How One Man Became a Social Media Sensation for Sustainability - Robin Greenfield is RightOffTrack | Anya Smith

Anya Smith (00:00.926)
Hey friends, welcome back to RightOffTrack. Today we have a guest who is truly living by the mantra, be the change you wanna see in the world. Meet Robin Greenfield, environmental activist and humanitarian who's not just talking the talk, but walking the walk in a suit made of trash no less. But let's rewind a bit. Picture this, Robin once inspired to be a millionaire while living in the largest bedroom of his house. Fast forward to today, and he's drastically shifted his priorities.

opting for a life that's rich in purpose rather than material possessions. From biking cross continents to constructing and living in tiny houses and growing his own food for an entire year, Robin's life is a masterclass in sustainable and purposeful living. So why tune in? Because Robin's journey is packed with actionable insights that can help you make more conscious choices in your own life. You'll hear about community composting, food waste reduction, and so much more.

We may not all adopt Robin's extreme lifestyle, but his story offers something for everyone, looking to make a positive impact. Get ready for a conversation that could change the way you see the world. So don't miss this episode. Let's dive in. Welcome to Write Up Shack Robin. I'm so excited to have you here.

Robin Greenfield (01:18.855)
It's very nice to be chatting with you Anya.

Anya Smith (01:21.946)
And quick shout out to your team, all the volunteers, they were so responsive. I didn't expect to hear back and they were like, yep, Robin would be interested to be part of this podcast. I'm just so honest. So quick shout out to all the people that are supporting your mission and your work. They were incredible to work with. Thanks for having me.

Robin Greenfield (01:37.075)
Thank you.

Anya Smith (01:39.262)
So Robin, I did a lot of research around this and as I mentioned to you just a moment ago, there's so much to unpack here around your story and the incredible work you've been doing for over a decade to inspire people to see the world in a different way. But in your own words, could you share a little bit about the track that you've taken for over a decade and kind of what inspired you to now educate people in this unique way?

Robin Greenfield (02:03.259)
Sure. Yeah, well, in 2011, I was living a pretty typical lifestyle for the United States. I was very focused on material possessions and financial wealth. In fact, I had a goal of being a millionaire by the time I was 30. And I was happy. I was enjoying it. I had lots of friends. Life was good. But then something happened where I realized I wanted to...

Anya Smith (02:29.323)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (02:33.087)
totally transformed my life. I started to watch a lot of documentaries and read a lot of books. And I just learned that the way that I was living was causing an incredible amount of destruction to earth, to my fellow humanity, and to the plants and animals that we share this home with. And I learned that everything that I was doing, from the car that I was driving, to the gas I was pumping into it, to the food I was eating, the cheap junk I was buying, the trash I was creating, I learned that just

everything that I was doing was causing destruction. And so I decided to take my life back from this destruction and one step at a time, bring my life into a state of harmony where my actions could actually be not only sustainable but actually beneficial to the world. And that's what I set out to do. I guess it's been 12 years now. And I set out to show people that this was possible and.

quickly decided to become an environmental activist and show people that another way is possible.

Anya Smith (03:38.654)
It's incredible. And you mentioned you started getting this curiosity, you watched documentaries, could you maybe dive in a little bit more, what was that catalyst, because I think a lot of people watch documentaries and like, oh, that does not feel comfortable. And they share it, they like it, and they move on with their life. What was really the point that what were some resources that really got you to shift and say, Hey, enough is enough. I'm going to radically change my lifestyle.

Robin Greenfield (03:54.078)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (04:00.722)
Yeah.

Well, so definitely a lot of people have had the same, they've seen the same documentaries, they've read the same books, they've had the same sort of awakenings that I did. And I have taken it quite a few steps. And the big thing for me is that I do think very logically and rationally and less so emotionally based. And so for me, it was just, okay.

I realized I'm living a hypocrisy. My actions are not in line with my beliefs. I'm 25 years old, and I might be living for another five or six decades. I'm not gonna live in hypocrisy for 50, 60 more years on this earth. So for me, it was just simple. It was like, I have this one opportunity to live, and I'm gonna do it differently than I am.

And I also have a fair bit of privilege and resources to be able to, you know, shift. I didn't have a mortgage, I didn't have kids already. I was pretty free to be able to pursue exactly what I wanted, which was what a lot of these documentaries and books were teaching me. Some of those were like the story of stuff. That was an incredible series that educated me. Actually, Zeitgeist?

the documentary, which has some issues that I don't fully agree with, but overall that movie really shook me up to my core. Documentaries like Food, Inc. and books like The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, and then learning about like Vandana Shiva, for example, and her work against GMOs. These were definitely some of my early inspirations and wake up calls.

Anya Smith (05:27.7)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (05:50.991)
And I can imagine also like as you start changing this life, I think most people think, oh, that must have been really hard. But I'm curious, what were some of the surprising rewards that came into your life, into your soul as you started embracing this life?

Robin Greenfield (06:01.118)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (06:04.827)
Yeah, I mean, definitely, you know, I did, I changed so much about my life. And so a lot of people, they look at this and they think of it as like giving up. They think of like, this as like sacrificing, but it wasn't about giving up or sacrificing for me. It was about.

removing the extraneous from my life, removing the things that weren't serving me so that I could make space for the things that would bring me more joy, more purpose, more meaning, more happiness, more health, more connection. I was just simply pursuing my basic human needs but figuring out how I could reach and have my basic human needs met without stealing from others.

and other species as well. And so it wasn't about giving up. And I quickly was finding myself just so much healthier. As I broke free from the global industrial food system and started to eat local, unpackaged, unprocessed foods, I was healthier. As I started to ride my bike more and drive my car less, as I started to volunteer rather than drink beer, all these things that I started doing, like I was...

feeling happier and healthier, and I was feeling more purpose and meaning. And so, you know, I really have almost never given up anything. I just don't think of it that way. I've just chosen to live the exact life that I want to. I've chosen to live in integrity, and there's nothing more fulfilling to me than being able to live a day in high integrity.

Anya Smith (07:47.438)
I love that. I love the focus that you have. It's not giving up. It's feeling yourself up with the best things in life really and discerning the two. And here's one other thing that I imagine is that probably the relationships in your life, maybe the people in your life perhaps changed, maybe the support network changed. Could you share the challenges and the rewards of that or your true story about that?

Robin Greenfield (08:09.275)
Yeah, I mean, definitely my relationships changed. There were friends that I had that, over a period of a couple of years as I was shifting my life decided, these friendships aren't really, they're not really in alignment anymore. They're not in harmony anymore. They don't make sense for me or them. And I'm a believer in...

being able to make shifts and make changes and that can mean some pretty big ones. And so there were definitely changes in some of my relationships. One of the big things for me is that my relationships became less about purely the social function and more about the fact that we were doing something, whether it was being of service together through volunteering or whether it was like we were learning or practicing a skill such as growing food or foraging.

Anya Smith (08:50.965)
Mm.

Robin Greenfield (09:04.151)
or something in the world of sustainability. So organically, my friendships changed towards being friends with people who had similar missions and purposes, or at least just similar aspirations and goals. And there were some challenging things, like for example, my dad was really not supportive of me for some time. And I actually, after years of reiterating that I was going to live my...

dream and my passion. There was a two year period where I didn't speak to him because he just constantly was trying to convince me not to live my life. And I had to make that choice and that wasn't really easy. And I still don't talk to him a lot today. I love him and he loves me. But it's like sometimes you have to do some things that are not easy but are going to ultimately serve your

Anya Smith (09:37.518)
Mm.

Anya Smith (09:42.388)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (09:52.322)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (10:02.079)
Thanks for watching!

Anya Smith (10:03.794)
Thank you. I appreciate you sharing your heart. As always, as always, but just sharing that moment. And one thing you mentioned earlier is that, this may seem to be like, oh, you know, you're trying to do this thing to educate, but like, is this rational? And you mentioned it is very rational. And when I looked at your website for, again, over a decade, you figured out, you know, an interesting way to make a point in an educational and kind way. You're not pointing fingers.

You're just like, here's my life, here's how I can teach you through my experience. And it's also like, to me, I remind of being almost like a social media expert because like, how can I attract attention to this in a fun and clever, inspiring way? So can you share like the logic that guides you like to your next, you know, educational experience from, you know, not showering to, you know, all those things that you've done.

Robin Greenfield (10:50.248)
Sure.

Robin Greenfield (10:54.815)
Well, from a foundational level, I am simply being myself, and I am naturally an entertainer. In about fifth grade, I started to find my meaning. You know, we all are just looking for a sense of belonging, of connection, of acknowledgement. Every one of us at every moment is just trying to meet our basic human needs. And at about the age of 10,

I started to find that I could meet my needs of acknowledgement and love through comedy. I quickly learned that, oh wow, if I can make people laugh, that they'll like me. And it took me a year, but in sixth grade, people started to laugh and people started to like me. I became actually kind of popular. Before that, most people didn't like me. And so from an early age, I found my meaning in life.

and my belonging in life through entertaining others. And that developed over time, but continued in the same way. I'm just a human being looking to meet these basic needs. And then when I woke up in 2011, what I realized was, okay, I can't meet my basic human needs in a way that ignores the destruction that our current society is taking part in, or even worse, contributes to it. So,

I'm not going to entertain people if it's either meaningless or mundane or even worse at the harm of others. And so when I first got started in my activism, it was, okay, how can I use my skills and how can I be me in a way that actually is a positive contribution to the earth? And so that's where the center of my form of activism is entertainment, because that's me. But also...

I'm a marketer. So at that time I was actually running a marketing company. I owned the Greenfield group and we did advertising. And so I combined that skill as well. And we actually started, we transitioned to search engine optimization and social media management. And I put the work of my organization to helping me spread my message. And so I put all this together and basically my entire life is designed as a message. Now,

Anya Smith (12:52.663)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (13:20.499)
There's two elements to that. There's the creation, the crafting of that, which could be potentially perceived as inauthentic, but there's the reality that that's who I am. I am a, just like some people, a journalist is a writer. Well, I'm a message spreader and it's what I feel very passionate about. And so...

I come up with interesting ways to reach millions of people that never have thought about environmental issues before or don't think about them much. And it's all about that. How can I use my life as a vessel to reach millions of people for positive change?

Anya Smith (14:01.486)
Hey, I didn't even know that about your background. Maybe it's my lack of research, but that makes so much sense. To me, it's fascinating how life sometimes prepare you step by step in ways you may not expect. I don't know if you expected when you went to marketing and had that skill, like, hey, I'm gonna be a global advocate. Maybe you did, but it's amazing.

Robin Greenfield (14:18.26)
Yeah, I mean, no, when I was doing that, I was just selling advertising for pizza and you know, massages and whatever people would buy. You know, I was just pushing consumerism at that time. And one of my early inspirations was 1% for the planet and the Ivan Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia. That's when I learned about using business as a tool for positive change.

Anya Smith (14:33.268)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (14:45.923)
And so at that time, that's what I was doing with my company. But even further I went, I was like, all right, I'm selling this advertising and sure, I'm putting a huge portion of my, uh, my pro my profits into good stuff. But I was like, I don't want to be doing bad so I can do good. I want to be putting all of my energy and my effort into, uh, affecting positive change and

I mean, we live in a difficult world where that's possible, but that's, my whole life is a strategy. Every day it's okay. What can I do? What can, I mean, it's actually one of my greatest struggles. It's that every day I'm like, all right, the world, the world, look at the state that we're in. There's hundreds of issues at any given moment. What is the best way that I can be of service to earth and humanity?

I know that I figured it out to a distinct extent, but I'm still trying to figure it out. What is the best thing that I can do with my life to use it effectively as a vessel of change?

Anya Smith (15:56.082)
I think I watched the video the other day where you showed your to-do list and you were saying how sometimes it can be frustrating at the end of the day, it just feels like you still have so much more you wish you could do, which is very relatable. And I was wondering, so one question I had from somebody on another podcast, and I like to ask it to other people is, how do you inspire people to think big, to think that they can make an impact in the world? Because I think that...

Robin Greenfield (16:08.016)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (16:24.706)
we look at this information around us and things that are happening, and we don't sense a sense of agency that we could make an impact. What would you have to say to somebody who's maybe in that situation with that mindset? How can we help inspire them to see that they can do more?

Robin Greenfield (16:38.511)
Yeah, there's a lot that could be said there. One of the things first is like if you're thinking big, think realistic. So one of the biggest issues that I've consistently seen of our generation is that people when they decide they want to start a company or a nonprofit or an initiative, their vision is on the big picture, which is excellent.

But they forget that the only way they'll ever get to that big picture is by making small continuous steps towards it. And so I would actually say to most people that want to make big change, focus on what you can do. Start with what you can do and let it grow from there. And actually, usually that's going to be your best bet because then as you're making mistakes...

you make them on a small scale rather than on a big scale. Because when you make big mistakes on a big scale, you actually negatively impact people's lives. And when you don't understand the issue at hand and you start working on it, this is where we're talking about a lot of the work. We have privileged people going into communities and they make things worse because they don't really know what they're doing. So really I would say know your stuff, start a little bit at a time.

Anya Smith (17:53.506)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (17:58.107)
And then also remember, you are one person. The weight of the world does not fall on your shoulders. Yes, as people of privilege and resources, I do think we have a certain level of responsibility for how we use our lives, but the weight of the world does not fall on our shoulders. So don't take the weight of the world on. Take on what you can do and work within your means.

Anya Smith (18:23.838)
It's beautiful. I love that logical approach. And again, being mindful that there are a lot of things happening in the world, but we all seem to come back and restore ourselves so we can show up the next day in our best capacity. And to that point, what was your journey like step by step like you grew this community, you grew the sense of activism, I look on your website, and you have a lot of initiatives from like seeds to compost to tree planting. Like how did that all grow beyond just you?

Robin Greenfield (18:50.943)
Hmm. Well, just lots of hard work is definitely number one. I mean, that's consistently what I've seen is that to accomplish most things, some people get lucky, some people have a whole bunch of money, but most of us, we just need to work really hard if we're ever going to expect to make meaningful change. And so primarily, you know, the way I look at it is, is it's just putting in a lot of work. There's a lot of 80 hour weeks.

Anya Smith (19:06.038)
Hmm.

Robin Greenfield (19:19.771)
but it's not work when it's like truly your passion. And then of course, it's about connecting together with community. A lot of my initial awakening was about the idea of self-sufficiency, about like how I could meet my own needs, how I could do this independent of corrupt corporations and governments and such. And so early on it was this idea of self-sufficiency and that's still there. I'm all about taking responsibility for ourselves.

But even more, it's about community sufficiency, it's about community resilience. So I would say that everything is generally easier with community, as long as you can actually get along, because if you're not getting along, then everything kind of is a lot harder. But if you can come together with community with similar goals and desires and work together, then that's the true way to accomplish things.

Anya Smith (20:03.423)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (20:16.803)
And I do see community at the root of the solution to so many of our problems today.

Anya Smith (20:27.294)
And from your videos, you also show like you don't have a checking account, you don't have a bank account, credit card, all those things. So you're doing all this work and creating community without a massive financial investment and glamour and allure. How do you do that? Like how do you create a community that's driven by purpose versus artificially maybe stimulated?

Robin Greenfield (20:47.571)
Well, you know, for most of us, unfortunately, a lot of us look around us and we feel like we're the only one. Like, there's nobody else who feels the same about us as us. There's nobody else who cares about these things. What I've consistently seen is that's just not true. There are people who care in every city, every town, every village, all across, you know, the country I live in and all across the world. But...

Anya Smith (20:56.887)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (21:16.627)
Think about it. If you aren't letting other people know that you care, how would they know that you do? And so the most important thing is to put yourself out there. And as you put yourself out there and you're letting people know this is what you want to be doing, and you start gardening, you know, like maybe you think nobody else grows food. Well, plant a garden in your front yard and be out there in front of it every day.

I guarantee you there's gonna be some people that are gonna stop by and eat it. They're already grown food, but you didn't know because it's in their backyard. Or they're gonna start growing food with you. So definitely like just putting yourself out there over and over and creating the reality that you want by working. And I'm not saying it's just like, if you wish it, it will be. It takes a lot of energy and effort.

Anya Smith (22:05.198)
Thanks for watching!

Robin Greenfield (22:08.051)
but that's also where the internet comes in. There's groups on social media, there's forums, and ideally I like to do things in person, but there's a lot of ways to interact with people online. So yeah, just to say that there's a lot of people out there and there's, the desire for community is so strong. And I have met so many people who've told me,

This isn't happening in my community and I'm like, actually, I've been to your community. It's happening there!

Anya Smith (22:41.574)
That must be a beautiful experience to open up a different world to people, which is partially what I love also about the forging videos I see you make and other people who are educating. They're going around towns and just discovering these different resources and educating people, which is very important about how to forge in a sustainable and healthy way. And I'm curious, how do you educate yourself around these topics? And more specifically, most recently, you made a post about We Are Living on Stolen Land.

and you're constantly educating yourself about topics that are important and sharing those in your own way. So how are you staying up to date on what's kind of core at your heart and your mission and choosing what to share with the world?

Robin Greenfield (23:22.279)
Hmm, well, yeah, I mean the way that I learn is...

Well, I think one thing is that we do have often this certain belief in our dominator society of who we can learn from. And I know that's the case for me because looking back 10 years ago, if we look at who most of my leaders were, it was primarily white people because that was the narrative that I was being fed. The idea that I read was that the environmental movement was more or less...

started by and led by white people. And I believe that, because that was what all the information was. And even when I went online to try to find people of color that were leaders in this, I was struggling to find it. I wasn't looking hard enough, obviously, but it wasn't even that easy, and this was 10 years ago. But the more that I'm reading books, like right now I'm reading Black Earth Wisdom by Leah Peniman.

The more that I realized that's just because that's the whitewash narrative that has been created. And the reality is that the environmental movement was, I would say, started as much or more so by Black people, by Indigenous people. And I would say more so. I would say substantially more so. Because they've been fighting for their own, you know, their own health and their own communities that have been more targeted by the capitalism and colonialism.

such. So for me, I don't know, these days I feel like the most that I learn is by listening to Indigenous women, by listening to Black women. As a white man, like that's how I get a much wider perspective. It's how I understand what's really going on for a lot of society. And I just, there's just so much, so much power and wisdom and knowledge that I've gotten just by picking up those books and

Robin Greenfield (25:26.031)
And, but it's so much more than that. It's just every, in all of our communities, there's so many people who have this knowledge. And so I think another part is about humbling ourselves and saying who around me, you know, might have perspectives for me to learn from. So I try to get my information from a balance of like the big global leaders who are there because they have really, really important messages and people who, you know.

people don't really listen to or know too much from. So I don't know, that's something that comes to mind.

Anya Smith (25:59.182)
I love it. You know what's interesting? Some people might be surprised. So this podcast is, now I'm calling it like Entrepreneurs with Purpose. And I'm like, okay, well, you have a humanitarian. How does that align? And to me, entrepreneurship is the sense that you see a problem in the world that doesn't have a solution and you go for it. I'm not looking at it as like make the most amount of money search. It's like success in the sense of how do you make the world better with a purpose. And so you have this innovation.

in the sense that you're looking at a problem and you're being creative and you have a purpose guiding you. So I want to inspire people to think bigger and to your point you made earlier, sometimes you may feel isolated. And growing up, I traveled the world, which I had the privilege to do so, but I came to the US with my mom from Russia when I was little. And so growing up, my family's all in Russia and they're amazing, but I had to figure out like who I am in this world kind of by myself. And I had the sense I could do more in life, but I didn't necessarily see people who wanted to

get off the nine to five ladder to do something different. And so I was hoping to create this community with the podcast where people, no matter where they are in the world, could see others working with a purpose, no matter how far away. And it's like, hey, if Robin can do it, why can't I do it? Why can't I adapt to something in my life that's meaningful to me and share that with others and see what can happen?

Robin Greenfield (27:13.328)
Nice, glad to hear that.

Robin Greenfield (27:21.305)
Thanks.

Anya Smith (27:22.97)
And I want to dive into some of the, well, personally, I'm curious, you've done a lot of different, you know, let's say projects to show the good of humanity, to show how we are consuming or maybe in illogical ways. What do you think was the most impactful project? What caught the most attention from people out there that maybe influenced some change?

Robin Greenfield (27:44.275)
Hmm. Well, um, yeah, I mean it's safe to say that the project that caught the most eyes was my month of living like the average person, eating, shopping, consuming like the average person, but with no garbage can. Instead I had to wear every single piece of trash that I created. Every coffee cup, every plastic wrapper, every piece of garbage went onto a suit on my body that was

Anya Smith (27:57.643)
Mm-hmm.

Anya Smith (28:05.696)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (28:12.215)
so you could see every piece of trash that I added. And the average person creates four and a half pounds of trash per day. And I didn't quite make that, but by the end of the month, I was wearing 87 pounds of trash when I did this in New York City. And it was just a walk. I was a walking billboard for the truth behind our consumerism. And people saw it and people understood it. It was very clear.

Anya Smith (28:37.502)
Yeah. How did you come up with the idea?

Robin Greenfield (28:41.211)
Well, I know one of my inspirations was Super Size Me, where Morgan Spurlock, he ate just McDonald's for 30 days, and I saw that worked. And I said, how can I take that same concept and apply it to showing how much garbage we create in our lives as just an individual? So Morgan Spurlock Super Size Me was part of the inspiration. And at the time I was dating my partner Cheryl at the time.

And we would do a lot of brainstorming together. And so I'm sure part of it came from there. And I don't really remember fully where things come from. They come from just a lot of conversations with friends and colleagues. And a lot of my ideas come while I'm riding my bike, actually. Well, I feel often my most inspired while I'm out riding my bicycle.

Anya Smith (29:28.343)
Mm-hmm.

Anya Smith (29:34.006)
That makes sense, your mind's not on it, right? It's free to wonder and reach those creative places in the world. One thing with my own personal bias, I'm a mom, we have three boys, we have a lot of privilege and I'm cognizant of that. But I look at you and I looked at your video where you talk about you have 111 possessions, 44 possessions. And some people may think that's crazy, but I honestly felt a beauty to that. And again, I know that I'm just talking, I probably can't relate fully, but the sense of like, you're free.

the sense of nothing is burdening you down. And you said like nothing really has an emotional attachment because you can lose something. Oftentimes we lose something, like, oh no. But when you release that energy, you have more space for other things. But on the other hand, I'm struggling. How do people who have maybe family, kids, dependents, still embrace a fuller life of sustainability while maybe not being able to live full extent of forging or kind of having those dependents and balance the sense of purpose, sustainability.

with other responsibilities.

Robin Greenfield (30:33.563)
Yeah. So, and so just to clarify, when I owned, I owned 44 possessions, everything I owned fit into my backpack, literally everything. I didn't have anything stored in any closet, anywhere and any friends or family members. It was literally every possession I owned, 44 fit into a small backpack. And that included like my one pair of underwear, that included like my, uh, my passport, you know, my one pair of socks. It was literally everything.

Anya Smith (30:44.843)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (30:54.144)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (31:03.54)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (31:03.947)
And the freedom that I felt during that time was incredible. Like just such a level of autonomy. And that freedom just allowed for being in a state of flow. And being in that state of flow for me allowed me to be effective as a messenger, as a servant. And so for me, living with less is key to basically having more time to do exactly what I want to be doing. Now.

My message is extreme. Like I do extreme things, but it's never my message to say that you have to be doing extreme things. Now, if you want to do things that are extreme, I support you. Because the reality is, is we have 5% of the world's population in the United States, but we consume 25% of the world's resources. That by definition is extreme.

And so the reality is, the way we're living this normal life, this American dream, it's actually the world's nightmare. And it's not normal at all. It's extreme. So I invite people to go to the other end of the extreme and to shake up their lives in order to create radical change around them. But I know most people aren't going to do that. So it's all about looking at our lives and asking, what can we do?

Anya Smith (31:58.155)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (32:24.019)
You can't look at someone else and say, okay, I'm gonna do exactly what they do. My life is designed for me. Your life needs to be designed for you. So if you have kids or if you have a big house, things are gonna be different. But there's plenty of people who have large houses and there's plenty of people who have kids who are making massive strides to live more sustainably or already have done a lot of things to live more sustainably. So my recommendation to people is to start where you are.

Embrace that you are you. You can't be anyone else. You can't be me. You can only be you. You can only be in the moment you're in, in the moment you're in, and you can only be where you are in the moment that you're there. So start with yourself, where you are, in the moment you're in, and my recommendation is to start with something that you're excited about. Start with something that you're feeling inspired about. If you're inspired to grow some food, start growing some food. If you're started to forage, excited to forage,

Start foraging. If you're excited to reduce your waste, reduce your waste. If you're excited to volunteer at a nonprofit, do that. If you're excited to like change things in your kid's school, do that. If you're a lawyer and you wanna move towards like environmental justice, do that. If you're a doctor and you wanna transition to a more like natural healthcare, do that. So start where you are, start with what's exciting to you, not what drags you down, and that will actually

Create energy to allow you to continue on the path of making more and more positive shifts in your life.

Anya Smith (33:58.602)
It's beautiful. It aligns to what I see also in your videos. You mentioned, hey, I'm just trying to be perfect. And that's the real deal. Like you go to extremes in some ways, but at the same time, you're not perfect and you acknowledge that. And I think that's very relatable. And you're asking people, again, be where you're at, meet yourself where you're at, and you can do something more, even wherever you're at. Just think about it creatively and have fun with it in a way. And thinking of that, two maybe biggest fears or challenges I think about is

money and also health. So what I mean by that is you use very natural products, you don't you don't have a lot of things you have like one pair of flip flops or you know, you have the shoes that you wear for you know, for your environment. But I can think of like, well, how do you go without you know, health care? How do you go without all the things that all the million, you know, appliances that I put on my face and my body? And then how do you go without the financial institutions who give you credit cards and loans and whatnot, and all these creep fears can creep up like how do we function? And you do without it. So

How did you handle these fears and still manage to have an impact and live functionally and happy without those?

Robin Greenfield (35:04.819)
Yeah, you just, one step at a time. One step at a time, I broke free from the monetary system. I had, you know, a dozen credit cards, or not a dozen, a half dozen credit cards. I had lots of bills, I had some debt. And one step at a time, I got rid of each credit card. I got rid of each bill and just worked it back and worked it back. And again, I was doing it because not out of a sense of like guilt or...

you know, out of a sense of like having to do it, I was doing it out of a sense of knowing that there was another path that I wanted. There was something more that I wanted in my life. Sure, the credit cards allowed me to do some things, but they took away freedom more than they gave me freedom. Money can be freedom, but money can also be our own trap, our trap in the monetary system. And so for me, it was one step at a time demonetizing my life.

finding ways to meet my needs through relationships with people, relationships with the earth, relationships with our plants and animal relatives, and connecting with community, sharing, you know, focusing on skills rather than ownership of things. I just one step at a time, like, unraveled all of the webs of consumerism in my life. And it wasn't easy. It was definitely real work.

It was real work and it meant instead of going on vacation, spending a weekend, getting rid of stuff so that I would be more free and liberated from that stuff. So no question about it, it was real work. I gotta grab my computer charger real quick. Is that all right? Okay.

Anya Smith (36:46.234)
And then, oh, no problem. Yeah. You're awesome. Thank you, Robin.

Robin Greenfield (37:50.563)
I just underestimated or overestimated how much battery life I had.

Anya Smith (37:51.798)
Hehehe

Anya Smith (37:57.214)
You're so good. Look at that beautiful scenery. Here we are.

Robin Greenfield (38:02.203)
All right, we're back.

Anya Smith (38:03.934)
Awesome, thank you. So we talked about money. You also inspire me this trust in your body where it's like your body doesn't need a lot more. You mentioned that we've evolved to have pretty self-sustaining feet that can walk a barefoot. Our body doesn't need all the makeup and chemicals on us. How did you build the knowledge and sense of trust in your body and how did that empowerment like to need less get built?

Robin Greenfield (38:10.437)
Hmm.

Robin Greenfield (38:27.187)
Hmm.

Robin Greenfield (38:31.155)
Yeah, I mean, I really appreciate all these questions. It's exactly what I like to talk about. At the same time, I feel like this slight bit of, almost like pain inside, because I just know that I can't answer all of it for anybody. It's such, we're talking about our lives here. We're talking about like reconnecting to our own very being. And as a society, most of us have been

Anya Smith (38:44.913)
Aww.

Anya Smith (38:48.626)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (38:52.621)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (39:00.619)
stripped away from believing in ourselves. We have been taught to believe that we can't take care of ourselves and that we need these corporations for everything just to be able to exist. And we've been torn away from our relationship with the earth and taught to actually fear the earth. The earth gives us everything that we need, but we've been taught to fear it.

We're afraid of the spiders and the snakes and the mice, all friends of ours. I love spiders and snakes and mice. I love the bears and the raccoons and the foxes. And I've just seen how much fear that we're living in. And so I feel pain inside thinking about how many people are disconnected from their own bodies. And the thing is, that's what these corporations want. They want us disconnected, because when we're disconnected,

Anya Smith (39:39.534)
Right. Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (39:57.307)
What will we do? We'll sit in a job for 40, 50, 60 hours a week to make money to buy everything that we need in order to believe that we're safe. But we can see very clearly that we're not safe in that system. Like you don't have to look very far to see that system is actually the source, the leading source of our suffering as a humanity right now. Both on a direct level to ourselves and

the suffering that we're inflicting upon others by taking part in these systems. And so I think one of the most powerful things we can do is we can trust that our bodies can work. We can trust that we are a part of this earth, that our bodies have existed long before any of these corporations. Our armpits, they know how to perspire. You know, like our bodies...

Anya Smith (40:52.139)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (40:54.663)
Our bodies know how to connect with this earth. And the only, you know, I can talk about this in theory, but the only way you can really know it is if you feel it. But I'm not talking about like, I'm not talking about like having to come up with some way of becoming enlightened. I'm talking about a very thing, something we can do, which is very simple, which is just one step at a time, take back.

the control that they have over our bodies and over ourselves and over our lives. And as we do that, we'll find more and more empowerment and it becomes easier and easier. The beginning's probably the hardest and that's why I continuously say, start with what's easiest. Start with what you feel like you can do. Have a lot of little wins and let those little wins continue building up.

so that you gain some confidence and some skills and empowerment to be able to take on some of those bigger challenges.

Anya Smith (41:57.05)
You know what point in my life actually made me really aware of the beauty and the power in our bodies? It's my pregnancy, which I know half the world won't relate to. But when you're pregnant, you can control things, but most of it is out of your control. This beautiful process is happening in your body and you're not logically like, okay, I'm doing something in my body. I'm thinking about it. This human is growing. It's all happening without you controlling it in some ways.

Robin Greenfield (42:06.502)
No.

Robin Greenfield (42:13.352)
Hmm.

Robin Greenfield (42:25.594)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (42:26.066)
And at the same time, I don't know if that this is very common, but your body becomes sensitive at what you put on it. And most of the times women have to use products that are more natural, that have less chemicals because your body is more sensitive to that. So it's interesting that in this point in time when we in some ways have less control and our body takes over, it has this innate wisdom. And we somewhat forget that, and I know not everybody.

Robin Greenfield (42:37.16)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (42:49.446)
Mmm.

Anya Smith (42:53.142)
can relate to that half the fat push can, but our body is so brilliant. And even if you had it, you know, you cut your hand, it heals to a certain degree, right? But like we don't think about it logically, like heal, heal. And yet we have this miraculous reminder that we are alive. We are breathing. Things are happening that are outside of our logical control and yet we're alive. And it's like a miracle that we don't think about. We try to like, okay, every other way.

Robin Greenfield (43:14.206)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (43:20.914)
Every other part I'm going to control, my body is just doing this work, but it's miraculous. It's keeping you alive. It has its own wisdom. So think about that and honor that.

Robin Greenfield (43:26.267)
Yes. Yep, it's a beautiful world that we live in. It truly is, it's really special what we have. And that's one of the biggest medicines that I've gotten over the last few years is gratitude. I've been practicing nonviolent communication, also called compassionate communication. And one of the big tools of it is just gratitude. And I know some of this stuff sounds cliche, but-

Anya Smith (43:42.625)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (43:48.823)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (43:55.195)
When you're focusing on what you're grateful for, you're not focusing on what you're negative about. And the more that you're focused on what you're grateful for, the more you start to see that around you and your life literally starts to become more of that. And I know like, I'm not like, you know, some people probably talk about the same things I do and they talk about it in a different way that can come across to some people as woo woo. But...

Anya Smith (44:10.838)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (44:23.331)
All of this stuff is very practical. Like the more that we put into a particular thing, the more that that's what our life is going to become. And I would say without any question, as much as my food or the medicines I put in my body, just gratefulness has probably been my number one medicine over the last few years.

Anya Smith (44:47.046)
And one thing that you mentioned is that we lack trust in our bodies, but I think we also lack trust in other people. And I'm curious, like, what did you learn from your experience where you traveled, I believe, without any belongings, just to let the world kind of take you and people help you through your journey, and you can describe it better than I do. What did you learn about people, and maybe how did you inspire people to trust others through that experience that you can share?

Robin Greenfield (44:53.618)
Mm.

Robin Greenfield (45:13.055)
Sure, yeah. So the journey you're referencing was a handful of years ago. I flew to Panama with no money, with just the clothes on my back and passport, and had to travel through Central America and Mexico, seven countries home, seven countries to get home, basically on the kindness of others, as well as on my own resources and skills.

After 37 days of traveling, the only words that I could really say when I got home were just, people are good. That's how I felt. As far as trust in humanity, here's the trust that I have. I truly believe that at every given moment, every person is doing the best that they know how to meet their basic human needs.

I'm not saying that the way they're gonna do it is going to not cause harm to others. I'm not saying it's not gonna be traumatic or inflict pain for others. But I believe that every single one of us is actually deep down at every minute, just trying to meet our basic human needs. It could be for acknowledgement or love or belonging, or it could be for shelter or food. We're all doing that. And so...

When I focus on that, I have a higher faith or a trust in humanity knowing that, and it helps to reduce my level of anxiety and stress. I'm not saying put yourself in risky situations and just put yourself into the hands of people. I am saying actually analyze the situations. Look, is this a person that I should put my resources into? Is this the person that I wanna spend my time around? So,

Absolutely not talking about blind faith, but I am talking about having a deeper compassionate understanding of people. And I do just wanna acknowledge, I've seen a lot of things and for me as a white man with a fair number of privileges, it's a lot easier for me to say that than someone who's growing up in a whole lot of trauma, who's dealt with abuse and who's dealt with a society that doesn't want them to.

Robin Greenfield (47:32.583)
be there, that doesn't want them to succeed. And so I just, you know, I wouldn't feel complete with that statement without saying that, but no matter who we are, we still have like lessons that we can learn to overcome that trauma so that we can have a greater, healthier relationship and faith in those around us and build up that support now.

Anya Smith (47:33.964)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (47:58.402)
And one thing you just mentioned is having anxiety that you also work through. Do you mind if we can move on to a different topic? But I'm curious, you know, I think a lot of people, especially right now have a lot of anxiety and fear. And you mentioned some of the tools like having trust and gratitude. But what helps you overcome your anxiety as you're on this big purpose? And I transparently like to share this because I think it's very relatable.

Robin Greenfield (48:18.749)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (48:22.428)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (48:22.454)
So I'm curious, like some people can look to you as like a real role model and think that you're perfect in so many ways, but you're also human. And that's why I'm asking for your story around this.

Robin Greenfield (48:29.215)
Oh yeah. Very much so. Yeah, my number one, I would say my number one struggle is that I experience a lot of anxiety. And I pretty much have figured out why, for the most part, I've seen the patterns. And the main things that I do to reduce anxiety are get quality sleep, be outside, breathe fresh air, get exercise, eat nourishing food, a balance of like, you know.

Whole foods, not processed packaged junk. Nurture healthy relationships, have meaningful connections with other people. And that could be people that are close to me or it could be people I've never met before, but having meaningful connections with other people. Yeah, this is a meaningful connection. My day, my spirit will be lifted through having this meaningful connection. On that note, spending less time on screens.

more time like interacting in person, whether it's with people or it's with the Earth, but reducing our screen time. Shutting off the screens a couple hours before bed. I like to always shut off the internet by 8 p.m. and not turn it on until 8 a.m. I don't have a cell phone anymore, but leaving the cell phone at home sometimes and having those moments of disconnection.

Anya Smith (49:42.251)
Mm-hmm.

Robin Greenfield (49:52.527)
not watching media like the news where 90% of the stories are negative. I'm not saying don't be educated, but choosing wisely where we're getting our media, where we're getting this information because a lot of it is designed in a way that's designed to get us get our heart rate all high like wow because of the commercials and everything. So

Anya Smith (50:15.155)
Right.

Robin Greenfield (50:21.543)
Those would be some of my absolute keys for keeping my anxiety at a minimum. Other ones that come to mind are swimming, cold water, so like cold plunges makes a huge difference. Walking, just basic walks. I love going for walks and again, being outside. So I'm sure I'm missing some of the really big ones, but of course the other big one.

is having a purpose, you know, that I would say at the center of so much of our mental health issues, it's lacking a purpose, lacking meaning. And so having a purpose and having meaning and working towards that. And again, that's where setting, setting small goals that you can accomplish each day. So I love to have to do lists.

Anya Smith (50:51.406)
Huh.

Robin Greenfield (51:13.131)
and be able to accomplish things on that to-do list. And then you have your bigger picture goals and your smaller goals and be able to work towards those. So those are definitely some of my absolute keys to reducing and keeping anxiety at a minimum. Number one thing is keep the, don't deal with the anxiety once it exists. Have the baseline practices to keep it down at the minimum in the first place. Oh, and of course, caffeine, staying away from the caffeine.

Anya Smith (51:42.742)
caffeine!

I need to be better about that. That's definitely a crux of mine. No, I love all this and thank you. I mean, again, going to this interview, I knew that we wouldn't be able to talk about everything because there's just so many things that you do. And for anything you missed, please, please everybody go onto Robin Greenfield, check out all the resources. You have a YouTube channel which talks about how you live and shares insight and practices and you're always genuine in sharing like, hey, here's where I'm at, here's where I've learned. And so if there's anything we missed,

Please check out that resource. Is there anything that you want to share at the top of your hearts as far as this interview that we didn't get to yet?

Robin Greenfield (52:22.919)
Well, you know, something that's alive for me at the moment is I'm switching to 100% homemade natural fiber clothing, which I'm very excited about, as well as naturally dyed. And I just dyed my pants with black walnuts. So.

Anya Smith (52:30.655)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (52:38.818)
How do you do that? I'm just looking, you have to look at the YouTube video for this to see this part, but Robin's standing up and showing me the colors and the clothes for that.

Robin Greenfield (52:41.171)
What's that?

Robin Greenfield (52:49.187)
Yeah, black walnut dye is incredibly simple. You just take the black walnuts within the husk, put them into a pot, boil it, and then you can just stick your clothes right in there, or you can strain it out. And that's how you naturally dye with black walnut. And some dyes require, natural dyes require a mordant to get it to stick, but this one doesn't. It's just as simple as that. And I feel so happy to be in my, you know...

homemade natural fiber clothes that are dyed with a plant that was grown in my mom's yard. The black walnuts grown in my mom's yard. Right now I'm really on a path to break free from industrial clothes. This shirt is an industrial shirt. It is natural fiber so I can compost it. I'm so close to wearing 100% clothes that are really closely from the earth. That's the big thing.

impermanence. When it all comes down to it, my central tenant in life is impermanence. Just saying to ourselves, look, we're here for a short period of time, we're gonna go. Ideally, for me, I return to the earth, that's like my top priority in life, but just embracing that we are temporary, as individuals were temporary, as humanity were likely temporary.

Everything we're doing is temporary. And for me, as far as reducing my anxiety and stress, just embracing that and letting go of this attachment and just saying, look, I'm just here. I don't know how long I'm gonna be here for. And designing my life around that impermanence is like probably one of my number one loves in life and number one, like keys to living a happy, healthy life, I would say.

Anya Smith (54:42.93)
you know, what amuses me and maybe not the best way is that I think a lot of our fear comes from avoiding that sense of impermanence. Is that we want to be attached to everything like, oh, I can control it right now. We know we can't, you know, but we want to have a sense of like, I can control everything. And maybe that's also, I'm just gonna up here, maybe that's also why we are open to having this life of nine to five of doing things that don't fulfill us because we feel like, oh, it's gonna go on, I have so much time. But if you catch a sense of this is not permanent.

Robin Greenfield (54:49.853)
Yes. Yeah.

Yep. Great conclusion, Matt.

Anya Smith (55:12.126)
And if we have a sense like, you know, this may not be here for long. What could, what should I aspire to do then? Cause life is precious right now and these connections are precious right now. And my purpose is precious right now. So what can I do today? What can I do to live a fuller day tomorrow? The day next connect with people more fully.

Robin Greenfield (55:29.055)
That's how I feel. I personally am not sure if we have another life after this. I think there's a good chance that we don't. So I'm gonna use this life that I have. And I don't know why we're here. I don't even know if this entire thing is a dream or some sort of simulation theory. I really don't know what the purpose of life is. I don't need to have any of those answers in order to just, I do believe, what I do believe is that life matters.

Anya Smith (55:39.979)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (55:57.922)
Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (55:58.971)
I believe, I strongly believe that life is meaningful, whatever the bigger picture behind all this is. And so if I can live in a way that improves life around me while also living a wonderful life myself, then I could feel pretty good about that when I die, I think. And so that's the simple path that I.

Anya Smith (56:05.215)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (56:14.977)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (56:22.068)
Yeah. And you know what this starts to mean is that you really are being the change you want to see in the world. Like many of us hear that, see that quote and like, oh, that sounds great. Yeah. But you're fully committed to that. And that's so inspiring. And maybe we can't. Really? Why? Why do you say that?

Robin Greenfield (56:29.926)
Mm.

Robin Greenfield (56:34.055)
Not quite fully.

Robin Greenfield (56:38.247)
because I'm still stuck in some of the mundane things that I'm trying to overcome. Like, I still have a lot of work to do. And, you know, I'm being genuine. It's like, I've only been doing this for 10 years. To really become the change that you wish to see, to fully become the change that you wish to see, requires a full breaking free of the indoctrination of our society. And that is not something that you can do in just 10 years. So I am continuously working on it.

Anya Smith (56:45.565)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (56:54.924)
Mm.

Robin Greenfield (57:08.331)
It all comes down to integrity to me. Like that's one of the big things. And there's still things that I do that are out of integrity. And I'm working, you know, I'm a human being who struggles each day to live in the highest integrity that I can, but I'm getting there. I'm making it further. And I'm hoping that 10 years from now, I'll be many steps further than I am right now.

Anya Smith (57:33.418)
Let's do a podcast at that point, hopefully a lot sooner, but let's reach a catch up and see where you're at that point, I'd love to know. And Robin, any other final resource people should check out, again, we'll have your YouTube channel linked, we'll have your website linked, there's amazing programs that are happening there around education and forging and composting, anything that you wanna highlight to anybody who's listening right now.

Robin Greenfield (57:53.439)
Hmm.

Robin Greenfield (57:57.487)
Oh, no, you know, I think I'll just go to my website highlights so many people, so many nonprofits. If you go to slash books, that's the books I recommend slash nonprofits. That's the nonprofits I recommend slash people. There's like 50 people that I recommend listening to there. So, you know, go to those. I'm continuously adding. I'm adding new people that I really respect and admire and organizations. I really respect and admire.

Anya Smith (58:02.712)
Yes.

Robin Greenfield (58:25.543)
list. So I would say, Spent, you could maybe go there and get some more inspiration from some people I love.

Anya Smith (58:28.894)
Yeah. And you all... One thing I want to... It's just very amazing is that you dedicate a lot of your proceeds, like 100%, I think, from a lot of your proceeds to these good causes, which is just, again, inspiring to me. So that's amazing. Can I make a quick shout out to nonprofit that I'm supporting? I am also... We're still growing, but I wanted from the start to have a podcast with purpose. And so what I want to do is shout out to a nonprofit that I'm supporting called Ready to Empower, which empowers women around the world. And this is their 10-year anniversary.

Robin Greenfield (58:44.519)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (58:58.742)
raising $50,000, 100% of which goes to operation costs. And so if you wanna support another great nonprofit with purpose empowering women around the world, please check out the link in the description and support with anything you can that you feel is right in your heart. That would be so appreciated. And Robin, last but not least, we do three rapid fire questions and then we'll let you go. Does that sound good? Okay. Question off of my mind, why do you only wear green and blue shirts and outfits?

Robin Greenfield (59:17.555)
Hmm. Okay.

Robin Greenfield (59:28.559)
Well, why do I only wear green shirts? Because my last name's Greenfield. It just makes so much sense. But also because I feel more comfortable and balanced with the simplicity of not having choices to make with my clothes. And it just gives me a little bit more of just a simplicity in life. It's like just...

One less thing to think about and also it's more humble too for me. I'm not trying to show off. I don't want to show off. It's just like this is me. That's all there is to it. Pretty basic.

Anya Smith (01:00:12.482)
Love it. So green's kind of a favorite color because of the last name, and then it simplifies the process, is that right?

Robin Greenfield (01:00:17.891)
Yeah, I mean it's hard to summarize it, but it is also an excellent marketing thing. It's like greenfield. People, I want people to more easily remember me. And this is one little way that makes it easier for people to both recognize me on the streets and remember me too. So, you know, there's an element of a marketing aspect to it, but it's genuine. I love it. I want to wear one color. Yeah, it would have been blue.

Anya Smith (01:00:24.867)
Yes, yes, yes. Logical. Yeah.

Anya Smith (01:00:42.418)
Yeah. It's your last name. Yeah.

Robin Greenfield (01:00:46.959)
If my last name was Bluefield, it would be Blue. I, Blue's my favorite actually, but Green's my new favorite because of that.

Anya Smith (01:00:52.734)
Yes. Oh, beautiful. Okay, what's one word your friends would use to describe you?

Anya Smith (01:01:04.746)
Okay, cut for a sentence.

Robin Greenfield (01:01:10.018)
I mean, I don't want to put the words in my friends' mouths. You'll just have to call them and ask that question.

Anya Smith (01:01:17.316)
Okay. Friends, please let me know in the comments. What would you use to describe Robin? I love that. Okay. Last but not least, in the positive context, going off track is

Robin Greenfield (01:01:38.687)
Man, I'm not, these, I have a hard time with these like rapid fire questions. I generally do. Going off track in a positive context would be, yeah, maybe breaking free from societal norms and stigmas, the track that you're used to and going out and exploring new ways.

Anya Smith (01:02:04.626)
Love it. You're perfect. That was great. Robin, thank you so much for your time and to our audience. Thank you for spending this time investing in yourself. I hope this inspires you to think about, hey, today, what can I do more to line up something that brings me to life? Because as you can tell by Robin's example, it just takes that curiosity followed with some action and the strategy to make a change in the world. But we all will keep learning and growing along the way.

Robin Greenfield (01:02:07.58)
Nice.

Yes.

Anya Smith (01:02:33.054)
And as always, thank you so much for coming right off track with us. We look forward to having you join our next adventure. Robin, thank you. Thank you. Take care. Bye. Pleasure.

Robin Greenfield (01:02:39.283)
All right, thank you guys, love y'all.