331: Zach Brooks on Sustainability and Worms

Turning waste into gold with off-the-shelf, readily available items.

In This Podcast:

Changing lifestyles to be more sustainable was something that Zach Brooks was willing to do with complete commitment, especially when it seemed fairly easy to do. He semi-retired young enough to realize he could make a difference so he bought some property and is creating a sustainability experiment to help others see how they can implement easy changes too. One main ingredient to his project is the worm farm and worm education and he shares key tips on how beneficial they are.  He wears the title of lazy gardener with comfort and wants to teach others how to be more efficient without working so hard at the process.

Zach semi-retired from Healthcare Management at age 42 when his consulting company went public. And when his first of three grandchildren were born, he went back to Arizona State University to get a second Masters Degree, in Sustainability.  Frustrated that most causes of climate change were not only fixable – but fixable with “off the shelf” practices and technologies, Zach set out to prove that an off-the-grid lifestyle could be every bit as comfortable as a wasteful lifestyle and have a positive impact on the environment.

He wants to show we don’t need some new invention, we just need to use the solar and wind power we have now and nature’s method of organic composting, natural mulching, smart growing, and less silly waste.  On his farm is worm composting is key with the worms turning garbage into fertilizer and serving as food for their chickens.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/02/17/331-zach-brooks/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.