Sustainability Defined

Latest Episodes:

Ep 47: Soil Carbon with Jennifer Cooper and Jeff Bernicke (NativeEnergy) and Hana Kajimura (Allbirds) Jan 03, 2020

Show notes

Beneath our feet lies a huge carbon sink. In fact, soils hold more than three times the amount of carbon that's in the atmosphere! It used to hold a whole lot more before we disrupted the soil with certain kinds of development and agricultural practices. Today, many see restoring the carbon that used to be in our soil (and then some) as key to what's needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change. We talk with Jennifer Cooper and Jeff Bernicke at NativeEnergy to hear how it collaborates with organizations to deliver authentic, community-scale sustainability projects, including ones focused on soil carbon. Then we have a brief conversation with Hana Kajimura about why a shoe company like Allbirds cares about soil carbon. We promise you won't look at that glorious dirt in your garden the same way again. This episode is sponsored by NativeEnergy.

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Sustainability Defined is the podcast that defines sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Scott Breen and Jay Siegel.

Each episode focuses on a single topic that helps push sustainability forward. We explain each topic with the help of an experienced pro, place it within our organizational tree, and help our listeners define what exactly sustainability is, episode by episode.

We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors:

Energy

Cities

Natural Environment

Transportation

Business

Policy

Social

Each episode is categorized under one of our sectors and visually depicted within our organizational tree. The more episodes we complete, the more the tree will visually define what exactly sustainability means.

www.sustainabilitydefined.com

Ep 46: 2019 Holiday Hodge-Podge Dec 06, 2019

Show notes

It's that time of year again - peppermint mochas, trendy scarves, and Sustainability Defined's holiday hodge podge episode! We have our usual slate of sustainability-minded holiday gift ideas in addition to what we hope will be a new tradition: sharing highlights from our favorite sustainability articles of the year. We also interview Annabelle Mercer and Samantha Burch, students at Duke University's Masters of Environmental Manage program, who helped us develop a #marketing #strategy program for the podcast over the last several months. They join us to explain how they've refined our marketing strategy and how listeners can apply their insights to their own marketing needs. Happy holidays from all of us at Sustainability Defined!

Ep 45: Sustainable Aquaculture with Sophie Ryan (Global Salmon Initiative) Nov 01, 2019

Show notes

For most listeners, the term "farming" evokes images of tall crops on large swaths of land (hello, listeners from Nebraska!). Well, there is also farming in the water to raise fish! This practice is known as aquaculture, and it's becoming increasingly important as we look to meet the demand for fish as a protein source without putting additional strain on wild fish stocks. Aquaculture is also big business. In fact, Salmon aquaculture is the fastest growing food production system in the world. We talk with Sophie Ryan, CEO of the Global Salmon Initiative, about aquaculture generally and dive deep with her on salmon aquaculture. Enjoy this freshly harvested episode!

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SustainabilityDefined is the podcast that seeks to define sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen.

We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors:

Energy

Cities

Natural Environment

Transportation

Business

Policy

Social

www.sustainabilitydefined.com

Ep 44: Biomimicry with Nicole Miller (Biomimicry 3.8) Oct 04, 2019

Show notes

Mimicking nature might be the plan for your Halloween costume (trick or treating is so close!), but looking to nature is also increasingly seen as a way to solve problems and innovate both in life and business. Biomimicry is a burgeoning field that involves finding sustainable solutions to certain challenges by emulating nature's time-tested patterns and strategies. Innovators have found solutions to real-world problems through the study of the shape of a bird's beak, the hide of an armadillo, and the fins of a humpback whale. We'll dive into cool examples and how you can learn to apply the principles of biomimicry both in your own life with the help of our expert guest, Nicole Miller, Managing Director at Biomimicry 3.8.

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Sustainability Defined is the podcast that defines sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen. Each episode focuses on a single topic that helps push sustainability forward.

We explain each topic with the help of an experienced pro, place it within our organizational tree, and help our listeners define what exactly sustainability is, episode by episode.

We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors:

Energy

Cities

Natural Environment

Transportation

Business

Policy

Social

www.sustainabilitydefined.com

Ep 43: High Speed Rail with Andy Kunz (U.S. High Speed Rail Association) Sep 06, 2019

Show notes

High speed rail ain't your grandparents' type of train. Modern high speed rail systems sustain speeds of more than 125 MPH, drastically cutting transit time between major destinations while reducing road congestion at the same time. In this episode, you'll learn about the many benefits of these systems and why so many global cities have developed state of the art systems while the U.S. lags behind. Prior to arriving at our final destination, we'll also talk with Andy Kunz, President and CEO of the U.S. High Speed Rail Association, who will give us his insights on why he started the Association, how high speed rail can be built economically, and how listeners can help make more high speed rail a reality. Whether you're sitting in traffic or whizzing by at 200 MPH, we know you'll enjoy this episode. All aboard!

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SustainabilityDefined is the podcast that seeks to define sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen.

We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors:

Energy

Cities

Natural Environment

Transportation

Business

Policy

Social

www.sustainabilitydefined.com

Ep 42: Climate Advocacy with Brady Walkinshaw (Grist) and Varshini Prakash (Sunrise Movement) Aug 02, 2019

Show notes

In every episode, we make sure to include how you, dear listener, can put the concept we discuss into action. Well, with this episode on climate advocacy, we spotlight the ways you can get involved and share tips on how to be most effective. We need you out there explaining the urgent need for action (listening to this podcast earns you partial credit)! Our expert guests, Brady Walkinshaw, CEO of Grist, and Varshini Prakash, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Sunrise Movement, explain how they got involved in climate advocacy, ways to effectively spark action, and how you can take part in the efforts of their organizations. Power to the listeners!

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SustainabilityDefined is the podcast that seeks to define sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen.

We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors:

Energy

Cities

Natural Environment

Transportation

Business

Policy

Social

www.sustainabilitydefined.com

Ep 41: Equity in Cities with Rob Phocas (City of Charlotte) and Jerry Tinianow (City of Denver) Jul 05, 2019

Show notes

When we think about sustainability in cities, the first things we envision tend to be sexy mobility systems, smart buildings, and urban forests. Fact is, there's an additional layer to the sustainability cake that's just as important (and tasty): equity. It's not enough for sustainability efforts to increase renewable energy production, make water use more efficient, decrease carbon emissions, etc. We have to ensure that sustainability efforts consider the wishes and feedback of all residents, regardless of income level or neighborhood. Also, they should positively impact all parts of the city. In this episode, we unpack how to be more conscious of equity in sustainability city efforts with the help of two sustainability leaders who have been in the trenches promoting equity in their cities -- Rob Phocas from the City of Charlotte and Jerry Tinianow from the City of Denver. Enjoy!

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SustainabilityDefined is the podcast that seeks to define sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen.

We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors:

Energy

Cities

Natural Environment

Transportation

Business

Policy

Social

www.sustainabilitydefined.com

Hiatus Ep #3: Big Data and Sustainability with Kate Brandt (Google) Jun 07, 2019

Show notes

Dearest Sustainability Defined family, we are taking a short hiatus. This is the third in a brief series of episodes where we'll give a short update on what we're up to outside of the podcast and then replay an oldie but goodie in its entirety.

For this month's hiatus, we're revisiting our episode on Big Data & Sustainability. It's one of our most downloaded episodes and features an interview with Kate Brandt, Google's Sustainability Officer. Since this episode originally aired in October of 2017, Kate's continued to push the needle in sustainable tech and spotlight the positive impacts big data can bring to sustainability. She also recently hosted a TED Talk where she drew interesting parallels between Google's Big Data work and the concept of a circular economy. Plus, we mention in the episode Google's effort to map the air pollution in every city in the world, and you can read about the latest on it in a June 2019 blog post here: https://www.blog.google/products/maps/working-map-air-everywhere-and-help-beatairpollution/?

Bonus! Stick around for content from Sustainable Brands '19 in Detroit where Scott interviewed Dimitar Vlahov, Director of Knowledge & Insights at Sustainable Brands. They discuss the highlights from the conference, how listeners can engage with Sustainable Brands, and Dimitar's favorite Bulgarian food.

We're excited to come back recharged with new content and bad jokes this summer. In the meantime, you can still reach us any time at hosts@sustainabilitydefined.com with your feedback, ideas for shows post-hiatus, and (obviously) bad jokes.

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Sustainability Defined is the podcast that seeks to define sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen.

We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors:

Energy

Cities

Natural Environment

Transportation

Business

Policy

Social

www.sustainabilitydefined.com

Hiatus Ep #2: Supply Chain Emissions with Zach Freeze (Walmart) May 03, 2019

Show notes

Dearest Sustainability Defined family, we are taking a short hiatus. This is the second in a brief series of episodes where we'll give a short update on what we're up to outside of the podcast and then replay an oldie but goodie in its entirety.

For this month's hiatus episode, we're revisiting Walmart's ambitious supply chain emissions initiative called Project Gigaton, which I think we can all agree is a badass name. For many companies, Scope 3 emissions (fancy term for supply chain emissions) make up most of a company's carbon footprint. Learn more about these emissions and then enjoy insights from all-around good guy Zach Freeze, Senior Director of Product Sustainability at Walmart. Plus, before we replay the episode, we'll tell you about Walmart's April 2019 update on Project Gigaton's progress. It's ramping up!

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Sustainability Defined is the podcast that seeks to define sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen.

We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors:

Energy

Cities

Natural Environment

Transportation

Business

Policy

Social

www.sustainabilitydefined.com

Hiatus Ep #1: Sustainable Beer with Katie Wallace (New Belgium Brewing Company) Apr 05, 2019

Show notes

Dearest Sustainability Defined family, we are taking a short hiatus. This is the first in a brief series of episodes in which each episode we'll be giving a short update on what we're up to outside of the podcast and then replaying an oldie but goodie in its entirety.

For this month's hiatus episode, we'll be raising a toast to sustainable beer. We didn't get score any free drinks out of this episode (definitely a miss on our part), but we did learn a heck of a lot about what goes into making beer sustainable and why New Belgium is often ranked as the most sustainable beer in the industry. We'll be back soon.

We've been at it for over three years, we need a little bit of a break, and we're excited to come back recharged with new content and bad jokes. Cheers!

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Sustainability Defined is the podcast that seeks to define sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen. Each episode focuses on a single topic that helps push sustainability forward. We explain each topic with the help of an experienced pro, place it within our organizational tree, and help our listeners define what exactly sustainability is, episode by episode. We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors:

Energy

Cities

Natural Environment

Transportation

Business

Policy

Social

www.sustainabilitydefined.com

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