Trash Talking with Eco-Warriors | Sustainability, Green Business, Conservation

It's hard to imagine a time when we didn't have curbside recycling programs, but it was actually less than 30 years ago now. That's when Christine Datz-Romero had decided to do something to help divert recyclables from the waste stream. This expanded into an entire center that is the largest collector of food scraps and electronic waste here in NYC. The Lower East Side Ecology Center that Christine founded helps divert 400 tonnes of food scraps from landfill. They also have a year-round e-waste recycling program that helps remove the 70% of heavy metals that can be found in landfill from electronics that are incorrectly disposed of. -- Resource mentioned in this episode: Mary Appelhof -- Check out the LES Ecology Center’s e-waste drop off sites! There are popup locations every weekend through June. They’ve also opened an additional drop-off site in Chinatown at 75 Broadway near the East Broadway F stop or the Grand St. D stop. You can bring your computers, keyboard, printers, etc. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursdays between 12-4 PM. Link in show notes for more info. Don’t miss the LES Ecology Center’s 30th birthday party at the East River Park on June 9th. Face painting, food, and compost - it’s a great opportunity to see what the LES Ecology Center does and help support the continuation of their work. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

Perennial means present at all seasons of the year and Karen Leibowitz and her husband Anthony Myint have been working towards initiatives that encourages the removal of carbon from our atmosphere through food. But not just any food, a sustainable food system that accounts for everything including how something is grown and the positive contributions this can supply to the environment and the way every part is used in meals and the energy expensed in creating a meal at the restaurant. The Perennial restaurant in SF uses initiatives like Kernza, a perennial grain that draws carbon out of the atmosphere year-round, at their restaurant. It's incredible to hear how they've accounted for everything in designing their business and how they're working to influence other restauranteurs. -- Resources mentioned in this episode: Soil Solutions Draw Down -- Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action. Thank you to everyone who came to our screening of WASTED! last week Tuesday. There were over 100 people at the event and the event could not have been a success without each and every one of you. So THANK YOU for your support. We’re dreaming up our next big event! If you’ve got something you want to learn about, a space you’d like to let us use, or a business you think we should partner with, reach out and let me know! Barbara@trashybeauty.com.

Susan Albert was working in the fashion and textile industry here in NYC. She had moved from her homeland in the UK and was struck by the amount of disposability here in the US. After her kids were born, Susan wanted to figure out a new career path. She decided she would create artwork that spoke to the theme of sustainability and environmental impact. Susan’s multimedia works are on display at her studio in Gowanus, Brooklyn as well as in various places like the Human Impact Institute and NYC Climate Week. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, my favorite piece of Susan’s has to be the tablecloth she created with imagery of various pieces of trash and QR codes that can start “dinner” conversations on issues of waste. -- We're hosting a screening of WASTED! The Story of Food Waste on April 10th at the Kickstarter HQ in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Get your tickets now. Entrance includes food and drink from sustainable companies like Toast Ale, Proud Pour, Ancolie, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, Aerofarms + Local Roots, Nomad Trading Co., RISE Products, Food for All, Eleva Coffee and a take-home eco-goodie bag sponsored by Commit to Green, Bareburger, The Fillery and Teapigs. Featuring photos by JCT Photography. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

Born from one sailor's love of the ocean, By the Ocean We Unite is on a mission to prevent plastic pollution. Their work includes research conducted at sea on mini-expeditions where they invite interested citizens to join them. These expeditions are led by Roos Swart, a Marine Biologist who completed her Masters in the Dutch Caribbean. BTOWU is a clear example of how ordinary citizens can help educate and guide the public conversation around conservation and environmental protection. You can join them for one of their sailing expeditions. Their next one sets sail on April 14th from Harlingen, Netherlands. Check out the information on their Facebook page. -- Resources mentioned in this episode: Guppy Friends Bubble Barrier Blue Planet 2 Plastic Expedition Up to Norway Plastic Soup Foundation Seabin -- We're hosting a screening of WASTED! The Story of Food Waste on April 10th at the Kickstarter HQ in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Get your tickets now. Entrance includes food and drink from sustainable companies like Toast Ale, Proud Pour, Ancolie, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, Aerofarms + Local Roots, Nomad Trading Co., RISE Products, Food for All, Eleva Coffee and a take-home eco-goodie bag sponsored by Commit to Green, Bareburger, and Teapigs. Featuring photos by JCT Photography. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

About 40% of food in America will be wasted. And an average American family wastes $1,500 worth of food every year. That's billions of dollars of food that goes to landfill, creating greenhouse gases that warm our planet. Don't be a statistic. Sabine Valenga and her co-founders, David Rodríguez and Victor Carreño, were at a Harvard incubation program when they came up with the idea of Food for All, an app that allows you to rescue food from restaurants an hour before they close at a fraction of the cost. The app has partnered with hundreds of restaurants in Boston and New York City, with plans to disrupt the food waste culture in America and beyond. -- Want to meet Sabine and other eco-warriors like her? We're hosting a screening of WASTED! The Story of Food Waste on April 10th at the Kickstarter HQ in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Get your tickets now. Entrance includes food and drink from sustainable companies like Toast Ale, Proud Pour, Ancolie, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, Aerofarms + Local Roots, Nomad Trading Co., RISE Products, Food for All, Eleva Coffee and a take-home eco-goodie bag sponsored by Commit to Green, Bareburger, and Teapigs. Featuring photos by JCT Photography. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

Founded in 2013, bio-bean® is the first company in the world to industrialize the process of recycling waste coffee grounds into advanced biofuels and biochemicals. In the UK alone, they produces 500,000 tons of waste coffee grounds every year. Like most of our trash in landfills, organic material breaks down and creates methane, a greenhouse gas that is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Coffee, rich in oil, makes a source of energy that burns clean and hot, perfect for cold countries with wood burning stoves like the UK. Julia Porter, National Supply Chain Manager, and Dianne Mitchell, Engineering Director, at bio-bean chat to us about their processes, challenges, and tips for living a more sustainable lifestyle. There are some funny stories and jokes, but bio-bean, with plans to expand into extracting oil from coffee waste at a commercial scale, has some serious solutions to ending our global dependence on fossil fuels. We're hosting a screening of WASTED! The Story of Food Waste on April 10th at the Kickstarter HQ in Greene Point Brooklyn. Get your tickets now. Entrance includes food and drink from sustainable companies like Toast Ale, Proud Pour, Ancolie, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, Nomad Trading Co., RISE Products, Food for All, Eleva Coffee and a take-home eco-goodie bag sponsored by Commit to Green, Bareburger, and Teapigs. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

Bertha Jimenez, with a degree in mechanical engineering and Ph.D in technology management, heard about industrial symbiosis when she was studying fish packaging warehouses. Wanting to understand what happened with the massive amounts of waste, she realized there was a significant difference between the companies who put their waste into the trash and those who upcycled. Looking for a way to keep the flow going on several industrial processes, Bertha and her team members came across an ingenious idea - take spent grain from microbreweries and turn it into high protein flour. RISE Product's low carb flour has now been made into several products by companies like Runner + Stone, Grain Stand, Lighthouse, Osteria Francescana, and others. If you’re interested in working with RISE flour or want to learn more about them, you can reach out to bertha@riseproducts.co or jessica@riseproducts.co. Resources mentioned in this episode: Change Food William McDonough, Cradle to Cradle and Upcycle We're hosting a screening of WASTED! The Story of Food Waste on April 10th at the Kickstarter HQ in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Get your tickets now. We've extended our listener discount - use TRASHYEB5 for a $5 discount on tickets. Entrance includes food and drink from sustainable companies like Toast Ale, Proud Pour, Ancolie, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, Nomad Trading Co., RISE Products, Food for All, Eleva Coffee and a take-home eco-goodie bag sponsored by Commit to Green, Bareburger, and Teapigs. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

It all started with one challenge between 10 friends - plant 1,000 trees each to help offset their carbon footprint. Well, that challenge never ended and soon turned into an organization that is starting a Treevolution in South Africa. Lauren O'Donnell did not mean to start a green revolution. In fact, she wasn't even all that interested in sustainability or conservation. But, in taking on this personal challenge, Lauren and her friends sparked something in the community. Today, Greenpop has planted over 82,000 trees in ancient forests near Cape Town as well as in disadvantaged communities in the city. Their annual Reforest Fest takes place on the weekends of March 13-15th and March 23-25th and includes planting trees, seminars on sustainability, live music and local food. Check out one of their events and help support the planting of trees on their website. Cape Town is today facing a water crisis that will leave the city with no water by May 11th*, what the town is calling Day Zero. Greenpop has put a hold on their city-wide tree planting, but they are holding water-wise workshops to help educate people on the conservation of clean water. *Date projections change regularly. Check the city's website for the most up-to-date information. -- Tune in to the very end where we answer a listener question about plastics and China refusing to accept the US's recycling. We have special guest Sam Silver from Sims Municipal Recycling Center here in New York City who gives us some great tips on recycling and breaks down the issue surrounding recycled materials and gas prices. -- Resources mentioned in this episode: Happy Earth People: http://happyearthpeople.com/ Wazoogles: https://wazoogles.com/ -- We're hosting a screening of WASTED! The Story of Food Waste on April 10th at the Kickstarter HQ in Greenepoint Brooklyn. Get your tickets now and use TRASHYEB5 for a $5 discount exclusively for Trash Talking listeners. Promotional discount expires on March 9th. Ticket price includes food and drink from sustainable companies like Toast Ale, Proud Pour, Ancolie, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, Nomad Trading Co., RISE Products, Food for All, Eleva Coffee, Teapigs, and more. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

All beer is made from four ingredients - water, carbohydrates, hops and yeast. In ancient Babylonian times, they would use bread as the carbohydrate source as a way to preserve a food prone to spoilage. When Tristram Stuart, founder and CEO of Toast Ale, first heard about this recipe he realized he had found the perfect project to go all in on. Toast takes leftover bread from bakeries and sandwich shops and turns it into delicious beer. The company has open sourced its recipe and encourages franchises and partnerships in other cities and countries. They have partnerships in New York City, Iceland, South Africa, and Brazil, with further plans to expand. All proceeds go to Tristram's charity Feedback. Louisa Ziane is the Chief Financial Officer and Brand Manager for Toast Ale UK. She went from working in finance to the Carbon Trust and eventually landing the opportunity to help Tristram start Toast from the ground up. Louisa shares with us some incredibly inspiration stories about how she chose her current career path and how she made huge pivots in her life. Resources mentioned in this episode: Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal The Carbon Trust Farmaggedon Impossible Burger WASTED! A Story of Food Waste Dan Barber of Blue Hill WastED London Regrained Tea People Snact Change Please Moon Cups Toast Ale is hiring in the UK and across their global partners. Check it out. We're also gearing up for our screening of WASTED! A Story of Food Waste that Toast and Tristram Stuart are featured in. The screening will be held on Tuesday, April 10th at the Kickstarter HQ in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Tickets include Toast beer and other sustainable beverages and food. We will have special early bird pricing specifically for Trash Talking listeners, so sign up for the mailing list and be the first to know. There are limited spots and we anticipate the event selling out. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

Proud eco-geek and science communicator Danni Washington is making waves with her non-profit work and as the host of her own Fox-syndicated television show Nature Knows Best. She also founded her own non-profit called Big Blue and You and puts on a yearly event called ArtSea in Miami. Wanting to bridge the gap between scientists and every day citizens, Danni embarked on a wild adventure that has taken her from recording videos for text books, to YouTube and winning a contest led by clothing brand Roxy, and onto being the star of her own tv show. Listen in as Danni tells us how she made it all happen and the time she tried to convince comedian Kevin Hart to go green. -- Resources mentioned in this episode: Andrea Marshall, Marine Biologist Blue Mind, Wallace J Nichols Mission Blue, Dr. Silvia Earl Saved by the Sea, David Helvarg March for the Ocean, June 9th Plastic Ocean, Capt. Charles Moore Rachel Carson Plastic Paradise, Angela Son Kiss the Ground Klean Kanteen -- If you're in the Miami area on Saturday, March 3rd, check out Danni's non-profit, Big Blue and You, event called ArtSea. It takes place at Historic Virginia Beach Park and includes a full day of art and education surrounding ocean conservation. Save the Date for our showing of WASTED! The Story of Food Waste, co-hosted by Talk Trash City, on Tuesday, April 10th at 6:30 PM. We'll be bringing together an evening of sustainable food and drink at the Kickstarter HQ in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Tickets will go on sale at the beginning of March. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

It’s Valentine’s Day this week and chances are you’ll be partaking in one of my favorite guilty pleasures - chocolate. Every year, 58 million pounds of chocolate is purchased. But not everything is so sweet about the practices that surround this commodity-driven product. Nathan Hodge, head chocolatier of Raaka Chocolate in Brooklyn, NY, is working to change this. If you’re like most conscious consumers, you’ve probably thought of the impact that a commodity-driven treat like chocolate has on our planet and the communities that grow them. This episode dives into the indigenous cultures where cacao is grown as well as the meaning of sustainable chocolate. Nate shares with us the time he set his oven on fire and when he had a bow and arrow drawn on him while researching cacao trees in South America. He's very passionate about creating delicious, sustainable chocolate that supports the health of the makers, consumers, and planet. -- Resources mentioned in this episode: Taza Chocolate Patagonia Lost City of Z -- Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

When you think of fresh, crisp greens and herbs, what images are conquered in your mind? If it's warm, lush fields in California and the pain of throwing out sad, wilting leaves you're going to love this chat with Nicole Baum of Gotham Greens. Using a fraction of the space, water, and no soil, Gotham Greens has build hydroponic green houses on the rooftops of urban cities. Their mission - get fresh greens at a minimal impact to the environment and create arable land where there is the densest population - New York City and Chicago. Nicole talks us through Gotham's programs, where you can go to visit the farm, and the urban projects that are changing the way city-dwellers get their fresh greens. The best part is that these greens are fresher, more nutritious, and turn food miles into food footsteps. Gotham Greens has already taken over most retail stores, from Whole Foods Market to Key Foods and FoodKick, and are looking to expand to the cities with the harshest weather and highest populations. Learn about why this matters and how you can see this working farm within your own neighborhood. -- Resources mentioned in this podcast: Gotham Greens Instagram Viral Puri, CEO + Co-Founder of Gotham Greens TedxBrooklyn Green Bronx Machine Wellness in the School The Kitchen Community -- Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action. *Photos used with permission from Gotham Greens

Lilian Liu grew up in two worlds - her home country of Sweden where sustainability and responsible business practices were prevalent - and Shanghai, where her parents were from, which faced aggressive growth during her childhood. China dominates the clothing industry with more than 40 percent of clothing being produced in this one country alone. This led Lilian to pursuing non-traditional methods of international relations and development. Beginning with interning at the United Nations, Lilian is now the Manager of Partnerships and UN Relations, a program with over 9,000 business partners. She shares incredibly valuable insight about pursuing a career path in international relations and sustainability as well as her view of the global fashion industry. Lilian will be speaking at the UN on Tuesday, Jan. 30th at the UN General Assembly on Sustainable Textiles. This event is open to all and registration information can be found online. Connect with Lilian on LinkedIn or email here at lilianyliu@gmail.com. *DISCLAIMER: Lilian is sharing her own views and opinions and is not representing the United Nations or its programs in any way. -- Resources mentioned in this episode: UN Global Compact Ten Principles Redress Reformation Overdressed by Elizabeth L. Cline True Cost River Blue Fashion Revolution Rent the Runway Beacon's Closet *Some of these links are affiliate links and purchasing through them helps to support the show. -- Don't forget to sign up for our Underground Farm Tour of Farm.one on Friday, Feb. 23rd at 7 PM. Tours are $30/person and include the tour and tasting, prosecco, and an eco-take home gift box with herbs, Trashy Beauty coffee body scrub, and more. Spaces are very limited. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

Mexico is seeing the beginning of its sustainability movement. Camila Lopez Gomez, Project Manager at Impact0, Mexico's only sustainability organization with an international ISO certification, tells us about the climate of Mexico's environmental movement and the hard decisions she had to make in pursuing her passion. Impact0 has helped divert over 80,000 kgs of recyclable materials from landfills and they help everyone from small companies to museums figure out how to reduce their impact. Camila travels to different festivals around the world like Glastonbury, learning about sustainability initiatives and bringing that knowledge back to her homeland. Over the years, as Carnaval de Bahidora's attendees have increased, the festival has worked to decrease their impact. If you're interested in coming to Mexico in February to meet myself and Camila, check out Carnival Bahidora's festival page. You can reach Camila directly by emailing camlop@impact0.org or connecting with her on LinkedIn. - Resources mentioned in this episode: Carnival Bahidora Wangari Maathai London Olympics Sustainability Report Green Giants - Don't forget to sign up for our Underground Farm Tour of Farm.one on Friday, Feb. 23rd at 7 PM. Tours are $30/person and include the tour and tasting, prosecco, and an eco-take home gift bo with herbs, Trashy Beauty coffee body scrub, and more. Spaces are very limited. Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.

It's the ultimate way to cut down on the environmental impact of growing food - hydroponic, vertical growing. It may look SciFi like, with the glowing LED lights and high-tech equipment, but it certainly could be the way we grow food in the future. Dana, Operations Manager at Farm.one, tells us all about their farm, the weird things they grow, and how you could own your very own piece of Farm.one here. In this episode, Dana breaks down what you should know about food and environment, in a delicious episode that's sure to get you thinking about where your next meal could come from (or, at least those fancy edible flowers on your Restaurant Week plate). You can also book a tour and check out their facilities, with a glass of sustainable prosecco in hand. -- Resources mentioned in this episode: Christina Tosi Alice Waters Ripple Foods Perfect Day Impossible Foods Patagonia —- Join the conversation on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and try our repurposed coffee body scrub. Don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast with other eco-warriors. We read all of your reviews and your positive ratings help us spread the word and spur more eco-warriors to action.