Sustainability In Your Ear

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Earth911 Podcast: F4CR's Rick Wayman on Responding to the Climate Crisis and Nuclear War May 13, 2022

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Mitch welcomes back Rick Wayman, CEO of the Foundation for Climate Restoration (F4CR), for a conversation about the twin threats of climate change and nuclear war. Vladimir Putin’s reckless war on Ukraine, which has come with repeated threats to use nuclear weapons, came at a critical juncture in the response to climate change. The 2020s is a make-or-break decade for halting emissions growth and starting on the path toward zero emissions — and this year is considered critical to a collective global response to the climate crisis. But the Ukraine war has many nations scrambling for access to fossil fuels to replace Russian supplies. It couldn’t have come at a worse time. We'll also check in on progress in the carbon dioxide removal technology, which is the F4CR's primary focus. Recent UN IPCC reports have emphasized the need to combine carbon reductions with removing the trillion-plus tons of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere.
Before he joined the Foundation for Climate Restoration, Rick led the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a non-profit that has “waged peace” against nuclear threats since 1982. The anti-nuclear movement has been less prominent in public debate between the end of the Cold War when the Soviet Union and its Eastern Block dissolved in 1989 and Putin’s dangerous threats to use nukes in Ukraine or as a response to U.S. and E.U. support for the embattled country. So, what can we do now? The lessons of the past combined with insights developed by climate activists may hold the key to unlocking a more peaceful and sustainable world. You can learn more about the Foundation for Climate Restoration at https://foundationforclimaterestoration.org/

Earth911 Podcast: Desert Harvest Debuts Smart, Refillable Medicine Packaging May 11, 2022

Show notes

Heather Florio, CEO of Desert Harvest, a maker of aloe vera-based nutritional supplements, will introduce a refillable smart bottle this summer. Desert Harvest is moving away from single-user plastic pill packaging in favor of compostable plant-based refill bags and smart bottles that feature Bluetooth connectivity and an app that helps customers manage refills and keep the packaging out of landfills. The container will be available for use with other medications, and can help caregivers track whether elderly patients have taken their daily doses on time. Heather also explains how the company's refined aloe products relieve the symptoms of interstitial cystitis, a debilitating disease that primarly affects women.
One of the questions Earth911 gets most often is how to recycle or donate prescription medicine bottles made from a type of #5 plastic that is seldom recycled. In 2022, Americans are expected to fill almost 4.8 billion prescriptions and purchase another $42 billion worth of dietary supplements using packaging that goes mostly unrecycled. The Desert Harvest refill program, which include a refill package that is home-compostable, is a unique solution; and the company will accept end-of-life bottles for recycling through a mail-in program. You can learn more about Desert Harvest at https://www.desertharvest.com/

Earth911 Podcast: Cityzenith's Michael Jansen Uses Digital Twins to Reinvent Urban Planning May 09, 2022

Show notes

Designing the future of civilization is no small task. Our guest Michael Jansen, founder and CEO of Cityzenith, is a pioneer of digital twin technology. These emerging computer models are poised to transform how we test our assumptions about the impact of new designs and policies before making the changes in the real world. If you've heard of the Metaverse, Cityzenith's Urban Digital Twin 3D virtual models will sound familiar. Instead of providing an escapist fantasy world where avatars can dance and play games, digital twins offer a metaverse where data scientist and architects can test how the real world will respond to low-carbon strategies. Among other projects, Michael and his team have created digital twins of Las Vegas, Phoenix, and a new capital city in an Indian province.
According to ABI Research, the use of digital twins in urban planning is expected to deliver $280 billion in savings globally by 2030. Ernst & Young also projects that over the same time, modeling technology can reduce urban carbon emissions by more than 50%, and lower the cost of operating buildings by 35% while improving productivity by 20%. We will be hearing more about digital twins in the news, and it will be important to understand their limits and how computer models can be improved to yield even more insight into the future of the built environment. You can learn more about Cityzenith at https://cityzenith.com/

Earth911 Podcast: Smarter Sorting's Jacqueline Claudia Aims to Optimize Retail Recycling May 06, 2022

Show notes

Jacqueline Claudia, CEO of Smarter Sorting, joins the conversation to discuss the use of product information to expedite recycling and reduce food waste at retail stores. The company offers a tool, the Product Intelligence Platform, that retailers can use to catalog and accurately sort materials in the back of their stores. The platform also produces greater efficiency and accountability in the recycling system. Retailers working with Smarter Sorting can also inventory what they recycle and report it as part of their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosures. Jacqueline also explains a collaboration with Feeding America directing soon-to-expire food and waste to those in need.
Successful recycling programs start with accurate sorting of materials, which results in cleaner and more efficient processing to make new feedstocks, raw materials for the next generation of products and packaging. The future of recyclables sorting requires a foundation of accurate product and packaging information to ensure things that look alike but are chemically different get sent to the correct processors. Two common examples of products that look similar but are chemically different are batteries that use different elements to store energy, and #1 plastic thermoform clamshell packages, which melt at a different temperature than #1 plastic beverage bottles, so cannot be mixed in the recycling process. Improved sorting can ensure that these similar but incompatible materials are routed to recyclers and processed instead of to landfills.

Earth911 Podcast: Gradiant's Prakash Govindan on Making Industrial Water Systems Sustainable May 04, 2022

Show notes

Water is life. It is also one of the primary elements needed for manufacturing and, of course, freshwater is necessary to support every aspect of daily life, including carrying away our sewage. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that Americans consumed 322 billion gallons of water a day in 2015, the last year for which data has been reported. Our guest, Prakash Govindan, is cofounder and Chief Operating Officer of Boston-based Gradiant, a global clean tech water technology provider that offers post-industrial water and wastewater treatment technology to large companies around the world. Gradiant recently raised an additional $100 million in venture capital to accelerate expansion, particularly in Asia, where post-industrial wastewater remains a challenge to the environment.
Prakash explains how water is used in several industries, including semiconductors and textiles manufacturing. Just one traditional industrial company might draw millions of gallons of water a day from acquifers and rivers, and might dump it back into nature polluted and heated to dangerous levels for wildlife. Gradiant's industrial customers are recycling and reusing 99% of the water they use. Because industrial water use accounts for about 85% of water consumed, industrial water recycling is essential to making the economy sustainable As a nation, we used 9 percent less water in 2015 than in 2010, so there has been some progress in water use efficiency. Stewardship of our water will be key to our becoming a sustainable society because the United Nations has warned that the world faces up to a 40% shortage of water supplies by 2030. You can learn more about Gradiant at https://www.gradiant.com/

Earth911 Podcast: Brian Ringer Introduces GetGreen Sustainable Living Coaching May 02, 2022

Show notes

Brian Ringer is the founder and CEO of Seattle-based Emerald Technology Group, which recently launched the GetGreen app, a coaching tool for sustainable living. The recent flood of interest and press coverage of sustainability has created an opportunity to get more people thinking and acting sustainably. But we’re still in the early days of a transition from being sustainably naive to becoming sustainable natives accustomed to considering and reducing our environmental impact every day. GetGreen offers a catalog of sustainable actions one can take to reduce their impact. The GetGreen app records members' commitments, and they can come back for additional information and links to related articles that help them learn and refine sustainable habits.
GetGreen also awards points, called leaves, for each commitment and lets you support climate projects by sharing leaves. The interesting feature of this experience is that GetGreen quantifies the impact your leaves will have. For example, donating 280 leaves to SeaTrees Kelp Restoration results in enough carbon captured to offset watching 8,400 hours of television. You can learn more about and download the GetGreen app for iOS and Android devices at https://www.getgreen.eco/. Disclosure: The GetGreen features links to Earth911 articles.

Earth911 Podcast: Stephen Crolius On Russias's War and Accelerating the Renewable Energy Transition Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

Carbon Neutral Consulting's Stephen Crolius returns to Sustainability In Your Ear to discuss the impact of Vladamir Putin's Ukraine invasion on the oil and natural gas markets, as well as humanity's path to a post-carbon econ0my. He previously joined us to explain the role of ammonia in how-carbon seaborne shipping. Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine is a terrible human tragedy that will have long-term environmental impacts. In the wake of the invasion, people and governments are focused on getting enough natural gas and oil to heat homes and provide electricity, and not just in Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian fossil fuels. The result is an apparent resurgence of oil and gas exploration investment, which will lead to more greenhouse gas emissions. On other hand, Europe and other nations dependent on Russian oil have begun discussing renewable energy projects that would accelerate their green transition.
Stephen tracks the Russian oil and gas issue, and argues that while fossil fuel energy may cost consumers more, we should not double down on oil, gas and coal. He says turning to renewables now will be “better for the climate and the worse for autocratic regimes that are propped up by the export of fossil energy commodities.” We can certainly use a little less tyranny in this world. Join in to hear his assessment of the resilience of the green transition and whether Putin has shot the Russian economy in the foot. You can find out more about Carbon Neutral Consulting at https://www.carbonneutralconsulting.com

Earth911 Podcast: Dr. Helen Crowley On Creating the Nature-Positive Economy Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

A new paper from the World Economic Forum, called Scaling Investments in Nature, warns that if humanity does not change the way we extract and use the resources of planet Earth, the economic impact of climate change could cost society $44 trillion in lost value by 2050 (that represents 46% of 2021 global GDP). But simply by making reasonable investments to reduce global warming and create regenerative businesses, as much as $10 trillion in new economic value can be created by 2030. Our guest, Dr. Helen Crowley, is an advisor to the World Economic Forum and contributed to the report. She has also served as Head of Sustainable Sourcing at the French luxury goods company Kering and is a partner at the Pollination Group, a climate change advisory and investment firm based in London.
Join in on a practical conversation about the ways business can invest to lower carbon emissions, create jobs and enhance profitability -- green investment is the key to reducing business risk and ensuring long-term survival. The World Economic Forum report also suggests that investments in sustainable sourcing and manufacturing of goods could create 395 million new jobs globally during this decade. However, there is a sizable investment gap between the capital needed and current commitments — we’re on track to fall $4.1 trillion short of the investments needed to complete the post-carbon transition by 2050. Humans being what we are, need a lot of new nature-positive ideas that can tried, revised and the lessons widely shared before it becomes plainly clear that now, not later, is the time to make the nature-positive leap. You can learn more about Dr. Crowley and the Pollination Group at https://pollinationgroup.com/

Earth911 Podcast: Nick Cavanaugh On the Sensible Weather Guarantee Apr 25, 2022

Show notes

Besides food, humans have probably been talking about the weather longer than anything else. In our increasingly chaotic climate, weather information will be more relevant to every decision we make. Nick Cavanaugh, founder of SensibleWeather.com, a Santa Monica, Calif., provider of climate risk information, joins the conversation to explain how weather data can help anticipate how weather will impact our everyday lives. Sensible Weather’s first service is focused on lowering the risk from weather impacts for travelers and travel companies, from airlines to resorts. This allows travelers to book trips with guarantees that if weather interferes with their plans they can get a refund. 2021 was the second most expensive year in history for weather-related damage at $145 billion in damage from storms, floods, drought, wildfire, tornadoes, hurricanes and more, and that does not include all the tertiary expenses that arise from extreme weather events. Nick explains how weather risk assessments will change buying a new home, selecting a roof, picking the best outdoor wedding date for a given location. You can learn more about Sensible Weather at https://sensibleweather.com/

Earth911 Podcast: Green Hydrogen's Role in Decarbonizing Industry and Daily Life Apr 22, 2022

Show notes

Learn about the role of green hydrogen, which is refined using renewable energy, in decarbonizing heavy industries like steel and cement manufacturing, as well as how it will fit into the transportation sector. Our guests are Aidan Tuohy, the lead author of a new report about green hydrogen, and his colleague Jeffery Preece, director of Low Carbon Resources Research and Development at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), an independent, non-profit center for public interest energy and environmental research. The report, Increasing Electric Power System Flexibility: The Role of Industrial Electrification and Green Hydrogen Production, analyzes the potential applications of hydrogen, and the different hues of hydrogen -- hydrogen made with nuclear power is "pink," for example -- that we should understand to follow the debate.
Hydrogen energy has a bad name because it is frequently associated with nuclear weapons and meltdowns, but it is a clean-burning fuel in its gaseous and liquid forms that can replace fossil fuels in a variety of applications. However, even though burning hydrogen produces no pollution — only water is left afterwards — it is a carbon-intensive fuel to produce in most forms, except for pink and green hydrogen. To make rapid progress toward electrification, we must also consider how the electric grid and energy infrastructure will need to change to support the use of hydrogen. Learn more about the path to green hydrogen at https://www.epri.com/ and https://www.esig.energy/increasing-electric-power-system-flexibility/

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