ClimateVoices Featuring Sanchali Pal

In this issue, I’m pleased to be talking with Sanchali Pal , Founder and CEO of Commons , which helps people tap into their collective climate influence and get rewarded for buying better and less. The Commons community includes over 450,000 people looking to make more intentional spending choices. 

Sanchali started her career working in economic development in India and Ethiopia with Dalberg Global Development Advisors. She holds a BA in Economics from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard University . She lives in Oakland, CA.

Through the Commons app, you engage the community with monthly challenges and track the impacts of collective spending. What have you learned so far? 

Yes! Challenges have been one of the most popular features in the app. 

Nearly 1 in 3 of our new users join the monthly challenge on their first day on the app. We see that people are really motivated by seeing that they aren’t making these choices alone – that we have an impact when we collectively shift our money to more sustainable companies and ways of living. 

It’s been really powerful to see the impact of these challenges. In less than a year, we’ve shifted hundreds of thousands of dollars by choosing secondhand, avoiding fast fashion, supporting local farmers, eating plant-based, donating to environmental nonprofits, and more.

At scale, these challenges demonstrate the impact of our choices. Every day, consumers make over 9 billion transactions. Together, our financial choices influence over 60% of global emissions and shape companies’ choices about how to operate.

Earlier this year, you asked Commons app users to "vote with their dollars,” urging your community to demand companies use their influence to lobby and advocate for climate policy. Why did you choose to elevate corporate climate policy engagement at this time?

This year is definitely a time for bold vision and big ideas. 

We’re in the midst of deep uncertainty for climate progress: the new federal administration has been dismantling decades of climate policy.

On the other hand, we’re seeing rapid growth and momentum among people joining Commons to help them spend their values. 

So we thought it was a perfect time for a Vote With Your Dollars challenge: to use the power of our community to send a message to companies that we want them to stop holding back government climate action for the sake of profits.

We looked at data on companies’ transparency and disclosures, lobbying efforts, trade association memberships, and political campaign contributions, drawing on research done by ClimateVoice , InfluenceMap , the Center for Public Accountability, and the League of Conservation Voters , among others.

Based on this data, we called on our community to avoid buying at seven major companies in April: The Home Depot , Lowe's Companies, Inc. , Walmart , Target , Amazon , CVS Pharmacy , and Marriott Hotels . 

Consumer boycotts are gaining traction as a change-making strategy in 2025 and are included in your calls to action. For example, July is a Skip Amazon challenge. Why is this the focus and how have companies responded to the public pressure you are generating? 

This month, we’re challenging folks to skip (or buy less at!) Amazon . 

Amazon is not only obstructing governmental climate progress. It’s also the single largest driver of ecommerce sales, holding 40% of the US market ( Walmart is second at 6%).

They’ve got that market share for a reason. Amazon is incredibly convenient. Almost a third of Amazon customers complete purchases in 3 minutes or less. Research from Cornell University shows that after signing up for Amazon’s patented “one-click” checkout service, customers increased their spending by an average of 28.5%. 

This is hard on our finances, though: 83% of Americans today say they overspend, and 64% of people who make impulse purchases regret them.

It’s also a climate issue: more purchases mean more materials, energy, vehicles, packaging, warehouses, shipping, and landfill.

July is an opportunity to pause and challenge ourselves to try out a more intentional approach to getting what we want and need. We’re highlighting ways to buy less, borrow or buy secondhand, and support smaller businesses that sell higher-quality, healthier, more sustainable products.

When we ran this challenge last year, we reduced Amazon spending among our community by over 70%. We’re excited about what we’ll achieve this month!

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