We sat down with Thomas Grace to further, a previous San Diego State student and sales manager at ENVOCORE, to discuss what our planet may look like in the future if people continue to ignore their carbon footprint.

Tell us a little bit about your background.

Coming out of high school, I quite honestly didn’t know what I wanted to do other than get out of the house and spread my wings. My Dad was an engineer and I was always good at Math, so I ended up Studying Civil Engineering at San Diego State University since I felt I could take it many directions and liked the broad scope of the “Civil” aspect. I ended up getting involved in some clubs my senior year for construction management, which turned into summer internships, and a job offer after graduating in that field. I quickly realized I wanted to be in front of people, so tuned to sales and found a role in the Sustainability world. It was perfect because I got to exercise the extrovert in me and realized I really care about this stuff. I was well aware of climate change, and always love the outdoors, and now was my chance to get involved and make an impact.

What would you do with $1 billion dollars?

1.)Invest in a dream home, make it fully sustainable. 2.) Start a business for recycled/re-purposed arts where independent artists could sell their art while playing a part in sustainability. 3.) Travel, a lot… 4.) Donate to underprivileged kids seeking education.

Why do you think sustainability is such an important topic today?

Because the planet is definitely changing, and I don’t think for the better when it comes to carbon emissions and things of that nature. I think it’s very easy to put the issue aside while things are still seemingly okay when we wake up, but soon it may be too late. I think sustainability also means improving the quality of life for both humans & animals.

What do you envision your industry looking like in ten years?

I think the industry will be much bigger because the issue of climate change will continue to become more pressing. Soon, I think even people who neglect it the most will be willing to learn once their lives are personally affected. I don’t think the issue will be fixed but I do believe in 10 years sustainability & climate change won’t be so polarizing, and the industry will be larger and more prevalent.