Sustainability Now - exploring technologies and paradigms to shape a world that works

A Sustainability Now Interview with Nathan Lou, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mongol Tribe. Agro-ecologist Nathan Lou is Co-founder and Executive Director of San Diego-based Mongol Tribe, a 501C3 providing hands-on education and experiences with traditional and regenerative land management practices. With local resiliency as his rally cry and food sovereignty as its anthem, Nathan is all about taking back our autonomy, the ability of our communities to grow our own food and medicines with less dependency on external inputs. We talk about urban food forests and public policy, seed libraries and how to develop them, community building and cultivating connection to the land, even in a city environment. Links and resources from this episode at https://www.sustainabilitynow.global/2024/03/16/urban-food-forests-seed-libraries-as-food-sovereignty-strategies/ #UrbanFoodForests #SeedLibraries #FoodSovereignty #SustainabilityNow #CommunityResilience #RegenerativeAgriculture #LocalFoodSystems #LandStewardship #Agroecology #CommunityBuilding #UrbanAgriculture #FoodJustice #EnvironmentalEducation #PublicPolicy #SeedSaving #UrbanFarming #CommunityEmpowerment #ResilientCommunities #ConnectionToLand #AutonomousFoodProduction

A Sustainability Now interview with Nina Simons, author, speaker, teacher and co-founder of Bioneers Join us for a thoughtful and visionary conversation with Nina Simons, co-founder of Bioneers and author of the top Nautilus award winning book, Nature, Culture, and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership. Nina invites us into what she calls “full spectrum leadership;” leadership that reclaims our human wholeness, that values the wisdom of our hearts, our bodies, our intuition, dreamtime and our ancestors. She calls for regenerating leadership in service to Mother Life in a way that values being as much as doing and is committed to learning how to live in right relationship with nature while reclaiming our fullest human capacities. Throughout her career, spanning the nonprofit, social entrepreneurship, corporate, and philanthropic sectors, Nina has worked with nearly a thousand women leaders across disciplines, race, class, age and orientation to create conditions for mutual learning, trust and leadership development. Additionally, along with her husband and partner Kenny Ausubel, Nina is a recipient of the revered Goi Peace Award for “pioneering work to promote nature-inspired innovations for restoring the Earth and our human community.” Nina's book: Nature, Culture and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership Preview on Bioneers | Buy on Bookshop.org Bioneers website If you like what we're doing, please support us and help spread the word https://www.patreon.com/sustainabilitynow

We currently stand at a pivotal juncture where the loss of numerous species from our local ecosystems poses a serious threat. This jeopardizes the ecosystem services that are essential for our well-being, including oxygen production, water purification, flood control, pollination, pest regulation, and carbon storage. However, this isn't a moment of condemning human actions, but an opportunity to embrace an enjoyable path to positive change through stewardship. Doug Tallamy's message emphasizes a solution-focused approach: small individual efforts can collectively make a significant impact. By working together, we can create new ecological networks that support the growth and resilience of plant and animal populations, allowing them to thrive despite normal population fluctuations. At the heart of this initiative is the concept of the Homegrown National Park®, a term coined by Doug. It serves as a rallying point, recognizing that even our grand national parks, remarkable as they are, are too isolated and limited in scale to preserve species effectively. The idea behind the Homegrown National Park is a grassroots call to action, encouraging us to restore habitats in our residential and working areas, and to a lesser extent in agricultural and grazing lands, effectively extending the concept of national parks to our own yards and communities. To visually represent this collective effort, they have created "THE MAP," an interactive community-based tool that tracks each person's contribution to native plantings by State, County, and Zip Code. This map not only gauges progress toward the ambitious goal of planting 20 million acres of native species in the U.S. but also provides individuals with a tangible way to see their role in a larger ecological restoration effort, thereby creating new ecological networks and revitalizing biodiversity. #HomegrownNationalPark #getonthemap #RewildYourYard #NativePlanting #BackyardHabitats #EcoStewardship #BiodiversityBoost #HabitatRestoration #CommunityConservation #EcoNetworks #DougTallamy #ConservationEfforts #BiodiversityMatters #StewardshipForChange #EcosystemResilience #HomegrownNationalPark #SustainableLiving #DougTallamysVision #CommunityConservation #TheMapForChange #RestoringBiodiversity #CollectiveAction #SpeciesPreservation #SmallStepsBigImpact

Deniz Tekerek is co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Archireef, a Nature-tech startup that restores coral reefs with proprietary 3D-printed clay Reef Tiles. Often called the rainforests of the sea, coral reef structures help slow down and shrink waves as they hurtle towards shore, which helps protect coastlines from hurricanes, cyclones and tsunamis. Corals protect shorelines in 81 countries around the world, sheltering the 200 million people living along those coasts. Found in warm, shallow water, coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean floor but host more than 25% of marine life.

Graham Stewart, founder of Fibre52, is creating a revolution in the fabric industry. Over the past 2 years, Graham has developed and patented an environmentally kind and cost-conscious process to bleach and dye cotton that results in a stronger fiber. Without chemical degradation, it produces cooler, naturally dry, soft, wrinkle and stain-resistant clothing that is recyclable, biodegradable, and a natural replacement for plastic. With his 50+ years in the industry, Graham is an extraordinary source of information, influence and insight. He gives us a deeper glimpse into the world of fiber, fabric and fashion, a world we all rely on yet very few of us know. It is because of his global connections and reputation, and the power of his innovations, that major brands are jumping on the Fibre52 bandwagon in their transition to sustainable practices. Resources related to this episode at https://www.sustainabilitynow.global/2023/09/02/074-fibre52-a-revolution-in-the-fabric-industry/

Meet Joe Luttwak, a man on a mission to revolutionize #sustainability. With years of experience in the #CarbonFiber sector, including renowned companies like Ferrari, he embarked on a journey to create an eco-friendly alternative. Joe’s brainchild, Lingrove, emerged as a game-changer, introducing a groundbreaking proprietary formulation. This innovative formula transforms waste and rapidly renewable plants into high-performance goods. One of Lingrove’s standout creations is the remarkable Blackbird Guitar. Blending the strength of carbon fiber with the rich resonance of aged wood, this masterpiece stands out for being tree-free and free from harmful additives. The ingenious combination of flax fibers and plant-based resins holds the key to its success. The brilliance of this product swiftly caught the attention of designers seeking natural fiber composites. Acknowledging that the construction industry contributes 40% of greenhouse gases, Lingrove evolved to develop ekoa eco-veneers. These cutting-edge materials empower architects and product designers to seamlessly incorporate sustainable elements into their projects. Ekoa serves as a versatile alternative to wood, vinyl, metals, and plastics, finding its application in interior design. Whether adorning walls, ceilings, cabinetry, millwork, or vehicle dashboards, this low-carbon, clean-air solution boasts a remarkable strength-to-weight ratio, surpassing even that of steel. Explore the world of Lingrove and Joe Luttwak, where innovation and sustainability converge, revolutionizing industries and shaping a #GreenerFuture.

With a long and distinguished career in microbiology, Mike Cox is an inventor as well as the Founder and CEO of Anaerobe Systems, a microbiology manufacturing and research company. While developing a process to produce hydrogen from biomass, a happy “accident” led Mike to the invention of a miracle “plant food” and fertilizer. What’s beautiful about Mike’s solution is that the feedstock for his fertilizer is food waste, or as he’s brilliantly rechristened it: food grade fuel. With food waste being one of the greatest contributors to CO2 emissions, how elegant to use that waste to feed plants and restore the soil. Not to mention that hydrogen is essentially a “free” byproduct of the process. All this and a lucrative business model to boot!

While researching the rapid shift in cancer incidents from northern states to the Mississippi Delta, triple board-certified physician, Dr. Zach Bush connected the widespread use of Glyphosate (trade name: Round-up) in America’s farmlands with soil and human health everywhere from the farms to the Gulf of Mexico. This chemical destroys the microbiome in the soil as well as our digestive systems. Dr. Zach realized that it is necessary to restore soil health to allow our farmlands to produce nutrient-dense foods that will then restore human health. David explains how Farmer’s Footprint was born out of an effort to educate farmers about regenerative agriculture practices through the story of how the Breitkreutz family is transitioning their Minnesota farm from from conventional farming to regenerative agriculture. Storytelling became the root of making connections and helping farmers start making steps toward regenerative farming. Their ethos is one of progress over perfection. They seek to meet farmers where they are, never allowing divergence in dogma to devalue the food producer’s profound contribution to society. They are engineering the tools, business models, policies, and incentives to scale regenerative practices globally.

Values-based investing, supporting local economies, supporting social change. What if you could literally invest your money where your life and your values are? Longtime activist and visionary, Michael H. Shuman, has made a career of applying his economics and law training to enable that very thing. Seeing local economies as a vehicle for global change, Michael schools us in strategies to fund local initiatives. In fact, this conversation is a crash course in local investment, crowdfunding, values-based investing, and investment vehicles including Solo 401K's and Self-directed IRAs. Don't be fooled, all this financial talk is anything but dry. Michael provides us the keys to the kingdom. He shows us ways we can redirect our wealth to things that matter and create impact as well as return on investment. Resources and more at https://www.sustainabilitynow.global/2023/05/30/put-your-money-where-your-life-is-with-michael-h-shuman/

A positive contrarian and thought provocateur in both business and the regenerative movement, Carol Sanford brings about change by disrupting certainty; and this interview is no exception. By digging deep to unearth and upend underlying assumptions, Carol has changed the essence of work in corporations such as Google, DuPont, Intel, P&G, and Seventh Generation, making the impossible possible and generating unprecedented results. She speaks of a stellar example with a Colgate plant in South Africa where generations of racial division and prejudice were dismantled by effectively challenging the very concept of race. Contending with a terminal diagnosis of ALS, Carol also shakes up our concept of and relationship with death, displaying tremendous grace and unvarnished candor. Resources and more are available at https://www.sustainabilitynow.global/2023/02/04/070-disrupting-certainty-with-carol-sanford/ If you like what we're doing, please support us and help spread the word https://www.patreon.com/sustainabilitynow https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCumkgzfUTcfuzR5FxAmAyxA https://www.facebook.com/OurSustainabilityNow/ https://www.instagram.com/sustainabilitynow8/ https://twitter.com/SustMovement

Hal Crimmel, educator, author and filmmaker, joins us for a rich conversation about the growing momentum behind the rights of nature movement as well as the making of his film entitled, "The Rights of Nature: A Global Movement." If we can imbue corporations with the same rights as people, doesn't it make sense to empower nature, the very foundation of life, with the legal standing to preserve its right to exist? Like a baby who has to rely on a guardian to represent it in court, shouldn't nature too be defended by our guardianship? These questions are just the tip of the iceberg. We explore the delicate ecological dynamics between people and nature, government and corporate interests, laws and enforcement; and look at the changing experience of our role and relationship to the natural world.

Some have said that the wheel is the most important invention of all time. For 5000 years, it has remained relatively unchanged; until now that is. The folks at Shark Wheel have literally reinvented the wheel and now this new wheel is poised to solve some of the biggest problems in commercial agriculture. The discovery that sine waves can be found everywhere in nature, from planetary motion to the way fish swim and humans walk, was the breakthrough that got things "rolling." Next came the development of the shark wheel, a sine wave-based wheel, developed from a cube, that has the exact same shape as the jaw of a shark. This same sine wave breakthrough is also the foundation of a revolutionary wind and water turbine technology with many more technological innovations likely on the horizon.

with Lauren Tucker of reNourish Studio, Co-Founder and former Executive Director of Kiss the Ground Lauren Tucker is on a mission to evolve our food system and is consequently challenging the very foundations of the business of food. Lauren’s latest venture, reNourish Studio, a project of Farmer’s Footprint, brings together an eclectic group of business people from the food production and distribution system to work on business, ecosystems, equity, biodiversity and food access collectively rather than addressing their individual businesses and these issues as siloed and separate. At the root of this living systems approach is a radical rethinking of our thinking, and a willingness to challenge our generally imperceptible assumptions. This important and powerful conversation is about what it takes to go beyond our current capabilities to create meaningful and regenerative change that will achieve previously unimaginable outcomes.

Christa Barfield, founder of FarmerJawn, is a force of nature. Healthcare professional turned urban farmer, educator and entrepreneur, Christa had an epiphany in 2018 that led her to create LifeLeaf Organic Farms, parent company to Viva Leaf Tea Co. and FarmerJawn Agriculture, a Philly-based community greenhouse and CSA. Driven by deep passion, Christa taught herself how to farm and is now sharing that knowledge and the fruits of her labors with members of the Philadelphia community. Her ultimate goal is to eradicate local food deserts, typically communities of black and brown people where there is little access to fresh, nutritious and affordable food, and to provide a more intimate and local connection to its source. Join us to share in Christa's dynamic journey of creating a sustainable urban farming renaissance, strengthening the local Philly supply chain and healing the relationship of black and brown people to food, land and farming. She epitomizes what it looks like to literally make change from the ground up.

With John Fullerton, founder of Capital Institute and one of four featured experts in the "Going Circular" documentary. We may think of economics as a dry and academic pursuit, but assumptions about money and economy are both reflective of, and instrumental in, shaping our interactions with the natural world. In this provocative conversation, we explore a new way of thinking that aligns economics with living systems and the many wisdom traditions, particularly indigenous, that have stood the test of time. By applying nature’s laws and patterns of systemic health, self-organization, self-renewal, and regenerative vitality to socioeconomic systems, regenerative economics offers an emerging path forward from our current unsustainable economic system and the finance-dominated ideology that drives it. Links and other resources:

In her unique approach to global conservation, founder of Earthfire Institute, Susan B. Eirich, Ph.D. shares transformational tales of people connecting deeply with nature to bring us into a personal relationship with the living world. Understanding that so many of our human and environmental ills stem from deep dissociation, Susan developed Reconnection Ecology, an ecopsychology and spiritual ecology perspective that blends nature and human psychology. Her sacred and life-affirming stories bring us into open-hearted connection with wild animals and offer a pathway to healing the trauma that humans, animals, and our Earth are currently experiencing. Resources and links: https://www.sustainabilitynow.global/2022/06/05/064-reconnection-ecology-healing-humans-and-nature/

What if the water cycles of the planet hold the key to reversing climate change and eliminating the deadly drought, fire, and flood cataclysms that are becoming ever more frequent? What if our focus on carbon is missing the point? Having spent the last decade working in more than 25 countries on 6 continents, Zach Weiss has been restoring water cycles to transform barren terrains into lush and verdant landscapes. A positive impact can be seen in as little as one rainy season, affecting water tables, temperature, weather patterns and the overall health of ecosystems. Join us for a profound shift of perspective and possibility as we discuss a viable way to align with nature, reverse climate change and create a truly thriving future.

After joining the Mawah Environmental Commission, Karin La Greca received a letter from Eric J. Fuchs-Stengel, a local high school student who wanted to do a litter clean-up. Wanting to encourage his motivation, she helped him organize the first of what would turn out to be over 200 clean-ups that have removed tons of trash from the community over the past 14 years. Not satisfied with simply removing trash, they went on to start Fresh Roots Farm, a regenerative farm based on permaculture principles that has fed and educated hundreds of people. 14 years later, MEVO, The Mawah Environmental Volunteer Organization, which is now headed by Violet Reed stands as a shining example of what a single action can take on a life of its own to help shape a world that works. Resources mentioned in this episode can be found at https://www.sustainabilitynow.global/2022/04/19/062-the-letter-that-spawned-a-regenerative-movement/

What if humanity is following a natural evolutionary cycle of maturation that moves from rampant proliferation, consumption and competition to cooperative harmony? This is the hopeful perspective offered by Dr. Elisabet Sahtouris, world-renowned evolution biologist, futurist, speaker, author, and educator. A deep "pastist" Dr. Sahtouris uses the story of life's evolution on our planet to inspire a new story of a future for humanity that is based in connection and cooperation. Join us for the premiere of our latest podcast interview followed by a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Sahtouris that will integrate past and future, sustainability and spirituality and shine a way forward for a thriving human experience on planet earth.