Episodes

What better way to appreciate the environment than to walk 2,160 miles through some of the most beautiful vistas in North America? That is precisely what Jeff Alt did in 1998, and has gone on to hike the 218-mile John Muir Trail with his wife, and carry his 21-month old daughter along the coast of Ireland on a family hike. Jeff is the award-winning author of A Walk for Sunshine, Four Boots One Journey, and Get Your Kids Hiking: How to Start Them Young and Keep it Fun. His new book, The Adventure...

The Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International is calling for a Global Women's Climate Justice Day of Action on September 29th, 2015, in light of the December 2015 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP21, where world governments will work towards finalizing a climate agreement that will have profound impacts on our global trajectory. There are a number of ways to participate in the day of action, and we will discuss them with Osprey Orielle Lake, ...

What do major fashion retailers and designers like HM, Target, Gap and Levi have in common? They are all working with the Natural Resources Defense Council NRDC to create clothing that uses less water and energy to produce, transport, and care for. Through implementation of the NRDC’s Clean By Design program, these corporate partners utilize their tremendous buying power as a lever to reduce the environmental impacts of their suppliers abroad. Clean by Design focuses on improving process efficie...

“This is the story of the race to feed the world without wrecking it,” writes Joel K. Bourne, Jr. in his new book, The End of Plenty. “Producing food for more than 9 billion people without destroying the soil, water, oceans, and climate will be by far the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.” Today we’ll talk with Bourne about a new generation of farmers and scientists on the frontlines of the next green revolution. Joel Bourne is an award-winning journalist and former Senior Editor for t...

In 1938, the Los Angeles River overflowed its banks causing such loss of life and property damage that the Red Cross called it the fifth largest flood in history. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was brought in to create flood control and protect the city, which resulted in the pouring of 3 million barrels of concrete to tame the river. Environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity were upshots of the project, but 77 years later, the US Army Corps Civil Works Review Board unanimously adopte...

Plastic beverage containers are a problem. According to the most recent report available from the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, of the 9,131 million pounds of plastic bottles generated in 2012, less than 1/3 were recovered for recycling. The remainder ends up in a landfill where it could take hundreds of years to break down, or as litter where it flows into stormwater drains and ultimately into the ocean. In either instance, the energy and petroleum used to manufacture and ship ...

Leading professional sports venues that serve all major leagues are now promoting more sustainable food options to fans, according to a new report by the Green Sports Alliance (GSA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “Champions of Game Day Food” features 20 venues spanning North America that are serving healthier food choices and adopting more sustainable food practices behind the scenes to help advance smarter environmental practices throughout our food system. Today our guests w...

Be Green Packaging is the only food and beverage packaging company with Cradle to Cradle™ certified products. Their clients include Whole Foods, Gillette, P&G, 7 Eleven, Wolfgang Puck and many more. In addition to designing, manufacturing, and distributing compostable packaging that is certified by BPI, the company is a champion of social responsibility. Be Green Packaging has been certified by Intertek for the ethical treatment of workers and social conditions at their plants. Their facility in...

McDonald’s new CEO recently announced that the company is committing to serve chicken raised without antibiotics used in human medicines in all of their U.S. restaurants within two years. As McDonald’s grooms its supply chain to deliver on this promise, this could signal a significant uptick in the supply of affordable, antibiotic-free chicken available to the general public in America. Today we’ll be joined by Sasha Stashwick, a Senior Advocate with the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Energy...

In June 2012, Alameda County in California became the first local government body to pass a safe drug disposal ordinance that would hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for the safe collection and disposal of unused medications from the public. Now San Francisco and numerous additional local governments are on the cusp of doing the same. Today we’ll talk with former Center for Disease Control physician, Dr. Matt Willis; Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the CA Product Stewardship Council...

Much of the commentary on the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si, has centered on who is on his side, and who should feel chastised, e.g. environmentalists vs. big oil; Northern hemisphere vs. Southern; developed countries vs. developing countries. But on today’s episode of Go Green Radio we will focus on ways the Pope encourages readers to be on the same side, “We need to strengthen the conviction that we are one single human family.” Our guest today is Fr. James Martin, Editor-at-Large at America, ...

Today we’re joined by actor/producer, Raphael Sbarge to discuss Green Wish, a grassroots, non-profit organization that funds local, green organizations through customers’ small donations at local retailers. Green Wish was founded in 2009 by Sbarge, after the birth of his first child, “I was struck by how alive I suddenly felt as a father,” he explained. “Conversely, I also felt remarkably vulnerable and defenseless to protect this little person’s journey in a world as vast and complex as ours. I...

In March of this year, Rolling Stone magazine reported that Bonnie Raitt, Indigo Girls, Kristen Graves, John Butler Trio and Michael Franti are among two dozen musicians who have contributed songs to Buy This Fracking Album, a two-disc compilation LP intended to educate listeners about hydro-fracking, a controversial method of extracting natural gas from the earth's shale. In a statement, Raitt said, One of the most critical environmental issues of our time is banning fracking everywhere because...

The Urban School Food Alliance (Alliance), a coalition of the largest school districts in the United States that includes New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami-Dade, Dallas and Orlando, announced that it will start rolling out the use of compostable round plates at cafeterias this month, saying good-bye to polystyrene trays. The districts in the Alliance serve 2.5 million meals a day, and the six districts project to remove 225 million polystyrene trays from landfills every year. Tune in as...

New farmland-mapping research published this week shows that up to 90 percent of Americans could be fed entirely by food grown or raised within 100 miles of their homes. Professor Elliott Campbell, with the University of California, Merced, School of Engineering, discusses the possibilities in a study entitled “The Large Potential of Local Croplands to Meet Food Demand in the United States.” The research results are the cover story of the newest edition of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environmen...

In her new book, Driving the Future, Margo Oge (Former Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, United States Environmental Protection Agency) portrays a future where clean, intelligent vehicles with lighter frames and alternative power trains will produce zero emissions and run at 100+ mpg. With electronic architectures more like that of airplanes, cars will be smarter and safer, will park themselves, and will network with other vehicles on the road to drive themselves. Offering an i...

Opening a new era for cooperation on the world’s most critical water issues, mayors from across Great Lakes and the Middle East will sign a pioneering agreement this month that links their cities through game-changing “Sister Waters” partnerships. The treaty-signing will take place at Water after Borders: Global Stakes, Local Politics, a historic two-day summit at the University of Illinois at Chicago, April 23rd-24th, 2015. Water After Borders will focus on strategies for sharing water across p...

In her new book, Driving the Future, Margo Oge (Former Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, United States Environmental Protection Agency) portrays a future where clean, intelligent vehicles with lighter frames and alternative power trains will produce zero emissions and run at 100+ mpg. With electronic architectures more like that of airplanes, cars will be smarter and safer, will park themselves, and will network with other vehicles on the road to drive themselves. Offering an i...

Leaders in the culinary arts, business, public health, and environmental sciences are working together to develop business-friendly solutions to today’s most pressing social and environmental concerns, such as: • Obesity, diabetes, and healthcare costs • The sourcing and production of our food • The challenge of feeding an additional two billion people by 2050, as global resources decline Menus of Change: The Business of Healthy, Sustainable, Delicious Food Choices is a ground-breaking initiativ...

Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot (OVER) crystallizes the ecological and social tragedies of humanity’s ballooning numbers and consumption. It’s time to make millions of people acutely, immediately, and viscerally aware of the dangers and deprivations facing people and the planet. Our guest today is Bill Ryerson, founder and president of Population Media Center; he also serves as Chair and CEO of The Population Institute in Washington, DC. We will discuss ways to proceed into a sustaina...

Opening a new era for cooperation on the world’s most critical water issues, mayors from across Great Lakes and the Middle East will sign a pioneering agreement this month that links their cities through game-changing “Sister Waters” partnerships. The treaty-signing will take place at Water after Borders: Global Stakes, Local Politics, a historic two-day summit at the University of Illinois at Chicago, April 23rd-24th, 2015. Water After Borders will focus on strategies for sharing water across p...

In June 2012, Alameda County in California became the first local government body to pass a safe drug disposal ordinance that would hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for the safe collection and disposal of unused medications from the public. Now San Francisco and numerous additional local governments are on the cusp of doing the same. Today we’ll talk with former Center for Disease Control physician, Dr. Matt Willis; Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the CA Product Stewardship Council...

What do major fashion retailers and designers like HM, Target, Gap and Levi have in common? They are all working with the Natural Resources Defense Council NRDC to create clothing that uses less water and energy to produce, transport, and care for. Through implementation of the NRDC’s Clean By Design program, these corporate partners utilize their tremendous buying power as a lever to reduce the environmental impacts of their suppliers abroad. Clean by Design focuses on improving process efficie...

The African elephant was originally listed as “threatened” by the U.S. Government in 1978. Since then, the species’ population has declined by about 60 percent, primarily due to poaching for the ivory trade. Habitat destruction and unsustainable trophy hunting also contributed to the decline. Today we’re joined by Peter LaFontaine, Campaign Officer, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Masha Kalinina, International Trade Policy Specialist, Humane Society International, who will discu...