For Glad to thrive, we need your trust

Trust isn’t something we take for granted – it’s earned. And we believe trust starts with being open and transparent.

In the world of greenhouse gas removal, transparency isn’t just important; it’s essential. That’s why we’re committed to living out our value of full transparency and bringing you along every step of the journey.

Between us, James and I have spent over 40 years building startups and high-growth businesses. We’ve learned a lot about what it takes to create something from scratch and bring it to life at scale. One key lesson? When you’re chasing a bold vision, trying to change the world, and doing something that’s never been done before, communication is everything.

Good communication is one of the most powerful tools there is. It keeps people informed, brings teams together, and makes sure everyone is on the same page. It’s about sharing not just the wins but also the challenges – the whole story.

This belief in openness runs deep for us. We’ve always operated with a mindset of being candid and transparent, documenting and sharing our progress internally each week. But we realised something important: the people who matter most aren’t just the Glad team. It’s you – our incredible Glad community. The ones who are taking action to cleanup our climate, spreading the word, and proving that this problem can be fixed if enough of us come together.

So, we’ve taken our internal updates public. Enter Glad Tidings – our podcast where we share the good, the bad, and the messy parts of building Glad. It’s our way of keeping you in the loop and showing what it really takes to make this vision a reality.

Episode 4 is out now!

We have big dreams for what this podcast can become, and we’d love your help to get there. Got feedback or ideas? Drop us a line – we’re all ears.

Links

Watch on Youtube and Spotify and listen on Apple Podcasts.

Glad Tidings #4 - Transcript

James (00:02)

Hello and welcome to Glad Tidings with me, James McQuarrie.

Ben (00:06)

And me, Ben Wynn. This is the show where we talk about the progress we’ve made - along with our amazing Glad community - towards cleaning up our atmosphere.

James (00:18)

So, what are we going to talk about today, Ben?

Ben (00:51)

We’ve got some exciting news about a milestone we’ve hit in terms of impact. Just a quick reminder: we’re in Season One, so the numbers may be small, but we’ve still reached a great milestone, and we’ll share what that is. Also, we’ve opened a whole new market - a new country where people can now join Glad. Plus, we’ll talk about what went well this week, what we learned, and how we can do better. Finally, you’re going to tell us about one of the greenhouse gas removal methods we’re supporting.

James (01:31)

That’s right. Before we dive in, I want to thank everyone who gave us feedback on our last podcast episode. It’s really helpful to hear how we can improve. And Francesco, if you’re listening, I’m working on saying fewer “umms” and “errs” throughout the recording. So, Ben, what went well this week?

Ben (01:55)

Well, as you know, everything we do is about impact. That’s our North Star - it’s how we measure our progress. We’re only a couple of weeks into Season One (our 12-week cycle), and we tally up everyone’s contributions to fund greenhouse gas removal. Then, at the end of the season, we deploy that money to various removal suppliers and monitor exactly what’s happening with carbon dioxide (and other gases) being sequestered.

The big news is we’ve hit 10,000 kilograms in our total so far, which is the impact we’ll achieve from everyone’s contributions. That’s fantastic! And on top of that, we’ve opened a new market. Initially, we launched with British pounds, euros, and U.S. dollars, but now we also accept Canadian dollars. So if you’re in Canada, there’s nothing stopping you from signing up.

One other thing I wanted to mention is a quote from Rebecca, one of our members. We asked her, “Would you contribute a pound a week to help fix climate change?” And her response was just two words - “Hell yes!” - which is brilliant. Thank you, Rebecca.

James (04:17)

Yes, that energy is amazing! Speaking of feedback, in the last episode I mentioned we’re doing product research interviews. I’ve done seven so far, talking to people about their views on climate change: what they’re doing, what they’d like to do, and why they sometimes don’t do more. We have four more interviews scheduled for next week, so I’ll be past my initial target of ten conversations.

We’ve learned that people really do worry about the impacts of climate change - some even lose sleep over it. Many already do small things in their day-to-day lives to reduce their footprint. One thing that excites them about Glad is being part of something larger than themselves. They want collective action, not just individual changes. We also learned we need to communicate more clearly about the impact members are having and how it all works. So that’s something we’ll be working on.

Ben (06:18)

Yes, we’ve realized we need to do a better job explaining how we measure and report impact. Right now, we’re talking to individuals and businesses, encouraging them to join Glad. But we haven’t fully shown how we track results. We have a concept called the “impact record,” which every Glad member (and business) receives. It details how much they’ve contributed and the impact achieved. Because we’re still in Season One, the actual sequestration hasn’t started yet. But once we deploy funds at season’s end, those records will update in real time. We just need to communicate that more effectively.

James (07:28)

It can be challenging as founders, because we’re in the weeds every day, so we assume everyone has our context. Hearing feedback like, “I don’t understand how this works” is very helpful. We have answers, but we’re not always presenting them clearly. We definitely believe in showing rather than telling, so we’ll continue to improve on that.

Ben (08:16)

Absolutely. A big lesson here is that while we focus on individual contributions to get the ball rolling (think of a small snowball rolling down the hill), we’re also talking with banks about a “roundup” feature that could make an even bigger impact. But speaking with some of those banks highlighted just how deeply we’ve dived into understanding greenhouse gas removal. It’s a reminder we need to simplify our explanations.

Speaking of methods for removing greenhouse gases, let’s talk about Enhanced Rock Weathering, because I know you want to explain that today.

James (10:09)

Yes, it’s almost like we planned this segue! By the time you’re reading or listening to this, our new blog post on Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) should be up. Let me give a quick overview. At Glad, we believe we need to use many methods to clean up the atmosphere - there’s no single solution. Enhanced Rock Weathering is one of them.

Basically, rock weathering is a natural process where rain picks up carbon dioxide as it falls through the sky. When it hits certain types of rocks or soil, a chemical reaction traps that carbon dioxide in solid form. Enhanced Rock Weathering just accelerates this by crushing the rock (increasing surface area) and spreading it across fields, so more of it can come into contact with rain. It’s permanent, and instead of taking hundreds of thousands of years to remove carbon, it can do so in five to twenty years. If you want to learn more, check out our blog post, and we’ll link it in the show notes.

Ben (12:33)

I love the simplicity of it. You take a rock - imagine one the size of a cricket ball - and it only interacts on its surface. But if you crush it, you increase the surface area dramatically, and the rain can reach more of the rock. Spread that on fields, and it’s a natural carbon capture process - just faster.

James (12:49)

Exactly! It’s exciting, and we’re happy to support it. Now, we promised to keep this episode shorter. We’re closer to our ten-minute goal, so let’s wrap up.

Ben (13:27)

Yes, let’s. But first, our ask: if you can afford a pound, a dollar, a Canadian dollar, or a euro per week, please consider joining Glad if you haven’t already. I’ve talked to people who say they’ll sign up because it’s such a small contribution, but they just haven’t taken that step yet. We encourage you to do so! And once you’ve joined, think about one person you can share Glad with - someone who cares about climate change. That’s all it takes to help our community grow.

James (14:30)

Absolutely. Thanks, Ben, and thanks to everyone for listening. We’ll see you next time.

Ben (14:32)

Thank you all. See you soon!