In 2019, BlackRock, an asset management firm, was the world's largest investor in coal companies and companies driving deforestation. ANDD BlackRock investors lost 90 BILLION $ over the last decade "by staying heavily investing in fossil fuels." Suckers lol We can't wake up tomorrow and stop using fossil fuels entirely, but we CAN wake up and divest! You can do it during our 9/15 workshop in an hour! The New Yorker article covers banking, asset management, and insurance in depth, and shows how handling our money responsibly could be the fastest path to a cleaner and safer world. Curious to know what you think and what's stopping you from divesting. Upcoming Lmk if you're in NY/Boston/Providence and want to meet - I'd love to hang for a bit. Next week, we'll learn about how our money works and how it's being abused oh dear oh no Copyright © 2021 Soapbox Project, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for our free action plans via social media, Tech Ethics Coalition, a meeting with Nivi, or our website! Our mailing address is: Soapbox Project 415 Mission St. San Francisco, California 94105 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.