Anna Yona, cofounder with her husband of Engelskirchen, Germany-based Wildling Shoes talks with Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe about making shoes that are easier on the planet. They make a wide range of shoes for women, men and kids, practicing sustainable design and manufacturing using a minimalist design philosophy the produces a light, comfortable and durable shoe. These high-cut shoe, which are made with certified organic cotton, hemp, and synthetic and recycled rubber and cork soles, have held ...
Oct 03, 2022•43 min
Dr. Ganesan Visvabharathy, founder of Hawthorne Development Corporation discusses the evolution of the built environment and green building standards necessary to achieve a zero-carbon society. A sustainable built environment is the foundation for lower energy use but will take a generation or more to put in place. Hawthorne recently completed two net-zero projects, the Eco Terra complex, a 348-unit luxury mixed-use apartment complex in Chicago that is the largest green project in the U.S., and ...
Sep 30, 2022•40 min
How can we finance the myriad startups and small business transitions that will bring the sustainable economy to full flower? Our guest, Dimitry Gershenson, is cofounder and CEO of Enduring Planet, argues that the climate crisis has made the human and business response inevitable. Enduring Planet was launched to non-dilutive financing in the form of unsecured loans, to climate mitigation companies that help reduce emissions, carbon removal startups that capture CO2 from the atmosphere, and firms...
Sep 28, 2022•42 min
Jürgen Pretsch is the founder of SHÄP, a recently launched rental marketplace that focuses on connecting people with items to rent in local communities. SHÄP works to reduce unnecessary purchases and enable sharing without creating a shipping footprint by bringing neighbors together. Reuse and sharing are the best ways to minimize the environmental impact of the products you buy. But connecting with people who want what you have, especially people near you so that it is not necessary to ship som...
Sep 26, 2022•33 min
The flower industry has a heavy environmental footprint but some growers are changing their agricultural and shipping practices. Toine Overgaag, president of family-owned Westerlay Orchids, grower and seller of live orchids, based in Carpenteria, Calif., joins Mitch Ratcliffe to discuss sustainable agriculture practices in the live plant industry. Westerlay uses natural predators instead of pesticides to deal with pests, energy and water management technologies, and recirculates waste exhaust CO...
Sep 23, 2022•42 min
Are the laws of the United States fitted for sustainability? Our guest today, attorney Maya van Rossum, argues that it is time for a new approach, environmental constitutionalism. She is adjunct professor and director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Temple’s Beasley School of Law and founder of Green Amendments for the Generations, a campaign to add environmental amendments to state and the U.S. constitution. Our evolving insights into the uneven health, economic, racial and social impacts of...
Sep 21, 2022•44 min
There is momentum around sustainability in society but millions of companies and billions of people are not engaged with the ideas and taking action. Many simply don’t know where to start. We talk about inspiring change in organizations with Susan Hunt Stevens, cofounder and CEO of WeSpire, which develops tools, services and informational campaigns that help companies improve their sustainability performance, their inclusivity, social impact and employee wellbeing. WeSpire’s technology uses beha...
Sep 19, 2022•34 min
Animals are key to our restoration of the planet, Kate Wall and Mark Hofberg of the International Fund for Animal Welfare explain in a report titled Thriving Together: The Critical Role of Animals in Achieving the SDGs. The world’s progress toward a sustainable society has been charted by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 goals that include environmental, social and economic projects deemed necessary to creating a just, equitable world that can live on its cur...
Sep 16, 2022•41 min
Computing opens the door to a more efficient economy but the energy required will generate more greenhouse gas emissions. We talk with Kirat Singh, CEO and cofounder of Beacon Platform Inc., a developer of cloud computing infrastructure for Wall Street and financial institutions. Beacon’s system is built in part to reduce the environmental impact of processing large amounts of financial data. As more companies shift their computing from private data centers to the cloud, there is an opportunity ...
Sep 14, 2022•36 min
Encouraging regenerative farming practices can start with conscious shopping choices, but there are many challenges ahead. Mattheiu Kohlmeyer, founder of La Tourangelle, a Berkeley, Calif.-based maker of artisanal cooking oils, some of which are produced using regenerative farming techniques, discusses the ins and outs of growing healthy, affordable regenerative foods. La Tourangelle makes a variety of oils, including almond and avocado oil, sunflower, grapeseed and olive oils — it sources nuts ...
Sep 12, 2022•39 min
Arthur Baker, associate director of the Development Innovation Lab at the University of Chicago, explains why equity is essential to sustainability. He is the co-author, with Vijaya Ramachandaran, of Let Them Eat Carbon, a Center for Global Development policy paper that suggests it is not just unjust but inefficient to make the poorest countries carry the climate burden. The response to climate change involves a global responsibility to raise people’s standard of living, which reduces population...
Sep 09, 2022•38 min
Kobe Nagar, CEO of Durham, North Carolina-based 374Water, explains the company's compact waste water processing technology, the Supercritical Water Oxidation (AirSCWO) system. Operating the system generates energy, industrial CO2, trinitrogen gases that can be used in manufacturing, distilled water, and minerals extracted from wastewater, making it extremely affordable as a solution for many water treatment uses. The smallest version fits in a shipping container and can clean the wastewater gene...
Sep 07, 2022•37 min
Alex Garden, chairman and CEO of Camarillo, Calif.-based Zume, explains how companies can use waste pulp materials to replace plastic packaging for to-go foods and packaged goods. Molded fiber can be used instead of expanded polystyrene meat trays, to replace the plastic scoops included with baby formula, as coffee cup lids, and in six-pack holders, among many other forms of packaging. The company's water and grease resistant food packaging does not use PFAS, or "forever chemicals" that are harm...
Sep 05, 2022•43 min
Erica Moreti, Head of Strategy & Innovation and Physical/Connected Experience at EPAM Continuum discusses the third Consumer Unmasked report. EPAM surveyed 3,000 Americans, Britons and Germans in late March and early April this year to understand how people are reacting to events as lockdowns end and global conflict appears to be on the rise. How are shoppers reacting, and will they give up the sustainable living priorities that were taking hold as the pandemic began? We talk through the rol...
Aug 31, 2022•35 min
Urvashi Bhatnagar, co-author with Paul Anastas of The Sustainability Scorecard: How to Implement and Profit from Unexpected Solutions, explains the four principles for managing and scaling sustainability. These ideas can be applied to build a sustainable business at a startup or large company dto accelerate progress toward low- and no-waste products and services. Urvashi discusses reframing business decisions to emphasize waste reduction. She suggests what we waste today can be the basis for pro...
Aug 08, 2022•33 min
Pam Gil-Alabaster, Global Head of Sustainability and Social Impact at Mattel, maker of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels, American Girl dolls, and more than 150 other brands of toys. She shares how Mattel works to eliminate manufacturing waste and replace virgin plastic in its packaging with recycled and recyclable plastics. The company has pledged to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% compared to its 2019 emissions as soon as 2030. Pam also explains how Mattel designers use sustainable design practices,...
Aug 03, 2022•36 min
Yoram Bauman, the world's only standup economist, and co-author, with illustrator Grady Klein, of the second edition of The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change. He also co-created cartoon introductions to economics, calculus, and digital ethics. Climate change is profoundly serious and becomes more disturbing with every report of extreme weather and record-breaking heat domes. The Cartoon Guide makes the science and politics of climate understandable and engaging.
Aug 01, 2022•37 min
Technology and consumer electronics products have transformed life in just two generations but they’ve come with heavy environmental and social consequences, including ecosystems disrupted by mining and unrecycled ewaste. We talk with Andreas Nobell, Development Manager at TCO Development, which publishes an independent non-profit environmental and social responsibility certification for technology products, the TCO Certified label. The TCO Certified label is available for 12 types of products, ...
Jul 27, 2022•36 min
In a conversation sure to fire controversy, author and Foundation for Climate Restoration founder Peter Feikowsky expresses optimism that the world could reach net-zero emissions and begin to drawdown atmospheric CO2 and methane levels within a decade. In a wide-ranging discussion with host Mitch Ratcliffe, Peter introduces several carbon capture technologies, low-carbon concrete, and natural carbon sinks that can contribute to removing anthropogenic CO2. He explains them in a new book, Climate ...
Jul 25, 2022•42 min
Kenneth Foard McCallion, an environmental attorney who successfully litigated cases involving the Exxon Valdez and Bhopal Gas disasters, discusses the consequences of the recent Supreme Court decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency. In a 6-3 decision in West Virginia v EPA, the conservative justices decided the agency cannot create comprehensive policies to reduce global warming. McCallion argues that the Supreme Court has “dealt a body blow to this country’s climate change ...
Jul 22, 2022•35 min
Pradeep Elankumaran, cofounder and CEO of Farmstead, explains how the company set out to build a sustainable grocery delivery company focused on eliminating food waste. Where retail grocery stores report wastage of between 30 percent and 40 percent of the food they stock, Farmstead uses local batching of deliveries to cut its waste to less than 5 percent. The service is currently available in the San Francisco Bay Area and offers pickup and recycling of cold packs and delivery packaging. Learn m...
Jul 20, 2022•45 min
Charles Jolley, CEO of URB-E, want to disrupt the local delivery infrastructure. URB-E is building a local container delivery network using ebikes and collapsible containers that are pedaled around cities and neighborhoods. The company says a single delivery person can pull up to 800 pounds of stuff, which is sufficient to replace an internal combustion delivery van. URB-E has launched in New York and Los Angeles, where riders can earn between $18 and $24 an hour, with paid time off. The company...
Jul 18, 2022•29 min
Kimberly Shank, cofounder and CEO of Novi, introduces the Novi Connect sustainable personal care and beauty products ingredients and packaging marketplace. The service lets product and packaging designers research and validate the sustainability and environmental impact of the ingredients and packaging materials they use. For example, Novi provides the ability to enter a set of ingredients for a new make-up product and check that their formula meets environmental standards and qualify for retail...
Jul 15, 2022•28 min
Christian Schiller, cofounder of cirplus, talks about the company's digital marketplace for circular plastics. Think of it as Match.com or Tinder for European plastics recyclers, including companies that collect post-consumer materials and those that sell processed recycled plastic for use in new products. Cirplus connects sellers with buyers and collects fees for speeding the transaction along. Sellers save on marketing costs and can establish ongoing relationships that support their business g...
Jul 11, 2022•41 min
Author Eve Darian-Smith discusses her new book, Global Burning: Rising Antidemocracy and the Climate Crisis, which describes and analyzes the environmental policies of authoritarian governments, including the Trump and Bolsanaro administrations in the U.S. and Brazil, as well as Australia’s recently deposed Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. She is chair of the Department of Global and International Studies at the University of California, Irvine. Eve has documented the growing crisis for democrati...
Jul 06, 2022•38 min
Frank Zambrelli, Executive Director of Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business Responsible Business Coalition, discusses the school's recommendations for sustainability and transparency in the fashion industry. He explains findings in Accenture's recently released a report, Scaling ESG Solutions in Fashion, which identified seven areas of focus required for sustainable changes to the fashion industry. They include industry-wide adoption of transparent emissions reductions goals of 50% by...
Jul 04, 2022•45 min
Nick Zamanov, business director at San Jose-based Cyber Switching, a maker of electric vehicle charging technology, joins Mitch Ratcliffe to discuss choosing the right EV and how to grow electric vehicle charging capacity. The company launched in 1994 and has developed charging solutions for offices, local governments, apartment buildings, universities and other charger installations. Nick also recently contributed an article at Earth911, Considerations To Help You Confidently Switch to an EV, a...
Jul 01, 2022•35 min
Douglas Heske, founder and CEO of Newday Impact Investing explains how to invest for positive environmental outcomes during a bear market. He recommends treating deflated stock prices as an opportunity to add sustainable companies to a portfolio, and shares details about his firm's new Ocean Health ETF (NYSE: AHOY), which focuses on companies that prevent ocean plastic pollution, encourage sustainable fishing practices, and that help restore marine environments. Newday Impact Investing will also...
Jun 24, 2022•33 min
Meet Alicia Marseille and Katelyn Armbruster, who lead the Sustainable Earth small business sustainability education program for Arizona State University's Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Service. They are working to turn the economy toward sustainable practices with free courses for the nation’s 32.5 million small businesses. These firms, which account for 99.9 percent of the companies in the United States according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, need access to information, sus...
Jun 20, 2022•29 min
James Crooks, Ph.D., an environmental epidemiologist with National Jewish Health’s Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics in Denver explains his research on the impact of wildfire smoke on the ozone concentrations at ground level in Colorado. Elevated ozone levels contribute to rising incidence of asthma and diabetes, among other conditions. Dr. Crooks found that while ozone increased only one percent, the impacts are widely felt, especially in Hispanic and historically underserved communi...
Jun 15, 2022•22 min
