Sustainability In Your Ear

Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe talks with Jody Potts, an Alaskan native Han Gwich’in environmental and indigenous rights advocate who recently was named to the Explore Fund Council at outdoor gear maker The North Face. That council guides the company’s grant-giving. She is working in particular to launch a program, Native Youth Outdoors, that encourages indigenous kids to get outside and involved with nature. With Indigenous People’s Day this month, and so much controversy swirling around protections of the Alaskan wilderness, we are excited to talk with Jody about the challenges and opportunities for positive change she sees these days.

Lisa Mabe explains the Land To Market Verified consumer label, a project of the Savory Institute that intends to build 100 global hubs where the organization’s regenerative Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) process can be applied to local farm practices. She explains how the label will provide consumers a connection to farmers and ranchers who practice regenerative techniques. With the information collected for the EOV certification, consumers can use their spending to reinforce the values of regeneration in our food, leather and clothing choices. It’s just one of many initiatives we need to continue the reinvention of human life for a sustainable future.The path to restoring the environment, from reforestation to removing the excess C02 in the atmosphere, runs straight through our dinner tables. Farm and pasturelands, especially the topsoil farmers rely on to grow our food, are severely degraded — the Yale School of the Environment reported in February that one-third of the U.S. corn belt has lost all its topsoil. Regenerative farming is an emerging practice that can help to restore carbon and complex ecosystems in soil. So, how can we look for foods grown using regenerative techniques and cut down our use of industrially farmed, soil-damaging products when shopping? Listen in to learn how Land to Market helps.

Environmentally responsible investing requires we apply carbon sense thinking, says our guest, Doug Heske, CEO of Newday Impact Investing. Doug and Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe launch a series of conversations about making informed decisions about stocks and funds, beginning with a comparison of the emerging solar and declining fossil fuels industry. In this episode, we'll  look at Sunpower, First Solar, Canadian Solar, Sunnova and Tesla, all stocks Doug suggests are core energy holdings for the future, as well as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell, which he advises avoiding or selling if your goal is to protect the environment. Watch for new responsible investing programs every two weeks.We also discuss the nascent investments by oil companies in renewable energy and carbon capture, which have not become serious enough to justify buying those stocks. During the conversation, Doug gave himself some homework and he answered after the show: One of the solar companies discussed, integrated solar provider Canadian Solar, has significant Chinese ties that may increase risk. Earth911 urges you to carefully consider any investment before making a decision to buy or sell any assets.

What if the money we used could also do good every time we spent it? There’s a movement among cryptocurrency developers to add a social purpose to the coins they make. Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe talks with the co-creators of the World of Waves token, a cryptocurrency that has a “built-in tax” that “[support] as many charitable organizations in the world as possible while rewarding holders with substantial returns.” Sami Touzani and Kristijan Tot explain how they developed the idea of a crypto token aimed at helping clean up the world's oceans.Every time a World of Waves coin is used in a transaction, 11% of the value is set aside, part of it to help save our oceans. 3.3% goes to the people who hold the coins, as a kind of dividend, 3.3% goes into the liquidity pool, an account that serves a similar purpose to a market maker that guarantees the ability to buy or sell shares of a stock in the stock market. And 4.4% goes to charitable organizations that preserve oceans. You can track the current value of the World of Waves token at CoinMarketCap.We do not address all the intricacies of owning cryptocurrency during this conversation and this podcast is not an endorsement of the World of Waves token. Earth911 urges you to carefully consider any investment before making a decision to buy or sell any assets.

Earth911 talks with Pascal Leroy, Director General of the WEEE Forum. October 14th is International E-Waste Day, when the world’s electronics producers and recyclers collaborate to increase the recovery and reuse of the more than 63.2 million tons of e-waste produced annually. But only 17.4% of that e-waste is currently recycled. The experience in the European Union, where 42.5% of e-waste is recycled, compared to about 15% in the U.S., provides useful lessons. Electronics manufacturers embraced E.U. extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws starting two decades ago but here EPR regulations are just being introduced.During the COVID Pandemic, purchases and use of electronics has increased around the world — in Europe, the estimated increase was 4.6% in 2020 compared to 2019 — making it more important than ever that we recycle e-waste.

Mitch Ratcliffe talks with Kate Gaertner, the author of Planting a Seed: Three Simple Steps to Sustainable Living and an expert who has advised companies about enacting sustainable business practices for several decades. She recently shared an article on Earth911, Developing Habits for a Sustainable Life. We talk about the values-based decisions for sustainable living in the article and her advice for individuals and companies that want to turn the corner to achieve dramatically improved environmental outcomes.

The future is not written, we can make a better, sustainable future for our children according to Chunka Mui, cofounder of the Future Histories Group and co-author of A Brief History of a Perfect Future: Inventing the world we can proudly leave to our kids by 2050, with Paul Carroll, a former reporter and editor at the Wall Street Journal, and Tim Andrews of consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton. They crafted a vision for evolving our society and technology to achieve an environmentally sustainable and just world. Their book describes how computation, telecommunications, and information can help to tune the waste out of our economy while innovations in genomics, energy, water management and transportation deliver improved health and sustainable use of limited resources.Starting from computing pioneer Alan Kay's quip that the best way to predict the future is to invent it, A Brief History of a Perfect Future presents a realist, and slightly pessimistic forecast for 2050, but they offer ideas about how we can navigate out of catastrophe. Their vision is far-ranging and we encourage you to read and decide for yourself. Do it with a skeptical but open mind and you’ll find that there are many paths through the climate and equity crises we face.

The Atlas of Disappearing Places, a new book by Christina Conklin and Marina Psaros, is a catalog of the coastal, island and deep ocean locations around the world most at risk during the Climate Crisis. It also forecasts how humanity, including individuals, governments and business, can collaborate to restore the planet.Humanity faces serious and difficult questions as it adapts to climate change. More extreme weather and rising sea levels will have dire consequences for the environment, human food production and the livability of populated regions, especially along the coasts. The stories in Conklin's book beautifully illustrate stories explore the consequences of changing chemistries in our ecosystems, the strengthening of storms, warming water and ice loss, as well as the consequences for humans and animals of rising seas along coasts around the world. The Atlas of Disappearing Places is available now in a beautiful hardcover edition on Amazon and at Powell's Books.

Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe talks with authors Daniel O’Connell and Scott Peters about their book In The Struggle. It is  a chronicle of the decline of the traditional small farm in California’s Central Valley, the resulting social and political movement by small farmers and farm workers, and the lessons for future generations seeking equitable, environmentally responsible communities. Under the onslaught of industrial agribusiness, which manipulated provisions of several landmark federal laws meant to protect small farms, those farmers, farm workers and a cadre of university social researchers forged a resistance that attempted to preserve democratic agrarian communities against loss of income and political power.In the Struggle is also a narrative reflection on the process and purpose of sociological research featuring the stories of eight prominent ethnographic and community development professionals who worked in the region over the past 100 years. The lessons and tools identified are valuable in the battle to solve today’s climate crisis equitably. Daniel O’Connell is the executive director of the Central Valley Partnership, a network of labor, environmental and community groups, and Scott Peters is professor of Global Development at Cornell University.

Earth911 explores the circular economy potential of subscription hot-water-as-a-service programs with Gordon Olson, cofounder and CEO of Fairfield, Montana-based Torii Industries. The startup is committed to making “green water heating available to all.” They are launching a “hot-water-as-a-service” business that provides customers with a newly patented water heater design that eliminates the oxidation issues caused by traditional metal heating elements. Available through a monthly subscription, the Torii water heater uses a carbon foam element to rapidly heat water to a uniform temperature — it’s more efficient than traditional water heating. The inline, tankless water heater is more energy-efficient than conventional tank heaters. It also connects to a WiFi network to help you track energy use and identify issues before they interrupt service -- Torii will deploy a plumber to fix a problem before it becomes evident to the homeowner.Olson explains how Torii plans to grow a network of local plumbers who can install and service subscription water heaters. While subscription business models for essential home products may challenge homeowners’ ideas about ownership, they promise to recapture the materials so that they can be recycled. The Torii app will also provide customers with guidance about their energy use.