Sustainability In Your Ear

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Earth911 Podcast: Ramprate's Syzygy Impact Sourcing Score Mar 30, 2020

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Companies face growing demands from consumers, government, and NGOs to reduce their carbon footprint, decrease their overall environmental impact, and to provide just work conditions. Ramprate.com, an innovative sourcing advisory firm that pioneered data services based on renewable energy, has launched a scoring system to track the impacts at every step in a company's supply chain, Syzygy Sourcing Impact. As Ramprate explains it, the world is in the midst of a statistical revolution that will help to optimize human productivity to live prosperpously within the planet's carrying capacity.
The Ramprate team partnered with CSRHub.com and others to examine the financial, environmental, and social responsibility performance of more than 1,300 companies to develop the Syzygy system. We talk with founder and CEO Tony Greenberg and chief strategy officer Alex Veytsel about how Ramprate evolved from helping its clients reduce telecommunication costs to tackling climate impacts from energy use, transportation, and every other facet of corporate sustainability. It's a high-concept conversation that you'll come away from with ideas to help your business become more sustainable. Consumers should listen, too, because Syzygy and other scoring systems will eventually inform how products are labeled to convey environmental impacts, safety, and social responsibility.
Join the conversation and share your thoughts with the community in our Earthling Forum.

Earth911 Podcast: Coronavirus, Sustainability Changes, and Earth Day Planning Mar 23, 2020

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The Earth911 gang assembles in a time of crisis. Maybe we aren't The Avengers, but we have proof from the pandemic that many individual changes in behavior can add up to massive changes in environmental impact. The coronavirus has halted life in many parts of the world, driving down pollution levels and raising sustainability red flags as oil prices drop, plastic has come back in vogue, and the plans for Earth Day 50 on April 22nd go virtual.
Dive into this week's conversation about green COVID-19 prevention, how to use coronavirus disruption to reset your life for sustainability, and to plan your Earth Day activities. In this week's Earthling Questions, we explain how to reuse pill bottles to fight disease around the world, what to do with unwearable used clothing, and the right way to recycle of the HDPE bag inside your cereal box.
Join the conversation and share your thoughts with the community in our Earthling Forum.

Earth911 Podcast: Earth Day Initiative's John Oppermann Mar 22, 2020

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New York City's Earth Day celebrations are among the largest in the world. Earth911 talks with John Oppermann, executive director of Earth Day Initiative, which produces the annual events. The 50th anniversary of Earth Day physical events have been canceled, but Oppermann's team has set up a virtual event, including speeches, interactive presentations, and booths that you can stroll from home. Learn about climate change and the steps you can take to reduce your impact, then find organizations to support and join.
We talked before the coronavirus pandemic resulted in lockdowns across the country. Oppermann discussed the many options we have to be better stewards of the Earth. Spend this 20 minutes to prepare for your virtual participation in Earth Day 50, it will help make an even bigger difference than the physical event.
Join the conversation and share your thoughts with the community in our Earthling Forum.

Earth911 Podcast: Dr. Anita Sanchez On Making Climate Personal In 2020 Mar 18, 2020

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The Earth is our shared home, and that insight can help save the world, Dr. Anita Sanchez explains in this thoughtful conversation with Earth911. The author of The Four Sacred Gifts: Indigenous Wisdom for Modern Times shares her lifelong investigation of our interconnectedness, traversing Mohican, Hopi, and Buddhist thought to suggest four key actions for making climate change personal. She links four essential indigenous ideas, our power to forgive the unforgivable, to heal, our essential unity, and the power of hope to four simple actions we can take as individuals and communities to restore the planet.

Earth911 Podcast: PlaySafe Ice Blocker Removes Environmental and Pet Risks Mar 16, 2020

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The annual challenge of keeping walkways and drives clear of snow has a terrible environmental impact. In colder regions, a single household will use between 200 lb.s and 800 lbs. of salt each year, which leads to chloride contamination in lakes, streams, and groundwater. PlaySafe Ice Blocker is a new chloride-free anti-icing liquid that is safe for the environment, pets, and your children. Earth911 talks with Mitch Vestal, founder of PlaySafe about how to de-ice safely the rest of this Winter and next year.
The inefficiency of chloride de-icing salts, which work in narrow bands of temperatures, results in most of the material running off or remaining in your lawn. Rock salt must first become liquid before it can work, which is why so much salt is left over after the snow is gone. Vestal explains how one gallon of PlaySafe Ice Blocker can replace up to 200 lbs. of rock salt de-icer. PlaySafe can be sprayed on walkways and driveways to prevent ice from forming during a storm, and it leaves a light slush that is easier to remove than partially melted ice.

Earth911 Podcast: Sustainability At Home -- Food, Detergents, and Reuse Projects Mar 09, 2020

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The Earth911 team is talking about the household decisions and projects to think about if you have some extra coronavirus-isolation time on your hands. We look at four kinds of laundry detergent, including powdered, liquid, pod, and sheet detergents that are easier on your clothes and the environment. Thinking about a Mother's Day or Father's Day gift you can make yourself this year? Take a look at our guide to making an eco-friendly shaving kit or eight ways to reuse aluminum cans in DIY projects that also make fun gifts.
And we discuss the labeling of foods and a recent study by As You Sow, a non-profit that examined the supply chains of major food producers for pesticide-use transparency. You'll be surprised by which companies did well and some of the names of the laggards that are best to avoid if you want to know what you are eating.
In this week's Earthling Questions, we explain how to recycle VHS tapes and used tires. Also, there's a new section in the Earthling Forum where sustainable businesses can share information with our readers. Add your business now!
Join the conversation and share your thoughts with the community in our Earthling Forum.

Earth911 Podcast: The Plastic Crisis Is Here And We Have Answers Feb 24, 2020

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Plastic recycling in the U.S. has declined so much since the China ban on contaminated recyclable materials that it is no longer legally "recyclable" according to Federal Trade Commission rules. How2Recycle.org, the organization that labels products has downgraded plastic from "recyclable" to "check locally" for available programs. You can use Earth911's recycling search to find local plastic recyclers. We've arrived at the plastic recycling crisis Americans have been worrying about, and the Earth911 team talks through reducing plastic use, the scope of plastic pollution in the seas and on the highest peaks in the world, as well as six ways to reuse plastic bottles instead of sending them to a landfill. There is also a glimmer of hope in Nestle’s commitment to pay more than market price for recycled food-grade #1 plastic for use in its bottled water packaging. Listen in to find out what you can do with plastic and how to encourage your community to invest in recycling.
We also explore strategies for carbon sequestration. Everyone can contribute to removing carbon from the atmosphere by planting trees, yet there is so much excess CO2 that industrial carbon capture and sequestration will be needed to return the gas to pre-industrial levels. And take a few minutes to learn about how to check your photovoltaic solar panels to see if they are still producing power efficiently. If your panels are worn out, you'll need to know where and how to recycle them. Sarah Lozanova explains the emerging solar panel recycling industry, which is currently dominated by European companies.
In this week's Earthling Questions, find out how to recycle the #7 plastic bags in which electronics are shipped, where to recycle button batteries and get the latest on the state of glass recycling.
Join the conversation and share your thoughts with the community in our Earthling Forum.

Earth911 Podcast: Plastic, Sustainability, and You Feb 10, 2020

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The Earth911 team is back at the microphone to talk about plastic, sustainability, and the actions we can all take around the house to reduce, reuse, and recycle. This week, learn how to recycle disposable contact lenses and how to create a zero-waste kitchen. We also talk through the many problems with bottled water in plastic packaging, from the reliance on virgin petroleum resources to micro-plastics in bottled and tap water. Finally, you have probably purchased a dozen things this year that came with a silica gel pack to prevent moisture damage -- did you know you can use them to create a potpourri, prevent jewelry from tarnishing, and to protect personal documents from aging? We've got the whole silica gel reuse lowdown.
In Earthling Questions this week, you asked and we answered: What to do with 1,300 DVD cases? Does Earth911 recommend any office paper and forms or checks companies? And, can VHS tape cases be recycled?
Join the conversation and share your thoughts with the community in our Earthling Forum.

Earth911 Podast: Net-Zero Prefab Homes From Dvele Jan 20, 2020

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Dvele's Brandon Weiss has a vision for durable Net-zero housing. As Chief Innovation Officer at Dvele, a San Diego-based manufacturer of sustainably made passive homes, Weiss is creating an array of home styles that buyers can customize and see built within six months. The company is working in Ventura and Sonoma Counties in California to help provide new homes for wildfire victims. Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe talks with Weiss about the future of housing, Dvele's hardy construction standards, and sustainability features.
If you are going to build a home in the next few years, prefab houses offer several advantages over traditional houses and older prefab homes. Because they are built in factories and assembled on-site, Dvele passive home designs provide a secure envelope inside the home, integrated fire and earthquake resistance, and style built using new materials that can last "for centuries," according to Weiss. Dvele homes are completely electric -- no natural gas or propane appliances -- and incorporate solar panels in the roof to provide reliable power year-round with battery backup.
Join the conversation and share your thoughts with the community in our Earthling Forum.

Earth911 Podast: Make 2020 The Year of A Greener You Jan 13, 2020

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Happy New Year, Earthlings! Join the Earth911 team as they talk about the green choices and important trends of 2020. Evelyn Fielding-Lopez, Sarah Lozanova, and Mitch Ratcliffe are on the air to discuss minimalist living and how it fits with frugal choices, the important trends in solar power and environmentally friendly living that we expect to see take hold in 202o, as well as the growing range of choices of electric vehicles and charging options for green travel.
Our Earthling Questions answered this week include: How to recycle padded envelopes, changing glass recycling access in the U.S., and what to do with well-loved stuffed toys.
Join the conversation and share your thoughts with the community in our Earthling Forum.

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