Episodes

Nov. 22, 2019

Affordable (and Effortless) Energy Savings at Home

Our guest today is Seth Terry, Ph.D, head of Customer Experience at Emporia Energy, and we’ll be talking about their new residential energy monitoring device, Vue. The Vue is a low-cost solution that helps consumers track home energy use at the individual appliance level. The user-friendly app helps you see what appliances are contributing most to your monthly energy bill, and helps you take real-time action to conserve energy with a click on your smart phone. Tune in to learn more about this si...
Nov. 8, 2019

EcoRise - Helping High School Students Prepare for Jobs in Green

Our guest today is Gamal Sherif, Program Manager for Texas-based nonprofit, EcoRise. We will discuss a new program to help high school students attain LEED, Green Associate credential through the U.S. Green Building Council. This credential is recognized as an international standard of green building concept knowledge on topics such as indoor air quality, water efficiency, energy efficiency and much more. EcoRise is working with high school teachers and their students to create a workforce that ...
Oct. 25, 2019

Panasonic's New Residential Energy Storage System EverVolt

Never worry about a power outage again. Panasonic Solar has a new solution for consumers who want an eco-friendly, energy independent home: EverVolt™. This new residential energy storage system can be tailored to a homeowner's individual needs, offering both AC and DC coupled options, as well as options to scale down to as little as 5.7kWh of energy storage or expanded to 34.2kWh. Tune in as we talk with Dan Glaser, senior sales engineer for Panasonic!
Oct. 11, 2019

Exposure One Lawyer's 20-Year Battle Against DuPont

In the upcoming motion picture, Dark Waters, actor Mark Ruffalo plays the character inspired by Robert Bilott, a lawyer specializing in helping big corporations stay on the right side of environmental laws and regulations. His life took an unexpected turn when a West Virginia farmer named Earl Tennant called. He was convinced his cattle were being poisoned by runoff from a neighboring DuPont landfill. Rob ultimately gains access to hundreds of thousands of pages of DuPont documents that reveal t...
Oct. 4, 2019

Energy Efficiency Leads Energy Sector Job Growth

Energy efficiency is the fastest-growing segment of U.S. energy-sector employment, now employing more than 2.3 million Americans, according to a new analysis from E4TheFuture and the national, nonpartisan business group E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs). Energy efficiency workers now account for 28% of all U.S. energy jobs. The new report, Energy Efficiency Jobs in America, finds energy efficiency jobs grew 3.4 percent in 2018 –more than double the rate of growth for overall jobs nationwide — wit...
Sept. 20, 2019

Why the Amazon is Burning

Paul Rosolie is a naturalist, explorer, author, and award-winning wildlife filmmaker. For the past decade he has specialized in threatened ecosystems and species in countries like Indonesia, Brazil, India, and Peru.. He has also spent extensive time traveling with poachers documenting the illegal trade in endangered species. Rosolie’s memoir on Amazonian wildlife and exploration, Mother of God, was hailed as “gripping” by Jane Goodall, and the Wall Street Journal applauded Rosolie’s environmenta...
Aug. 9, 2019

United States of Plastic - A New Series from The Guardian

What does it mean to recycle plastic? Where does it go, and what is the process for transforming a recyclable plastic bottle or jug into a new product? The answer may shock you. A Guardian report from 11 countries tracks how US waste makes its way across the world – and overwhelms the poorest nations. Today we will be joined by Erin McCormick, one of the U.S.-based journalists for The Guardian working on a new series of articles entitled, “United States of Plastic.” Tune in as she discusses this...
Aug. 2, 2019

CHPS New Standards Create Healthy, Climate-resilient Schools

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools released its highly-anticipated K-12 school-focused CHPS 2019 Core Criteria 3.0. The third edition builds upon the CHPS 2014 Core Criteria.
July 19, 2019

Inventing Tomorrow-Transforming Our World Through Teen Scientists

A new PBS documentary, Inventing Tomorrow, follows six young scientists from Indonesia, Hawaii, India and Mexico as they tackle some of the most complex environmental issues facing humanity today—right in their own backyards. Each student is preparing original scientific research that they will defend at ISEF, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Against the backdrop of today’s most pressing environmental threats, we immerse the audience in a global view of the planetary crisis,...
July 12, 2019

The Water/Energy Nexus: Lessons from Southern California

According to the California Department of Water Resources, about 12 percent of the state’s total energy consumption is related to moving, treating and heating,cooling water.
June 28, 2019

Rainwater Harvesting for More Resilient Communities

As climate change continues to progress, droughts and floods are expected to become increasingly common. In many parts of the country, our nation’s water infrastructure is inadequate and antiquated. Comprehensive solutions are daunting, but rainwater harvesting is an action that many residents can take that will have a substantial impact on their community water systems. Harvesting rainwater has multiple benefits – stormwater management, reduced energy costs, and free water for irrigating garden...
June 21, 2019

Compassionate Cuisine - A Cookbook from Catskill Animal Sanctuary

Catskill Animal Sanctuary wants the world to go vegan. It’s who they are; it’s what they do. It’s why hundreds of rescued farm animals call this place home, and why the Sanctuary opens its gates to thousands of visitors each year. Written with love and authenticity, Compassionate Cuisine tells—through its food—the story of one of the country’s oldest and most respected animal sanctuaries. In the book, Chef Linda Soper-Kolton and Chef Sara Boan, the Sanctuary’s vegan chefs, bring its culinary pro...
June 14, 2019

EcoConsilium Helps Schools Save Big Money on Waste Hauling

For school districts, every dollar spent on waste hauling is a dollar that could be used in the classroom. In many school districts the rates for garbage, recycling and organics services is going up, and today we will talk about a smart, proven way for schools to save substantial amounts of money on their waste hauling bill. Our guest today is Jodi Taitt, founder and principal of the waste diversion consulting firm, EcoConsilium, and a TRUE Zero Waste Advisor certified by Green Business Certific...
May 31, 2019

Tips for Hosting a Sustainable, Eco-Friendly Party

Summer is the season for parties! Graduation parties, Father’s Day, and the 4th of July are just a few of the many dates we’ll be hosting get-togethers with family and friends. Even if you have some strategies for “going green” at your parties, today we promise you’ll learn several more. Our guest today is Andrea Fowler, Entertainment Editor of The Bash, and she will walk us through some of her best ideas to help you throw the greenest bash on the block!
May 17, 2019

The Future is Rural

Dr. Jason Bradford, a farmer, biologist and board president of Post Carbon Institute, released a report earlier this spring called, The Future Is Rural: Food System Adaptations to the Great Simplification. In the report Dr. Bradford acknowledges that our modern food system is entirely unsustainable. But, he then takes the argument one step further and considers key, commonly overlooked factors that would logistically prevent simply replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy in order to maintai...
April 12, 2019

Green America and Climate Victory Gardens

Green America marked a major milestone this month: over 1,000 registered Climate Victory Gardens in the U.S equal 140 football fields of healthy plants that are healing the soil. Green America took note of the occasion to release Climate Victory Gardening 101: A toolkit for growing healthy food for a healthy planet. The Climate Victory Garden 101 Toolkit details step-by-step instructions for planting a Climate Victory Garden and 10 carbon capturing practices. Climate Victory Gardens were inspire...
April 5, 2019

L.A. Unified School District Recognized by U.S. Dept. of Energy

On March 26, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Challenge visited Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)’s Showcase Project Santee Education Complex, to recognize LAUSD for the energy productivity advances made in its schools. Better Buildings Partner LAUSD opened the 338,000-square-foot Santee Education Complex in July 2005 as the first new four-year high school for the Los Angeles Unified School District in more than 35 years. Santee is on schedule to achieve 30% annua...
March 29, 2019

CleanChoice Energy to Supply Solar Lanterns to Families in Need

CleanChoice Energy, a renewable energy company that empowers people and businesses to cut emissions and live cleaner lives, has launched a new product to provide solar lanterns to families in need around the world. For every customer that makes the switch to clean energy through the Clean Lights Plan, CleanChoice Energy will send a solar lantern to families in need. An estimated 1.1 billion people – 14% of the global population – do not have access to electricity according to the International E...
March 1, 2019

Resilience in the face of Climate Change

Our guest today is Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow-in-Residence at the Post Carbon Institute. We will discuss what our future climate might mean for us and how we can prepare for the coming changes. Richard is an American journalist and educator who has written extensively on energy, economic, and ecological issues, including oil depletion. He is the author of 13 books, and presently serves as the senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute. Richard will draw on the extensive knowledge of the Ins...
Feb. 22, 2019

Sustainable Jersey for Schools

Sustainable Jersey for Schools is a free program available to all public schools in the Garden State that want to “go green” and conserve natural resources. The program offers training, grants and certification opportunities. The program was launched in 2014 and encompasses three vital components of sustainability: people – contribute to a strong civil society that provides opportunity for all; prosperity – support local economies and wise use of community resources; and planet – practice respon...
Feb. 1, 2019

Josh Clark, Host of The End of the World

The End of the World, in collaboration with HowStuffWorks, was one of the best new podcasts of 2018! The podcast is hosted by Josh Clark, co-host of the award-winning podcast Stuff You Should Know, and presented by iHeartMedia. On the show, Josh discusses the existential risks humankind faces and how new technology seeks to address them. He is joined by a number of experts across the podcast’s ten episodes, from astrobiologists to philosophers to economists and transhumanists. All ten episodes a...
Jan. 25, 2019

Fair Trade 2.0

On December 21, 2018, we spoke with Dana Geffner, Executive Director of the Fair World Project, about Fair Trade issues for cocoa farmers. On today’s episode, we will focus on: what is happening in the fair trade movement today that is exciting; how fair trade is relevant in today's current political climate and is connected directly to current issues such as immigration; and how to make educated purchasing decisions.
Dec. 21, 2018

Fair World Project Calls on Costco to Support Cocoa Farmers

Fair World Project (FWP) recently released a new report providing an in-depth analysis of existing fair trade standards, and the group is calling on major retailer, Costco, to evaluate its buying practices for its private label cocoa products. Costco is the nation’s leader in organic product sales and is renowned for its treatment of its domestic workforce, with fair wages and generous benefits. The company has also made significant sustainability and sourcing commitments to reflect its social a...
Dec. 14, 2018

American Farmland Trust Discusses the 2018 Farm Bill

According to John Piotti, president and CEO of the American Farmland Trust (AFT), the U.S. is losing farmland at a rate of three acres a minute – 31 million acres between 1992 and 2012 alone. AFT is the organization behind the national movement No Farms No Food® and today we’ll be talking with senior AFT representatives about their view on the 2018 Farm Bill and its effectiveness in protecting farmland, promoting environmentally sound farming practices and keeping farmers on the land.