In this episode of 15 Minutes to Go we feature Rabbi Yonatan Neril, the founder and executive director of Interfaith Center of Sustainable Development. He has worked with religious leaders across all of the major religions and practices to create a kinder earth and greater understanding. He is also the co-author of a new biblical commentary Ecobible. We speak about what the bible teaches us about caring for nature, animals and our neighbors. How best to treat our possessions, how to connect the divine in the universe and how to live a happier and more fulfilling life. Rabbi Neril gives us incredible insights on why the climate movement has not moved forward in the way many have hoped and what we can do to change that. More about Rabbi Neril: You can find more information about Rabbi Neril on https://www.interfaithsustain.com. Eco Bible: You can buy Eco Bible on Amazon and Kindle

On this episode we speak with Amanda Streets, owner of Living Roots Eco Design. Amanda is a garden educator and a food system designer, she is also a mom. She designs sustainable gardens, lawns, backyards and green spaces. We speak about ways to design your lawn or backyard into a living, breathing, healthy ecosystem. Food forests are a specialty of Amanda's firm and are a way to supplement diets, while having some control over the way food is grown. We speak about ways you can achieve a beautiful lawn without using chemicals such as weed killers and pesticides. We also speak about common concerns that prevent folks from enjoying their outdoor spaces, such as insects commonly perceived as pests. We speak about mosquitos and their place in the food cycle; Amanda describes ways to get mosquito populations under control and prevent them from becoming a nuisance. We also delve into compositing, an often daunting task, but one that is essential for recycling our food waste. Amanda educates us on how to compost the right way; making it an easy and fun task for kids and adults alike. About Living Roots Eco Design: The firm is based in Clearwater, Florida, and offers services for all needs. The firm provides various levels of support it's clients, from education, creating blueprints and designs for their particular spaces to planting and maintaining the gardens and ecosystems created. You can find out more at https://livingrootsecodesign.com. Living Roots also provides online education classes, which include live sessions and a taped library of classes that anyone can participate in around the world. Importance: We featured Amanda, because her work is amongst the most important for our planet. 83% of Americans live in urban centers according to the Center for Sustainable Systems. That means that if more of us want to contribute to solving climate change, living sustainably, or simply having some control over where our food is grown, we will have to do it in the suburbs or the cities. Amanda's business is centered around sustainable land management for urban and suburban owners, which demonstrates that not only is it ideal to create healthy ecosystems but also that it can provide a path toward revenue and a healthy business model. creating healthy soils, polyculture, planting native species, also sequesters carbon and increases biodiversity. Each one of us contributing to that on our roofs, backyards, front yards, lawns and any land under our control, creates benefits to the ecosystem and the earth at large. Making better choices in our backyards can literally make a difference! Please subscribe to our podcast to learn more about how everyday people are making a difference towards a better earth. We welcome your comments and suggestions!

This is our pilot episode for our new explainer series, The Story Behind The Story, on climate and sustainability news. We explain things in clear and simple terms that anyone can understand. We all want to do better for our planet, but it's confusing, so we give you the facts without bias. In this pilot episode we explain how bioplastics are made and specifically discuss the new plastic Bacardi and Pepsi will be using. While there are some benefits to the new plastic, in the longterm it might create more problems than is solves.

Bringing nature into cities makes people happier and increases wildlife diversity on our planet. It increases citizens' standard of living their mental and physical health and creates an appreciation the importance of biodiversity. We talk about the radical solution to the dual problem of the sudden disappearance of many species as well to the problem of people's loss of a sense of place. It is also one of the ways that cities can attract economically diverse populations when work patterns are shifting to remote tasks.

The world is hooked on plastic bottles, but it wasn't always that way and it doesn't have to be. Cities are finally finding ways to convince citizens to drink water from the tap. We explore what has made the difference between a successful municipal tap water drinking campaign and a flop. The devil is in the details but the payoff is huge, it means saving our oceans and even our organs from plastic pollution.

Creator and Entrepreneur Anna Bakhash, founder of William Luxe New York takes you into a world where climate change recovery is possible and if we commit to some changes, we can get closer to leaving the world a better place for future generations every day.