Go Green Radio

On April 22, 2021 (Earth Day), Camden Mayor Frank Moran, the City of Camden, Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, and the Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts will unveil A New View—Camden, an innovative, six-month-long exhibition featuring six, one-of-a-kind and family-friendly public art projects. Funded by a $1 million Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge grant, these large-scale, outdoor art installations designed by nationally recognized artists will attract visitors of all ages to Camden and call attention to illegal dumping and its impact on the community and environment. The creations were specifically designed to raise awareness about unlawful dumping of bulk waste in Camden, which costs taxpayers over $4 million annually. Tune in as we speak with one of the project leaders and two of the artists!

Founded by Roger Silveira, We Need Fresh Air is an organization dedicated to improving student achievement one breath at a time. Replacing HEPA filters or installing new school ventilation systems is not enough. School districts must do more to ensure students are breathing fresh, clean air. Classrooms are some of the most densely populated spaces with an average of 30 students per 1,000 square feet, and CO2 build up can be detrimental. Tune in today as we talk with Roger about the techniques he uses to ensure high quality Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) for East Side Union High School District in San Jose, CA.

Renewable natural gas (RNG) produced from diverted landfill waste is now flowing into SoCalGas’ pipeline system from Anaergia’s Rialto Bioenergy Facility. A new one-mile pipeline connects the facility to an existing SoCalGas pipeline. Using Anaergia’s advanced anaerobic digestion technology and proprietary systems, the Facility will produce up to 985,000 MMBTU/year of RNG each year using up to 300,000 tons of waste diverted from local landfills. Creating this carbon-negative fuel from waste will reduce landfilling and decrease greenhouse gas emissions by up to 220,000 metric tons per year—an amount equal to removing 47,500 passenger cars from the road. Tune in and learn more about the technology that makes this possible!

Northern and central coast Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) are joining forces by forming a new Joint Powers Authority (JPA) – California Community Power. The JPA allows the CCAs to combine their buying power to procure new, cost-effective clean energy and reliability resources to continue advancing local and state climate goals. Tune in as we talk with the CEO’s of Peninsula Clean Energy and Silicon Valley Clean Energy, the COO of East Bay Community Energy, and the Director of San Jose Clean Energy.

Even before the pandemic, chronic neglect of America’s public schools forced students and educators across the country to learn and work in outdated and hazardous school buildings. Now, the COVID19 pandemic is exacerbating the consequences of our failure to make necessary investments in school infrastructure. The Reopen and Rebuild America’s Schools Act (RRASA) of 2020 would invest $100 billion in grants and $30 billion in bond authority targeted at high-poverty schools with facilities that pose health and safety risks to students and staff. Tune in as we talk with Anisa Heming, Director of the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council, about this important piece of legislation, and learn how you can get involved.

Our guest is Justin Draplin, owner of several Tiny Home Communities in South Carolina. He is developing and manufacturing the first ever NET-POSITIVE tiny home set for national sales and distribution this year. Draplin's tiny home will generate far more energy than it consumes; providing consumers with the ability to live smaller, smarter and more sustainably. Tune in to learn more!

Most people have heard about Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, start-up food companies working to bring plant-based foods from the fringe to the mainstream to create a more sustainable and healthier world. While these products are thriving in the marketplace, they are still more expensive than the cost of meat and were developed for the retail sector, making them inaccessible to many...until now. Our guest today is Christie Lagally, CEO and founder of Rebellyous Foods. A mechanical engineer who holds five patents, Lagally started the food technology and manufacturing company in an effort to end factory farming by creating delicious, widely available, and affordable plant-based chicken products.

Palm oil is included in a broad range of products that many of us purchase on a routine basis: food, cosmetics, paints, pills, and even hand sanitizer. With over 200 different names, palm oil is tough for the average consumer to spot in the ingredients lists of common consumer goods, but there is good reason to try. Palm oil has been linked to environmental devastation and human rights abuses. Tune in today as we talk with David Bass, co-founder of Peet Bros., about the problem with palm oil, and some steps you can take to ensure your purchases are not supporting the palm oil industry.

On today’s show we’ll be joined by Mike Van Brunt, Sr. Director of Sustainability for Covanta, a leading waste to energy company. We will discuss the air emissions, water use and greenhouse gas emissions of their operations, and I’ll ask tough questions about their impact on environmental justice (EJ) communities.

On today’s episode we’ll be joined by Josh Balk, VP of Farm Animal Protection at the Humane Society of the United States. Josh leads high-profile political campaigns to pass farm animal welfare laws, including the historic Prop 12 initiative in California which passed in 2018 with more than 60% of the vote. It became the strongest law for farm animals in the world, banning the confinement of egg-laying hens, mother pigs and veal calves in cages. He also pressures fast food corporations and grocers to eliminate meat and eggs that come from caged animals in their supply chains, such as getting McDonald’s — which buys two billion eggs a year — to go 100% cage-free. On the side, Josh co-founded JUST, now a billion-dollar company that revolutionized the egg by creating non-egg scrambled “egg.” It was recently named one of CNBC’s Top 50 Disruptors.

Schools are vital hubs to their local communities and are uniquely positioned to teach students waste reduction behaviors. Students can learn waste reduction at schools and bring that messaging home to their families, caregivers, and all those with whom they come in contact. Schools and universities generate about 562,442 tons of waste each year in California. Almost half of school waste is comprised of organic materials like paper, cardboard, and uneaten cafeteria food. Much of the waste generated in the California education system is recyclable. Many school districts have been successful in improving their economic and environmental performance through the implementation of waste reduction initiatives. Today we will speak with the leaders of the CalRecycle Schools Team who provide resources to help California schools reduce waste, and help educate students and adults about why this is so important to the state’s future.

On today’s episode of Go Green Radio, we’re going to talk about two very special community garden projects in Los Angeles. These gardens grow so much more than plants and food – they nourish the hearts and minds of the people in the community around them. Tune in as we talk about the USGBC-LA’s 2020 Legacy Project: the West Adams Resiliency Garden project, which centers on the needs of individuals undergoing the process of re-entry, whether returning from incarceration or recovering from other challenges such as homelessness. We will also discuss The Bay Foundation’s Table to Farm program with a mission to implement a local model to divert food waste and alleviate air pollution while educating students and creating nourishing compost.

Join us for a conversation with subject matter experts on what it means to create a healthy building in which to work, live and learn, particularly during a time when indoor air quality is receiving unprecedented attention due to COVID-19. We will discuss best practices, technology and design factors that create optimal health conditions for building occupants. Our guests are Sara Neff, SVP of Sustainability at Kilroy Realty Corporation and Ben Stapleton, Executive Director of the U.S. Green Building Council, L.A.

The Green Bronx Machine is one of the most inspiring organizations in the green schools movement! Stephen Ritz is the founder of the Green Bronx Machine, and today we will talk to him about how urban agriculture is changing children’s lives through better nutrition and new attitudes toward food. At a time when our nation is keenly aware of the disparity between high- and low-income communities, the Green Bronx machine brings action, opportunity and empowerment to students who do not have access to food that will fuel their minds and bodies for optimal health. Tune in and be inspired!

If you’ve heard of the plastic-free lifestyle, but think you don’t have time for it in your busy life, prepare to be delightfully wrong. The new book, Say Goodbye to Plastic, shows you how, whether you’re seeking to knock plastic out of your life or just try out a few novel eco-hacks, you’ll learn how to go joyfully plastic-free in the kitchen, bathroom, office, dining room and more. As a plastic pollution activist and founder of ECOlunchbox, Sandra Ann Harris invites us into her book, which is part memoir, part inspirational ode to the ocean and packed with how-to tips to say goodbye to plastic. Tune in as we talk with Sandra about the book today!

Ben Lecomte is a marathon swimmer, ocean advocate, entrepreneur, and speaker. He swam the Atlantic from Cape Cod to France in 1998. In 2018 he attempted to swim the Pacific, but after 165 days of swimming his team had to call it off due to severe storm damage to their mainsail. During each swim, Ben collected data on plastic pollution in the ocean and worked with scientists to create extensive, uncharted information on what types of pollution Ben swam through, where it was in the ocean, and what clues they could find about where the pollution originated. Tune in today as we talk with Ben about what he found and what he is doing to urge people to make informed decisions about what they buy and discard.

In recent months PFAS contamination has been found in the groundwater in a small suburb of the Bay Area of California. There is no obvious source for the chemical contamination, and currently, the local water agencies must fend for themselves to pay for treatment to keep their drinking water safe. Tune in as we talk with Olivia Sanwong, President of the Board of Directors for the Zone 7 Water Agency. She will discuss the financial and public policy strain this issue is placing on her small community.

2020 has been a painful year in so many ways, but for communities of color, the suffering has been especially severe. Today we’ll be talking to Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., founder of the Hip Hop Caucus, about the ways in which environmental racism and injustice place a disproportionate burden on communities of color, and the many ways his organization is working toward a just, sustainable, and prosperous world for all.

The Wyland Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is dedicated to promoting, protecting, and preserving the world’s ocean, waterways, and marine life. The foundation encourages environmental awareness through education programs, public arts projects, and community events. Today our guest is Steve Creech, Executive Director of the Wyland Foundation. Tune in as we talk with him about some of upcoming events and resources offered by the foundation!b

Today we are joined by Miguel Veiga-Pestana, SVP of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability for RB, makers of common household brands like Lysol, Woolite and Clearasil, just to name a few. Under Miguel’s leadership the company has instituted a rigorous set of policies and reporting to create measurable, transparent environmental benefits throughout all their brands.