For Earth Day and beyond, ‘Possibly’ podcast offers practical solutions for a greener world

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — While many people share an interest in making climate-conscious decisions in everyday life, getting useful, science-based answers about how to help the planet is not always easy.

Luckily, there’s a podcast taking on that challenge directly with the goal of making choices less overwhelming.

“Possibly” is a 4-minute weekly podcast, typically put together by a team of student reporters from Brown University, that airs on The Public’s Radio every Tuesday. Launched in 2017 by Associate Provost for Sustainability Stephen Porder and producer and host Megan Hall, an adjunct lecturer in environment and society at Brown, the episodes often explore practical topics — like whether phone chargers use power when not connected to a phone — while also looking at bigger topics like how to influence public utilities commissions or how to convince people to make better climate decisions. Many episodes leverage the expertise of faculty and students at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society.

In honor of Earth Day, the Possibly team shared a list of episodes to help people consider how they can be environmentally conscious, both on campus and beyond. Take a listen.

In this episode, Brown undergraduates Riley Stevenson and Anna Amha explore the most efficient ways to do one of the most dreaded household chores: the dishes. Through an experiment, they determine whether handwashing dishes uses significantly more water and energy compared to modern dishwashers. Spoiler alert — dishwashers are the clear winner, but the reasons why and how they figured it out are intriguing.