Ep. 29: Climate Action with Lauren Saville

Celebrating a regional government that helps people and businesses make change

Author

Plants Always Win
July 18, 2025

Get inspired this week by impactful regional initiatives out of Muskoka, Ontario.

On the episode thumbnail for Plants Always Win Podcast episode 29, a smiling, young white woman speaks to an older white-haired woman at an information booth stocked with pamphlets and a poster about greenhouse gas reduction plans.

These initiative include:

  • the Climate Hero Program, which awards individuals and businesses Bronze, Silver, and Gold rankings for the climate-friendly actions they take (including planting a pollinator garden!)

  • the Muskoka EnviroHub website packed with resources

  • the Muskoka GeoHub, an online web mapping portal featuring floodplain mapping, real-time water levels, shoreline videos, and more

  • a Community Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan

  • and, importantly, a Corporate Greenhouse Gas Initiative since the onus for change cannot be on residents alone.

Our guest, Lauren Saville, is the Community Climate Initiatives Coordinator in Muskoka. Her work takes her into the heart of a cottage-country community where “the environment is the economy and the economy is the environment.” She helps residents understand how the changing climate is impacting their wallets and ways of life, and offers them opportunities to make real change. She gives presentations to schools and to the public, inspiring and equipping them to take action in their own lives. And she’s involved with a huge range of initiatives that make life better for people AND the planet. 

Listen now and get motivated by the interconnectedness of environment, economy, and community well-being.

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Credits

Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin

Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays
License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH

Timestamps

00:50 Introducing Lauren Saville, Community Climate Initiatives Coordinator
02:20 Tackling Climate Change at the Community and Corporate Levels
06:43 Insurers are Motivated to Mitigate Climate Change
07:51 How the Community Responds
09:37 Climate Complacency: When Nature's Beauty Backfires
11:10 Sean Joins the Climate Hero Program
15:04 Lauren's Community and School Talks
18:58 Pollinator Plants, Shoreline Greening, and Love Your Lake
23:30 Partnering with Other Organizations Drives Change!
25:48 What Is a Watershed?
27:03 What Lauren Loves About her Job
32:15 Love for Muskoka, Love for Nature
33:55 Lauren's Home Garden Projects
35:15 Find Muskoka's EnviroHub and Stewardship Outreach
36:22 We Can All Make Change
38:25 Outro and Contact Us