Sustainability Matters Today

Series 1, episode 13 of the Sustainability Champions Podcast

Series 1, episode 12 of the Sustainability Champion’s Podcast

Series 1, episode 11 of the Sustainability Champion’s Podcast

Series 1, episode 10 of the Sustainability Champion’s Podcast

Introducing Cheryl and Chris Moore, the Co-Founders and inventors of Harmony Turbines, a company that was founded with the idea to create a simple, efficient and affordable residential wind turbine that could meet the needs of most homeowners. Founded in August 2020, Harmony Turbines have the goal of developing a wind turbine solution that can achieve mass adoption in the residential marketplace by addressing the deficiencies that are often overlooked by current wind turbines. Chris Moore, Co-Founder of Harmony Turbines, is no stranger to the Clean Energy R&D space. Since 1998, he has worked with many teams and organisations to create innovative solutions for a cleaner, more sustainable future. From his experiences, he has seen first-hand the issues with the current wind turbine models and is determined to create a more effective solution. So what are the disadvantages of conventional wind turbines and why are Harmony Turbines looking to innovate and improve upon the existing models? Although wind energy

Series 1, episode 8 of the Sustainability Champion’s Podcast

Series 1, episode 7 of the Sustainability Champion’s Podcast

Series 1, episode 6 of the Sustainability Champion’s Podcast

Climeworks has been on a journey toward a solution that would empower everyone to take climate action. Founded in 2009 by two Co-Founders Jan and Christoph, who met on their first day of university at ETH Zurich. Sharing a passion for alpine sports and spending time in the Swiss Alps, they experienced the effects of climate change first-hand. Shocked by the retreat of the glaciers, they vowed to do everything they could to tackle climate change. Combining their engineering expertise, they have created a technology called direct air capture, a way to capture carbon dioxide directly from the air. As a result, Climeworks was formed and is now the leader in direct air capture (DAC) technology. So why direct air capture?  In recent years, climate action has experienced a paradigm shift. It’s now recognized that drastically reducing emissions alone won’t be enough to halt climate change. The IPCC reports show that drastic emissions reductions are more important than ever, but on top of this, carbon dioxide rem

Series 1, episode 4 of the Sustainability Champions Podcast

Introducing Sparkle! Sparkle’s story, quite fittingly, started with a spark. Founded by Hetal & Chirag Virani.    The social and cultural stigma surrounding periods in Surat, Gujarat, India while she was growing up, sparked Hetal to think about all the hurried whispers, hiding, guilty glances, and the almost shameful image that the society had set for its menstruators.   On the other hand, travelling the world, visiting many countries and experiencing (first-hand) the lack of sanitary products, as well as its physiological and socio-economic effects on millions of adolescent individuals, was the spark that set Chirag on his course.   When Hetal and Chirag came together with different perspectives yet a shared vision, that’s what sparked the inception of their journey to make a positive impact together. After having explored several paths, they’re now both taking the road less travelled by not just developing sustainable and plant-based period products; they’re also aiming to develop new mindsets, new pers

Atmosvu is on a mission to reduce single-use containers from ending up in landfill. Every Atmosvu customer is helping end single-use candle container waste. According to the team at Atmosvu, the U.S retail sales of candle products are approximately $3 billion annually. With research indicating that only 8% of candle containers are recycled and with over 35 million candle containers ending up in landfills every year. With their reusable candle containers they've made things simple: no more candle graveyards and no more wax waste. With quality vegan ingredients in their candle wax and a reusable candle container, the solution Atmosvu has created is inspiring! To learn more about Atmosvu, simply click the link below to their website: https://www.atmosvu.com Follow Atmosvu on socials through the links below: http://www.instragram.com/atmosvu https://www.facebook.com/atmosvu http://www.youtube.com/atmosvu Find out more about Atmosvu and companies like them on our website: https://www.sustainabilitychampions.com

Maxim Gelmann is the Founder and Chief Stroodler at Stroodles.    Having started with their flagship product their famous pasta straws (which are made entirely of pasta and are edible... a perfect after cocktail snack) Stroodles has become a movement for conscious consumerism. We are thrilled to welcome our audience to the Stroodles revolution in our first episode of this new series.    What the Stroodle?   All of the Stroodles products are 100% biodegradable and good for the planet. And you can even munch on them after use, as they are all edible. The pasta straws are made from wheat + water only, plates and bowls from 100% wheat bran, the spoons are like a biscuit and the cup is from wafer. ‍  With Stroodles, there is no need to compromise on the experience, use time and quality of using traditional tableware. Switching to sustainable products is now simpler than ever - there is no need to change behaviours, use Stroodles instead.  ‍  Change made easy!   To learn

Did you know coral reefs provide a buffer - protecting our coasts from big waves, storms, and floods? In a time with more frequent natural disasters due to the changing climate, there’s an important message to learn: when people live in harmony with nature, we minimize our environmental risks and can even benefit from strengthened ecosystems. Today’s guest knows all about nature’s role in our lives, offering science-based solutions that reflect the best environmental ethics and facilitate outcomes for the planet, people and profit. In this episode of Sustainability Champions, I speak with Dr. Deborah Brosnan, marine resilience specialist, environmental consultant in risk reduction and problem solving, and Champion of Environmental Solutions. Deborah Brosnan’s consulting company Deborah Brosnan and Associates offer ideas through regulatory, corporate, and community elements to provide the most cost-effective, prompt and valuable solutions, when it comes to local environmental issues. For example, she tells

In this Episode I speak with Rachel Finesilver, Manager of Sustainability and Responsible Business at Lloyds Banking Group, and Champion of Sustainable Banking. According to a report by Morgan Stanley analysts, the cost of stopping climate change and reducing net carbon emissions to zero by 2050, is 50 Trillion US Dollars. That includes a whole array of alternatives to our current carbon-inefficient activities, that need to be invested in and developed further. From renewable energy to electric motors and cars, to carbon capture methods, biofuels and hydrogen power. The banking sector plays a big role, as with financial power comes a responsibility not only to shareholders, but also to the earth and everyone on it. Smaller green and socially-responsible Banks have long been attracting customers with their commitment to transparency, but traditional banks are following suit. Lloyds Banking Group is putting their money where their mouth is, by aiming to reduce the carbon emissions they finance by 50% by 2030.

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, more than 90 percent of a bottle of standard cleaning product is just water. Considering that people in most developed countries have access to clean water, this current production scheme seems like a waste. Factories mix their cleaning solution with water, package it in bottles and ship it around the world. Shipping products with heavy water requires more trips because of bulky packages, more carbon emissions and more work. Come to think of it, mixing cleaning products yourself doesn’t sound like such an unusual solution - think of how we make coffee at home: we buy dried coffee grounds and add hot water. In this Episode of Sustainability Champions, I speak with Jon Bostock, co-founder of Truman’s, author of the book “The Elephant’s Dilemma” and Champion of Breaking Supply Chains. Truman’s offers sets of powdered cleaning solutions for laundry machines, dishwashers and toilets that need to be mixed with water before use. With their subscription, all of your clean

There are 11 million diaper-age babies in the US. Each baby uses an average of 65 diapers per week. That results in over 37 BILLION disposables being tossed EACH YEAR in the US alone. With raising awareness of single-use plastic bags, bottles and straws, why are diapers, which currently make up 30% of non-biodegradable waste in American landfills, disregarded? In this Episode of Sustainability Champions, I speak with Liz Turrigiano, Co-Founder and CEO of Esembly, and Champion of Sustainable Diapers. Esembly offers a sustainable diapering system that is built to last to help avoid all those throw-away diapers that end up polluting our environment and aren’t easily recyclable. With Esembly’s service, you’ll only need 48 diapers from birth through potty training. They are still reusable afterwards, meaning you can pass them on to other families or let Esembly buy the diapers from you to either be used again or recycled properly. Their other products include skin care and laundering products as well as a variety

One of the biggest problems hindering a stronger global response against climate change, is that the effects are not felt equally all over the world, but in certain areas to a much stronger extent. Polar ice caps melting, ice bears stranded on drifting ice, floods and forest fires reaching unprecedented scales - while the west bears the most responsibility for climate disasters, they rarely feel the consequences. To accept our responsibility in causing the climate breakdown takes an effort of education, visually showing how terrifying natural disasters are and connecting the dots in how our lifestyles cause the change. In this episode of Sustainability Champions, I speak with Ashley Cooper, Environmental Photographer and Champion of Climate Photography. Ashley Cooper has been capturing the effects of climate change and renewable energy on all continents and the most remote places you could think of, since 2004. His journeys have taken him to Inuit villages in the arctic circle, tiny island states in the sout

In this episode of Sustainability Champions, I speak with Jules Hayward, Learning Executive Lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. In this conversation, we explore the importance of system thinking for finding global solutions and the fact that it’s easy to get overwhelmed when choosing how to shift our approach for the better. We discuss some interesting career tips for people wanting to have a purpose-driven career working on either climate change, business, education, policy making, urban planning or any other important area. Crucially, Jules also discusses ways to overcome apocalypse fatigue in order to start making an impact in our daily lives.

In this episode of Sustainability Champions, I speak with Patrick Marsden, Partner and Co-Owner of MaCher and Champion of Sustainable Product Design. Not creating a product in the first place is the most sustainable thing you can do when creating products. Starting with the simple question “why” allows us to understand if the product is important to make in the first place and ultimately minimize our carbon footprint. MaCher is a global design company specializing in marketing products from design to delivery. Years of experience and a team made of people from America, Australia and Asia, contribute to their unique ability to design branded accessories and more. Additionally, they received B-Corp certification in 2014, balancing purpose and profit with a focus on helping other businesses reduce their environmental impact. Every year, MaCher sets themselves sustainability objectives, which are aligned with the United Nations’ Global Impact 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Plus each year, they releas