This month Zūm published a short interview with me about climate. My answer to the first question was simple: to me, sustainability is all about transition.
At Tesla, I designed for the fleet side of the business, for rental companies like Hertz and Avis that were moving their fleets to electric. I saw up close how much it matters to change the way we move.
At home, Meghna is building a company around stainless steel instead of single-use plastic: things you wash and use again. It’s called dubara, and she’s raising money for it now.
We moved from New York to California in 2012. For the first time, I saw signs that said “Do not water your lawn.” On road trips, we wondered how the green California from the movies had turned into brown, dry hills.
A few years ago, I woke up to an orange sky from the wildfires. It felt like we were on Mars. That day, more than any other, made climate change real for me.
I still think about a sixth-grader in Pennsylvania who worked out that changing his school’s font could save ink and paper. The idea went all the way to the U.S. government. His small change in design had a huge impact.
At Zūm, our buses are going electric. Drivers will need to find the right charger at the yard and plug in, and the yard team will need to know how long a charge takes and when a bus is ready to go. All of that needs new, simple experiences. I’m excited to take that on.