Who's Saving the Planet?

Sameera delves into her work at the UNDP, which supports countries to transition toward low-emission and climate-resilient sustainable development. She discusses the critical work that the UNDP does globally, like Mission 1.5 and how her work supports the most vulnerable of communities, whose problems are exacerbated by the effect of climate.

WSTP travels (via Zoom) to the historic Vino Nobile district in the southeastern Siena province of Tuscany. There, we speak to Michele Manelli — the man behind Salcheto Wine. The word ‘salcheto’ comes from the stream that runs through the town of Montepulciano and is the boundary of their organic winery. The willow trees are still planted at the winery and form a part of their logo to show their commitment towards environmental sustainability. The winery is a proud member of Alliance Vinum and also won the Sustainable Winery of the Year 2014 by Gambero Rosso. Their mission is to do quality work in both the vineyards and the cellar to make the best possible wines. Tune in to learn all about Michele's mission, and how he transformed a classic farm into a modern winery famous for its technology and making the most eco-friendly vino available on the market. Not satisfied to keep his sustainability goals contained in Salcheto, Michele is a co-creator of the Equalitas certification. Through their 8 step process they evaluate every aspect of a wineries impact on the earth, from practices in the vineyard, winery, through to the packaging and distribution. A true champion the palate and the planet, we raise a glass to you Michele!

Alice Min Soo Chun is an architect who is used to overseeing large-scale projects, but her greatest design is an item that weighs just over two ounces. After the catastrophic 2010 earthquake that hit Haiti, the Columbia University professor set out to invent something that could be used to help the victims who were left in the dark. The effort eventually culminated with the launch of Solight Design, a New York-based startup known for its origami-inspired "SolarPuff" lantern. Made out of a sturdy, waterproof cloth that folds flat and pops open to emit light from its solar-powered LEDs, SolarPuffs have be sent around the globe to aid impoverished areas. Solight officially took off in 2015 with a KickStarter program that yielded unprecedented results. Alice also went on to win numerous awards including the US Patent Award for Humanity and her products have been exhibited at MOMA, the Modern Museum of Art in New York City. She is also featured in "The Book of Gutsy Women" by Hillary Clinton. And she's still inventing! With the current pandemic still disrupting everyday life, Alice is hard at  work devising a new type of mask that can help prevent the spread of Covid-19. 

Throughout the pandemic, including the cresting of the first wave in New York City, Dr. Khullar has been on the front lines caring for patients at Weill Cornell Medicine. All the while, he chronicled his experiences in a series of dispatches for the New Yorker, offering a rare glimpse into the emotional, mental and physical toll the Coronavirus has taken on patients, families, and the healthcare workers providing life-saving medicine, or at times, the life's final moment of compassion.  In this episode of Who's Saving the Planet Dhruv takes us into the hospital to provide a firsthand account of how the practice of medicine has evolved and in response to Covid and he provides advice to doctors in other cities who are in the throws of what New York overcame in April. We also take a step back and look at the larger picture of how society has responded to this health crisis- rooted in science- and what it can teach us about how society can and will respond to the other science based crisis of our time, climate change. Covid and Climate Change share many similarities: a time delay between knowledge of the threat and the effects on our day to day lives, the solutions have more to do with changing our behavior than any single technological or biological silver bullet, and in order to overcome the worst we'll have to sacrifice individually for the collective good. 

This week, Lex and Tony head into "the lab" with the brilliant Naz Shams as their guide. Hear how this fellow New Yorker took a chance, changed careers and embarked on a mission to ethically — and sustainably — create beautifully crafted clothes. DAYWEARLAB is the place to go for "elevated classics with a twist." Not only that, the company is dedicated to making sure your closet is climate friendly. According to Naz, more than half of the environmental impact of her company’s clothing happens at the raw material stage. All of the mills DAYWEARLAB works with have taken “significant steps to reduce their water, energy and chemical footprint.”  So alleviate your daywear distress! Tune in to Naz and hear her story. 

How do we alter our perception of the world in ways so subtle we don't realize it's happening? To quote Morpheus from the Matrix, "what you know you can't explain, but you feel it...." (yes, we're nerds here on this podcast)  Angela Spangler, Director from the WELL Building Institute, joins us to explain how subtle, but intentional, shifts in our environment can have profound effects on our emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. In what she describes as "Second Wave Sustainability," our understanding of how the environments we spend time in, like schools, offices, and our homes, is undergoing of renaissance. She walks us through the science of the relationship between humans and our spaces can impact our productivity, engender a more sociable atmosphere, effect or mental health, and more, all through subtle manipulations of the seemingly mundane. Sound like dark arts? I thought so too. But these forces when used for good can make for a healthier, happier world. 

Would you wear a t-shirt made from milk? You might soon enough. Two years ago, Robert Luo visited his uncle's dairy farm and was shocked to see buckets and buckets of sour and spoiled milk just sitting there. Food and money gone to waste — a common problem among farmers! (see past episodes FoodMaven and Milk Marketing King) After returning home, Robert started researching ways to solve this problem. His solution is Mi Terro. The startup is devoted to making sure our dairy waste never goes to landfills again. Instead, they become our pajamas... our underwear... all for a better tomorrow! 

You may have seen the letters ESG in the news recently, we certainly have. Literally, that translates to "Environmental, Social and Governance", but it actually means in practice, that's a whole separate matter. This week we dig into the meaning behind the acronym with ESG expert and good friend Harry Etra, founder and CEO of HXE partners.  Also, special guest and longtime friend of the Pod, Lizzie Horvitz, joins us! The conflict between doing good and making money will always be a balancing act in one way or another. If you're a company and not profitable, you're not long for the world (or market). However, these days, companies are finding that if they don't consider more than fattening up that dividend they could engender real backlash from consumers. We dig into how the scales are tipping, what's driving the shift in focus, and what the heck is up with this "greenwashing" we're hearing about.

In episode 22, Tony and Lex meet Bertrand Piccard — the legendary pilot who circumnavigated the globe with a solar-powered aircraft. Before that, he completed the trip in a hot-air balloon! He's also a psychiatrist. A hypnotist. And a hang-gliding champion. And Captain Piccard is still traveling the world. Only this time, he's on a quest to find 1000 solutions that can protect the environment in a profitable way. As founder/chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation, he's globetrotting to all corners of the planet, presenting these solutions to world leaders and key decision-makers, urging them to fast-track their implementation. The future looks a bit brighter with Captain Piccard guiding us at the helm. 

Farms, and specifically dairy farms, were traditionally a centerpiece of economic livelihood and cultural heritage in the rural North East. In the last 70 years they've come under tremendous economic pressure, forcing closures across the north east and migration of dairy production to Midwest and Southwest. This week we speak with Dan Horan, CEO of Five Acre Farms, about the marketing and supply chain solution he's developed to give those farms, and farmers, a fighting chance.  And, a special guest on the intro! Dear friend, environmentalist, and Yale School of Forestry grad, Andy Beck, lends his expertise on the importance of small scale farms to provide context.  Back to Dan... Five Acre's strategy is to consolidate the farms behind a single brand, which sells at a premium. This signals to the customer the quality is better and that their purchase supports local farms, while providing enough of a profit margin to keep those farms in businesses. Considering the alternative, it better work. Mid/small scale farms were once the lifeblood of the US, providing generational job security, purpose, high quality food and farming practices that are sustainable. The challenges these days are immense: government regulation including a price control on milk (unique across commodities), large scale farms that sacrifice quality for profit while destroying the health of the land and creating torturous conditions for animals, pressure to move to monoculture (single crops) that reduces the vitality of the soil (really bad for lots of reasons) and more. Dan digs into (sorry, unavoidable pun) how branding and marketing may provide the tools the little guys need to fight back.