Waste Not WHY Not

Latest Episodes:

37. Solar energy is finally the cheapest in history? Dec 30, 2020

Show notes

*in some cases.

Here’s another short(er) episode where N8 talks about whatever’s in the news!

The International Energy Agency’s annual report just came out, and it finally recognizes the growing trend of solar energy. Solar is now the cheapest source of energy in certain areas of the world! These are incredible developments in spite of the pandemic that disrupted so many renewable plans. N8 dives into the IEA report to look at the numbers, figure out how solar became so cheap, and share some other interesting findings.

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36. Smart windows, happy brains? Piers MacNaughton (View, Inc.) Dec 16, 2020

Show notes

Nature N8 looks into a smart windows company: View, to chat with Piers MacNaughton. Piers is the Director of Health Strategy at View, a Research Associate at the Harvard School of Public Health, and an expert on how our living space changes our daily performance. He sheds light on how smart windows conserve energy, save money, and also, improve our brains!

Aren’t these windows so insightful? Can we offer you a View in these uncurtain times? (And a shoutout to PicCollage for letting us stay in their apartment in Silicon Valley!)

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35. Will K-pop and anime become carbon neutral? Nov 16, 2020

Show notes

Nature N8 gives a quick quip about recent news that other Asian countries are going “carbon neutral,” specifically: China, Japan, and South Korea. N8 compares 3 countries in terms of their progress, touches on what comes after carbon neutrality, and suspects that China’s commitment may not be as sincere as it seems.

For more info on the industrial complex that sprung up around carbon neutrality, check out our previous episode: "Shopping for carbon offset".

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34. N8’s taking a break! (from pollution) Sep 18, 2020

Show notes

N8’s currently AFK on a trip to Taitung!

But don’t worry, we’re still working on episodes while he’s gone, and you can expect more newsletters from Alisha, too! We have exciting things coming to you later this year!

In the meantime, check out our earlier stuff if you haven’t already, google the beautiful views of Taitung, and send us trash memes on Twitter if you miss us. Catch you soon.

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33. Ocean Economics: Jason Scorse (Center for the Blue Economy) Sep 11, 2020

Show notes

Jobs? In this apocalypse? It’s more likely than you think. It’ll also be more likely if we would just PAY ATTENTION to the ocean. That’s what Dr. Jason Scorse gave Nature N8 as his professor: protecting our seas is good for the economy.

Jason is the Director of the Center for the Blue Economy, and a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, where N8 did his Master’s! During their conversation, N8 and Jason talk about the U.S. ocean policy, blue jobs, veganism, and how each and every one of us needs to take action in this climate movement.

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32. "Nature of Nature": Dr. Enric Sala (National Geographic explorer-in-residence) Aug 26, 2020

Show notes

Nature N8 speaks with Dr. Enric Sala about his new book: "The Nature of Nature - Why We Need the Wild", which lays out precisely how we are integrated in this planet’s wondrous and irreplaceable ecosystem. Dr. Enric Sala was a professor at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, now working full time in conservation as a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. The Nature of Nature synthesizes his decades of research on ecology, and provides an accessible introduction for people who want to learn more about our natural world.

In this conversation, N8 and Dr. Sala talk about hope in marine protected areas, swimming with sharks in California, and the marvelous message of the Church of Plankton.
You’ve heard about this. Bees are dying. And we’re gonna go down with them. But maybe you haven’t heard that life in the ocean is just as crucial for human survival as those on land.

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31. "Two Trees Make a Forest": Jessica J. Lee (author) Aug 04, 2020

Show notes

"Two Trees Make a Forest" is a mix of nature writing and memoir, that follows the narrator Jessica J. Lee through Taiwan’s landscape and history. Born from an immigrant family that moved across 3 continents within 3 generations, Jessica uses her training in natural history to uncover her connections to Taiwan.

Jessica J. Lee is a British-Canadian-Taiwanese author based in Berlin. In this episode, she chats candidly about her feelings as an outsider/insider, her hikes in Taiwanese mountains, and the subtle politics of ecology and nature writing.
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30. Tiny Batteries: Antonio Baclig (Stanford U) Jul 23, 2020

Show notes

Renewable energy is the future. But before we get there, we still need to figure out how to store renewable energy properly — and there are a billion ideas trying to do this. This week, Nature N8 talks to Dr. Antonio Baclig about one of the possible solutions: vanadium flow batteries.

Antonio is a postdoc at Stanford University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, working in The Chueh Group. He discusses the intermittency of green power, smart grids, and the challenges of designing a future battery for 100% renewable energy.

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29. Inside a food lab: Mattson (San Francisco) Jul 08, 2020

Show notes

Mattson is a food innovation company that creates food for almost all of our favorite grocery stores and restaurants. N8 grabs a bite with Mattson’s food technician Maddison Gurrola and vice president Al Banisch to discuss how they keep sustainability in mind when developing food. They dig in meat alternatives, food packaging, and upcycled byproducts from manufacturing.
Do you ever wonder where food comes from? Well, you should. Nature N8 tours a secret food lab. And it’s actually not that secret. It’s Mattson. Based in Silicon Valley.

A shoutout to PicCollage for letting us stay in their apartment in Silicon Valley!

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EPISODE CREDIT | Emily Y. Wu (@emilyywu), producer | Nate Maynard (@N8May), host | Yu-Chen Lai (@aGuavaEmoji), editor | a Ghost Island Media production (@ghostislandme) | www.ghostisland.media | This episode contains the following sound with Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC-BY-3.0): "Censor Beep" by GowlerMusic (http://www.gowlermusic.com/) of Freesound.org

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28. Lydia Zepeda (UW–Madison) on Sustainable Food (Live at AAAS 2020) Jun 09, 2020

Show notes

Zepeda is a Professor Emeritus of University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert on food systems. She gives us a taste of everything food-related from food (mis)labeling to delivery services, and how we can make food choices that are healthier for both our bodies and the environment.

This episode was recorded at the AAAS annual meeting in Seattle in February, 2020.

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