Sustainability Champions

Latest Episodes:

How You Can Shop With Zero Waste Apr 07, 2020

Show notes

There is so much plastic waste from food packaging – whether it’s the plastic bag inside cereal boxes or plastic milk bottles, berry containers or yogurt cups – it begs the question, can we avoid all this plastic?

While the big scale supermarket chains are slowly catching on, a brand-new breed of shops has come to life: zero-waste supermarkets.

In this Episode of Sustainability Matters Today, I interview Catherine Conway, founder and CEO of Unpackaged, and a Champion of promoting a zero-waste lifestyle. Unpackaged sets up refill stations in stores around the UK, including Planet Organic and Waitrose, and customers bring their own refillable containers to fill them with products from the dispensers. This allows people to only buy the amount they need, limiting food waste while avoiding single-use plastics. Catherine also offers consulting services to help spread the idea of zero-waste stores as far as possible.

We discuss the challenges Catherine encountered when inventing the refill system, her history of advocating the zero-waste movement since 2006, and how mainstream supermarkets are slowly joining their cause and much more!

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Your Used Plastics Can Build Sustainable Roads Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, I interview Toby McCartney, Co-Founder and CEO of MacRebur: The Plastic Road Company, and a Champion of recycling plastic to improve roads. MacRebur takes plastic waste, destined for either landfill or incineration, and turns it into a strong and environmentally-friendly asphalt glue. This additive binder greatly increases road durability, while at the same time recycling plastic waste. A real win-win.

One kilometre of road built with MacRebur’s products, uses the equivalent weight of 684,000 bottles or 1.8 million single-use plastic bags! And amazingly, with their design, there is no chance of microplastics entering the water or air. Using plastic to build roads is literally paving the way for a better future.

Please make sure to subscribe to the Sustainability Matters Today podcast to learn more about other champions of sustainability like Toby McCartney and MacRebur.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

The Ultimate Way To Get Paid For Being Sustainable Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

Globally we emit over 36 billion tonnes of CO2 per year – a number so high, we can barely imagine its effect on our climate. While climate change awareness is reaching more and more people around the world, and we’re learning step by step how to avoid unsustainable lifestyles, it can be very difficult to imagine our own carbon emissions on a personal level. Do you know how much carbon you emit on a daily basis? Or the average person‘s emissions?

Today I interview Gilad Regev, CO-Founder and CEO of Kora App, and a #Champion of rewarding sustainable lifestyles. Kora is an ambitious start-up, aimed at creating an app that tracks your impact on the planet and rewards personal carbon reductions with Kora points. These Koras can then be spent in the built-in marketplace on offers from Kora partners and to support CO2 reduction projects.

Unlike the current flawed carbon credit system (also known as carbon offsetting), Kora wants to reward individuals for reducing carbon emissions, instead of punishing companies for emitting carbon. With a strong vision of partnering with cities and corporations, public transportation and even energy companies, Kora is truly innovating the way we see carbon emissions. Similar to airline miles, Kora’s Earth Loyalty Program’s point system is a unique way of first visualizing our levels of personal carbon emissions, and then reducing them.

Please make sure to subscribe to the Sustainability Matters Today podcast to learn more about other champions of sustainability like Gilad.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

How Polluted Cities Can Become Healthier With Plants Mar 24, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Sustainability Matters Today, I interview Habib Khan, Director and Founding Partner at Meristem Design and a Champion of Urban Greening for Cleaner City Air.

Meristem Design specializes in creating green solutions for grey urban spaces and is heavily involved with ‘greening’ London.

Providing green screens and plants to the most polluted schools across London, building parklets in neighborhoods, planting living walls in the city, and maintaining green infrastructure in landmark office buildings like The Shard, Meristem uses plants to purify the air and provide many health benefits to people.

Their parklets have won the Global Good Award for making sustainability and social impact. They have also picked up awards from the International Healthy Streets Summit in Glasgow in 2018.

Please make sure to subscribe to the Sustainability Matters Today podcast to learn more about other champions of sustainability like Habib.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Why Sustainable Flour Tastes So Much Better Mar 12, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Sustainability Matters Today, I interview Steve Horton, founder of Baker’s Field Flour and Bread and #Champion of Local and Sustainable Wheat and Grains.

Working with flour every day to create a variety of artisan quality breads, Steve has a refined appreciation for the fundamental role fresh flour plays in great bread. This led him to start Baker’s Field Flour and Bread where he and his team use freshly milled local flour to bake their naturally-leavened breads. A three-time James Beard Awardee, Steve connects farmers, millers, and bakers to create exceptional flour and bread made from unique grains that are cultivated using sustainable and organic methods.

Please make sure to subscribe to the Sustainability Matters Today podcast to learn more about other champions of sustainability like Steve.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Resources:

Other resources:

Watch the full episode: https://sustainabilitym.at/Steve-Horton-Youtube

Read the transcript: https://www.sustainabilitymatters.today/steve-horton-transcript

How You Can Fly Sustainably with JetBlue Mar 10, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Sustainability Matters Today, I interview Sara Bogdan, Manager of Sustainability and Environmental Social Governance at JetBlue and a Champion of Carbon-Neutral Airlines.

JetBlue is the sixth-largest Airline in the US in terms of passengers carried, operating over 1000 flights a day. Being part of the aviation industry, that’s responsible for 2% of the world's carbon emissions, JetBlue has a unique philosophy for its sector: “Sustainable planning is essential to our success—if we aren't thinking about solutions and working to achieve them it's not good business.”

While on the one hand climate change awareness has led to flight-shaming all around the world, Jetblue is taking huge steps towards carbon-neutral flying. Electric passenger planes might still be years in the making, but the company offers several solutions to make flying more environmentally friendly. Their strategy includes reducing emissions, by voluntarily retiring older airplane models, and replacing them with more efficient models, offsetting carbon emissions when possible and developing sustainable and renewable jet fuel. Both in the air and on the ground, they’re committed to developing solutions that are both good for the environment and financially beneficial.

To find out more on how JetBlue is working on perfecting every step of the way, listen to this episode!

Make sure to subscribe to the Sustainability Matters Today podcast to learn more about other champions of sustainability like Sarah and JetBlue!

Enjoy the episode!

Resources:

JetBlue Website: https://www.jetblue.com
Climate Leadership: https://www.jetblue.com/sustainability/climate-leadership
JetBlue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JetBlue
Sustainability Reporting: https://www.jetblue.com/sustainability/reporting
Sustainable Operations: https://www.jetblue.com/sustainability/sustainable-operations

Other Resources:

Watch the full episode: https://sustainabilitym.at/Sara-Bogdan-JetBlue-Youtube

Read the transcript: https://www.sustainabilitymatters.today/sara-bogdan-jetblue-transcript

Supporting Companies To Become More Sustainable Mar 05, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Sustainability Matters Today, I interview Dorry Price, Sustainability Consultant and #Champion of Contributing FutureReady Solutions to Corporate Sustainability.

Working to create innovative solutions and a thriving environment for communities across the UK, Dorry is a sustainability consultant and a steering group member of The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) Futures, which is a networking group for students, graduates, and young professionals who want to work in the sustainability field.

With her specialization in corporate sustainability solutions and services, Dorry wrote an article called “For the Record”, where she discusses the role blockchain could have in helping the UK transition to a low-carbon economy.

Please make sure to subscribe to the Sustainability Matters Today podcast to learn more about other champions of sustainability like Steve.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Resources

House of Fraser: https://www.houseoffraser.co.uk
Nordstrom: https://americanaatbrand.com/shopping/nordstrom
Farmdrop: https://www.farmdrop.com
Dorry's Article, "For the record": https://transform.iema.net/article/record
Materiality Assessment: https://us.anteagroup.com/en-us/blog/7-basic-steps-conducting-successful-materiality-assessment
Greenwashing: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/greenwashing.asp
JP Dallman's episode in SMT: https://www.sustainabilitymatters.today/jp-dallmann-smt

Other resources

Read the transcript here: https://sustainabilitym.at/Dorry-Price-Episode

Watch the full episode here: https://sustainabilitym.at/Dorry-Price-YouTube

Climate Cocktail Club Feb 27, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Sustainability Matters Today, I speak with Alex Watson, the co-founder of the Climate Cocktail Club, London Branch and a Champion of Shaping the Conversation on Climate Change.

In 2017 Alex published an article called, "My case for doing business more sustainably", where he wrote about the possibility for companies to put purpose before profit in order to create social or environmental benefits while generating enough revenue to be financially sustainable.

After completing Al Gore's Climate Reality Training, Alex brought the Climate Cocktail Club, a collaboration platform for professionals who want to solve the climate challenge, to London in 2019.

Please make sure to subscribe to the Sustainability Matters Today podcast to learn more about other champions of sustainability like Alex.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Resources:

Climate Cocktail Club website: https://www.climatecocktailclub.org
Natural Capital Partners website: https://www.naturalcapitalpartners.com
Climate Reality Project website: https://climaterealityproject.org/training
Extinction Rebellion: https://rebellion.earth
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Framework_Convention_on_Climate_Change
The Paris Agreement: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
Deeds not Words: New Research Reveals the Climate Action of Fortune Global 500 Companies : https://www.naturalcapitalpartners.com/news-resources/article/deeds-not-words-new-research-reveals-the-climate-action-of-fortune-500-glob
My case for doing business more sustainably: https://medium.com/on-purpose-stories/my-case-for-doing-business-more-sustainably-af9a6561b514

Read the transcript here: https://sustainabilitym.at/Alex-Watson-Episode

Watch the full episode here: https://sustainabilitym.at/Youtube-Alex-Watson

Why A Plant-Based Diet Is Good For You And The Planet Feb 20, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Sustainability Matters Today, I interview Paul Shapiro, the author of the national bestseller Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World, the CEO of The Better Meat Co., a four-time TEDx speaker, the host of the Business for Good Podcast, and #Champion on Revolutionizing Food through Sustainable Plant-based Blended Meat.

Providing a sustainable solution to the globally rising demand of meat, Paul founded The Better Meat Co., a B2B company helping food-sellers enhance their meat products through blending innovative plant protein formulas into ground meat products. The Better Meat Co gets its name because their blends enhance the taste, nutrition, and the sustainability of meat products, all in a cost-competitive way.

The award-winning business has recently partnered with Perdue Food, the number one brand of fresh chicken in the US, in producing the first-of-its kind chicken nuggets blended with plants and vegetables.

In 2018, Paul released the book, “Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World”, the first book to explore the work of start-up businesses that are growing real animal products outside of the animal.

Please make sure to subscribe to the Sustainability Matters Today podcast to learn more about other champions of sustainability like Paul.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Resources:

Instagram: @thebettermeatco

Facebook: @BetterMeatCo

Website: https://www.paul-shapiro.com

Clean meat book website: https://www.cleanmeatbook.com

Podcast: http://www.businessforgoodpodcast.com

Brewer’s Yeast: https://www.healthline.com/health/brewers-yeast

BluNalu: https://www.bluenalu.com

Rennet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennet

Campylobacter: https://www.cdc.gov/campylobacter/index.html

Kobe Beef: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef

Mastodon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon

Geltor: https://geltor.com

The Good Food Institute: https://www.gfi.org

Grocery Outlet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grocery_Outlet

Read the transcript of the episode: https://sustainabilitym.at/Paul-Shapiro-Transcript

Watch the full episode: https://sustainabilitym.at/Youtube-Paul-Shapiro

Your Food Waste Could Become A Cleaning Product Feb 14, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Sustainability Matters Today, I interview Amanda Weeks, CEO and co-founder of Ambrosia and #Champion on Combining Waste Management with Closed-Loop Manufacturing.

Providing a solution to our massive food waste problem while simultaneously creating sustainable products and commodities, Ambrosia was founded by Amanda and became the first closed-loop manufacturing company launched to specifically address the circular economy. With the hopes of recovering some of the 40 percent of food that ends up in landfills, she developed an anaerobic fermentation to breakdown food waste and turn the resulting byproduct into organic fertilizers and natural surface cleaners. She recently launched their first product, Veles, the first closed-loop, all-purpose household cleaner derived from food waste.

This award-winning manufacturing company, was recently recognized as one of the winders of Waste360 2020 40 under 40 Awards, which recognizes innovators in waste and recycling industry.

Please make sure to subscribe to the Sustainability Matters Today podcast to learn more about other champions of sustainability like Amanda.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Resources:

Veles website: http://veles.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/velesofficial

Circular Economy: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept

New York Environmental Regulatory Office: https://www.dec.ny.gov

You may check the transcript here: https://sustainabilitym.at/Amanda-Weeks-Transcript

Watch the full episode here: https://sustainabilitym.at/Youtube-Amanda-Weeks