As the President of the Society of Wetland Scientists and an advisor to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, wetland ecologist Max Finlayson has participated in global environmental assessments and site-based appraisals and written extensively on wetland management. Notably, he has expertise on the relationship and interconnectedness of water pollution, agricultural impacts, invasive species, climate change, human well-being, and our wetlands. On this podcast episode, Max sheds light on how cities...
Jul 23, 2019•36 min•Ep. 157
Terry Spahr is a documentary filmmaker (8 Billion Angels), environmental activist, and the Executive Director of Earth Overshoot, a nonprofit working to make ecological limits central to all personal and public decision-making through targeted education and advocacy. On this podcast episode, Terry sheds light on what a truly sustainable lifestyle with seven billion people on earth should really look like; why population growth has been the elephant in the room that needs to be discussed more ope...
Jul 18, 2019•34 min•Ep. 156
Raja Dhir is a life sciences entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Seed, a venture-backed microbiome company pioneering the application of bacteria for both human and planetary health. After our groundbreaking interview with his co-founder, Ara Katz, on Green Dreamer's episode 109, we knew we had to bring Raja on the podcast as well to learn from his complementing scientific expertise leading Seed's research and development, academic collaborations, technology development, clinical trial design, supply...
Jul 16, 2019•41 min•Ep. 155
Aviva Rahmani is an ecological artist who exhibits and publishes internationally. She's known, in particular, for her Trigger Point Theory—the idea that small points of carefully selected intervention might effect large systemic transformations—and she exemplifies this through her artwork, including Trigger Points/Tipping Points, Ghost Nets, and Cities & Oceans of If. One of her more recent works, her Gulf to Gulf Project, integrates art and science to address climate change, aiming to help re-g...
Jul 11, 2019•35 min•Ep. 154
Brendan Synnott is the CEO of PACT, where he's leading his team to disrupt the apparel industry for the better by using organic and fair-trade cotton as the foundation for addressing the labor and environmental issues that surround clothing. On this podcast episode, Brendan sheds light on what it takes to shake up existing, extractive corporations to render them obsolete or hold them accountable to their social and environmental impacts; why fighting for more transparency within the fashion supp...
Jul 09, 2019•37 min•Ep. 153
We're joined by two guests today from Quail Springs Permaculture, an organization that empowers people with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration that are essential to cultivating ecological and social health. Janice Setser is its Executive Director, and Sasha Rabin is its Natural Building Director as well as the founder of her own natural building organization, Earthen Shelter. After they each came to their own awakenings of how modernization has strayed from providing experiences that that tr...
Jul 04, 2019•33 min•Ep. 152
Jay Siegel is the founder of Ground Up Impact and the creator of Sustainability Defined, the award-winning podcast that defines sustainability "one topic (and one bad joke) at a time." On this episode, Jay sheds light on why sustainability can't be defined by a standard dictionary; the root causes driving environmental degradation no matter what industry we're speaking of; what it takes to reach the general public with our messages beyond the niche of people who already care; and more. Episode n...
Jul 02, 2019•39 min•Ep. 151
Debra Prinzing (@dkprinzing) is a Seattle-based writer, speaker and leading advocate for American Grown Flowers. Through her many Slow Flowers-branded projects, including SlowFlowers.com (@myslowflowers), Slow Flowers Podcast, and American Flowers Week, she has convened a national conversation that stimulates consumers and professionals alike to make conscious choices about their floral purchases. On this podcast episode, Debra sheds light on why we need a slow flowers movement; the environmenta...
Jun 27, 2019•39 min•Ep. 150
Maria Abadilla is the Founder and Chairperson of Orangutan Alliance (@orangutanalliance), an independent, industry-based nonprofit organization promoting the reduction of unsustainable palm oil in consumer products through their palm oil free certification program. On this podcast episode, Maria sheds light on the primary global threats from the palm oil industry; the evolution of how we commodified palm oil to the point where rainforests are cleared for its plantations; how we can navigate the ...
Jun 25, 2019•28 min•Ep. 149
Tamara Lim is the founder and CEO of The Wally Shop, America's first zero-waste grocery delivery service that sources from local farmers, markets, and bulk shops. On this podcast episode, Tamara sheds light on how our current consumption model and waste management methods are setting us up for failure when we're striving to address our waste issues; what structural and systemic shifts we need in order to render disposable packaging obsolete; and more. Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/148 Supp...
Jun 20, 2019•38 min•Ep. 148
Rosalinda Guillen is a recognized farm worker and rural justice leader. She's also the Executive Director of Community to Community (C2C), a women-of-color led, grassroots organization redefining power in order to end settler colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy in their external and internalized forms. Fueled by inspiration from her parents growing up and fed up with the systemic oppression in our food system, Rosalinda is working to build support for rural communities and sustainable agricu...
Jun 18, 2019•42 min•Ep. 147
Shannon Service is an award-winning, independent reporter and filmmaker who broke the story of slavery at sea for NPR’s Morning Edition in 2012 . Her new feature documentary, Ghost Fleet, follows up on that story as she sets sail with a Thai abolitionist who is scouring remote islands for slaves who’ve jumped ship. On this podcast episode, Shannon sheds light on the difficulties in regulating our global fishing industry; how overfishing is tied to human trafficking and modern-day slavery at sea;...
Jun 13, 2019•28 min•Ep. 146
Gabe Brown is the author of Dirt to Soil and the owner and operator of Brown’s Ranch in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he and his family have been farming profitably without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for over twenty years. Today, Gabe’s award-winning regenerative farming systems lead thousands of people to flock to his farm each year to learn how to implement them so they can support their own farms and ranches using similar practices as well. On this...
Jun 11, 2019•39 min•Ep. 145
Nicole Rycroft is the Founder and Executive Director of Canopy, an international nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with over 750 companies to protect our ancient and endangered forests. On this podcast episode, Nicole sheds light on our urgency to protect our remaining ancient and endangered forests from further deforestation; why we need to be wary of buying new clothes and textiles made of rayon and viscose, even if they're sourced from sustainably managed forests; whether we s...
Jun 06, 2019•39 min•Ep. 143
Abigail Dillen is the President of Earthjustice, an organization that uses the courts to protect our environment and people’s health. Throughout her career, she's litigated many precedent-setting cases that have held polluters accountable and cleared the way for clean energy nationally, which is why we're honored to be able to share her expertise and thought leadership with you on this podcast episode. In this conversation, Abbie sheds light on the implication of nature's place within our societ...
Jun 04, 2019•36 min•Ep. 143
Dave Chapman runs Long Wind Farm in Vermont and is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Real Organic Project. After unveiling how our current organic standards may be misleading consumers and falling short of what "organic" should mean, he now actively fights for integrity and transparency in the National Organic Program. On this podcast episode, Dave shares the shocking reality of how products from CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) and hydroponics can be certified organic b...
May 30, 2019•43 min•Ep. 142
Dr. Kris Nichols is the Chief Scientist at Pachaterrae and a world-renowned leader in the movement to regenerate soils for healthy food, healthy people, and a healthy planet. On this episode, Kris sheds light on the vital role of mycorrhizal fungi in indirectly supporting resilience against climate change; the importance of biodiversity in creating synergies that strengthen the health of our ecosystems; how soil microbiology impacts the bioavailability of the nutrients within our foods; and more...
May 28, 2019•43 min•Ep. 141
Shyla Raghav is the global climate change strategy lead for Conservation International, who's attended almost a decade of United Nations climate change negotiations and international conferences. On this episode, Shyla sheds light on her learning lessons from having attended these key negotiations; how competition for power, economic status, and technological advancement between countries impact our ability to collaborate on climate mitigation; what "422pm" means and how we can meaningfully lowe...
May 23, 2019•42 min•Ep. 140
David Katz is the founder of Plastic Bank, which is helping to make plastic waste a currency that transcends poverty while stopping the flow of plastic into our oceans. On this podcast episode, David sheds light on what sugar has to do with plastic pollution; why we need to address the fact that this global crisis is intricately linked to poverty; the importance of coming up with ways that keep plastics out of our oceans to begin with (e.g., turning off the tap) rather than focusing on retroacti...
May 21, 2019•38 min•Ep. 139
Galahad Clark, a seventh-generation Clark of the Clarks shoe dynasty, is the co-creator of Shoespiracy and the founder of VIVOBAREFOOT, a global footwear brand that’s set out to be the most sustainable in the world. After learning about how the thick layers of support in our footwear are leading the muscles in our feet to atrophy, compromising sensory information and our bodily health, Galahad created a shoe that is wide, flexible, and sensory, allowing our feet to function they way they are sup...
May 16, 2019•40 min•Ep. 138
Manuela Baron is a Colombian-American content creator and artist behind The Girl Gone Green, focused on advocating for environmentally conscious living. On this podcast episode, Manuela sheds light on how exposing ourselves to different cultures and environments shift our perspectives on sustainability; why she hesitates to promote "zero-waste living"; how can we go against that grain of social media, which tends to promote mindless consumption, to encourage mindfulness, minimalism, and consciou...
May 14, 2019•42 min•Ep. 137
Adam Sacks is a climate activist, writer, and the Executive Director of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate. On this podcast episode, Adam sheds light on how biodiversity loss may be a greater threat to our planet than climate change; why we need to include the conservation of biodiversity as a key climate health solution; how real-life stories of regeneration around the world prove that we already know what it takes to rebuild healthy, resilient ecosystems; and more. Episode notes: www.greendrea...
May 09, 2019•44 min•Ep. 136
Bob Donofrio is the creator of Futura Jewelry, a brand that creates a global curation of iconic jewelry designs using only certified Fairmined Ecological Gold. (At present, it's the only brand to do so.) After a life-changing discovery a few years ago of the threat that mercury from small-scale gold mining poses to people and our planet, he founded the brand in efforts to support a cleaner future and better social and environmental standards in the industry. On this podcast episode, Bob sheds li...
May 07, 2019•39 min•Ep. 135
Leah Penniman is an educator, farmer, the author of Farming While Black , and food justice activist who currently serves as founding co-executive director of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York—a people-of-color led project that works to dismantle racism in our food system. On this episode, Leah sheds light on the impact of colonialism on soil health around the world; how the oppression of Black and Indigenous people-of-color in the United States has affected farmland ownership and continued, in...
May 02, 2019•32 min•Ep. 134
Tristram Stuart is a speaker, an international award-winning author ( The Bloodless Revolution and Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal ), the founder of Feedback and Toastale, and an expert on the environmental and social impacts of food. On this episode, Tristram shares how we've come to adopt a wasteful, linear food system (and what a circular system would look like), how we can be more respectful to nature in spite of our economy undervaluing what is truly invaluable, how we can rewire ...
Apr 30, 2019•41 min•Ep. 133
With a background in alternative fuels, renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation technologies, and financial services, Brian Goldstein is the Executive Director of Energy Independence Now (founded by Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation‘s CEO, Terry Tamminen), a nonprofit on a mission to support the transition to a clean transportation system through hydrogen fuel. On this episode, Brian shares how hydrogen fuel cells work, the environmental impact of electric vehicles compared to hydrogen-po...
Apr 25, 2019•43 min•Ep. 132
J.I. Cruz is the co-founder of ACEPR, a nonprofit social enterprise and accelerator program that aims to provide Puerto Rican community leaders with the resources, financing, and know-how needed to establish renewable energy microgrid cooperatives across the island. On this episode, J.I. shares how renewable energy relates to natural disasters like hurricanes, the role of decentralized electric grids in sustainable development, how he deals with ageism as someone who started his social venture a...
Apr 23, 2019•35 min•Ep. 131
My special message to you. Happy Earth Day and Month, Green Dreamer! Support the show and join our network: www.greendreamer.com/support Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast
Apr 22, 2019•5 min
Judith D. Schwartz is a journalist who focuses on nature-based solutions to global challenges and the author of Cows Save the Planet and Water in Plain Sight: Hope for a Thirsty World . On this episode, Judith shares why fixating on reducing carbon emissions alone is a shortsighted approach to tackling climate change, how 'organic' is losing its standards and meaning, what it means that we've been managing against environmental challenges rather than managing for them, and more. Episode notes: w...
Apr 18, 2019•50 min•Ep. 130
Whitney Bauck is an Associate Editor at Fashionista. She got her start writing about the intersection of fashion, faith, and ethics, and now frequently explores the topics of sustainability, worker rights, and diverse representation within the fashion industry. On this episode, Whitney shares why she thinks regenerative agriculture may be the next big thing in sustainable fashion, her thoughts on what drives fashion trends, how we can influence the industry to be more ethical and sustainable in ...
Apr 16, 2019•35 min•Ep. 129
