Climate Optimism and Sustainable Living: How Imagine5 Makes Green Choices Feel Cool

Available on Apple and Spotify.

Imagine if climate stories didn’t leave you feeling anxious …

In this episode, Victoria Riskin explores what she calls “the cool side of environmentalism” with Justin Cadelago from Imagine5, a nonprofit media organization sharing hopeful, solution-driven stories about sustainability. 

Justin, who pivoted to climate-focused storytelling from working in the entertainment industry, discusses the role celebrities, athletes, and culture play in influencing people toward adopting more sustainable behavior. From fashion icons sporting secondhand and vintage pieces (ahem, Billie Eilish) to renewable energy advocates like free-solo climber Alex Honnold, celebrities are saying sustainability is in.

By sharing stories at the crux of culture and climate, Imagine5 inspires all of us to make small changes with intention. “We’re hoping to show that these lifestyle choices are actually the cooler, more interesting, and more aspirational options, whether that’s plant-based recipes, vintage clothes, or electric vehicles,” Justin says.

In This Episode, You’ll Hear:

• How Imagine5 turns climate doom into climate hope
• How Europe has led sustainability conversations (and what the U.S. can learn)
• About celebrity influence and culture shifts
• About Justin’s move from Hollywood to mission-driven media
• About the importance of print magazines, slower media, and stepping away from doom-scrolling

About Justin Cadelago 

Justin Cadelago is managing director, U.S. and global head of partnerships and business development at Imagine5, a bi-annual print and online magazine sharing hopeful solutions at the intersection of culture and climate. A purpose-driven media executive, Justin has a track record of building and scaling media platforms, technology companies, and consumer brands through strategic storytelling and high-impact partnerships. Previously, he led the influencer marketing division at Studio71 across Los Angeles and New York, working with Fortune 500 and direct-to-consumer brands. Justin studied at the University of California, Santa Barbara and is also a heart disease and stroke survivor who advocates for the American Heart Association.

Meet the Host:

Victoria Riskin: I am Victoria. I’m always looking for the best life has to offer despite a turbulent world. I find comfort in the environment and joy in friendships. We have a great team of all ages at Bluedot who inspire me every day as we work together to build community.

Transcript

Hosts: Victoria Riskin
Guest: Justin Cadelago

Victoria Riskin: Hi everyone. Welcome back to the Bluedot Living podcast. I'm Victoria Riskin, and I'm the founder of Bluedot Living, and here on Imagine If, we're telling stories of people who are living a healthier and more sustainable life — because so many people are. Today I'm going to introduce you to Justin Cadelago and a magazine called Imagine5, which is published in Europe and now in the United States, and it's gaining ground all over the world. It's incredibly beautiful, very elegant, and not only that, I wanted to introduce you to Justin because he made a big change in his life. He went from being in the entertainment industry to defining a deeper level of purpose and quality of life by shifting to focus on climate issues and sustainability.

Our goal at Bluedot Living is to help you leave feeling more optimistic and to think about those small things that you can do to make your life better and that we can all do to make our collective lives better, and Justin is a great example of that. So come on, journey with me to meet Justin and hear more about his story.

Victoria Riskin: Welcome, Justin. I’m so happy to spend a little time with you. We’ve already teed up for our audience a little bit about Imagine5, but I want to do a deeper dive with you because when we found each other, I was so happy to discover your beautiful magazine. It’s very elegant, by the way.

Justin Cadelago: Thank you.

Victoria Riskin: I love that it’s a coffee-table quality magazine. It is like bringing important storytelling into a beautiful space with the kinds of stories that you’re doing. I’m hoping people who are listening will sign up with Bluedot Living, get some of our publications, and also be part of your family. That’s where I’d like to start. What were the origins? How did this all get started? Publishing is a very tough environment. You’re competing with all the craziness that goes on in the media space, especially online, and people think print is old-fashioned. Someone had this brainstorm and you’ve been very successful, so I want to hear about that.

Justin Cadelago: First of all, Vicki, thank you so much for the opportunity to join the podcast. Congratulations on all the success, momentum, and work that you’re doing with Bluedot Living. It is so exciting to meet other people who are building similar businesses, have a similar mission, and are looking to make an impact for the betterment of the world.

Imagine5 has been around for about five years now. I’m not one of the founding members, but I do oversee the United States. We can get a little bit more into my position later, but I think Imagine5 initially was born out of the idea that there is just so much doom and gloom that exists in the world. In the 24-hour news cycle, we’re constantly scrolling through negative headlines that cause fear, outrage, and cause us to close down. We thought that there was a more interesting and better way to engage people around the biggest existential threat of our time. We’re constantly seeing headlines of natural disasters and things going bad in the world, but there are also a lot of incredible stories of hope and solutions. We just need to know where to look for them.

Victoria Riskin: Was there one person who said, “Hey, let’s do this,” or was it a group of people? And by the way, you started in Europe, so there's a lot more of a progressive or receptive environment in Europe than there is here today. I don’t want to get political, Justin, but there’s been an effort to shut down the wonderful progress that's being made on climate change.

Justin Cadelago: There definitely is a lot of progress happening in Europe. They’re very forward-thinking. Our company was founded by a family office based between Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Those are two cities where environmentalism and circularity are very much in the forefront of the conversation. It’s just top of mind for people there, more so than I think it is here.

Victoria Riskin: So when you’re at a cafe or when you’re with friends, the topic comes up, right? People are thinking about how to live more sustainably and how to tackle these issues. There's more conversation in Europe, I would guess.

Justin Cadelago: I think so. That’s from my experience in having visited Europe and our offices a number of times. I think it’s less political. Climate change has unfortunately been weaponized here as a partisan issue when, honestly, it is very much nonpartisan. I don’t think it’s as political there, though maybe that's changing these days given how the right is moving into the western part of the world and Europe as well. But I think people have just historically, in the last few decades, been more receptive to living a little more sustainably.

Victoria Riskin: There isn’t the kind of obsession with consumerism in Europe at the same level that we experience in the United States. That’s one thing. And then as you said, there are forces who are weaponizing the issue. Even though on the Republican side, the founding of the EPA and a lot of the environmental interventions and laws came under a Republican administration. Can we get back together again and figure out how to work together and solve real problems that people are facing in their communities?

Justin Cadelago: I couldn’t agree more. Anytime the topic of conversation comes up, I try to explain to people that it’s not a political issue at all. Nature and ecology are nonpartisan issues. We all want clean air, we all want healthy food, and we all love spending time in nature. We should understand that we need to do the world a little bit better.

Victoria Riskin: I take some hope from people doing wonderful things, but I also take hope from young people, an increasing number of whom are making consideration of their lifestyle part of their identity. For example, what kind of clothing they buy and whether they get upcycled clothing (which is the new term of art for thrifted clothing) or whether they take their own water bottle with them. If they begin to understand that plastic bottles aren’t really healthy for water, they realize they're getting a less healthy version of water by going for a plastic bottle. I take heart from wonderful young people who are part of my orbit and who I love collecting to be part of our movement. I consider you a young person, so you’re now part of my circle. Where do you take your hopeful signs? What gives you hope when you wake up and see all the doom and gloom?

Justin Cadelago: That’s a great question. I think I’m very fortunate to be in a working environment where I have like-minded individuals all around me. I am very lucky, and I understand that's not the same for everybody. But I have access to so many incredible stories just flipping through our magazine or your magazine. Even walking down the street and seeing somebody gardening, someone picking up trash, or people living in harmony with nature, those little things give me hope every day. Knowing that these little actions can go a long way.

Victoria Riskin: Part of my theory, coming from a background in psychology, is that if people are doing something and it’s “cool,” other people will do it. The little things we do, like somebody gardening on the street, can make you think, “Well, maybe I could make this little piece of dirt in front of my house look a little better. Maybe I can put some pollinating plants in.” You begin to normalize the actions that people can take, and then they have an investment.

Justin Cadelago: I absolutely agree. For a long time, environmentalism wasn’t necessarily the “cool” thing to do or the cool group to be a part of. That’s one thing at Imagine5 that we’re hoping to change. We want to show that these lifestyle choices and behaviors are actually the cooler, more interesting, and more aspirational choices. Whether that’s eating local and organic food and trying incredible recipes that a plant-based chef might be cooking up, or making more interesting choices around the clothes you buy, whether that’s vintage or secondhand. Showing that EVs aren’t worse than gas-powered cars, but are the cooler option these days. Positioning these behavioral changes as more interesting and aspirational is key. Seeing those things every day, whether it’s on social media or in real life walking down the street in New York and seeing people dressed in cool vintage outfits, those things give me hope because people are noticing those little behavioral shifts that others can make around them.

Victoria Riskin: One of the people who I was totally blown away by regarding vintage clothing was Billie Eilish. Her outfits are fabulous, really quality clothing, but pre-loved. You came from the entertainment business. You were with a famous agency, ICM, which was a very big deal with very important clients. To what extent do you think Hollywood or movies can influence climate? I think it’s limited. And this is my view, and that is because it’s hard to demonstrate actions that are interesting dramatically. In terms of climate in a movie? I don't know. What do you think? Do you think it's possible? I think Billie Eilish wearing a vintage outfit is influential.

Justin Cadelago: I do think it’s influential both what Billie Eilish is doing and what celebrities do when they use their platforms to speak up about conservation and climate change. Celebrities have such a massive platform, and sometimes they're risking their reputation, credibility, and financial opportunities to do that. On the celebrity side, it’s a big deal. Billie is someone who does both; she speaks about it every time she has a platform and she walks the walk when she wears a secondhand or vintage outfit.

In terms of entertainment programming itself, getting the climate narrative into television shows and movies is important. Is a movie with a big natural disaster going to change people's hearts and minds on climate? I don’t know. But continuing to bring it up and making it a part of everyday life within television programming is important because it is part of our lives. When it’s mentioned in shows, it doesn’t need to be front and center; it can be subtle. There are a lot of television shows that have done a great job on that, and there are behavioral studies that show it has definitely increased people’s awareness.

Victoria Riskin: Yeah, change behavior. Yeah. I think it’s something subtle, but I mean, clear action, not a whole little speech about what to do so much. I remember I was part of something called Hollywood Health in Society, which was a writer’s guild, USC group, and we were focusing on health. We learned that more people learn what to do about taking medication, particularly blood pressure medication, from television shows like ER, than they learn from their doctors. That's a staggering thing to say, but I've wondered, what can you show in a television program that is going to be integral to the dramatic story without sounding like you’re putting up a neon sign and you know, and trying to influence in a way that feels artificial to the story. So what made you leave the entertainment industry?

Justin Cadelago: I still have a lot of friends and colleagues in that space, so no disrespect, but the lifestyle didn’t feel like it aligned well with me anymore. I had spent four or five years climbing the ladder in the entertainment industry. It takes a long time to learn and build a reputation and a network. The typical trajectory is working up from the mailroom to being an assistant, then into training programs at an agency, management company, a law firm, production company, or a television network or studio. I loved the industry because it gave you such a diversified knowledge set, within entertainment, being able to work with television. Shows, production companies, talent directly themselves. Ultimately it was a combination of not feeling like the best lifestyle fit for me and also wanting to sort of broaden outside of just television and film into media, which at the time I think was changing a lot. Traditional entertainment was being disrupted by platforms like Netflix and Hulu at the time, which then, you know, have been disrupted by Facebook and Twitter and Snapchat and Instagram. So I sort of had a front seat to how media was being disrupted, but that was also a super interesting time to explore new possibilities, and that led me more into like digital media content, storytelling. Space with brands and content creators and publishers.

Victoria Riskin: Did you feel a little liberated moving away? As much as I love the entertainment industry and grew up in it — my family was part of the entertainment industry, and I was too. The famous line “let’s do lunch” often means you just lost your job. It’s a very neurotic kind of place, and yet there are so many talented, wonderful people who make movies, especially sort of the pioneer, independent folks. But the pressers are great. They really are.

Justin Cadelago: I’m so grateful for the time I spent in the industry because you learn so much not just about television and film, but how to be a professional. How to be on top of your work, respond to people on time, and call people back. Those are basic habits I take with me today. But I did feel liberated. It can be a very transactional space. I took what I wanted from it, and I carry that with me.

Victoria Riskin: That’s great. Well, that's what life is, isn’t it, Justin? You pile a series of experiences one on top of the other, and then you have your own toolkit, your own skillset, your own passions. So, bravo to you for all that. Do you mind if I go back a little to Imagine5 because I know you have a copy of it there with a cover. That’s Kiran, Madame Gandhi; we did a podcast with her. She’s quite magical and photogenic as well because you have her on the cover. Tell me a little bit about some of the stories, maybe one or two that you really loved, that really hit you.

Justin Cadelago: There are so many that it’s hard to pick a favorite. Madame Gandhi’s story is incredible — using nature to create beats in the studio from recordings in nature. Alex Honnold is another big story in our most recent magazine. He just climbed Taipei 101. He soloed it free. He’s known for free soloing in El Capitan and Yosemite National Park. But he’s using this, his next chapter, to speak up on climate. So, you know, going back to celebrities or athletes, for example, using their platform. To speak up about sustainability and climate, he started a nonprofit that, you know, helps produce solar farms and solar energy and fund solar projects around the world. Those stories I love. I think maybe coming from the talent space, I gravitate toward people who have big platforms. Our artists or celebrities or athletes who are using their voices to do the same. We also profiled an ultra trail runner named Kilian Jornet who also speaks up about climate and, during part of his career, stopped traveling to different races around the world and only did them locally because he wanted to cut his global travels. I love food, so I gravitate to a lot of the food stories we’ve told, and we’ve told stories about incredible low-waste chefs, Indigenous chefs, three-Michelin-star chefs who’ve taken meat off the menu.

Victoria Riskin: Wait a minute, who are your favorite chefs? I’m a bit of a foodie myself.

Justin Cadelago: The three-Michelin-star chef we profiled was Rasmus Kofoed in Copenhagen. He was one of the first to take meat off the menu. I think they still had fish occasionally, but that’s a pretty big deal in an industry that was consistently serving animal products. That shift demonstrates to an entire industry that you can still run a three-Michelin-star restaurant without serving meat.

Victoria Riskin: I’m in Santa Barbara, and tonight I’m taking a group of people on a Bluedot Travel adventure. We’re going to a lovely restaurant called Loquita. The woman who started it has several restaurants and they do perfect recycling; everything is farm-to-table and fish-to-table. Real deep commitment to local farmers, and it's just a joy to know all of the thinking and effort that's gone behind that and to have a nice dinner of paella and little sangria and so on. So, I love to do those kinds of stories as well. So I’m wondering what made your organization turn to the United States, a more difficult environment to grab people’s attention than in Europe.

Justin Cadelago: Well, being a nonprofit, our mission is really to impact as many people as we can and to change people's attitudes and behavior around sustainability, help them live a greener, more planet-friendly life. And Northern Europe is a small market and you know, the thought was to start there and build outwards. When you think about how we can impact the most people possible, you know, North America and the United States presents, an incredible opportunity to do that. And so the thought was once the company was established in those two markets and well represented in Europe, to then move into North America and the United States.

Victoria Riskin: So that sounds great and because it's a very tough media environment here — and I have to say my own problem is waking up every morning and scrolling and looking for, I don't know. It's like, I hope that things are gonna be better, I'm gonna find some piece of news, and it, of course, doesn't pop up. So it's up to us to push out these stories together. And usually when we do these podcasts, we want you to think a little more deeply about your vision, your personal vision, and your dreams. So we ask the question, imagine if, and you could fill in the blank any way you like. Imagine if in five years, 10 years, imagine if tomorrow what do we, on a deeper level, what do we need? What are you thinking?

Justin Cadelago: This might sound a little bit “woo-woo” to the average person, but I always go back to the idea that we are nature. Human beings are nature; we’re not separate from it. What if we all just realized we weren’t separate from nature and that we were all part of it? I think we would tread a little bit lighter. We would extract less, waste less, and live in harmony with each other. I think we would be a little kinder to each other and the world around us. If we can just wake up and remember we’re not separate from each other, nature, or other beings, the world would be a better place.

Victoria Riskin: I agree with you. If you can go to that space, you can find a sense of well being. We always think we have to be working so hard and pushing and shoving. On a “cranky” day, I’ll talk to the trees outside my house and ask, “What should I do? What do you have to tell me?” The answer is almost always just: “Settle down, relax, everything will be OK. I’m here, I’m growing my leaves, I’m letting them fall, I’m protecting my roots.” I look at myself objectively and say, “Oh, you’re one of those woo-woo people,” but I’m with you.

Justin Cadelago: I love that you talk to trees. That’s incredible.

Victoria Riskin: They’re so wonderful. They even say, “I’m so glad you’re here.” Honestly speaking, I got through COVID and sort of loved it not because of the terrible things happening to people, but because I took long walks and the trees talked to me. I felt very centered without doing very much. You’re so right. We are part of nature and it’s a beautiful thing, but we’re so busy paving over it. I know you have a wonderful spirit. I love your magazine. I can’t wait to read all the stories. 

Justin Cadelago: Yeah. I think we're all yearning for hope and for optimism and, you know, you were mentioning that you wake up in the morning and scroll and, you know, the unfortunate side about social media is that it feeds us negative news. It amplifies negative headlines, and I think it’s conditioned us to amplify negative news and to make us frustrated and to make us feel isolated. And I'm optimistic about the work that both of us are doing. A moving back into print itself. I think that there's a resurgence of wanting slower media to sit back with, you know, beautiful magazines, and learn something new to feed people’s curiosity, to share positive stories, especially with everything that's happening in the world with negative headlines happening every single day. I think, yeah, we’re moving back into an analog phase or an analog era, and I think the timing is right, and what we're building is more needed than ever.

Victoria Riskin: I imagine if we all took these devices, put them in a drawer, and walked out to talk to the trees and listen to some music. We have to admit that we are all addicted to this technology and it is unhealthy. It’s a very big order to set it aside and connect with people and nature again, but it’s the revolutionary thing we need to do together.

Justin Cadelago: Absolutely, and if you’re feeling that way, if you feel like you've been on your phone for too long, if you’re feeling isolated, either connect with a friend or go out in nature and talk to that tree. I promise you, we tell a lot of stories around biophilia, you know, that spending time in nature. It increases your mood. You know, you come from the psychology space, there’s probably some papers being written about that, but yeah, nature has this incredible ability to, increase our mood and dopamine and serotonin and just make us feel alive again.

Victoria Riskin: We do a week-long retreat every year with high school students. They do a deep dive into who they really are and their appreciation for the environment. They cannot bring their phones into the classroom or to the dinner table. You see a lot of happy faces when they're given permission to put those things away. However, I’m going to close by saying I’m so glad technology brought me to you today.

Justin Cadelago: Thank you, and likewise. Sometimes it does work to our benefit.

Victoria Riskin: Thank you, Justin. I love what you’re doing.

Justin Cadelago: Thank you, Vicki. I appreciate the opportunity. We’ll connect soon.

Victoria Riskin: Thank you for joining us on Imagine If from Bluedot Living. If you want to explore our recipes, products for your home and lifestyle, and read interesting stories, you can find us at bluedotliving.com. And for daily inspiration, you can follow us at Bluedot Living on Instagram. If you enjoyed this conversation, share it and please add your thoughts in the comments on YouTube. I'm Victoria Riskin, and we’ll be back next week with more stories from great people doing amazing things in their little corner of the planet.