Sustainability In Your Ear

Learn how businesses can accelerate the decarbonization of their operations and contribute to eventually removing that can help drawdown the more than 1 trillion tons of carbon dioxide emitted by humans during the Industrial Era. Discover some of the complicated details of how carbon markets, credits, and allowances work with Jason Grant, chief operating officer of Climate Vault, a non-profit that purchases and manages carbon allowance and credits to support carbon capture and sequestration technologies, and Sanjay Srivastava, chief digital strategies at Genpact, a digital services firm provides carbon tracking capabilities for large organizations. The companies have partnered to deliver an end-to-end solution for tracking, managing, and turning a profit by reducing CO2 emissions.Climate Vault was named a World Changing Idea for 2022 by the business magazine, Fast Company. Jason and Sanjay explain the difference between a carbon allowance and a carbon credit. Carbon allowances let you emit, for example, one ton of CO2 within an overall carbon budget. Genpact's tools track whether the allowance goes unused, so that the resulting savings can be retired or sold. That’s where Climate Vault comes into the picture — they buy carbon allowances and retire them to prevent the emissions, as well as turn that avoided emissions into finding that supports carbon capture and sequestration technology development. In other words, Climate Vault helps companies use one carbon allowance to both retire CO2 and fund the tools that will remove more CO2 in the future. You can learn more about Genpact at https://www.genpact.com and about Climate Vault at https://climatevault.org/

Brad Pedersen, cofounder and chairman of Pela, joins Mitch Ratcliffe to discuss the company's sustainable products.  We recently spent a couple of months testing the Lomi home composter from Pela, a Kelowna, British Columbia-based maker of compostable phone cases, low-carbon and low-waste sunglasses, and now appliances for a sustainable life. Pela launched as a maker of phone cases made from flax and a plant-based biopolymer that can be safely composted at home or in an industrial composting system. The Lomi is a countertop appliance that composts food waste, paper, and a growing number of bioplastic products that don’t break down in home compost piles. Pela also donate a share of sales to ocean cleanup and protection projects. The Lomi earned our Greener Shopping Difference Maker designation for a product that reduces environmental impacts by at least 50%. The Lomi’s environmental performance varies based on how your electricity is generated but even in the worst-case scenario involving burning coal or oil for electricity, the Lomi delivered just over 50% lower emissions than sending the same compostables to a landfill. The methane emissions associated with anaerobic biodegradation in a landfill are eliminated when the material is composted. Brad is also the author of a new book, Start Up Santa, about his career in the toy industry and lessons learned starting a sustainable products company. You can learn more about Pela Case at https://pelacase.com/ and the Lomi home composter at https://lomi.com/

Join us for an impassioned conversation about the potential for recycling progress with David Katz, founder of Plastic Bank, a social enterprise that partners with consumer products companies to create incentive programs in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa that help prevent plastics from reaching waterways, seas and the ocean. He joined us earlier this year returns to share an update about the company's progress. Plastic Bank has partnerships with SC Johnson, Henkel and others. Plastic Bank pays individuals in emerging economies to collect plastic turn it in at more than 600 branch locations. The collected plastic is recycled to make Social Plastic® feedstock, a raw material for making new plastic products. David also discusses the recent Greenpeace report that argues plastic recycling, including new molecular recycling technologies, does not work — it’s an overstatement in our opinion, but the system definitely needs an upgrade.David's assessment of Greenpeace's conclusion: "Shame on them. It's one thing to say it doesn't work. It's another to say, 'Let's make it better.'" So what can we do? He advocates reducing the use of plastic overall, standardizing any necessary single-use plastic on recyclable materials, and that brands and society find a way to compensate people to collect and recycle the plastic we do use. Making the recycling system work may require incentives — but only 10 states have bottle bills the provide small payments for returning plastic bottles. We talk about what can be learned from Plastic Bank's work in emerging economies. Besides reducing our consumption of single-use plastic packaging, new legislation or private support are needed to turn the corner. You can learn more about Plastic Bank and subscribe to support collection programs that keep plastic out of waterways and oceans at https://plasticbank.com/

Learn how to assess the green credentials of companies. Mitch Ratcliffe talks with Adam Kramer, CEO of nZero, a carbon tracking and reporting company, and Scott Martin, Vice President and Head of Global Commercial Business at 3Degrees, which provides carbon strategy consulting, decarbonization program development, carbon sequestration and renewable energy credit advisory services. The companies recently partnered to offer a comprehensive carbon reporting and management solution. Their wide-ranging conversation explores how to track Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, manage and use carbon offsets transparently, ESG reporting, and the evolving job roles involved in decarbonizing the economy.CO2 emissions tracking and reduction is the biggest challenge facing the 21st Century economy. First reducing, then reversing, the rising levels of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere is not a project for one company, but a collaboration that will transform economies. Companies can be more efficient and profitable in the long run, only after their leaders, regulatory agencies, and citizens find a shared language for talking about the problem. For more background on nZero, listen to our July 2022 conversation with co-founder and executive chairman Josh Weber. You can learn more about nZero at https://nzero.com/ and 3Degrees at https://3degreesinc.com/

Thomas VanMatre, VP of Global Business Development at Satellogic, a geospatial analytics company, joins the conversation to discuss the potential uses for satellite imagery and data for developing insights into our planet and ecosystems to end climate change. The company has launched 26 low-earth-orbiting satellites to date and will expand to more than 200 by 2025 in order to democratize access to high-resolution images and analytics. They developed microsatellites that are less than two feet wide and just under three feet wide, to reduce manufacturing and launch  costs. Satellogic offers climate data and imagery that can be used to analyze climate change as it happens, monitor land use, invasive species and identify illegal activities, as well as track wildfires, extreme weather and other climate-related threats. Because they can refresh images of a location up to 5 times a day, Satellogic’s imaging can track events in real-time.A few decades ago, satellite imagery was available only to a few governments on the planet. As of September 2021, 7,941 mostly privately operated satellites were in orbit around the Earth, and thousands are being launched each year. Just as computing has accelerated scientific discoveries about how our world works, the flood of information from satellites will increase our understanding of the planet, its environment and ecosystems. Thomas discusses the emerging satellite data industry, job categories that will grow, and how Satellogic is planning to reduce its environmental footprint and prevent contributing to the growing problem of space junk. You can learn about Satellogic at https://satellogic.com/

Discover how our food production and even our yards and gardens can play a role in reducing CO2 levels. We're joined by Ben Cloud, CEO of Biodel AG Inc., a Maricopa, Arizona company that recently introduced Sequester, a soil treatment that restores the soil’s ability to capture and hold CO2 that also promotes improved plant growth. Sequester is available for farming applications and for home use. A $12.81 8 oz bottle of Sequester can be used to improve the carbon sequestion capability of up to 2,500 square feet of yard and gardens. It is produced using a blend of cyanobacteria — the source of much of the breathable oxygen on the planet. In addition to helping capture carbon, Sequester reputedly reduces water consumption, salinity and nitrogen use by 30%.Carbon dioxide is humanity’s most pressing problem. Since the dawn of the Industrial era about 250 years ago, humans have pumped more than 1.5 trillion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, warming the planet by 1.8 degree Fahrenheit and bringing on the Climate Crisis. In addition to reducing emissions to zero, we need to remove this CO2 to start to cool the planet back to the temperatures in which we and the rest of the species on the planet evolved. You can learn about Biodel Ag and Sequester at https://sequester.ag

Robert Pasin, chief wagon of Radio Flyer, discusses the benefits and process of becoming a B Corp. Radio Flyer makes, in addition to the wagons we know from our childhoods, tricycles, scooters, inflatables, adult ebikes and a suite of Tesla electric toy vehicles. It became the first global toy and ebike brand to become a certified B Corp., the emerging corporate form that recognizes business can have an environmental and social mission in addition to the goal of turning a profit. Achieving B Corp status is rigorous undertaking that requires adoption of responsible labor, social, and environmental practices and provides successful companies with tax and other advantages, along with a sterling reputation that attracts, in particular, young workers.Robert’s grandfather, Antonio Pasin, founded Radio Flyer in 1917. Robert spent several years teaching Sixth Grade in Chicago before joining the company. He explains why Radio Flyer “went B” and how the process has reshaped what his team works on and the criteria they apply to decision-making. We also explore Radio Flyer's new line of ebikes and how it will sell cargo ebikes and other equipment to local delivery companies. You can learn more about Radio Flyer at https://www.radioflyer.com/

Frank Zambrelli, Executive Director of Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business' Responsible Business Coalition returns to the conversation to discuss how and why business should encourage the widespread adoption of regenerative agricultural practices. This low- and no-till, pesticide-free approach to farming can restore soil health, build new topsoil to replace what has been lost to run-off and wind, as well as provide food and raw materials with substantially lower environmental impacts than traditionally farmed alternatives. But the regenerative techniques must be widely adopted, even by industrial farming conglomerates to reach a scale that can help feed, clothe and supply society with sustainable raw materials. The power of regenerative agriculture as a restorative investment for the future lies in the fact that it can be put into practice relatively easily to improve crop yields and profits from the same amount of farmland in short order, just a few years, according to Frank. However, there is lag time between embracing environmentally responsible goals and seeing the results in the market. Frank points out that there will be many approaches to regeneration, which is essential to developing a diverse, sustainable agriculture for the future — both in the biological and social sense. The question is how we finance the transition and, as we heard, your spending sends a signal that can support regenerative investment. Look for the regenerative labels when shopping for this year’s holiday gifts, including from The Textiles Exchange, Land to Market, Fashion for Good’s Renewable Carbon Textiles Project. You can learn more about Fordham’s Responsible Business Coalition and read or watch many useful briefings at https://www.fordham.edu/gabelli-school-of-business/industry-collaborations/responsible-business-coalition/

Ben Cohen, founder and CEO of Quoll Intelligence, explains how homeowners can assess the climate-related risks for their home and community. Quoll is a service for homeowners “dedicated to helping homes and homeowners become more resilient.” It delivers a climate risk report for single-family homes that explains the likelihood of sea level rise, flooding, wildfire and other climate impacts. Quoll can help assess a home when shopping or to plan a maintenance program that keeps your home prepared for disaster or lesser climate issues, as well as preserve the value of the building.The impact of climate change has become plainly clear. We see it in extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Ian, floods in Kentucky, or the Texas snow storms that brought the state’s electric grid to its knees. But most people have little idea about the impact of global warming on their homes and the buildings they own. You can learn more about Quoll Intelligence and see your free home risk report at https://www.getquoll.com/

Mike Phillips, CEO of Sense, a developer of home energy monitoring and management devices, discusses the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on home energy and EV charging in the United States. When the $369-billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed in early September the stage was set for a race to reduce U.S. emissions by 40% compared to 2005 levels. Each of us can play a part, but it involves learning how to tap into incentives for EVs, home solar panels, home energy improvements, and energy-saving appliances. The profile of personal energy use will shift dramatically over the next two decades, and measurement is critical to making personal improvement. Mike explains how he sees our energy choices changing as IRA incentives come into effect.The $299 Sense monitor tracks how much energy its consumed by appliances, water headers, furnaces, air conditioners and other devices. When we last talked with Mike, Sense had just added the Flex, a version of the sensor that tracks generator output and specific circuits, and they’ve added a device for tracking homes with solar panels. Like the Sense devices that focus on specialized uses, planning to reduce your energy carbon footprint requires thinking about your needs, understanding your local utilities’ incentives, and the potential tax credits for energy-efficient appliances and EVs unlocked by the Inflation Reduction Act. You can learn more about Sense at https://sense.com/