Innovate Eco

Fast fashion focuses on speed and low cost delivering new ‘collections’ of clothing for every season of every year inspired by the latest catwalk looks or celebrity styles. But this low-cost, disposable way of buying clothes is having an impact on the environment. This often includes growing the cotton (land use and chemicals), huge amounts of freshwater use, toxic chemicals in the manufacturing process and the impact of endless clothes filling landfills. Rapanui is a clothing company that has always had the environment at the center of their business, using renewable energy, organic cotton and recycling all the water they use. And their latest idea is a circular economy t-shirt which can be sent back over and over cutting down many of the environmental impacts of disposable fashion. In this interview I speak to one of the two brothers who founded the business Mark Drake-Knight about the company, this product and the exciting idea of Tee-Mill a platform they created which helps anyone set up a circular economy fashion brand. Please like and subscribe and follow me on Twitter @robwreg or follow me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/robwreg

Biomimicry is the process of looking to nature for ideas and inspiration on how we can solve human problems and design things that better fit in with life on earth. Taking advantage of 3.8 million years of evolution to give us a ‘jump start’ on research and development. In this interview, I speak to Megan Shuknecht who is from the Biomimicry Institute, an organisation set up to promote the use of the principles of biomimicry in design and innovation. As Megan will explain, they do this by hosting design challenges, with a launchpad for new businesses and even an award-winning free tool (AskNature.org) which anyone can access to get inspiration from the natural world. For more information on The Biomimicry Institute head to: https://www.biomimicry.org And for AskNature: www.asknature.org Please like and subscribe and follow me on Twitter @robwreg or follow me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/robwreg

With the issue of climate change seeming so vast with so many factors influencing our carbon emissions, many people have started to focus on what they can do as an individual. Because at least we have control over that. In this episode, I speak to Roger Tyers, an academic working on climate change at the University of Southampton (UK) who is leading by example by pledging to stop flying. But with research based in China, how do you get halfway around the world without leaving the ground? I ask how this journey was, how he planned it, what it was like and what it cost. We also spoke about the wider issue of flying, why it is so cheap? Finding fulfillment in flying less often and we also touch on his research as well. Follow Roger on Twitter: @RogerTyersUK and Instagram: doctorchoochoo  Please like and subscribe and follow me on Twitter @robwreg or follow me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/robwreg

This episode focusses on the environmental problems caused by agriculture and I speak with the co-founder of a The Small Robot Company who aim to tackle many of those problems by approaching farming in a completely different way. We speak about the environmental problems caused by past and current intensive agricultural practices, how the small robots work and why that is positive for the environment, integration with internet of things technology, what to do with new spared land/ obsolete farm buildings and how they plan on stopping them getting stolen. Please like and subscribe and follow me on Twitter @robwreg or follow me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/robwreg

Apparently electric flying cars will be appearing very soon, with some big names such as Uber and Boeing currently developing them. Some newspaper headlines have said they could solve our greenhouse gas and pollution woes….this seems like a bold claim that I think needs further investigation, so in this episode I speak to Akshat Kasliwal from the University of Michigan was part of a team that published a paper recently titled: Role of flying cars in sustainable mobility. In the interview, we discuss how they might fit into current and future transport systems and take a closer look at the potential environmental benefits Please like and subscribe and follow me on Twitter @robwreg or follow me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/robwreg

This week we are talking about the blockchain. Could the technology behind Bitcoin help us tackle some of the worlds biggest environmental problems? In this interview I speak to Pete Howson a Lecturer in International Development and Nottingham Trent University who has published papers on this very subject. We speak about how the technology works, how that might be applied to environmental problems and the potential pros and cons. We also talk about the issues of setting up environmental markets and how we need to stop thinking with a traditional capitalist mindset if we are truly to get to the root of what is causes some of the issues. To follow Pete's work and for more info go to www.crytonature.org Or you can follow him on Twitter @peterjhowson Please like and subscribe and follow me on Twitter @robwreg or follow me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/robwreg

Today I take a deeper look into the human psychology behind climate change. Is there any way we can change tactics to convince the denialists?…..or are there more important battles we should be fighting first? I interview Dan Rubin PsyD, a clinical psychologist from Portland, US. We speak about this topic of communicating better, the rise of individualism and ‘peak entertainment’, mindfulnesses and how anyone can apply their job or skill to become a climate change activist. For more of Dan's work relating to climate change you can follow him on Twitter: @DanRubin13 or check out his articles: https://medium.com/s/story/how-to-have-a-useful-conversation-about-climate-change-in-11-steps-d4bbd4135e35 https://medium.com/@danrubinpsyd/everyone-an-activist-25f68fe6d448 Please like and subscribe and follow me on Twitter @robwreg or follow me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/robwreg

It is now pretty common knowledge that cutting down on meat consumption is one of the best things we can do individually for the environment…. but globally we just keep eating more of it. So is there another way we can greatly reduce this impact and without going vegan? Today's interviewee is Shir Friedman from clean meat company SuperMeat, based in Israel. They are one of the leaders in this growing industry and with a focus on poultry currently, they are getting closer and closer to a final product. In this interview, I ask about the process, how big meat producers feel about this disruptive idea and how it might go down with vegans. Please like and subscribe and follow me on Twitter @robwreg or follow me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/robwreg

The computer games industry is now estimated to be worth over $100 billion. But could this ultimate disruptive industry help us save the planet? In this episode, I speak to Dr Umran Ali a computer games professor and self-confessed ‘digital native’ from the University of Salford (UK), about how we can potentially use games to educate and inspire around environmental issues. Please like and subscribe and follow me on Twitter @robwreg or follow me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/robwreg

Most of us want to cut down on the amount of bottled water we buy, but why is it so hard to find anywhere to fill bottles in our cities.?This episode's guest is part of a volunteer group called Water for London who are campaigning for more water fountains in stations and public places across the capital. Justine is also a sustainability blogger so we start with bottled water but end up chatting about all sorts; from waste to palm oil to minimalism.