Palm Oil is touted as a “miracle ingredient,” found in more than 50% of all packaged products consumed in the US. It renders makeup smooth, keeps ice cream from melting, and moisturizes our hair and skin. It is a hot commodity; giving rise to plantations in Asia, Africa and Latin America. At 66 million tons annually and 10% of permanent global cropland, palm oil is a prevalent, economically appealing crop. But how would you know, it is not always clearly labeled in the products we purchase, iden...
Jan 24, 2020•1 hr
Hear Tina and Jessa Calderon, mother and daughter duo representing the Gabrielino Tongva and Ventureño Chumash Nations, share their personal experiences, stories and insights regarding growing up as indigenous women on their Native lands. They recount the trials, traumas and tribulations, as well as the creativity, pride and healing that ensued during their process of reclaiming their indigenous language, cultural life ways and themselves as empowered Native women. Carry Kim did the interview. J...
Dec 30, 2019•31 min
In recent years across the world, a groundswell of youth activism is growing, pressuring governments to stand up for social and environmental rights. It can be argued that a surge of youth activism this size has not been seen since the Vietnam War. The reasons for unrest are diverse, from fears of worsening climate, violence in schools, political corruption, racial injustice, deportation. A recent UCLA survey found that 1 in 10 undergraduates nationwide expected to partake in protests while in c...
Dec 19, 2019•30 min
In this episode, we discuss the struggle to protect the sacred lands and culture of the Wixárika people, also known popularly as the Huichol, an indigenous group inhabiting the remote reaches of the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. Our guests are Andrea Perez, Indigenous Environmental Justice Advocate, and Susana Valadez Director of the Huichol Center for Cultural Survival and Traditional Arts. Jessica Aldridge did the interview. Central to the ancient religion of the Wixárika is the yearly pi...
Dec 10, 2019•31 min
The Los Angeles Harbor community is starving for oxygen. Environmental Justice Activist Jesse Marquez speaks with EcoJustice Radio about the dangers of living around five oil refineries, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and hemmed in by the truck-clogged 710 and 110 freeways. Fresh air in the shadow of an industrial sacrifice zone is often in short supply for those who call those neighborhoods home. Moreover, the Los Angeles Basin, home to 13 million people, has over 1,000 active oil dri...
Nov 27, 2019•33 min
On Episode 45 of EcoJustice Radio our guest Reverend Oliver Buie, Minister of Community Engagement at the Holman United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles, speaks with Jessica Aldridge on the important relationship between faith and environmentalism and what his parish has been doing to promote environmental and social justice in their community. As a member of the Steering Committee of STAND-LA, he speaks to the environmental justice movement to institute a 2,500-foot health and safety buffe...
Nov 20, 2019•26 min
Weather extremes, soil degradation, and climate disruption have turned our attention to the potential of soil, carbon, and water cycling as a formidable and creative response to climate change. Linda Gibbs is the Owner & Principal Manager of the gardens at Woodshed Recording Studio, growing food, medicine, and soil. She teaches at the Gaia school of healing and Earth education and is a soil advocate for Kiss the Ground. One week after her home burned down in the Woolsey Fire, she spoke on be...
Nov 02, 2019•34 min
On today’s show we are discussing Urban Forestry’s Impacts On Climate Change and Social Equity. Jessica Aldridge speaks with Mark Kenyon, Executive Director of the nonprofit, North East Trees. The horrific fires ravaging the Amazon in Brazil and Bolivia have sparked massive interest about how these dense rain forests influence the global weather systems by creating microclimates that have macro effects. Ultimately, large-scale deforestation has an overall effect on global climate. However, what ...
Oct 25, 2019•27 min
The Global Climate Strikes that happened from 20-27 September 2019, inspired a record 7.6 million people to head into the streets and strike for climate action. The biggest climate mobilization in history. From Jakarta to New York, Karachi to Amman, Berlin to Kampala, Istanbul to Québec, Guadalajara to Asunción, in big cities and small villages, millions of people joined hands and raised their voices in defense of the climate. The Global Climate Strike shows that we have the people power we need...
Oct 15, 2019•29 min
Susan V. Collins, President of Container Recycling Institute, speaks with host Jessica Aldridge about how California underwent a recent wave of redemption center closures (those places where consumers can drop off their recyclable beverage containers for cash). So what needs to happen to fix the California bottle bill? Container Recycling Institute: http://www.container-recycling.org/ Hosted by Jessica Aldridge, Adventures in Waste Engineer: Blake Lampkin Executive Producer: Jack Eidt Show Creat...
Sep 27, 2019•30 min
Water is life. Clean, safe, reliable, affordable, and the future security of water is nonnegotiable. Los Angeles, California currently imports a whopping 70% of their water. And getting that water to LA is the largest use of electricity in the state of CA. When water is not captured and utilized within the system, it traverses through the city and out to the ocean. In order to shape a strong water future, we must manage the flow in way that ensures high quality, social equity, and solutions base...
Sep 13, 2019•30 min
Hear the wise words of Tongva Elder, Grandmother Gloria Arellanes, as she shares the heritage of the Tongva people, who inhabited and stewarded the area referred to as the "Los Angeles basin" as well as the Southern Channel Islands. Grandmother Gloria offers her insights about the state of our world, youth, elderhood and the intergenerational cycle of learning, as well as how we might honor proper protocols, First Nations and all that is Sacred, amidst the backdrop of increasing urbanity, and th...
Sep 05, 2019•32 min
Hear from David Lamfrom, Director of California Desert and National Wildlife programs at the National Parks Conservation Association, who will discuss the particular challenges of protecting and preserving our national parks in the Anthropocene era, including this current stage of global industrialization. David recounts the impact of the government shutdown on wildlife in national parks, including the financial cost for the remediation of destruction from unmonitored and unregulated human activ...
Aug 27, 2019•29 min
Jessica Aldridge speaks with Ayla Suhail, Climate Change and Livelihood Project Coordinator at PODA, Potohar Organisation of development and advocacy in Pakistan. She is a graduate of mathematics from Comsats University in Islamabad and is finishing her up masters in Geographical Information System. Her thesis is based on "Analyzing the impact of Plastic Waste on the Urban Climate." She is also a teacher and a coach. The effects of natural disasters and Climate change have disproportionate impac...
Aug 23, 2019•31 min
Carry Kim talks with Rev. Adelia Sandoval, the Spiritual Leader for the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians/Acjachemen Nation. The Acjachemen people are the indigenous people of Orange County in Southern California and have stewarded and inhabited this region for roughly 12,000 years. Adelia is also a Ceremonial Leader, Bear Dancer, Re-Burial Rites Ceremonialist, and Keeper of Songs she has been taught by Tribal Spiritual Leader, Ka'chi. She is the director of the Tribal women's singing group the Tu...
Aug 15, 2019•30 min
Carry Kim speaks with Doug Lindamood, from SonRise Ranch in San Diego County, California. He and his family own and operate this pasture based livestock operation dedicated to changing industrial, factory farming into a local, sustainable, integrity, food movement through education and outreach one family at a time. According to SonRise Ranch, Management Intensive Grazing, regenerative agriculture, and the highest standards of animal husbandry are the best way to heal the planet. SonRise Ranch: ...
Jul 30, 2019•29 min
In the spring of 2019, the Sunrise Movement, building an army of young people to make climate change an urgent priority across the US, put on the Road To A Green New Deal Tour, visiting eight cities across the US to share what a Green New Deal would look like in different communities as well as spotlighting local politicians and organizers throughout the country. A Green New Deal would address the interwoven crises of climate catastrophe, economic inequality, and racism at the scale that science...
Jul 23, 2019•50 min
On this episode, Mark Morris speaks with Madeline Merritt, Core Organizer for Public Bank LA and Member of California Public Banking Alliance. She speaks about the campaign supporting AB 857, The Public Banking Act, in an unprecedented partnership between the grassroots and lawmakers. She is a water protector and community organizer who seeks to transform global systems to put the long term interests of people and planet over the short term interests of the few. Public Banks and the Green New De...
Jul 10, 2019•28 min
Over the past few years, there has been significant growth in US politics of women candidates (especially women of color) and for many this being their first run for office. As of today, there exists a record number of women in congress and more young women and women of color than ever in US History. On this show, Jessica Aldridge talks with Aura Vasquez, Environmental and Social Justice organizer and Candidate for Los Angeles City Council District 10, on how we change the “old boys club” and wh...
Jun 28, 2019•28 min
Los Angeles is the nation’s garment production capital and the city’s second largest manufacturing sector, yet workers face injustice, usually associated with the developing world, right here in one of the largest cities in the United States. Unbeknownst to most, sweatshops are a reality in Los Angeles, California and are directly tied to some of the most notable and loved brands. However, accountability and human rights are not always being addressed by these brands and the manufacturers they u...
Jun 19, 2019•27 min
When we get dressed in the morning, most of us don’t consider the environmental costs and human rights issues that may be attached to the clothing on our bodies. Jessica Aldridge interviews two women who have made it their business to not only consider how to clean up the global fashion industry, advocating for environmentally-supportive and equitable solutions to water pollution, pesticides, microfibers, and waste associated with making, washing, and disposing of our clothing. Bios: Andrea Plel...
Jun 11, 2019•26 min
From the Personal Carbon Footprint to a Green New Deal Massive climate disruption continues to strike all over the world, one disaster after another, droughts, wildfires, typhoons, mega-floods, with glaciers melting and methane escaping from deep under the permafrost. The UN IPCC said we have 12 more years to stabilize greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere to avoid runaway climate change. We need solutions to this problem to spark a climate revolution. Jessica Aldridge speaks with NASA climate...
Apr 04, 2019•25 min
Join Stephanie Mushrush and Carrie "Cc" Curley Strong as they share about the Apache Stronghold spiritual movement to Save Oak Flat (Chi'chil Bildagoteel). Apache Stronghold, led by Wendsler Nosie, Sr. for the last decade, is a spiritual movement to protect the Apache Way of life: their sacred sites and cultural and spiritual heritage. The movement is committed to preventing Resolution Copper, a foreign mining corporation & subsidiary of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, from desecrating the San C...
Feb 04, 2019•32 min
Erik Ohlsen is the director of the Permaculture Skills Center, a vocational training school that offers advanced education in ecological design, landscaping, farming, and land stewardship. Creator of the the Eco-Landscape Mastery School online training program, Erik is also founder of Permaculture Artisans which specializes in design and installation of ecological landscapes and farms throughout California. An internationally renowned, certified permaculture designer and practitioner, Erik has t...
Dec 27, 2018•28 min
The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL or Rocketdyne), north of Los Angeles, burned in the November 2018 Woolsey Fire, threatening toxic exposures from contaminated dust, smoke, ash, and soil. In the 1940s, SSFL with its 10 experimental nuclear reactors was developed for research and weapons testing. In 1959, it suffered an uncontained partial meltdown of at least one sodium reactor referred to by experts as the worst nuclear disaster in U.S history, and the fourth largest release of iodine-131...
Dec 17, 2018•26 min
Ku Kia'i Mauna: The Mauna Kea Movement to Protect Sacred Sites, Waters and Indigenous Legacies Worldwide Part 2 Kumu Mikilani provides an update on the status of Mauna Kea and the inspired movement to stop the construction of the 30-meter TMT telescope, anticipated to be the Northern Hemisphere's singular largest telescope sponsored by CalTech, University of California and the countries of India, Japan, and Canada. Twelve telescopes have already blighted what native Hawaiians consider their most...
Dec 13, 2018•27 min
Part 1 of 2 Ku Kia'i Mauna: Kumu Mikilani Young discusses with Carry Kim from EcoJustice Radio about the proposed, highly controversial 30-meter TMT telescope which would be built atop "ceded" conservation lands on Mauna Kea, considered the most sacred mountain for native Hawaiians or Kanaka Ma'oli. The TMT telescope would be the largest telescope in the Northern Hemisphere and is being spearheaded by the University of California, the California Institute of Technology as well as: Japan, China, ...
Dec 12, 2018•29 min
As part of the incessant need for what some people call “growth” we inevitably destroy resources, especially when that “growth” happens to be sprawling land development. Is this type of growth necessary? Will it provide real housing opportunities to those most in need? However, when a development project does not make common sense, when it invades ecological integrity, destroys irreplaceable resources and it puts people in harm’s way, should the project be sent back for review? Tejon Ranch Cente...
Nov 26, 2018•30 min
Carry Kim from EcoJustice Radio talks with Lydia Ponce, a Mayo-Quechua Indigenous activist, member of AIM (American Indian Movement), and Co-Director of Idle No More SoCal. She also works as SoCal 350 Engagement Director. Lydia will share updates about two controversial tar sands pipelines originating out of Alberta, Canada: TransCanada's Keystone XL and Enbridge's Line 3. Both projects pose numerous threats for indigenous peoples, their way of life and sacred territories, in addition to the dev...
Nov 12, 2018•33 min
How California Legislation is Driving New Standards Hosted by Jessica Aldridge of Adventures in Waste and Co-founder of SoCal 350 Our guest today, Nick Lapis Director of Advocacy of for Californians Against Waste (CAW) is advocating at the state and local levels to create, promote, and implement the standards and policies necessary for waste reduction and recycling. Since joining CAW in 2007, Nick has led several campaigns to enact nation-leading waste reduction legislation and regulatory action...
Oct 25, 2018•26 min
