Latest Zerowaste Earth Sciences Podcast Episodes

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028 Creating Community with Amanda Essoh & Jim Wang

Tiny Climate Challenge - November 10, 2021 23:37 - 41 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode, our Guest Challengers Amanda Essoh and Jim Wang discuss how they serendipitously met each other on a plane, spontaneously connected with folks in their local communities and organically created communities of their own to help elevate their voices and make...

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027 Permission to be Great is Granted with Joan Kling

Tiny Climate Challenge - July 21, 2021 07:30 - 46 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
Leadership matters and how we show up in the world is just as important as the work we do. In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode, our Guest Expert Joan Kling teaches us her coaching philosophy that she developed called PIES and we discuss how this can be applied in all of our lives. Her Tiny Cl...

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Zero Waste Coffee with Crema Nashville

Zero Waste Trash Talk - May 21, 2021 14:50 - 51 minutes
Nashville's Crema Coffee business model is how we wish all businesses would operate.  In our interview with Rachel Lehman we find out that Crema was one of the first Zero Waste businesses in Nashville and how they keep innovating to reduce waste and make the coffee world a better place.  In addi...

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026 Bruce Bekkar: Climate Confessions

Tiny Climate Challenge - April 08, 2021 03:34 - 31 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode our Guest Expert Dr. Bruce Bekkar and Mayela Manasjan share some of their own climate confessions and discuss what we can all do to enhance our personal resilience as we relate to our eco-anxiety. Dr. Bekkar also shares some tiny tips on the importance of b...

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Chat With Chattanooga Zero Waste

Zero Waste Trash Talk - March 13, 2021 17:41 - 53 minutes
Would you sneak a plastic bag monster costume into your State's Legislature and wear it to meet with lawmakers?  This is just one of the interesting things we found out in this inspirational interview with Sadie and Zach, the organizers behind Zero Waste Chattanooga.  We discuss their Zero Waste...

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025 Sophia Militello: Conscious Consumerism

Tiny Climate Challenge - February 23, 2021 08:30 - 42 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode our Guest Challenger Sophia Militello’s talks about her journey to becoming a more conscious consumer. She discusses how she researched some of her favorite brands and companies and gained a greater awareness of her ecological footprint. Sophia also shares ...

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How to Stay Environmentally Motivated During A Pandemic

Zero Waste Trash Talk - February 04, 2021 20:21 - 15 minutes
With world wide Covid-19 deaths in the millions, political upheaval, social unrest and a tumultuous economy, continuing the conversation about sustainability sometimes feels like some kind of privileged guilty pleasure. Michael and Maris discuss the struggles of the past year and the importance ...

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024 Nancy Mancilla: Corporate Social Responsibility

Tiny Climate Challenge - December 09, 2020 12:34 - 36 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode our Guest Expert Nancy Mancilla talks about the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders. As ...

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Episode 17: Tennessee Environmental Council 50th Anniversary

Zero Waste Trash Talk - December 08, 2020 17:33 - 1 hour
Do you feel like you're the only one recycling, composting your food scraps and getting dirty looks from cashiers for bringing your own bags?  Finding and supporting your local environmental organizations can be a great way to stay connected and leverage your environmental actions. ZWTT is activ...

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Episode 16: Zero Waste Gift Giving

Zero Waste Trash Talk - November 22, 2020 19:23 - 44 minutes
Have you thought about sustainable gift giving?  How do you personalize a gift experience when sending an electronic gift card?  Why do we even give gifts? Maris and Michael have a conversation about how to approach gift giving as Zero Waste practitioners.

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Episode 15: How We Do Zero Waste

Zero Waste Trash Talk - November 09, 2020 15:28 - 1 hour
How do you "pull a Maris"?  Is there a waiter in East Nashville with a zero waste chopstick injury from Jess?  How does Michael offset air conditioning for furry Akitas?  Life is full of trade offs for what's good for us, the environment and our pocketbooks.  Zero Waste isn't just trying to fit ...

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Episode 14: The Bloody Truth about Tampons & Pads

Zero Waste Trash Talk - October 25, 2020 15:27 - 1 hour
Hey Ladies! Did you know that tampons and pads that we have been told to use our whole lives are actually toxic to our bodies? Maybe this isn’t news to you, but really these foreign objects we’re putting into our bodies are NOT good for us! and they are just going to be thrown AWAY - which we al...

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Episode 13: Back To School Composting, Gardening and Food Donation Programs

Zero Waste Trash Talk - October 05, 2020 22:19 - 1 hour
Karen McIntyre from Nashville's Westmead Elementary is much more than a librarian.  She's helped start a compost program, a school garden, recycling drives and a way for students to donate uneaten food from the lunchroom.  She shares her successes and the lessons learned along the way to making ...

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023 Molly Basler: Green Dream Candidate for LA City Council

Tiny Climate Challenge - September 23, 2020 00:50 - 43 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode, our Guest Expert Molly Basler talks about the importance of running a sustainable grassroots political campaign. As a current candidate for Los Angeles City Council District 5, she developed the “Green Dream Pledge” and “Code of Ethics” to encourage all ...

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Episode 12: The Environmental Impact of Renting Your Items

Zero Waste Trash Talk - September 20, 2020 16:46 - 48 minutes
There are a lot of items that sit in our closets, attics or basements that only get used a couple of times a year.  Do you know how many resources it took to produce, ship and sell all that stuff so that it can just sit around unused? Ruckify is a new peer-to-peer rental marketplace that makes i...

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Why You Need a Bidet

Zero Waste Trash Talk - September 06, 2020 15:45 - 42 minutes
In this episode, Michael talks about his experience with his new bidet and about how the process works down to the nitty gritty detail.  We also hear from a couple of listeners who gave us audio testimonials about why they love their bidets. Save some fricken trees by using a bidet and/or toil...

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022 Leonard Grossberg: Environmental Activism for a Lifetime

Tiny Climate Challenge - September 01, 2020 08:00 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode our Guest Challenger Leonard Grossberg talks about his evolution from being a career environmental professional to becoming a passionate environmental and political activist as a retiree. He discusses the importance of raising eco-conscious families, connec...

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Episode 10: Nashville Metro Zero Waste Master Plan

Zero Waste Trash Talk - August 23, 2020 13:53 - 57 minutes
Does your city have a Zero Waste Plan?  If it does, is it being implemented and/or championed by your elected officials? The Chairman of the Nashville Solid Waste Board, John Sherman, gives us some background on how and why Nashville has a Zero Waste Master Plan and what we need to do to suppo...

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Episode 9: Gleaning to End Food Waste

Zero Waste Trash Talk - August 09, 2020 15:09 - 55 minutes
Gleaning is an ancient practice mentioned in the Old Testament and codified into law in some countries.  Normally, over 1/3 of the food produced in the world is wasted but during the pandemic shutdown this was exacerbated as crops were being plowed under and milk dumped down drains as distributi...

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021 Brian Ettling: How to be a Climate Champion

Tiny Climate Challenge - August 04, 2020 08:00 - 41 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode, our Guest Expert Brian Ettling talks about his commitment to caring for our environment as a former National Park Ranger and current climate activist for Climate Reality Project, Citizens Climate Lobby, and Renew Oregon. He reminds us that we can all make ...

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Episode 8: What's a Food Co-op and How Do You Start One

Zero Waste Trash Talk - July 26, 2020 16:27 - 35 minutes
Who wouldn't want a grocery store where they are part owners and can vote on the items being sold, where they come from and how they are packaged. Learn what a grocery co-op is and how to start one in our conversation with Ellery Richardson from Nashville Food Co-op.   This is the first episod...

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020 Ana Clara Farria: Global Climate Reality Leaders Unite

Tiny Climate Challenge - July 21, 2020 10:00 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode, our Guest Expert Ana Clara Faria talks about her experience attending a recent Climate Reality Project Leadership Corp training. She also shares her current efforts to engage, educate, and empower people on climate change in her home country, Brazil. Gue...

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Episode 7: The Insanity of Plastic Recycling

Zero Waste Trash Talk - July 19, 2020 14:39 - 55 minutes
If plastic recycling is broken, why do we do it?  It makes no sense financially or by any measure of success when it's a 90% failure rate.  Even if it worked better, plastic can't be recycled more than 2-3 times before it falls apart so all we are doing is delaying the inevitable.   We invited...

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Episode 6: Industrial Composting

Zero Waste Trash Talk - July 10, 2020 14:23 - 1 hour
In this episode, Maris and Michael have a conversation with Clay Ezell from The Compost Company, an industrial composting facility, about how industrial composting differs from backyard composting and why Nashville is one of the few cities in the country who have a service like this that accepts...

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019 Taylor Leigh Cannizarro: Passion in Action

Tiny Climate Challenge - June 30, 2020 04:59 - 49 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
In this Tiny Climate Challenge episode, we learn to create environmental and social impact with our Guest Expert Taylor Leigh Cannizarro. She inspires all of us to turn humanity's greatest threats into humanity's greatest opportunities through her work with Plastic Bank and invites us all to mak...

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Episode 5: Interview with Nashville Metro Public Works

Zero Waste Trash Talk - June 20, 2020 22:33 - 1 hour
Jenn Harrman, the Nashville Public Works Waste Reduction Program Manager, answers our questions about what's recyclable in Nashville and where does it go?  Like many cities, Nashville has had to adapt to a changing markets for recyclables.  The rules for what plastics can be recycled have change...

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018 Erika Morgan: Watts Up with your Electricity Bill?

Tiny Climate Challenge - June 16, 2020 10:00 - 53 minutes ★★★★★ - 15 ratings
In this Tiny Climate Challenge, our Guest Expert Erika Morgan is back to teach us how to read our electricity bills so that we can make our kilowatt-hours go a lot further to saving the planet.  Guest Challenger Bio Erika Morgan is an independent clean energy consultant dedicated to speeding...

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Episode 4: Dumping is not Donating

Zero Waste Trash Talk - June 13, 2020 13:59 - 1 hour
We touch base with Zero Waste Trash Talk family member Jess Johnson to discuss her experiences with donations as a home organizer.  In addition to asking what each organization is accepting before just dumping items on them, she finds out what they do with the items they can't use.   Then we h...

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Down In The Dumps with The Story Of Plastic

Zero Waste Trash Talk - May 23, 2020 18:21 - 1 hour
In Episode 3 we talk about watching the new documentary The Story of Plastic on Amazon Prime and we interview our friend John Hawkins, a Nashville waste diversion specialist and musician, to get his take on the problems with recycling.   We discuss if we should stop recycling since it's broken...

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Episode 2: Filling Good with Megan from The Good Fill

Zero Waste Trash Talk - May 15, 2020 19:48 - 1 hour
Nashville's first zero waste, package free refill store owner, Megan Gill, talks to us about her zero waste journey.  She moved back to the States from Costa Rica where she taught women who had been sex traffic victims how to become beauticians.  Seeing how different consumerism is here in Ameri...