Alaina Wood
Alaina Wood, known as The Garbage Queen, is an Appalachian sustainability scientist and climate communicator sharing climate solutions, good news and ways to turn eco-anxiety into action.
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Alaina’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus her backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Video and newsletter
Aspen Ideas FestivalOverview
- Known online as
- The Garbage Queen
- Based in
- East Tennessee, Appalachia
- Education
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, class of 2017; sustainability and geography
- Background
- Solid waste, water and environmental planning
- Full-time creator
- Since summer 2021
Mini bio
From waste work to climate education.
Before building The Garbage Queen, Alaina worked in environmental compliance for the solid waste industry and as an environmental planner. Her background in waste and water still shapes the way she explains climate solutions.
How it started.
She downloaded TikTok during the pandemic and found an environmental community there. An early video explaining why she did not call herself zero waste took off. She became a full-time climate communicator in summer 2021.
The turn toward good news.
After seeing climate disaster videos leave viewers feeling defeated, Alaina responded to a commenter asking why nobody talked about progress. That response became her first Good Climate News video and grew into a regular series. Today her work combines climate solutions, misinformation debunking and eco-anxiety education.
Creditschronological, newest first
Writing and climate education
- 2026Good Climate News, edition 50Writer; marked the newsletter’s 50th edition
- 2023Pique ActionClimate-solutions host, as listed by Aspen Ideas
Talks
- 2023The Climate Solutions in StoriesSpeaker, Aspen Ideas: Climate
- 2022Climate Change and YouSpeaker, Aspen Ideas Festival
Awards
Quotes
Good activism can only be good if you have proper information.Alaina Wood, Good Good Good
In a March 2023 interview, she explained why accurate information matters for climate activism.
Trivia
- She got the Garbage Queen nickname while working for UT Recycling as a student.
- She originally planned to study civil engineering before switching to sustainability at university orientation.
- Her father is a civil engineer specializing in stormwater.
- In her Good Good Good interview, she credited the wave of climate-doom videos using Bo Burnham’s music with pushing her toward climate optimism.
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