EnvironMental with Dandelion

In this episode of EnvironMental, we speak with Richard Dickson, co-founder of Play it Green.

Play It Green helps individuals and businesses become more sustainable by reducing their carbon footprint and planting trees!

He shares the Play It Green mission along with the services they offer, including a subscription service that provides tips, education, and discounts on sustainable products and services - literally for £5!

We also talk about

- the importance of transparency and collaboration in business relationships

- the need for urgent action to address climate change

- and the impact of consumer behavior on the environment.

You can connect with Richard through Play It Green: https://playitgreen.com/

Read our article about the show here: https://dandelionbranding.com/ep-richard-dickson-behavior-change/

In this episode of EnvironMental Podcast, we got very excited about Sustainable Investing as we spoke with Breene Murphy, the VP of Strategy for the Carbon Collective.  Breene took this sleepy topic and turned our heads with his optimistic view on climate crisis solutions and investment.   The Carbon Collective is a sustainable investment agency on a mission to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon society.

In this episode we had an incredible time chatting with Maya van Rossum about The Green Amendment - which is both Maya's book AND the goal of her nonprofit: for the generations.

The idea behind a Green Amendment is to make sure that there is unquestionable legal protection to a clean, safe, and healthy environment. This amendment grants the right to things like clean water and clean air - which Americans don't currently have the right to.

This is an especially important movement in light of the recent EPA Supreme Court Case! 

Check out this episode to hear Maya talk about why her and her team are starting with State Amendments first, the process of getting an amendment passed, and how you can get involved in  the Green Amendment!

You can find the article here: https://livingbranddirectory.com/ep-green-amendment-maya-van-rossum

And you can learn more and get involved with the Green Amendment movement in your state here: https://forthegenerations.org/

Get The Green Amendment: The People's Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment on Pre-Order: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1633310647/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_M9M5JFHR9WK850THTSNY?pldnSite=1

We had NO IDEA that reusable packaging could be a real alternative for single use food and drinks until Page told us about it on this episode of EnvironMental Podcast.

The whole goal of her company, Topanga.io is to create a digital infrastructure of a circular economy. Now, that's a huge goal - but if anyone can do it, we believe it's the Topanga Team. 

What started as a small scale milk man-style grocery delivery service has turned into a full time software development operation to help businesses challenge the trash can.

This episode of EnvironMental was so much fun - and so informative - thanks to our guest, Freddie Catlow, the enigmatic and (self described) bamboo-obsessed co-founder of Planboo.

Freddie gives us the deets on bamboo like:

 - it's a grass that can grow a meter every day

 - it's hard enough to be treated like a wood for construction, but can totally be made into fabric and paper and silverware (and just about anything else)

 - it's a great carbon sink

AND then he started talking about bio char - and we were floored.

Bio char is made from putting the bamboo biomass through a process called Pyrolyzation.

Then, the bio char can be used a ton of ways to improve the health of soil organically over time!

Check out the Planboo site here: http://planboo.eco/

This episode of EnvironMental is about Marketing!

We realized that we've never covered how we infuse sustainability into our digital marketing business @dandelion_branding with our clients every day.

Aside from focusing on sustainable brands, we also focus on ways to be more digitally sustainable in the marketing world!

In this episode we cover:
- what is sustainable marketing? (We operate two definitions!)
&
- what are some basic things you can do to be more digitally sustainable

We also talk a bit about the challenges of marketing for sustainable brands, greenwashing, and the "green hush" - which is a new way sustainable brands are being snowballed by wordsmithery.

This week we're welcoming Toby Radcliffe, Cofounder of ZeroBees, to the podcast!

ZeroBees is on a mission to make it easier for small and medium businesses to reach net zero.

They focus predominately on helping businesses reduce their CO2e by making short and long term plans with quantifiable benefits.

Toby talks to us about shifting our language from "reduction and offsetting" to "CO2e reduction and climate investment."

And he reminded us of the best ways to reduce is to start with the low hanging fruit: make sure your electricity is renewable, that you're minimizing travel, and that you're engaging your employees in the reduction too.

And then when you've reduced as much of your carbon footprint as possible, consider climate investment with a small project that is robust, accountable, permanent, and that you're paying a decent amount for it!

You can learn more about Zero Bees at the website: https://www.zerobees.com/

and you can reach Toby via email here: toby@zerobees.com 

This week we're welcoming Lizzie Horvitz, sustainable entrepreneur, onto the podcast to talk about her business, Finch!

Finch is a new browser extension that is about to be a serious game changer in the sustainable ecommerce space. It's going to make it easy (!) to find the most sustainable products on the market, right as you shop!

Imagine that you're browsing around on Amazon, looking for something like, wipes. You choose a product that SAYS it's sustainable - but heck, how can you really know? FINCH! You just open up your Finch browser extension, and you can see both the sustainability rating for the product you're viewing AND a few sustainable alternatives to check out instead. (how incredibly helpful is that, right?) 

It's launching in January of 2022, so head over to their homepage to sign up for their waitlist!

https://www.choosefinch.com/#/

Lizzie invites you to reach out to her with any questions - but do it quick. Because they're still small enough that she personally answers questions right now, but we have a sneaking suspicion that it won't be long before Finch is a sustainable-household name!

This is one launch we are waiting in anticipation for! 

Less than 20% of textile waste either stay on the market or get recycling Another quarter is incinerated which is CO2 intensive and the rest ends up in the landfill!  

Like most things, the problem came up before we had even thought about the future. Literally millions of tons of textile waste is created globally every year and there isn't a clear solution yet.   

There are a lot of people that have taken up the challenge though!  There are thousands of homesteader articles giving you a lot of ways to upcycle your old clothing. From making kitchen rags and reusable food wraps to makeup removal pads and scrunchies - you can turn your favorite old clothes into new beautiful accessories.  

You can also compost your 100% natural textiles and take back programs are cropping up around the world.  And there's tech in its infancy that pulls apart clothes, and respins it to twine that can be used to make new fabric!  

References and Promised Links: 

TerraCycle Program: https://www.terracycle.com/en-AU/zero_waste_boxes/fabrics-and-clothing-en-au 

Wolkat: https://www.wolkat.com/ 

New Order of Fashion lab for recycling clothing: https://neworderoffashion.com/lab/ 

Fashion Waste Index: https://labfresh.eu/pages/fashion-waste-index 

BBC stats : www.bbc.com/future/article/20200710-why-clothes-are-so-hard-to-recycle

In this week's episode, Courtney answered the question:
Which is more sustainable, shopping retail or shopping online?

As per usual, there's no cut and dry answer here.

It totally depends on how you're getting to and from the shop and your online purchasing (and return) behavior.

Finally! Something we can have an impact on with our consumer behavior!

Last week, we learned that getting legitimate data on the impact of the fashion industry is a real challenge. So we decided that the best way to take a look at the industry is to break down the supply chain.

This week, aub shares the lay of the fabric-land. 

There are tons of fabric types out there, so she covered the most popular.

 - Polyester and Nylon (AVOID)

 - Rayon/Viscose (AVOID)

 - Cotton (CHOOSE ORGANIC)

 - Lyocell (GREAT)

 - Linen (GREAT)

 - Bamboo (CHOOSE OEKO-TEX CERTIFIED)

 - Hemp (GREAT)

 - rPET (OKAY FOR THINGS THAT DON'T GO OFTEN THROUGH THE WASH)

The best suggestions we have for choosing fabric:

 - your best solution is choosing recycled, organic, and natural fabrics. 

 - go with all natural fabrics

 - make sure they are grown organically

 - and look into how they're processed

 - look for certifications like GOTS or OEKO-TEX

Three fantastic resource guides for you:

https://www.sustainyourstyle.org/en/fiber-ecoreview

https://www.sustainablejungle.com/sustainable-fashion/sustainable-fabrics/

https://greenstory.ca/resources/sustainability-guides/green-fabric-guide/

Other Resources for this episode:

Rayon is bad for the environment: https://www.bbcearth.com/news/fashion-materials-you-didnt-realise-were-bad-for-wildlife

The Soil Association's cotton guide: https://www.soilassociation.org/causes-campaigns/our-climate-in-crisis/thirsty-for-fashion/

The World Counts difference between organic and conventional cotton:  https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/consumption/clothing/cotton-farming-water-consumption/story

This week's episode Court did a deep dive into the dangers of the Dakota Access Pipeline and Line Three.

The Dakota Access Pipeline gained media attention in 2016 when the Sioux tribe sued the government over the construction project, its lack of environmental protections, and broken treaties with indigenous nations.

Despite the protests the pipeline was built and all lawsuits were eventually (and unfortunately) dropped.

We're seeing very recent news that there are active issues with the DAPL pipeline though, and it's undergoing a full environmental review.

Now, the current pipeline project underway is called Line 3. This pipeline would travel across the Mississippi river, over 200 other waterways, and miles of marshlands.

This land is crucial not only to the First Nation communities that live there, but also to the millions of people who rely on water that passes through it.

Do we never learn?

Construction of these oil pipelines permanently affects environment and ecosystems, regardless of if there are spills. If there are any spills, this would have massive environmental and ecological ramifications.

Why are we taking such risk and continuing to invest in infrastructure for a dying industry?

We must protect our water, not protect the pocketbooks of fossil fuel executives.

Sign the petition and make your voice hear here: https://www.stopline3.org/take-action

Sources:

https://conbio.org/publications/scb-news-blog/scientists-sign-letter-against-dakota-access-pipeline

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/federal-court-closes-dakota-access-case-allows-fresh-challenges-2021-06-22/

https://elpc.org/blog/nothing-suggests-line-3-pipeline-can-comply-with-minnesota-water-quality-standards/

https://www.honorearth.org/

https://www.stopline3.org/

This week on the podcast, we start diving into fresh water access.

In the US, having access to fresh water is treated like a privilege, especially for poor communities. The clearest example of that is the Flint Water Crisis.

aub did a deep dive into the timeline of what happened in Flint - its not pretty.

The problem in Genessee County, Michigan hit national and international news in 2016. But by then it had already been almost two years since the water crisis started.

aub shares the timeline of events because every step of the way show how severely mishandled this situation was from the start. It shows the blatant disregard for the Flint community.

The Flint water crisis is seen as a political scandal now - but that feels like it doesn't do the situation justice.

100,000 PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE CLEAN DRINKING WATER FOR FOUR YEARS. And the story is still unfolding in the aftermath.

Corruption, mismanagement, and poisoning of an entire community of people, done for a pennies on the dollar savings venture.

The government ignored and gaslit the citizens of Flint, they sidestepped culpability, and treated their city like it was expendable.

Would this happen in a white community? In a rich neighborhood?

In a low-crime city?

No. Absolutely not.

References:

Flint Stats and US stats from the US Census Bureau.

Timeline from NPR

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis?t=1628953587723

Associated Press timeline: https://apnews.com/article/us-news-health-michigan-rick-snyder-flint-7295d05da09d7d5b1184b0e349545897

The September 2015 health advisory to the citizens of Flint

 http://flintwaterstudy.org/2015/09/public-health-advisory-regarding-lead-in-flint-water-from-the-genesee-county-board-of-commissioners/

The 2017 Michigan Civil Rights Commission statement: The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism through the Lens of Flint

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdcr/VFlintCrisisRep-F-Edited3-13-17_554317_7.pdf

Evidence of the cover up found:

https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2019/04/millions-of-flint-water-documents-found-in-basement-prosecutors-claim.html

The most current info on Rick Snyder charges:

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2021/03/18/ex-michigan-gov-rick-snyder-loses-challenge-to-flint-water-charges/

In this episode of EnvironMental we start our investigation into the fresh water crisis we're facing right now. 

The gross misuse of water by the energy, agriculture, and fashion industries are leading to a rapidly approaching end of fresh water availability. 

This is a major crisis that needs to be addressed now. 

Aub and Court chat about current facts, and some very interesting data points around how much water a hamburger requires. (Guess what, it's over 600 gallons PER burger you're eating.)

There's much work to be done on a large scale, but individual action can make a difference! Be conscious of your water usage, especially while on vacations.

Here are our references for this episode: 

https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/planet-earth/freshwater/when-will-the-world-run-out-of-water/story

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/how-much-water-there-earth?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/freshwater-crisis

Water Usage Stats: https://www.motherjones.com/food/2015/04/blue-jeans-cars-microchips-water-use/

Uses of water in industry: https://www.aquatechtrade.com/news/industrial-water/industrial-water-essential-guide/

In this week's conversation about sustainability, we're wrapping up the discussion about Food and Agriculture.

This was the biggest topic we've covered so far - the section was 8 weeks long and we didn't get to talk about everything we wanted. In particular, we didn't get to jump into court cases related to farming, commercial agriculture practices, GMOs, or immigrant worker populations.

What we did learn leads us to conclude that the planet, and people, have been treated like an assembly line for far too long. We simply cannot continue to rely on the linear systems that we've been operating for more than a century and expect safe, reliable results for the future.

The issues are extremely multifaceted and they show up in myriad ways. From the loss of fertility in our soil to desertification to the intentional creation of food deserts and food insecurity.

These problems can only truly be solved with holistic priorities like focusing on regenerative agriculture, paying a living wage, healthy community farming techniques, a paradigm shift towards community subsistence first, and cultural education.

We decided to transition at this point because there's another topic that needs a holistic view: fresh water.
We want to know about limitations, where the water is, how we can live (and operate our businesses) more sustainably, plus we want to talk about places like Flint, Michigan (aub's hometown) where the infrastructure breakdown is poisoning the water supply.

Stay tuned!

This is the second week we're talking about the book, Black Food Matters. A collection of interdisciplinary articles written or compiled by Ashanté M. Reese and Hanna Garth

We decided to split this up and talk about it over two episodes because this book is an important set of voices sharing the tangible intersection of systemic racism, power, and food culture.

This week Court thoughtfully covers the topics around cultural appropriation and food justice on the restaurant scene.

These are the chapters we talk about:

6 - Soul Food Gentrification: Food, Racial Heritage Tourism, and the Redevelopment of Black Space in Miami by Billy Hall

7 - “Preserve and Add Flavor”: Barbecue as Resistance in Memphis by Kimberly Kasper

8 - Sisters of the Soil: Urban Agriculture in Detroit by Monica M. White

9 - Race, Land, and the Law: Black Farmers and the Limits of a Politics of Recognition by Willie J. Wright, Tyler McCreary, Brian Williams, and Adam Bledsoe

10 - The Mango Gang and New World Cuisine: White Privilege in the Commodification of Latin-American and Afro-Caribbean Foods by Judith Williams

11 - Afterword: Problematizing the Problem by Psyche Williams-Forso

This is the first of 2 episodes dedicated to the book, Black Food Matters. A collection of interdisciplinary articles written or compiled by Ashanté M. Reese and Hanna Garth  

We decided to split this up and talk about it over two episodes because this book is an important set of voices sharing the tangible intersection of systemic racism, power, and food culture.  

For this first week, aub shares a thoughtful overview of the first half of the book's articles:  1 - In the Food Justice World but Not of It: Everyday Black Food Entrepreneurship by Ashanté M. Reese  2 - The Intersection of Politics and Food Security in a South Carolina Town by Gillian Richards-Greaves  3 - Nurturing the Revolution: The Black Panther Party and the Early Seeds of the Food Justice Movement by Analena Hope Hassberg  4 - Blackness and “Justice” in the Los Angeles Food Justice Movement by Hanna Garth  5 - Good Food in a Racist System: Competing Moral Economies in Detroit Andrew Newman and Yuson Jung

This week on EnvironMental, aub did a deep dive into food deserts.

More than 10% of people in the US live in a food desert, which is a geographic area where access to affordable, healthy food options are limited.

Our ability to create and grow food from a centralized place also allowed for things like urban city sprawl and a decrease in rural farms - and with both of these came food deserts.

There is no perfect solution for the food desert because every area is unique and we're so used to being separate from our food system, that it will take TIME to implement actual systems of change.

Tune in to hear to learn about the prevalence of food deserts and the potential solutions aub found for food deserts around the country.

Here are this week's resources:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-are-food-deserts#other-terms

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-food-deserts

https://www.aecf.org/blog/exploring-americas-food-deserts

https://mymorningmusings.com/?p=129

This week on EnvironMental, Courtney did a deep dive into food insecurity.  

The long and short is that food insecurity is a trap - it's a cycle that is generationally difficult to escape from.  

It is highly correlated with high rates of violence and poverty and while there are solutions like using our food waste more wisely, the only real solution for food insecurity is providing a living wage.   

Here are Courtney's resources: 

- feedingamerica.org 

- Feeding Peace: An Investigation of the Relationship between Food Insecurity and Violence - Illinois state university https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=scced 

- National Center for Biotechnology Information - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2805706/ 

- Frontiers in Sustainable food systems - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2020.00016/full

This week on EnvironMental we spoke with Anne Terhorst, Junior Business Developer for Food Tech Brainport, a company that is dedicated to improving food tech to make food production more sustainable.  

We talk about the human condition and how even though we can solve a lot of issues with technological advances, we can't make global change without people accepting those advances into their everyday lives.  

The reality is that we have big changes to make to our global food system, and those types of changes take time, energy, and intention to implement.  

This inspiring conversation left us all with a lot to think about, and if you love it and you have any questions, you can reach out to Anne through LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-terhorst/

This week on EnvironMental we talk about Farming for the Long Haul by Michael Foley!

This book offers a fantastic look at the history of traditional farming and gives actionable advice for how we can transition to growing food within our communities.

Would we recommend it? Yes! To anyone who felt like they might want to farm or have a garden that grows food.

After reading this, we feel inspired to start growing food and learning more about homesteading techniques that we can share within our communities.

Even though we can connect and share information globally, one thing that we notice month over month is that the real solutions to long-term sustainability are based in community -  governance, advocacy, energy, gardening, homesteading, and community living.

Over the past 100 years, we have stepped further and further away from our local communities, to the point now where we are losing the hands-on information we will need when fossil fuel energy isn't available to us anymore.

So this week, we decided to start trying to think and act in a more community-based way.
To take one single step on the journey towards community living - whether that means meeting your neighbors or finding a new homesteading skill to take on - join our little challenge!

This week's episode of EnvironMental is a short wrap up of the conversation we have been having around the transition to renewable energy.

The long and short of it is that there are so many solutions out there! And the good news is that there are a lot of people are working on them, but the not-so-great truth is that there's no big global plan for the necessary transition to renewable energy.

While it is awesome to have a lot of people working on energy solutions, we think this is an important conversation that we should be having more often within our communities in general.

Because when it comes to energy usage, there is a lot that we can each do personally to reduce our individual ecological footprint.

One of those big energy drains that we can change personally is FOOD WASTE! So we also announced that the next topic we will investigate is food and agriculture!

Please subscribe to our channel to stay tuned!

This week we're talking with Tom Vocke (THE Tom!) with Lightyear!  He's an electrical engineer who has been part of the transition to solar energy, especially in cars, since 2011.  We spent time asking about the reality of transitioning to renewable energy - he's optimistic about what is possible!  He told us about the limits of solar energy, what a solar cell is made out of, and why solar is getting cheaper!  Right now, the renewable energy industry has its eyes set on increasing efficiency in solar panels and figuring out how to store electricity more effectively, but the reality is there is room for innovation and systemic change everywhere in the energy industry.  We need to put solar panels on everything, and we need to upgrade to smart meters, and we need to ensure that our current power grids can handle the transition.  There's a lot to be done, and a lot of incredible minds, like Tom's, working together to make it possible!  #solarenergy #renewabletransition #renewableenergy #greenenergy #environmentalpodcast

This week we read the Carbon Boycott by Samuel Avery

Do we think it's possible to boycott carbon?

Yes.

Do we think it's going to be easy?

No.

In his book, Sam gives several examples of times throughout human history that we've made huge societal changes for the betterment of our society - from the  Boston tea party to the civil rights movement to the end of apartheid.
We ARE capable of the type of boycott that this book calls for.

The carbon boycott is a slow, steady change that we are dedicated to. That we need to work on together individually and in communities.

Because the truth is that the availability of fossil fuels is dwindling.
That means we need to think about the energy issue as "renewable energy VS. no energy." NOT "renewable energy VS. fossil fuel energy."

And the more we transition now, the easier it will be when we don't have fossil fuels anymore.

So how can you take part in the boycott?
1 - Eat less meat. This isn't to say that tomorrow you need to be vegan, but meat production is a massive source of carbon in our atmosphere.

2 - Consider how your other meals make it to you - are they locally sourced? Are they coming from far away? How are they packaged? What can you grow yourself?

3 - Look at your investments. Trace them back to their source, are you supporting the fossil fuel giants? Stop those investments and shift them to a renewable source.

4 - Look into the potential energy sources. Can you pay for your house to be supplied by solar or wind energy? Can you buy solar panels for your house?

5 - Join or create a community that is dedicated to helping with policy change or community/city migration to renewable energy.

6 - Make the big transitions when you're making big life changes. When you get a new car, go for electric. When you move or renovate your house, consider heat pumps and solar energy.

All of these steps help us to move towards less reliance on fossil fuel energy and will make the transition to renewables more smooth! It can be done!!

This week we're leaving the topic of dirty energy and fossil fuels behind to start talking about the necessary transition to renewables.

We split up and independently answered some questions, and then shared it with each other on this week's podcast.

Aub went first and talked about where we are in the transition and what kind of plan we have in place. There's a lot of information out there about this and to make the long story short - we're gaining in renewables for electricity, but buildings (heating and emissions) and travel are still big issues for the transition.

While there are a lot of people focused on individual solutions, there's no overarching plan, and no one taking charge of this transition. There are a lot of pieces missing in the political and environmental priorities, like how we need to invest in improving the efficiency of the current infrastructure while we find new, renewable sources of energy. Or how subsidies for fossil fuels are still double (or more) the subsidies given to renewable sources.

Courtney picked it up from there, sharing information about energy democracy and a few companies that are dedicated to putting people of color in leadership positions.

She said, "We can't expect to have clean energy solutions without having clean election solutions." And this beautifully sums up the discussion. She shared information about "energy cooperatives" and how this feels like something new, but there are actually quite a few already! The heads of the power companies in these regions bank on the fact that people never even know that they have decision power in their community's energy source.

Next week we're going to continue this conversation by reading a book called The Carbon Boycott; A Path to Freedom from Fossil Fuels By Samuel Avery.

We have moved away from using Amazon to find our audiobook sources because Mr. Bezos, respectfully, doesn't need our dollars (or yours) so here's our link to Libro, a site that makes it possible for you to buy audiobooks through your local bookstore: https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm282860

Here are our sources for this episode:

Transition updates, plans, and efficiency

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/6/18/18681591/renewable-energy-china-solar-pv-jobs

https://www.energy.gov/eere/analysis/energy-efficiency-vs-energy-intensity

https://www.iea.org/reports/the-critical-role-of-buildings

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-05-20/nobody-takes-the-renewable-energy-transition-seriously/

Microgrids

https://microgridknowledge.com/microgrid-defined/

greentechmedia.com/articles/read/lessons-learned-from-californias-pioneering-microgrids

Energy Democracy

The webinar Courtney mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foh7HMthX1w

PDF https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/sonst_publikationen/Energy-democracy-in-Europe.pdf

Asian Pacific organization working on BIPOC leadership training

http://apen4ej.org/