The Indisposable Podcast®

Latest Episodes:

AAPI Leadership and Advancing Reuse May 26, 2022

Show notes

This week, in celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (or AAPI Heritage Month), we talk about AAPI leadership and community-building with Grace Lee of ReThink Disposable, a program of the Clean Water Fund, that has led to some of the most essential pilot projects fostering change in the reuse movement today. Raised in Los Angeles by scientists from Taiwan, Grace has a long history of leadership for environmental stewardship in California, including her work leading ReThink’s groundbreaking business engagement efforts in Los Angeles and Oakland. She sits down with Brooking Gatewood for an honest chat about how her experiences as an Asian American have shaped her life and work to protect our earth, and shares stories of AAPI restaurant owners leading the way toward indisposable dining.

Resources:

ReThink Disposable
Follow ReThink Disposable on Instagram: @thefutureisreusable
Register for ReThink’s May 31 webinar: Yes to Reuse! Meet Reuse Champions of Alameda County
Watch: recording of Reusables Win in SF livestream (featuring Grace Lee and Anh Nguyen of Cam Anh Deli)
Visit Cam Anh Deli (Oakland, CA) and try their delicious banh mi!
Reuse Business Profile Summary: Restaurants featuring Pan-Asian or Pacific Island Cuisines
Upstream's Roadmap to Reuse Resource Library with other Restaurant Profiles

Setting the standard for reuse May 12, 2022

Show notes

This week's episode is all about standards – why they're needed to scale reusable packaging and infrastructure, and how they serve as a critical piece of the puzzle that enables businesses to operate and thrive in the growing circular economy. Host Matt Prindiville sits down with Amy Larkin and Claudette Juska, Co-Founders of PR3 at RESOLVE, who have dug in hard on the infrastructure question. They launched PR3 to develop Reusable Packaging Design Standards to help transform the current landscape of disconnected, small-scale reuse pilots into full-scale, interoperable public-private systems. And they’re now working with the City of Seattle, local sports and entertainment venues, and businesses to create a model that can be replicated around the world.

Resources:

RESOLVE-PR3
The New Reuse Economy
Upstream’s Reuse Wins report and Tomorrow’s New Reuse Economy

Organizing for a Reusable Future May 05, 2022

Show notes

Across America, thousands of people are organizing in local communities to help build a better way than throw-away in their cities and towns. In this episode, we speak with organizers from three very different U.S. cities in different stages of the work and learn about their shared challenges and key elements of success in building coalitions for change. With Doug Calem (Columbus, OH), Dawn Rodriguez (Austin, TX), and Alejandra Warren (San Mateo County, CA).

Resources:

The Secret to EPR for a Circular Economy Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

We all agree that corporations need to have some skin in the game when it comes to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), green design and taking their packaging back for reuse or recycling – but the devil is truly in the details. There’s good EPR and bad EPR. Kirstie Pecci of the Conservation Law Foundation and Judith Enck of Beyond Plastics have been working intimately on EPR in several states this legislative session, as well as deposit-return systems for beverages (e.g. “bottle bills”). Dive deep with these policy experts on the nuances of EPR for packaging that ensures a shift to a circular economy and prevents harmful recycling practices.

Resources:

Reuse as a Climate Action Strategy Apr 21, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, we celebrate Earth Day and this year’s official Earth Day theme – invest in our planet– by talking about how we can invest in reusable systems to help solve climate and environmental justice issues. With Upstream’s own policy analyst Marcel Howard and Rich Grousset of Re:Dish, we discuss what actions we can take and explore Upstream’s new Climate & Reuse Toolkit, which contains tools and resources to help advocates integrate reuse into climate action strategies.

Resources:

Setting the stage for the new reuse economy Apr 14, 2022

Show notes

With big brands signaling support for extended producer responsibility (EPR), deposit-return systems (DRS), and – most recently – reuse/refill, new opportunities have opened up to pass policy and create the infrastructure needed to transform how we consume products like food, beverages, personal care and cleaning products.

Maine-based bottle redemption business CLYNK uses the same infrastructure for its return system as will be needed in this New Reuse Economy. Join host Matt Prindiville and Clayton Kyle, founder & chairman of CLYNK (and Upstream board chair emeritus!), as they discuss the potential for innovative companies to be service providers for the circular economy – and to support the buildout of EPR and deposit-return systems for packaging.

Resources:

CLYNK
Contact Clayton Kyle

Reuse Wins at Events Apr 07, 2022

Show notes

As fans return to sporting arenas and music lovers celebrate the return of concerts and festivals, sustainability issues at events and venues are coming back into focus – specifically, what to do about the ever-present disposable plastic cup.

In partnership with the Green Sports Alliance, Upstream kicked off their new Indisposable Live™ series by discussing the experiences of entrepreneurs and associations wrestling with how to do reuse at events and large venues. Upstream’s Chief Solutioneer/CEO, Matt Prindiville hosted special guests who are innovating solutions around single-use at large scale events including Roger McClendon from Green Sports Alliance, Michael Martin from r.Cup/r.Ware, and Ryan Everton from TURN.

Tune into this lively discussion and learn more about how our guests started their businesses, their plans for the future, how they’re adapting – and even thriving – during the pandemic, and how you can help bring their services to your own community.

Resources:

Upstream’s full life-cycle analysis of reusable and single-use cups at events
Eliminating single use cups at events (vlog/blog)
Aluminum cups at the Super Bowl not so super (blog)
A conversation with Roger McClendon, Green Sports Alliance on the Indisposable Podcast

Redesigning How We Get Groceries Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

Celebrating women’s history month and reuse entrepreneurs, in this episode we speak with Anukampa Freedom Gupta-Fonner, Reusies 2021 finalist for Activist of the Year – and founder of Design by Freedom, an invention company propelling the circular economy and working to make trash history. Freedom is fully devoting her attention to designing a new way of getting groceries without all the waste: Her DC-based reuse grocery system, called Spring, will be launching this year. Join Freedom and host Brooking Gatewood as they discuss the power of supporting women’s leadership and the design challenges of changing one of the most fundamental parts of American society: how we get our food.

Resources:

Reuse for the Win! Reducing Waste in Sports Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

Roger McClendon is the Executive Director of the Green Sports Alliance (GSA), a trade organization that convenes stakeholders from around the sporting world to promote healthy, waste-free communities where we live and play. Learn about Roger’s journey from being a superstar college basketball player, to founding the Chief Sustainability Officer role at Yum Brands (parent company to KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, among others), to focusing on sustainability for both people and planet at the GSA. Host Matt Prindiville welcomes Roger on the show to talk about the positive changes happening at sporting venues and about sustainability as an essential business strategy not only for the environment but for the bottom line.

Resources:

Green Sports Alliance
Reuse Wins at Events report
Register for the Reuse Wins at Events livestream (by March 23, 2022)

Pioneering Reuse Down Under: a conversation with KeepCup Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

The podcast journeys down under to Australia! Brooking Gatewood sits down with early reuse Solutioneer, Abigail Forsyth, Founder/CEO of KeepCup – one of the top reusable cup companies in the world and voted #1 reusable cup by GQ in 2021. Abigail talks about the early days of trying to normalize reuse in her community while owning/operating a Melbourne cafe in the late 90s. From designing their own barista-standard reusable cups to advancing the reuse movement and the next phase of KeepCup’s evolution, this B Corp is another great example as to why reuse is just as important for people and the economy as it is for the planet.

Resources:

www.Keepcup.com
Upstream’s Roadmap to Reuse: a step-by-step guide for policymakers and activists for bringing reuse to their communities
About B Corps
About 1% for the Planet

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