OZOlife - your daily guide to smarter living

British-born Zoe Riddell’s career path has taken her from rural Hiroshima (where she worked in an agricultural school) to New York City (where, in 2006, she opened the first U.S.-based office for the Carbon Disclosure Project, the world’s leading global climate change charity). Here Riddell shares the eloquent soliloquy she’d deliver in the Oval Office and what she has against garbage trucks.

What was your green turning point?
My green tipping point happened at university when I fell in with a crowd of people interested in organic food and alternative medicine. I began living an eco conscious lifestyle from then on.

What has been your smallest lifestyle change?
Unplugging electronic items when not in use, changing the lightbulbs, using biodegradable soaps and cleaning products, re-using plastic bags.

What's your favorite eco item in your closet?
Howies base layers (and Weleda Salt toothpaste).

What’s your little green secret?
Pouring the cold water from my hot water bottle into my watering can to water my plants, rather than just pouring it straight down the sink.

What do you hope to pass down to your children?
My love of nature.

If you had five minutes in the Oval Office, what would you say?
Mr. President, you have the authority and power to bring the world out of the environmental crisis it is currently in. The American people create more greenhouse gas emissions per capita than anywhere else in the world. We need urgent action and leadership to reduce these warming gases, and you can provide it. Please delay no longer.

I would also like to ask you if you can help deal with the strange problem America has with air conditioning. I have found in my time here that many offices and public spaces are so cold in the summer time one needs a jumper to keep warm.