In this episode, we’re joined by Kristen Giacomini, a Reno native, mom of two, and the visionary behind Flow Designs. As an interior designer, Kristen crafts stunning spaces that inspire joy and fulfillment—but her passion for sustainability and community doesn’t stop there. Kristen shares the story behind hosting a second Toy & Clothing Swap at her business location, combining her love for design, eco-conscious living, and bringing people together. We’ll explore how this event reflects her ...
Nov 22, 2024•13 min•Season 2Ep. 46
In this episode, we're thrilled to explore the world of sustainability in Northern Nevada with Donna, the visionary Founder and President of greenUp and the Nevada Green Business Network. Not only is she leading the charge in providing environmental education to businesses, but Donna is also at the forefront of an exciting initiative—the Green to Go Reusable Container Program. This program is set to revolutionize takeout practices, offering businesses and consumers an eco-friendly alternative to...
Jan 03, 2024•28 min•Season 2Ep. 45
Keisha & Casey Ernst have been focusing on soil regeneration and habitat restoration as a team since 2011. They have studied under Dr. Elaine Ingham over the past eight years and worked alongside her on many projects. In 2018 Catalyst BioAmendments was founded as an experimental and educational-focused compost lot. The aim was to apply the techniques taught by Dr. Elaine Ingham to compost on a large scale and to improve the processes to ensure the product reliably hosts diverse populations o...
Mar 31, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Zoe Bray is a professional artist based in Reno, Nevada, who started offering eco-art classes to children to help them enjoy simple, timeless beauty and connection with nature. As a professional artist, her practice focuses on painting and drawing from life, using traditional fine art techniques, and experimenting with unconventional approaches. Zoe explores the boundaries between art and ethnography, engaging in questions of identity, representation, and human relations with nature. Zoe trained...
Mar 27, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Colin Watley started Scrub Jay Farm in the Spring of 2021 as a result of a career change and a desire to experiment with gardening methods and goals that differ from standard production farms. The emphasis at Scrub Jay Farm is on edible flowers, herbs, food preservation, testing new plant varieties, and seed saving. The farm consists of hugelkultur beds built throughout a 1/6 acre residential lot with permaculture principles as a central focus. In 2022, the second year, the focus has been on pla...
Jul 25, 2022•19 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Quinn is a local botanist, ecologist, gardener, and Nevada native. He has spent most of his career studying the native plants of Nevada and fire ecology in the Great Basin. He’s researched how to effectively restore burned plant communities in our Nevada deserts. More recently, he began working as a garden manager for Farmily, one of our local non-profits partnered with the Boys and Girls Club to teach social-emotional learning through the garden and providing healthy food to the kids and their ...
May 30, 2022•37 min•Season 2Ep. 41
Today on our podcast I’m speaking with Rebekah Stetson who has worked in the Northern Nevada green community as a connector, leader, passionate activist and as an organic farmer. I had the pleasure of interviewing Rebekah two years ago in April of 2020 for the podcast, Locals Share Green Action episode number 7. We’ll be dipping back into some of the topics that she shared then and bring in some of the new things she’s up to now. For those who don’t know Rebekah, she’s a Northern Nevada Native w...
Apr 09, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 40
The Valley Wood Park Waterwise Bird Garden project, in its various phases, was created as a demonstration garden to show visitors alternatives to water hungry lawns. This park project is meant to inspire and educate our community about trees, shrubs, and flowers that can be grown in our high desert environment using half the water that lawns require. With our area experiencing less rainfall and higher temperatures we can benefit from learning how to create beautiful urban landscapes in a more su...
Feb 27, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation – Caring for Parks, Open Spaces & Trails In this episode we speak with three representatives from Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation: Matt DeBray, Julie Johnson, and Caroline Stillitano about all of the great things their organization does for people in the greater Washoe County area to increase our enjoyment and knowledge of our beautiful parks. Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation is a private nonprofit that was incorporated in 2012 and received its 501(c)(3) det...
Dec 25, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Emanuela Heller-MacNeilage is a local farmer, a yoga and homesteading skills instructor, and the Vice President of the Northern Nevada Beekeeper’s Association. She raises goats, bees, and chickens and offers instruction on how to care for beehives, and sustainable gardens, and how to make cheese, yogurt, mead, and soap. At Tiny Living Farm, overlooking the Truckee river, she offers goat yoga classes, and instruction in the many skills that she teaches. She also cares for beehives for other peopl...
Dec 11, 2021•18 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Help Save the Bees Foundation – is a 501c3 Nevada nonprofit whose mission is to inspire and educate the community about importance of bees, their challenges, and how to participate in supporting them and taking action for their health and survival. Ray Hopper is the founder and Treasurer. He has been keeping bees off and on since 1982. His passion has inspired him to dedicate his life to help the plight of bees. Dan Rider is a Director, a beekeeper and an organic gardener. His wife, Valarie Ride...
Oct 31, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Casey Shiver has been a member of the Buy Nothing Project’s Central Reno group for a couple of years now and started volunteering as an admin in February of 2021. She works full time for UNR, is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Higher Education Administration and spends much of her free time volunteering with local area nonprofits. Her favorite parts of the Buy Nothing Project are getting to know her neighbors and seeing the large number of items being reused rather than entering the la...
Sep 01, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In this episode we dive into the topic of the local forest stewardship and some of the work that Norman Cone is doing as a research associate working with Great Basin Institute. He shares many factors that weigh into decisions that are made on a daily basis, as many groups work to maintain, protect, and restore our forests. As residents living near amazing national parks, Norman shares things that we can do to be better environmental stewards. We learn more so that we can have greater appreciati...
Aug 01, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Sharon Lugone is retired from teaching computer literacy to elementary and middle school levels and has gone on to instruct and do private consultations to teach sustainable wardrobe fashion strategies called Capsules101. She is teaching courses locally in the Reno area. After watching the documentary “The True Cost”, she was moved to take action to address better choices for all of us to meet the challenges of fashion industry and how to be more strategic and mindful in our clothing purchases. ...
Jun 27, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 33
We meet the owners of Thali an organic vegetarian restaurant that share multiple ways that they are striving to operate sustainably. Learn more about how this little family-owned restaurant works to support local farms, and avoid waste while delivery delicious meals for their community. https://www.thalireno.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Thalireno/
May 31, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Katie Colling who is the founder and manager of Katherina’s Garden a community garden that is seeking to help feed people in poverty with healthy, fresh foods grown right in the neighborhood. Katie was the vice president for RISE for seven years and she is the founder and manager of Katharina's Garden and Compost Program since it's inception in 2017. https://gofund.me/97c62413 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1716313595100783/user/100000482378184/ kmcolling@gmail.com www.katharinasgarden.org...
Apr 19, 2021•16 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Life as we know it would be much different if it weren’t for the mysterious and miraculous mycelium. Such an impressive entity, so different than most life on earth. This fungus can destroy and give life simultaneously. Mycelium helps soil by breaking down organic matter, keeping moisture in the soil, and helping to prevent erosion. ---------------------------------- About Rachel Rachel Jessee, originally from Reno, NV has recently returned to the region after over a decade of exploring differen...
Mar 22, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Walker Sauls is the founder of the nonprofit GreenVibe World and the urban mushroom farm called Biggest Little Mushrooms. Walker Sauls completed his Bachelors of Science degree in Environmental Science and founded a nonprofit, GreenVibe World and a sustainable urban farm called Biggest Little Mushrooms. At Biggest Little Mushrooms they pride themselves in growing high-quality mushrooms with as little impact to the environment as possible. Their small farm contributes healthy and delicious mushro...
Mar 22, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Tessa Dee Miller is a treasure hunter and upcycling enthusiast. She is the shop owner of the “The Nest” a vintage furniture, décor, and clothing shop that has been in Reno for almost 10 years. THE NEST 201 Keystone Ave Reno, NV 89503 (775) 284-8841 thenestreno@gmail.com www.thenestreno.com FB/IG @thenestreno Monday - Saturday 11am - 6pm, Sunday 11am-5pm TMCC Thrift Store Shopping Class Tuesday, February 23rd 3-6pm: https://truckee.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&int_...
Feb 14, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Nathan Rosenbloom is with Loping Coyote, Rosewater Ranch, and Mountain Mushrooms. He is an ecological garden designer, a farmer, and a nursery business owner. He shares the benefits of a forest garden designs and more about their local nursery yearly sale to provide the trees, shrubs, vines, and herbs to support these ecological designed gardens and farms. Learn more at: https://www.lopingcoyotefarms.com/ Site Consultations and Assessments, -On-site and remote project evaluations - from native l...
Feb 01, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Among other numerous community service roles, Earstin Whitten is the co-founder and president of Soulful Seeds, a non-profit whose mission is to provide greater food security through community gardens and gardening education. He is also affectionately known as the local “Guru of Garlic” as he teaches community members how to grow garlic successfully. Soulful Seeds, Reno, NV https://www.soulful-seeds.com/ Soulful Seeds Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/soulfulseedsnnv/...
Jan 09, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Charles grew up in California, enjoying the outdoors, surfing, and working in restaurants as he attended school. He ended up in Reno, Nevada and is now the program director of University of Nevada Reno’s Desert Farming Initiative. He is an agricultural specialist for sustainable and organic farming practices. His previous experience includes multiple diversified row crop farms, small-scale orchards, CSAs, farmer’s markets and restaurants. He was a part of the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Projec...
Jan 09, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Happy holidays everyone! We hope you all are staying safe and healthy and having a chance to enjoy some festive cheer whether you are staying close to home, are hiking the hills, or are visiting with a few close friends and family. If you are in a position to buy gifts this year, please consider shopping at our local small businesses. Especially the ones that are striving to be sustainable and make our little part of this planet a kinder and safer place for us all. We would love to have time to ...
Dec 02, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Catch up with local nonprofit event news and a great talk with Jessi Sprocket with the Reno Generator about their new 40,000 square foot maker space in Sparks. Also a presentation from Carrie Jensen, a landscape architect and environmental educator about river-friendly landscaping in the local watershed and how our learning more about this can help us all play a very important role in protecting our local drinking water source and the beauty of our rivers and lakes. The Reno Generator: https://w...
Nov 03, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Whether you’ve been veggie gardening for a while or are just getting started on trying urban homesteading, there might be something for you in this episode. We learn more with Charles Schembre with Desert Farming Initiative about floating row covers, irrigation hoses, cover crops, season timing, and more.
Nov 01, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In this episode we learn from a “Garlic Guru” how to grow garlic, which is one of Northern Nevada’s major crops. We also learn about a great program/event being offered in place of the “Reno Garlic Festival” which is a year-round monthly virtual class on how to grow this popular easy-to-grow vegetable along with added incentive giveaways to the first people to sign up for the classes. We also hear from a local environmental educator more about her upcoming talk about “River-Friendly Landscaping”...
Sep 28, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 21
In this episode, we hear from Ed Kleiner with Comstock Seed Company and Lorraine Fitzhaugh with VitalBeeBuds whose businesses are both located in Carson Valley. They both share great information and resources for growing seeds and plants in gardens and farms that help support our pollinators, our local ecosystems, and the amazing watersheds of the Northern Nevada area. For More Interview Details and Events: Ed Kleiner – Comstock Seed http://comstockseed.com/ Lorraine Fitzhaugh - VitalBeeBuds - p...
Sep 02, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 20
This is a complete interview with Ed Kleiner with Comstock Seed in Gardnerville, NV who is an amazing resource of information for using choosing native seeds for eco-system and land restoration.
Sep 02, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 19
James Gatzke shares his background and experience that prepared him for his current conservation, restoration, and native plant nursery work with Walker Basin Conservancy in the challenging desert environment of Northern Nevada.
Sep 02, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Samantha Romanick, a microbiology PhD student, is the founder and operator of Black Rock Refill, a zero-waste business to help people in the Reno, Nevada and surrounding areas have options to reduce plastic waste in their lives. Studying the biology of micro-plastic contamination in the environment, she knows intimately why we should consider minimizing our use of plastic and how to go about it. She operates her business without a brick and mortar store and still manages to make her products ava...
Sep 02, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 17
