Earth Summit 2025 Recap: Living Within Earth's Means

On Earth Day, Commons hosted a celebration and contemplation of collective power, company accountability, and community resilience at Rivian's beautiful new space in San Francisco. As part of SF Climate Week, we hosted three panels which ask the question "What does it mean to live within Earth's means?" We explored this topic through an individual, community, and business lens with community leaders and sustainable companies we admire.

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The day before our main event, we also hosted a Solutions Showcase and Happy Hour, giving folks the opportunity to meet other companies in the climate space: Re:wild, Unspun, Ridwell, Sway, Imagine5, ClimateVoice, Rad Radish, Wildseed, Cruz Foam, Climate Action Club, The Daisy Refillery and more!

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Visitors also explored an immersive, edible art experience by Sasha Emoniee & PADMA, featuring wild clothing for slow consumption. By reflecting on slower clothing consumption, Sasha and Kyna “grew” and sew living clothing to connect with the process of how clothing is made.

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Explore photos from the evening and a full livestream of the panels below.

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0:00 What does it mean to live within Earth's means?

Welcome from our emcee for the evening, Kestrel Jenkins, host and creator of the Conscious Chatter podcast. Commons founder, Sanchali Seth Pal introduces our big question for the day "What does it mean to live within Earth's means?"

‍4:24 Building Community Resilience

‍From the devastating wildfires in LA fires to catastrophic floods in Australia, it seems no one is safe from climate disaster. How are communities creating models to preserve a safer future?Moderated by Yessenia Funes (Atmos, Climate and Environmental Journalist) with panelists:

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Chris Jordan: Conservationist at Re:Wild
Lauren Bash: LA-based Climate Activist and storyteller
Evelynn Escobar: Founder of Hike Clerb
Favianna Rodriguez: Artist and Activist

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51:23 Overcoming Overconsumption

‍We have too much stuff, and every product is made using Earth’s resources.Can a collective shift to slower, more conscious shopping slow corporations’ harmful overproduction?Moderated by Sanchali Seth Pal (founder and CEO of Commons) with panelists:

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Nirav Patel — frame.work, founder
Archana Ram — Patagonia, Managing Editor
Alon Rotem — ThredUp, Chief Strategy Officer

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1:35:50 Transforming Business

‍Companies strive for profit, often at the expense of ecological exploitation. How can companies take the lead to drastically level up their sustainability efforts and make Earth a stakeholder in the success of their business?Moderated by Rachel Cernansky (Science and Environment journalist) with panelists:

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