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Earth911.com's Sustainability In Your Ear

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Dec 13, 2021 • 25min

Earth911 Podcast: Tetra Pak's Lisa Ryden Explains the Path to Carton Carbon Reduction

Earth911 talks with Lisa Ryden, Sustainable Development Director at Tetra Pak, the world's largest carton manufacturer about its 2021 corporate sustainability report and the steps the company is taking to reduce its environmental impact. Tetra Pak has established itself globally, selling 183 billion cartons in 2020. The brand name has become synonymous with cartons in many regions, where they are referred to as a “Tetra.” Lisa shares the company's 2030 goals and explains some of the challenges of reducing its carbon emissions by 46% compared to 2019 and achieve net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by the end of the decade. In the past year, Tetra Pak has launched a plant-based carton made with renewable materials, shipped 12 billion caps made from plant-based materials, and they replaced the aluminum liner used in early generations of cartons with a polymer that has a 25% lower carbon footprint. Tetra Pak's CO2 emissions peaked in 2010 and it has reduced the volume of food waste in its manufacturing processes by 50% over the past decade.Cartons represent an emerging alternative to plastic packaging for beverages and food. The only beverage category that fiber cartons cannot serve are carbonated drinks, and more food manufacturers are considering cartons for, among other things, cheese -- Tetra Pak recently introduced a cheese packaging solution. Tetra Pak has more than 170 recycling processor partners globally. The company reports that 27% of the cartons it made in 2020 were recycled and has set a goal of reaching 70% recycling rates in Europe by 2030. Cartons remain a recycling challenge in the U.S., where there are only three carton recycling processing facilities -- this makes recycling cartons less sustainable because they must be shipped a thousand miles in many cases to be processed. You can learn more at https://tetrapak.com.
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Dec 10, 2021 • 29min

Earth911 Podcast: Scott Lively on the Future of Beef and Meat Labeling

Scott Lively is the co-founder of the largest organic and grass-fed beef producer in the United States, Raise American, and is the author of a new book, For the Love of Beef: The Good, the Bad and the Future of America’s Favorite Meat. America has a massive appetite for beef. It’s a $111 billion-a-year industry that accounts for almost 5.4 million jobs, and Americans consume about 57 lbs. a year per capita. In his book, he makes the case that a more sustainable meat industry can solve many of the environmental issues associated with concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) which produce about 85% of the steak and hamburger in the U.S. The key, according to Scott is a move to a grass-fed cattle raised in a far more distributed production system.Scott’s book also details many misleading marketing claims made around beef, from the vague use of terms like “organic” and “Angus,” that are often used to justify higher costs. His book is a useful guide to seeing through marketing claims about beef and explains some potential paths to a less harmful meat industry. You can find For the Love of Beef: The Good, the Bad and the Future of America’s Favorite Meat at Amazon and local bookstores.Editor's note: This episode covers a controversial topic that reflects each our opportunities to make a difference, environmentally and ethically; we urge to listen with an understanding that many people who still eat meat are seeking less environmentally impactful options.
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Dec 8, 2021 • 18min

Earth911 Podcast: Shannon Lohr on Building a Responsible, Tranparent Fashion Industry

Shannon Lohr, founder of Factory45 sits down with Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe to talk transparency in fashion labeling. Fashion is one of the most environmentally harmful industries on the planet because it has focused on delivering “fast,” short-lived products made to be worn a few times and discarded. Factory45 has worked with more that 500 sustainable fashion entrepreneurs to develop a responsible industry in textiles and clothing. Her blog, podcast and free or fee-based tools for fashion startups are a great resource to understand the environmental impact of traditional fashion and the potential for a low- or no-carbon future for fashion. Shannon discusses a broad range of topics from the the microplastics shed by recycled rayon and other plastic-based textiles to the challenges of growing an environmentally responsible fashion business and useful labels to look for when shopping. She also shares several novel materials that have caught her attention, including Qmilch, a textile made from spoiled milk, and S.Cafe. Learn more about Shannon and Factory45 at https://factory45.co/.
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Dec 6, 2021 • 35min

Earth911 Podcast: Investing For Clean Water Newday Impact Investing's Doug Heske

We sit down for another responsible investing conversation with Newday Impact Investing CEO Doug Heske. The topic is investing to ensure enough clean water is available for humans, animals and vegetation around the world. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that $472.6 billion of investment is needed by 2035 to continue providing clean safe drinking water, and the opportunities for conservation are everywhere. For example, McKinsey recently reported that between 14% and 18% of domestic potable water is lost each year just to leaks. Doug shares his insights into the rising interest in water investment, discussing Evoqua Water Technologies (NASDAQ: AQUA), Watts Water Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WTS), Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ: MSEX), Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) and Heritage-Crystal Clean (NASDAQ: HCCI).Despite water funding falling $40 billion dollars short of the amount needed to keep pace in 2020, Doug sees growing interest in water and water conservation investing. Newday Impact manages a suite of socially and environmentally responsible portfolios, including a Fresh Water & Sanitation fund. The fund may invest in the companies discussed. We urge you to do your own due diligence before investing in any companies discussed on Sustainability In Your Ear. You can learn more about Newday Impact Investing at https://newdayimpact.com/.
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Nov 29, 2021 • 21min

Earth911 Podcast: Nth Cycle's Megan O'Connor Aims for a Revolution in Battery Recycling

The electrification of the economy depends on reliable access to a collection of valuable but environmentally damaging metals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese. We talk with Megan O’Conor, cofounder and CEO of Nth Cycle, a Beverly, Mass-based startup poised to disrupt the metal recycling industry with an electro-extraction system that can operate in very small facilities spread all over the world. The Nth Cycle process can handle up to five tons of material each day in a very compact facility — only 1,000 square feet, about the half the size of the typical retail storefront. That means in theory that materials could be recycled near the source and reused locally, and with 3D-printing maturing the idea of a locally printed car or EV batter is a very real possibility. The Nth Cycle technology may also help to extract more metal from ore and post-processing waste materials that have been discarded by mining and smelting companies. Nth Cycle recently took second place in TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield competition, a significant accomplishment, and has raised $4.5 million. You can learn more at https://nthcycle.com/.
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Nov 24, 2021 • 27min

Earth911 Podcast: Budderfly Delivers Energy-Efficiency-as-a-Service for Business

The cost of energy-efficient upgrades prevents many businesses from reducing their environmental impacts. We talk with Al Subbloie, CEO of Budderfly, a fast-growing energy-efficiency-as-a-service company, with an audacious solution for businesses that want to be more sustainable -- it pays for lighting, heating/cooling, renewable electricity sourcing and other upgrades, then collects a share of the resulting savings. Budderfly guarantees savings to customers, earning a profit only if they succeed. We’ve talked with other forms of “sustainability-as-a-service” companies, but Budderfly is putting its capital on the line to pay for immediate energy savings. The company is ranked #10 overall on the 2021 Inc. 5000 America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies list, and it came in #2 in the Inc. 5000 energy category. The company serve commercial and retail locations, restaurants, schools and colleges nationwide. You can learn more at https://www.budderfly.com/.
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Nov 22, 2021 • 24min

Earth911 Podcast: One Tree Planted's Matt Hill on Reforestation

Reforestation is hot topic. More companies and people taking steps to plant trees contribute to restoring the environment. Matt Hill is the Chief Environmental Evangelist at One Tree Planted, one of the oldest and largest tree-planting non-profits. Matt discusses the best practices for reforestation programs and how long trees must be monitored to provide supporters confidence that the trees they plant will thrive. One Tree Planted sees the recent announcement of a global accord to end deforestation and begin to restore land by 2030 at the Glasgow meeting of the United Nations' Climate Change Conference as an important step forward. The organization has planted more than 40 million trees in 43 countries around the world and offer easy options to plant in your preferred region for just $1 per tree. Regardless of the region, One Tree Planted offers a wide range of reforestation projects. You can learn more at https://onetreeplanted.org/.
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Nov 19, 2021 • 22min

Earth911 Podcast: Joshua Pearce Explains DIY Solar Installation

Our guest, Dr. Joshua Pearce has a DIY approach to solar that he recently described an article on Earth911, DIY Solar Now To Pocket Profits From Solar Energy. Solar installations are a powerful step toward reducing your carbon footprint, but it is a big investment that many Americans are hard-pressed to make. Only about 6% of U.S. homes have installed solar, according to Pew Research. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that by switching homes from oil and gas-generated power to solar could save the U.S. $1.7 trillion in reduced energy and health care costs by 2050. The question is how more of us can get solar installed at affordable costs, and Pearce's new book, To Catch the Sun, offers an answer: DIY installation instructions. You can learn more at https://tocatchthesun.com/
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Nov 17, 2021 • 35min

Earth911 Podcast: Newday Impact's Doug Heske On Investing After COP26

Newday Impact Investing CEO Doug Heske talks with Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe about how to invest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on the outcome of the United Nations' COP26 meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. A consortium of banks controlling more than $130 trillion in assets announced the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net-Zero to direct investments into renewable energy instead of fossil fuels extraction. Will the announcement drive higher valuations of GHG companies?We discuss eight companies with negative carbon footprints, including AC Energy Corp, which is headquartered in the Philippines, New Zealand’s Mercury NZ, the Canadian energy company TransAlta Corp, Renova, a Japanese renewables company, the Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems, China’s Li Auto, and two American companies, NEXTera Energy and Tesla, where Elon Musk has been on a stock selling spree this week. This is the third in our continuing series about investing for environmental and social progress with Doug Heske. Newday Impact manages a suite of socially and environmentally responsible portfolios.
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Nov 15, 2021 • 46min

Earth911 Podcast: Paul Hawken's Vision for Planetary Regeneration

Earth911 talks with Paul Hawken, a pioneer of living and working sustainably. His work spans ideas, generations, and industries — he is an environmentalist, author, entrepreneur and globally recognized expert on sustainable living. His new book, Regeneration: Ending the climate crisis in one generation, continues the work he launched in 2017 with the book Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Every Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. Paul was the founder of Erewhon, an pioneering natural food company, garden and home retailer Smith & Hawken, and Energy Everywhere, a low-cost solar company.You can learn more about Paul at https://paulhawken.com and Regeneration is available now on Amazon, in bookstores and on Audible. Be sure to visit the Regeneration website, https://regeneration.org, where many if the ideas in the book are available to read. He and his team have outlined more of the solutions to the climate crisis than any other source.

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