Month: March 2024

March 24, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

The kick off for SB1137 happened yesterday. The two healthcare voices that showed up were me (Dr. Plastic Picker a pediatrician) and a premedical student that is still in high school. He’s shown up to multiple events, and if you show up – Dr. Plastic Picker hands you the opportunities. He’s already given a lecture at the medical school, helped establish the Student Electrification Initiative, and now going to push through a resolution in his city to support SB1137. It’s honestly whoever shows up, because this work needs to be done and it needs to be done now.

It was amazing all those that I saw again and met yesterday. It was a good sized group, about 50 community members, coalition members and youth advocates. My own two teens came, most notably my son who literally just landed back home for spring break from UC Berkeley. My daughter was there, woke up early for me to show up because her mother was speaking. Both of my children have done more than enough climate projects and understand fundamentally the importance of my advocacy, but I push them to do other things – because climate will become a large part of their lives later and for everyone. Now I want them both to grow and learn and have some privacy, from this intense world I’ve entered. But I saw one of my original mentors from Climate Reality! That was the first training I had done, and I had only met her virtually and I’ve been on the email list server for four years! It was really good to finally meet in person. I saw the members from SanDiego350.org and when a certain southbay justice person calls me or emails me, I show up. She texted me about this, and I made sure to show up. I saw Jack Shu! He’s an amazing climate advocate and has been for decades, and is now been joined by more Asian-American leaders like myself. He is amazing and his family is amazing. We’ve hung out and sang karaoke with all the UCSD premedical students!

And this morning, I’m just being a mom because yesterday – even though it was only a 5 minutes speech – I get so emotionally wrung out by it all. I was satisfied with how my comments landed. I was exhausted by the preparation, because I did have to review notes and prepare comments and do an updated premed search. I was energetic during the networking and happy to see everyone. But then afterwards because I’m fundamentally an introvert, I was exhausted and irritable and had to sleep. And then my daughter and I got into an argument, which is unusual for us. But I slept some more and she went running, and we realized it’s because of the nature of climate work and being connected. We laughed at dinner, so very much. We were happy and connected and together.

This morning, our son is upstairs with some high school friends who are all college freshman, and their laughing and chattering while watching some e-gaming finals. Mr. Plastic Picker and I drove over to the local bagel shop, and grabbed them some bagel sandwhiches and a carafe of coffee. That was new for us. They are college students, and I did not know that my son drinks coffee and so does his friends. But they are laughing and we give them space, but the house feels so full and wonderful with the young college students upstairs. Our 15 year old naturally wandered downstairs and making some whip cream for herself for no particular reason, and we’ll head out to the mall to buy a new set of earrings for her. I’m looking through the clear glass doors toward our beautiful backyard, and they are sitting and chatting and trying to fix our automatic gate. My mother sits in a very comfortable DME hospital grade bath chair, the ones that you see in the hospital when you are admitted. I absolutely have no idea how and where they got this chair, but they have one and now I realize why it’s important that we keep it. She looks so comfortable sitting in it.

And that is our life, with a hand-me-down luxury electric car in our garage that barely fits. We are so lucky in our lives. I am so lucky to be in the advocacy space that I’ve happened upon. And I am grateful for every day on this beautiful planet, to be connected with you to have my dreams for a livable planet and to still harbor silly dreams for my children’s future. The emotions are real, and the actions are impactful. Thank you for following along on my emotional journey. This work can get heavy, but this morning we saw rainbow and it seemed lighter because I put the earth at the center of all I do.

March 16, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

Good Saturday morning dear blog readers!!! I know I’ve neglected the blog readership quite a bit. I promise I’ve mostly been working (doing clinical care because I’m still a full time physician) and trying to address the climate crisis. I have to email a lot these days and actually text and Instagram message quite a bit these days, just to pull the disparate parts of our society together to collaborate on projects. I’ve ridden the waves of emotions from elation to annoyance to exhaustion, and thank you to those who actually know me for hearing me chatter on and on about climate and mostly chatter on about my teen daughter.

I think about leadership a lot. I sometimes wonder why I am in the place and space I am in. I get exhausted sometimes, but mostly I know I am at the right place and where I need to be. I think about the future still, even though I try to be present in most moments. I have written this before, but I will remind myself. The greatest gift climate work has given me, is that is has blessedly slowed down time. In the almost two years since I left middle management, I have been living in a slower time sequence. I have been able to enjoy my daughter being 15.

I’m sitting next to her right now. She’s in a virtual meeting with like-minded girls from Bangladesh and Central Asia, and doing an “Impact Challenge” as part of the Harvard Youth Leadership Summit. It was a virtual conference that I think was competitive that is run by the Harvard College Program for Asia and International Relations (HPAIR). It’s really interesting sitting next to her and watching how these four girls work together. They are so collaborative! Animated! Shared space! Inspiring! This definitely gives me hope and gives me goals on how to better work in groups as well.

Leadership. What does it mean? It mostly means showing up. I was reminding my daughter that the time you invest/spend on something is important. Showing up and committed to something. She was so committed to this conference. She was worried about being late for it virtually yesterday. She was eager to get up this morning to meet with her group. This is a completely optional conference, and I’m so grateful that it ended up being a useful activity for her. She’s learning. She’s connecting.

And this weekend? I’ll continue to lead and learn alongside her. Lots of climate projects in the works. We have the vegetable sticker project which is mostly on indigenous food systems and we have an invested new premedical student. SB1137 kick off and rally is next weekend, and I need to be ready to speak and advertise to our group. Still organizing PHAC OC/LA and recruiting new members for our council. H3SD 2024 planning is going really well. There was some internal change over of some positions, so I need to email a new person and cc an old person to make sure we have funding. In the end, our family can fund it but it’s a big chunk of change and we funded a bit portion last year (which we were happy to do since it needed to be done!). So lots of wonderful things this weekend, and meaningful projects.

I’m honestly mostly happy our teen is home. She was on a school trip to Argentina. I didn’t want to post too much about it because of the carbon emissions, but she went and it was the truth and it was worth it for our family. We try not to fly too much. We are driving up to her state speech tournament which is Fresno. And our son will be home next weekend and I’m going to give him a big hug.

Thank you for letting me type nonsense and detail my thoughts, as I try to be part of this existential fight to address decarbonization and global heating. Hope everyone has a sustainable weekend.

March 3, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

It’s interesting being at the intersection of generations. Mr. Plastic Picker and I had kids relatively early for those with graduates degrees. I had my two at 27 and 30, which is insanely early if you talk to most doctors. But that makes it interesting being a climate and health doctor now, because I’m at the peak of my professional career and influence with teenagers and thinking about their future. It’s so easy to be distracted by silly departmental politics or having FOMO regarding traveling to exotic locations, when literally the prospect of having grandchildren might elude me because fossil fuel companies continue to destroy this earth.

It’s true. I was with my daughter and celebrating her wonderful wins at the State Qualifying Tournament and she made finals in Impromptu and Original Prose and Poetry. Her accomplishments are remarkable and she’s in the mix to be part of that rarified world of kids at those schools who all know each other, and that can be influential. Especially as a former preemie baby, I don’t take anything about her life for granted.

But seeing her soar and win, begs the question – what about the rest of us? What about all of us in our 40s and 50s who went to those rarified Ivy League+ institutions with money and positions and power? What are we doing? We have already reached where these young high school speech kids are trying to reach, and what have we done with all that we have been given. I always remind my children that common adage, to those that are given much – much is to be expected. If I can guilt anyone of my generation to step up or ramp up their climate work, than that is actually the most impactful thing I can do. And I’ll be honest with the blog readership (and this is talking to the choir), I am vastly disappointed in a majority of physicians, pediatricians and adults out there. Obviously they don’t read this blog. But they listen to me speak. They see me parade myself around the blogsphere, and maybe even like an instagram post or two. But shame on you. I’ll be a big negative today, but absolutely shame on you. You can do more. You can absolutely do more.

When you have teens, you realize that despite the fancy dresses and despite the eloquent words – they are children. They are children organizing, and like Youth Vs. Oil – changing the conversation. And what have most physicians done? They’ve bought themselves a status Tesla and patted themselves on the back. That’s honestly what I think of most of the physicians out there.

But I have hope, because in reaching out to hundreds of colleagues, I’ve met a handful who get it. Who 100% get it. And we have big climate wins that I can’t fully announce yet. But I appreciate a certain ophthalmologist, a certain internist, a certain family practice physicians, and many many medical students and premedical students. When we are ready to announce some big climate wins on behalf of climate and health, I’ll announce it. I have to keep these two under wraps for a bit until they go through the proper channels.

Just wanted wanted the blog readership know that our teen did so well at her state qualifying speech tournament, and that Dr. Plastic Picker is still plugging away and organizing and recruiting. Thank you to all (mostly premedical students and medical students sadly) who have linked arms with me to do this vital work. And if I guilted you a bit, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. DM me, text me especially if you have an MD because there is so much for you to do, like I have a lobbying meeting coming up regarding wetlands and honestly it doesn’t have to be me. It could be YOU. I’ve been on the news and done enough public speaking that I’m 100% willing to share.

This is the true feelings of Dr. Plastic Picker. Who started off as a litter picking pediatrician. and now an eco-warrior!