Who's Saving the Planet?

While Jason Carney is not one to shy away from the responsibility he's shouldered as a pioneer in his field and a leader in his community, he does so quietly, with a measured and learned restraint. Such is the calm you'd expect from a man used to listening to other peoples problems, which he is. But Jason is also someone unafraid of introducing change into a system too often rooted in the old, closed ways of doing business.  Jason is the founder of Energy Electives, a firm he founded to provide solar power to his community in Tennessee. He's also the president of the Tennessee Solar Energy Association, a non-profit dedicated to bringing renewable energy- and education about renewable energy- to underserved communities. Along the way, Jason earned a rather auspicious accolade, as an energy man but also something perhaps bigger. He is the first African-American man licensed as a solar technician in his home state of Tennessee. In this episode we talk about his road to realizing his passion for solar energy, how that informed his faith and how his faith informed his ability to communicate his passion. We talk about what it's like being the first person who looks like he does to do what he does, and what that means for the next generation of aspiring renewable energy pioneers. And we talk about solar technology, why it's magical, and how beautiful a thing it is. 

Inventor and engineer David Weaver started out at Kodak some 40 years ago cleaning optical equipment by hand. Today, he's at the helm of his own eco-friendly cleaning product company — Aphex BioCleanse Systems. Its water-based active ingredient, Hy-IQ Water, contains no phosphates, surfactants, toxins or pesticides... it's just water. And it kills bacteria quicker without polluting our waters or hurting aquatic plants and animals. How? Hydrogen ions traveling at the speed of light; they breach the cell walls of exoskeleton germs, and — so far — have proven more effective in killing pathogens than alcohol-based solutions. Aphex's method can be used in various products: hand sanitizers, produce cleansers and hard-surface disinfectants. You can also use it in swimming pools instead of chlorine tablets. It's even safe for human consumption! (David proves it). Tune in as Tony Noto and Jonas Donnenfield get a physics lesson they'll never forget. 

Getting companies to do things is hard. Getting companies to take climate seriously has been a slow, long, march, with many a setback and all too few victories. It's a fight Bill Weihl knows well, and recently he decided it was time to change the strategy.  For six years Bill served as the Green Energy Czar at Google, followed by another six years as Facebook's Director of Sustainability. He was in the room when these titans of tech were evolving their consideration of what role industry has in our collective effort to combat the climate crisis, pushing for a move toward renewable energy and corporate responsibility.  After that decade on the inside, he came to the realization that he could do more to impact the actual impact these companies have on the climate from the outside.  Bill founded Climate Voice as a means of influencing corporate action through mobilizing their employees through petitions, pledges and old-fashioned grass roots organizing. Their goal is to get the big five corporations- Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft, to commit 1 in 5 lobbying dollars to keeping the degree rise in global temperature below 1.5 Celsius.  In this episode we talk about the mechanisms available to individuals within giant organizations, the importance of community, the frustrations that come with the terrain of pushing for climate activism, and what it means to grow as a person, colleague and corporate citizen. Big thanks to Bill for coming on and bravo for the work he's doing with Climate Voice. 

Leo Alvarez and his team over at Protera had a busy 2020. Not only did the startup snag $5.5 million in venture capital, it traded its San Francisco digs for a new HQ in the 'City of Lights' — Paris. But what's next on the company's agenda really grabbed our attention here at WSTP: wielding deep learning tech to predict the 3D structure of proteins. The goal is to transform food ingredients to not only rid them of unhealthy additives but also improve their shelf life. Not only that, their method allows our favorite edible treats (Nutella, for example) to maintain their texture and taste but without using ingredients like palm oil, the production of which is devastating for the environment. Leo also schools co-hosts Jonas Donnenfield and Tony Noto on Protera's impressive AI engine (MADI) which wields an expansive knowledge of protein data to design these new functional proteins that can transform foods for the sake of the planet! It's high-tech — but easy to digest. Tune in!

Suicide and mental health are discussed at length in this episode, which could be triggering. If you, or anyone you know is struggling with mental health, the suicide prevention lifeline number is 800-273-8255. When we first heard that the Air Force was working with the virtual reality company Moth and Flame, we were expecting something along the lines of jumping out of planes at low orbit or piloting a next-generation drone, in space. What we didn't anticipate was a conversation, intimate and at times wrenching, crafted in virtual reality and designed to evoke the emotional reaction you'd get from sitting across the kitchen table from an old friend or family member.  The US Air Force has been working with Moth and Flame to design a scenario to prepare service members for the emotional stress of helping a brother or sister in arms who's struggling with mental health, to the point of considering suicide. Unfortunately, this is a more common experience for members of the military, and just as important to their health and safety as training for what happens down range.  In this episode we speak with Master Sargent Shawn Dougherty, 18 year veteran, husband and father, about his experience piloting this initial roll out of the virtual reality campaign. From the VR side, Moth and Flame CEO Kevin Cornish joins us to talk about the process of building the scenarios, working with the military on something distinctly different than he had first envisioned, and the potential for VR to help us prepare for distinctly human interactions. 

If a tree falls in a city, but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Cities across the U.S. are losing their urban canopy. In fact, more trees fall in cities than in our national forests. (Roughly 46 million tons of wood and biomass waste!) Most of the wood that comes down is either abandoned in people’s yards, sent to a landfill or ends up in a burn pile. Ben Christensen is the CEO and founder of Cambium Carbon; a company focused on addressing urban wood waste. Cambium Carbon imagines a future that creates green jobs, supports local economies, and fights climate change. This week Ben sits down with WSTP to chat about the importance of greenery in urban areas, the threat of the Emerald Ash Borer, carbon smart wood, and local community investment. With that, we’ll leave you with one final thought: Earth Day is this week. In honor of Cambium Carbon (or maybe just in honor of WSTP . . .), go hug a tree!

The magnitude and complexity of the threat posed by climate change can't be solved with one silver bullet. Rather than looking for one solution, Dr. Michael Boesen decided to raise an army of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and developers with the skills required to build the solutions we need. Since it's going to take all of us to save the planet, we might as well start getting all of us in the fight. Massive.Earth, self described as "the first massive mobilization of talent to solve the climate crisis," is one part launch pad for aspiring companies and one part matchmaker for talented people looking to get involved, without necessarily changing their careers or leaving their jobs. The idea being: entrepreneurs have the hutzpah (takes a bit of crazy to start a company, I can attest) but sometimes lack the expertise, and the experts have the knowledge but perhaps aren't too keen to abandon their career. Massive.earth is a means of bringing them together on the terms that work for both: mentorship, guidance, advice and support.  Dr. Boesen went down this road himself, leaving behind a very successful career as a software and hardware engineer to apply his skills on a climate positive initiative. As any scientist would, he did research, which culminated in a white paper on the state of climate change initiatives. From this, they distilled a catalogue of 7 missions core to the pursuit of a sustainable planet: Decarbonize Electricity Reduce Impact of Rural and Urban Areas Clean Non-Electrifiable Activities Protect and Grow Nature Back Optimize Food Climate Justice Adapt and Geo-Engineer What's left, is of course, to begin. Follow on as we discuss the mission and vision of Massive.Earth, and if you too have talent (and who doesn't, certainly you do, faithful WSTP listener) consider joining in the fight. Even a few hours a week, from smart people, applied judiciously, could have a massive impact. 

Soil erosion, the degradation of the health of soil through over-tilling and rampant use of chemicals, is an existential threat to our ability to grow food, sequester carbon and live in harmony with nature. In many ways, it's the whole ball game- if we're unable to arrest the dependance on techniques and chemicals that deteriorate soil health, then worse agricultural conditions will result in smaller harvests leading to more intensive and invasive agricultural processes which in turn accelerate soil erosion.  We need to get off that train before it takes us over the agricultural cliff. Jason Green, CEO of Upward Farms, is here to do just that.  Upward Farms is an indoor agricultural ecosystem which uses aquaponics to create controlled environments for growing plants. Essentially, it's a living laboratory dedicated to understanding the interplay between plants, microbes, and the environment in which they grow.  The relationship of between the plants and the soil is much more complicated than a simple dichotomy. Billions of tiny microbial organisms interweave a lattice work of communication and support to bolster the health and wellbeing of a complex ecosystem in which plants grow. We're just beginning to grasp the complexity and chart the various pathways that these organisms use to communicate, defend against decease, support ailing members of their chlorophoric tribe, and perpetuate the growth of a healthy, harmonious ecosystem.  Jason's team at Upward have committed to understanding the agricultural ecosystem with same reverence and curiosity we general reserve for ourselves, specifically that most complex of human organisms, the brain. Through their work, they aim to do much more than just grow vegetables efficiently indoors (although, that is certainly part of the business model). Theirs is an ambition to help us better understand the entire nature of a healthy agricultural ecosystem, so we can tackle that most dire and pressing threat- global soil erosion. 

Here's an age old question: how do you make marketing a force for good in the world? Welcome to the world of Andrew Forman's win-win-win business strategy. Win 1: Generate piles of money for philanthropic causes. Win 2: Provide people an avenue to do some good while also getting the stuff they want.  Win 3: Use companies' intrinsic motivation to improve their bottom line through a marketing strategy that will maximize Win 1 and Win 2.  Givz wasn't the company Andrew intended to start, but as is the case with most entrepreneurs, he listened to the needs of his clients and the reception of the customers to pivot into a business model that had real traction and could grow into a substantial company. The premise is simple: what if those discounts that companies offer you (Buy NOW and get 20% Off!) changed slightly, so that instead of getting to keep a few dollars for yourself, you were able to donate that money to a cause you cared about. And, well, that's basically it. But the story gets a whole lot more intricate from there. What Andrew and his team needed to prove was that people would actually prefer the charity option over keeping the money for themselves. And that companies could get as good a return on the charity model as they could on the discount model. And that the money would actually go to causes which would do right by the people they set out to help.  A tall order, but one he was up to the task for. Givz has donated over $1,000,000 to charities of their members choosing while proving to businesses that people are at least just as, if not more likely to be compelled by an altruistic message (give to charity) than a self serving one (get a discount). Perhaps, humanity, we've got a shot.  In addition to the planet saving and the business modeling, stick around for the wholesome father talk, because who doesn't love that. 

Imagine a world where offsetting your carbon footprint was as simple as ordering more butt paste for your newborn infant (relevant, I promise). If we're going create a better world for the generations to come, my baby son Rye included, featured co-host on the intro with myself and Jess Miles,  we better start cleaning up our act today.  Wren is a carbon offsetting platform created by a band of industrious and optimistic sustainability pioneers who believe we can tap into our better nature to unlock a wave of altruism that will kick-start our internal eco-conscience. By doing one thing, thinking about our overall carbon footprint, maybe that will provoke more thought around the other, daily choices we make? Maybe it will encourage us to advertise our altruism, making doing right not only the right thing to do, but the popular one too.  Join us as we sit down with Landon Brand, co-founder and CEO of Wren. We dig into the various means of addressing carbon offsets, the mechanisms involved, how we can unlock our inner altruistic self and spread it like a carbon sequestering wildfire.  www.wren.co