Sustainability Defined

Nethra Rajendran and Cecilia Rios•www.sustainabilitydefined.com

Sustainability Defined is the podcast that defines sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosts Scott Breen and Jay Siegel explore a new topic each episode with the help of an expert in the field. Each concept falls into one of seven sectors -- Energy, Cities, Natural Environment, Transportation, Business, Policy, and Social -- and is visually represented in a Sustainability Tree found at www.sustainabilitydefined.com.

Last refreshed: July 13th, 2025 at 11:01 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

Ep 26: Big Data and Sustainability with Kate Brandt (Google)

In this episode we dive into big data, the massive collections of information that can deliver all kinds of insights, including thing like predicting popular tv shows, determining the best way to combat crime, and identifying air pollution hot spots. Big data also calls for a big time guest, and oh baby did we get one! Kate Brandt, the ever-smiling Lead for Sustainability at Google, joins us to explain how Google uses big data to advance sustainability inside the company and around the world. --...

Oct 06, 2017•45 min

Ep 25: Supply Chain Emissions & Walmart's Project Gigaton with Zach Freeze

Ughhh! Just when you think your company's greenhouse gas emissions are under control, you remember those pesky little things called Scope 3 Emissions – all the *indirect* emissions that don't even come from the energy you use. Turns out, your supply chain carries massive amounts of emissions that are basically embedded in your product! How do you tackle this, you ask? You engage all of your suppliers and motivate them to cut back their emissions, which is exactly what Walmart's Project Gigaton a...

Sep 01, 2017•43 min•Ep. 25

Ep 24: Plastics with Andrew Almack (Plastics for Change) and Monique Oxender (Keurig Green Mountain)

Ahhh, plastics. Ever heard of 'em? Many thanks to one of our listeners for suggesting we cover this topic. As such a huge issue, we think it deserves TWO interviews! Our guests--Andrew Almack, who works leads Plastics for Change in India to increase plastic recycling via the informal economy, and Monique Oxender, Chief Sustainability Officer at Keurig Green Mountain who has been working on the recyclability of those K-Cups we're sure many of you enjoy--provide us with diverse and interesting ins...

Aug 04, 2017•55 min

Ep 23: Agroecology with Steve Brescia (Groundswell International)

What is agroecology, you ask? Agroecology is a style of farming that makes the best use of nature's goods and services without inflicting any harm on earth's resources. Often confused with afroecology (the practice of farming with disco-style hair), it presents an exciting yet surprisingly familiar way that our food production system can reorganize itself more sustainably. Steve Brescia, Executive Director of Groundswell International, joins us to explain how farming "the way our grandparents di...

Jul 07, 2017•46 min

Ep 22: Circular Economy with Jennifer Gerholdt (U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation) and Angela Nahikian (Steelcase)

In this episode, we talk with two women shaping the future of the circular economy. What is the circular economy? Well, it's this little business opportunity that could generate $4.5 trillion (that's with a "t") of additional economic output by 2030. The circular economy is about designing out waste--using fewer inputs on the front end, extending lifecycles of products, and refurbishing products or re-using inputs at the end of a product's useful life. Misfit Juicery (episode #6) and The Renewal...

May 12, 2017•54 min

Ep 21: Water Infrastructure with Will Sarni (Water Foundry, LLC)

Water infrastructure refers to the immense underground highway of pipes that brings us our life-sustaining resource (and takes it away after we do our business). It also was a source of many bad jokes flowing out of our pipes during the recording. Today's guest is Will Sarni, an expert in water technology and corporate water strategies, who recently wrote a report for Deloitte on the state of U.S. water infrastructure. Spoiler alert: it's in bad shape. It's a trillion dollar problem that will on...

Apr 14, 2017•42 min

Ep 20: Conservatism and Climate Change with Bob Inglis (Republic(en))

Skeptical about an episode on Conservatives and Climate Change from two left-leaning (and dashingly handsome) hosts? Well, there are conservatives out there that want to address climate change, and our guest, Bob Inglis (also dashingly handsome), is one of them. Bob is a former Republican congressman and as the Executive Director of Republic(En), works to educate conservatives on climate change solutions that they can feel comfortable with and should support. Admittedly, we're not experts on con...

Mar 17, 2017•46 min

Ep 19: Sustainability in the C-Suite with Colin Dyer (JLL)

Who knew a Fortune-500 CEO could be so friendly and approachable? We lucked out with the opportunity to interview Colin Dyer, the former CEO and current board member of JLL. JLL is the global real estate services company where Jay actually works! Colin joined us to talk Sustainability in the C-Suite, highlighting the lessons he's learned as CEO in turning big companies into sustainable corporate citizens. Fortunately, none of Jay's jokes were bad enough to cost him his job. BONUS: Colin's charmi...

Feb 17, 2017•40 min

Ep 18: Sustainable Apparel with Jeff Denby (The Renewal Workshop)

You probably have some awesome retro clothes in your closet because you want to get as much use out of your clothes as you can. We're with you, but unfortunately, in the USA, 80 pounds of apparel per American per year ends up in the landfill. Luckily, there is a superhero to the rescue. Our guest this episode, Jeff Denby, is the co-founder of a business called The Renewal Workshop that is going to take this linear model and make it circular. It partners with apparel brands to take returned and d...

Jan 06, 2017•42 min

Ep 17: Environmental Journalism with Nick Aster (TriplePundit)

Environmental journalism is about way more than drawing ornate landscapes in your diary (although we're sure they're beautiful!). The field covers everything from John Muir's prolific writing of the American West to the stories we hear about climate change on the news. Nick Aster of TriplePundit joins us on the second episode of our Net Impact National Conference series to explain trends in environmental journalism and how he got his start with his renowned blog. ----------------------------- Su...

Dec 09, 2016•34 min

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