About Cool Beans
our mission:
Cool Beans is your guide to cooking delicious food that just happens to be better for the planet. Why sweat sustainable eating? Because a person’s diet represents one of their biggest contributions to human-caused climate change, and switching to an eating style that’s rich in plants and low on waste can cut any individual’s planet-warming potential more significantly than revamping their home energy usage or transportation habits. It’s way easier, too. Cool Beans serves up the simple, accessible tips, techniques and recipes that help anyone make a measurable positive impact.
the numbers:
We don’t all have to go plant-based to make a huge dent in greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, if half the world limited itself to 57 grams of animal protein per day, that would add up to a 65-gigaton reduction in carbon by 2050. In the U.S., where the average person’s per-diem animal-protein intake is north of 75 grams, we produce one-tenth that every year. The second-most impactful? Reducing the amount of food we send to the landfill, where it belches methane, a potent planet-warming gas.
what makes us different:
Cool Beans takes a realistic, accessible approach to planet-forward eating. That means we don’t adhere to a set diet like veganism. Our focus is on achievable change, and ditching all animal products entirely isn’t feasible for everyone. If everyone magically went on an all-plant diet tomorrow we’d be in great shape, but not all animal products are equal if we’re talking carbon. Take eggs, widely regarded as one of the best protein sources around: Producing a pound of huevos creates less than 1/20th of the greenhouse gas emissions as producing a pound of beef and only a shade more than tofu (another of our favorite proteins).
We also work hard to ensure our recipes work in an average American kitchen. We shy from using specialty ingredients whenever possible, and if we do call for something out-of-the-ordinary we’ll make sure it’s available in a big national supermarket chain before we do. We also avoid using fancy gadgets, with one exception: The air fryer.
our story:
Cool Beans is part of one5c, a climate-action newsletter that explores how tweaks to everyday life can add up to big, planet-saving change. one5c was founded in 2021 by Joe Brown, a veteran science and tech journalist who ditched corporate media to focus on the only story that matters: the environment.
In May 2023, one5c was acquired by Fragment Media and began the work of expanding a one-man-band newsletter into the go-to resource for living a climate-fixing existence. Brown now serves as one5c’s Publisher, and Corinne Iozzio, also a veteran science and tech journalist, is its Editor-in-Chief. The duo launched Cool Beans in June 2023, and tapped Gabriella Vigoreaux as its inaugural writer and recipe developer.
our team:
Publisher & Editorial Director: Joe Brown
Editor-in-Chief: Corinne Iozzio
Associate Editor: Sara Kiley Watson
Copy Editor: Donna Ng
Contributors: Liza Schoenfein, Gabriella Vigoreaux
Social Media: Pennant Digital
Videographer: Giovanna Favilli
Logo Designer: Ian Allen