Rob Greenfield: The Dude Making a Difference
Rob Greenfield: Yeah, so I bought the house originally for $950, and then I was able to auction it for $10,000, which the idea was to build 10 houses at $1000. And when I did that there was a community that I was partnering with who already had land that they could use to build the tiny house community on. So, things were looking like they were going to happen pretty quick.
Then the land got pulled out from underneath them, so now they’re still working on finding land. So, the money is just sitting in an account waiting so that they have the land to be able to put the tiny houses on.
I just visited Opportunity Village in Eugene, Oregon, and they’re doing some amazing stuff with tiny house communities for people that don’t have homes up there, and they’re starting another community up there.
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Sandie Sedgbeer: One of the things that impressed me when I looked at your website is how transparent you are with the amount of money that you’ve earned and where that money has gone. Is it getting more difficult, as you get more famous and you’re asked to travel a lot more, does it get harder and harder to live by your rules or easier?
Rob Greenfield: I would guess I would say harder, in a way. I mean most of it’s not more challenging. The main challenge is flying. I try to minimize flying as much as possible. Like just this morning I got invited to speak in Morocco at a time when I’m already planning on being over in Europe for a speaking tour, so it kind of works, but it would require one more flight. And the thing is I try to minimize my flying as much as possible. On my Europe tours, I take buses and trains, even on like, 12- to 20-hour trains that would only be a one- or two-hour flight or as a couple hour flight instead. I personally believe that the flying that I do is worth it for the change that it creates, but that’s one of the challenges is really picking the right ones that are worth it because flying is one of the most environmentally destructive things that we do. So that’s really the big challenge.
Everything else is easy, though, because I’m really living the life that I want to be. Any fame or anything like that aside, I’m doing this because I want to be doing it for myself, for the world, for the community. I don’t want to have much money at all, like period. There’s no desire for it. It’s pretty easy for me to do because I’m only myself.
Sandie Sedgbeer: I mean you’ve given 100% of your media income to nonprofits. So, there are times when you’re going to need money. If you’re going to book a flight, you’ve got to pay for it even if somebody else is going to give you that money back later. How do you cope? I mean, where does any money that you do need to have come from?
Rob Greenfield: So public speaking is where I make the funds, the money that I do personally have. So as far as like TV show and book, 100% of that’s always donated directly to nonprofits. And then most of my public speaking is donated to nonprofits as well. This year my personal income cap was $5000. So, once I had made that $5000, everything else that comes in is donated directly to nonprofits. And the way that it works is the money never–I don’t have the money come to me and then donate it. My TV show on the Discovery Channel, I just wrote right into the contract this money is donated directly to these nonprofits. I did the same with my books. I have never been involved in the money at all except for finding great places that can use the money well to affect positive social and environmental.
Sandie Sedgbeer: You write about shaking off social norms, and this is probably one of the biggest blocks, that we have to contend with, to change our consciousness because societal conditioning runs so deep. All of your extreme adventures and activism campaigns are meant to bring attention to these really important issues and inspire positive change. Can you share some of those tips with us?
Rob Greenfield: I do extreme things, but the idea isn’t that we have to run out and do extreme things. It’s about getting us to think about what we can do in our own lives to make positive changes for ourselves, for the community and the earth. You can change, take shorter showers, for example. You can ride your bike more and drive your car less. Shop local. Support local businesses. Carry your own reusable bag to the grocery store. Ditching bottled water, that’s a big one.
Some of the bigger ones, which I think is one of the things that the environmental movement doesn’t talk about enough, some of the really big ones, eating a plant-based diet, eating much more fruits and vegetables is one of the single largest changes that we can make to reduce our environmental impact. And so I’m not personally vegan, but I’m 80% or 90% plant-based. I think anytime you do 80% or 90% of something you’re making a huge difference. You’ve got to start somewhere to get somewhere else.
Sandie Sedgbeer: I mean clearly you are very passionate about what you do, and you’ve really dedicated your life to this. Do you see at some point that you might want to live a slightly different life?
Rob Greenfield: Well, so I know my life will constantly be shifting. And the thing is there are many ways to live out my beliefs. I don’t have to be fully in the spotlight, like, because I think one of the most important things you can do is lead by example and in balance. I plan to start a sustainable living institute where It’ll be a place where you’ll be able to learn all of this stuff, to learn, how to change your life, to live a more environmentally-friendly and socially-just and less money-filled life with less, destructive life. And I’ll be able to just live my life then, and people will be able to come learn.
When I’m 60 things are going to be different. By different, I don’t mean I’m going to go back to the mainstream consumeristic way of life, but it is going to have to shift as my physical abilities, like my age, as these things change. But I will always, as long as I live, be living out my beliefs to a great extent. I am very confident of that.
Sandie Sedgbeer: Tell us about some of the nonprofit organizations that 1% of the planet supports and that you support.
Rob Greenfield: Yeah, I actually have a list on my website, which I would recommend people check out. It’s just robgreenfield.tv/nonprofits, and that’s 50 nonprofits I think on there that I really, really like and support that cover different environmental issues. Some of the ones that I really like, Food is Free is an awesome project that basically is all about spreading that food is free, getting people that grow their own food and then share it for free in the community.
The Story of Stuff is another nonprofit that I love. The Story of Stuff, The Story of Cosmetics, The Story of Electronics, all these really amazing films that teach you about where our stuff comes from and the impact it has on the earth.
1% for the Planet is a nonprofit that I’m an ambassador for, and they’re a network of businesses that commit to giving 1% of revenue to environmental nonprofits. So whether you make $1 million a year or $1000 a year, you just commit to giving 1%. Recently they just opened it up for people. People can give 1% of their revenue, their income to environmental nonprofit.
Sandie Sedgbeer: Rob Greenfield, thank you so much for joining us today. We spoke with Rob Greenfield, about his book, Dude Making a Difference, which is inspiring people around the world to re-examine the way they live, the amount of waste they create and their relationship with the Earth’s resources. If you’d like a copy of Dude Making a Difference, I would encourage you to inquire at Amazon.
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