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We’re joined by four friends of the pod today to discuss experiences within the queer community and environmental spaces!! Our LGBTQ+ -focused episode is value-packed with arguably the most vast range of topics + perspectives of any call-in episode yet. We’re speaking with Isaias of @QueerBrownVegan, who breaks down the framework behind queer sustainability. Emerald discusses the value in safe queer communities, from climbing to hiking and other recreational experiences. Izzy shares the ethical concerns around pride merch, following her article with Fashion Revolution, ‘Who Made My Pride Merch.’ Lastly, Jackson discusses his experience whole-heartedly accepting his queer identity while establishing boundaries to prevent tokenism; he also shares excellent insight on how to respond when someone comes out to you.

Special thank you to our speakers today for their transparency, empathy, + willingness to share their stories! I really loved putting this episode together because it was deeply personal while being deeply educational. I would love to do another collection similar to this one again soon, because the LGBTQ+ community is so diverse and it would be just about impossible to claim I’ve included all experiences/perspectives in today’s episode.

More:

* Listen to Isaias Hernandez on Ep 139: Eco Education, Environmental Justice, Content Creation * Who Made My Pride Merch? by Izzy McLeod for Fashion Revolution* Why Queer Liberation Is an Environmental Justice Issue by Lisa Pradhan for Earth Justice

Find me on: Instagram @ecochicpodcast + @lauraediez, on Facebook, Twitter. I’m also on clubhouse as @lauradiez !

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We are discussing the sustainable fashion favorite, The Conscious Closet by Elizabeth Cline, with Moji Igun. The Conscious Closet is a highly recommended, holistic guide to building a more mindful wardrobe – from closet audits, living wages, truly sustainable garments, and everything in between surrounding the fashion revolution. This conversation gets into the environmental, ethical, and emotional sides of clothing: how can we do good *and* look good? Moji is a zero-waste expert and founder of Blue Daisi Consulting, zero-waste consulting and eco-conscious solutions for supporting more mindful businesses.

Other episodes + resources mentioned:

* 140: How Luxury Lost Its Luster | Book Club with Megan McSherry* Megan McSherry’s ebook, Make The Most of What’s In Your Closet* 143: The Case For Appointing A Fashion Czar | Elizabeth Segran* Dr. Liz Segran’s article, President Biden, Appoint A Fashion Czar on Fast Company* A Brief Guide To Fabrics (by me!) on instagram* NYTimes expanding on the mentioned ethical issues within Everlane: Everlane’s Promise of ‘Radical Transparency’ Unravels* Glossy article expanding on the mentioned ethical issues within Reformation: The Rise And Fall of Reformation

Find me on: Instagram @ecochicpodcast + @lauraediez, on Facebook, Twitter. I’m also on clubhouse as @lauradiez !

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Today we are continuing our Climate 101 education with a timely summer topic: the current heat waves, wildfires, and massive droughts being experienced in the American West. We’ll figure out what a heat waves actually is, plus learn about the nuances contributing to our 20+ year megadrought. Spoiler alert: climate change is worsening natural occurances. We also better understand wildfires: how they start and what is making them so severe and frequent.

Fun, educational, and full of reminders (and my personal soapbox) about water subsidizes and camping responsibly.

Mentioned + additional articles:

* The Western Drought Is Bad. Here’s What You Should Know About It. (New York Times)* Why the intense U.S. drought is now a megadrought by Mark Kaufman* ‘Megadrought’ persists in western U.S., as another extremely dry year develops (National Geographic)

Thank you to Aspiration for sponsoring today’s episode – learn more about how you can earn up to $200 by opening an account at aspiration.com/eco.

Find me on: Instagram @ecochicpodcast + @lauraediez, on Facebook, Twitter. I’m also on clubhouse as @lauradiez ! Sign up for my weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/f9324e3609e4/eco-chic

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We read Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy in May… and we LOVED it. Jessica Clifton shares how she strategically crafted her career as a sustainability influencer, we chat about our reading habits, and then thoroughly unpack what has been named one of the best novels of 2020. Migrations centers around Franny Stone, a women who seems constantly on the run, as she follows what is believed to be the final migration of the Arctic terns. The novel has been discussed as ‘climate fiction,’ and both Jessica and I found that label totally believable as we unpack themes of mass extinction, overfishing, conservationism… so nicely packed into big stories of love, loss, and personal evolution. We discuss the book’s so-well-picked, intentional symbols, timeline hopping, and of course the wild ending!! Our episode has spoilers (there was just so much to discuss!) and glowing reviews.

Next month we are reading The Conscious Closet by Elizabeth Cline with Moji Igun.

Set the scene for yourself with my latest, Episode 150: Why Is The Arctic Warming So Quickly?

Thank you to Aspiration for sponsoring today’s episode – learn more about how you can earn up to $200 by opening an account at aspiration.com/eco.

Find me on: Instagram @ecochicpodcast + @lauraediez, on Facebook, Twitter. I’m also on clubhouse as @lauradiez ! Sign up for my weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/f9324e3609e4/eco-chic

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The Arctic is warming almost twice as fast as the rest of the planet… yikes! There are more headlines each day about the rapidly rising average temperatures – as of this month, early June, almost all of the Arctic is at or above freezing. This isn’t the only issue though (dare I say it’s just the tip of the iceberg??) … we’re going to better understand how warmer winters make way for more problematic, otherwise typically warm summers. We’re defining the albedo effect, or polar amplification, and the feedback loop that keeps this Arctic warming constant. Another shocking news bit is big ice sheets breaking off – how does glacial calving happen? We’ll get clear on the difference between icebergs and glaciers (and why the Titanic hit one and not the other)…. and wrap up with some fun facts that will hopefully win you a point or two at trivia night: why skiiers always seem to be sunburned, and how Antartica is actually the world’s biggest desert.

Thank you to Aspiration for sponsoring today’s episode – learn more about how you can earn up to $200 by opening an account at aspiration.com/eco.

Find me on: Instagram @ecochicpodcast + @lauraediez, on Facebook, Twitter. I’m also on clubhouse as @lauradiez ! Sign up for my weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/f9324e3609e4/eco-chic

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We’re sharing one of our most personal, coming-of-age episodes yet – we’re speaking beauty standards, acne and skin “flaws”, and coming-of-age realizations of body dismorphia (tw). Carolyn Yachanin is the creator of Copina Co, plant-based collagen boosts. Collagen is often touted as the wellness additive you just need in your beauty routine – but if your beauty supplements are coming from animals, that’s a whole other can of worms to come to terms with with an ethical, healthy lifestyle. Carolyn discusses her journey to creating a product, one of the firsts of its kind, and how she has hustled Copina Co into shops like Erewhon, Anthropologie, and Urban Outfitters. We also discuss the need for a revamp of our collective definition of “beauty” – instead, let’s focus on treating ourselves well, feeling our bests, and staying happy and confident in our own skin. This episode is jam-packed with business tips plus some deeply vulnerable conversations on beauty and self-love.

If you’d like to check out Copina Co for yourself, use code ECOCHIC for 15% off at copinaco.com

Also check out:

* Ep 138: Holistic Skincare with Dr. Mamina Turegano* Ep 133: The Science of Skin + Myths of the Beauty Industry with Jessica DeFino

Thank you to Aspiration for sponsoring today’s episode – learn more about how you can earn up to $200 by opening an account at aspiration.com/eco.

Find me on: Instagram @ecochicpodcast + @lauraediez, on Facebook, Twitter. I’m also on clubhouse as @lauradiez ! Sign up for my weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/f9324e3609e4/eco-chic

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In April we read Bill Gates’ latest: a manual on climate change for the general public, How To Avoid A Climate Disaster, with environmental justice advocate + influencer (and my friend!) Zahra Biabani of @Soulful_Seeds. The nonfiction work has received lots of press and praises from mainstream outlets, so we were intrigued – but the climate and sustainability community online was largely outspoken in its distaste for a billionaire-authored book on the climate crisis. Zahra shares a bit of insight on the influencer controversy with the book, and we share similar sentiments of ickiness. We critically break down what we liked and didn’t like; we discuss energy poverty, agriculture, environmental justice, geoengineering… all of it. We finish with our out-of-5 ratings and review of the book.

Next month we will be reading Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy – our first fiction book club pick! Migrations is a novel about a researcher in Greenland following the migration of Arctic terns (birds – I’m already obsessed) + evolves into her story of love, family, + crime. 👀 This book has it all!! @Goodreads describes it as “an ode to a disappearing world and a breathtaking page-turner about the possibility of hope against all odds.” We will be reading with Jessica Clifton of @ImpactForGood.

Find me on: Instagram @ecochicpodcast + @lauraediez, on Facebook, Twitter. I’m also on clubhouse as @lauradiez !

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We’re joined by one of my very first guests and very favorite people in the sustainability space – Ashlee Piper!! Ashlee is a TV personality, sustainability consultant, and author of Give A Shit: Do Good. Live Better. Save The Planet – which has become quite the golden ticket, go-to guidebook for both aspiring and seasoned sustainability advocates. We talk all about influence, and how to communicate with audiences both online and IRL, and what it means to be an ‘influential’ person online in this special, relatively new world of eco-activism. We speak about greenwashing and misconceptions in the movement. I ask the burning question: how did you write a book? Ashlee, the realest woman around, gives us all the details from conception to publishing, and how the reception of her book has continued to evolve over time. Lastly, we speak about the individual action in sustainable living, versus collective, policy-driven action – should it be one or the other?

Thank you to Aspiration for sponsoring today’s episode – learn more about how you can earn up to $200 by opening an account at aspiration.com/eco.

Find me on: Instagram @ecochicpodcast + @lauraediez, on Facebook, Twitter. I’m also on clubhouse as @lauradiez ! Sign up for my weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/f9324e3609e4/eco-chic

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We are speaking to the thoughtful, empowering, badass woman behind the most fabulous, transparent, ethical beauty brand I’ve known yet – Abena Boamah-Achempong, founder of Hanahana Beauty! Hanahana began as a line of whipped shea butter, created through Abena’s own desire for a moisturizer that both reflected her cultural roots and wasn’t full of weird filler ingredients. Abena shares with us her childhood in a Ghanian household, her impactful travels to Ghana, and how she continues to support her community through her business. Her time as a public school teacher influenced Abena’s understanding of ethics and access, and she’s since ensured that Hanahana holds itself to high standards: fair wages, ethical sourcing, and holistic sustainability. We learn how shea butter is made (honestly, wow!) and how the beauty industry has watered down such a cultural precious ingredient. Plus, we chat about how Abena practices self-care and boundary setting as an innovator and industry leader. This conversation was seirously so much fun (lots of laughs) and so jam-packed with value – Abena and Hanahana are likely the best examples of true sustainability I’ve learned from.

Thank you to Aspiration for sponsoring this episode! To learn more about managing your money for a better planet, and get up to $200, check out Aspiration.com/eco.

Find me on: Instagram @ecochicpodcast + @lauraediez, on Facebook, Twitter. I’m also on clubhouse as @lauradiez ! Sign up for my weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/f9324e3609e4/eco-chic

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Our Earth Week episode has me fired up about the topic that first brought many of us into sustainable living: the plastic crisis! We’re joined today by Emma Rose Cohen, the CEO and founder of Final, creators of FinalStraw—the world’s first reusable, collapsible straw that raised nearly $2 million on Kickstarter. We’re talking all about the product idea that that totally took the internet by storm: resourcefulness, building community, and of course, everything about fighting single-use. We also chat about our collective qualms with the recycling economy, greenwashing, corporate sustainability, and innovative plastic alternatives.

Prior to launching Final, Emma earned a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from University of California, Santa Barbara and received a Master’s Degree from Harvard in Environmental Management and Sustainability. She then spent four years working in the Waste Minimization Department at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In the last decade, Emma’s passion for sustainability motivated her to help found a nonprofit, Save the Mermaids, with a mission to educate children about the harmful effects of single-use plastics. Since 2018, Emma has grown Final from a one product company to a company with an entire line of convenient, sustainable alternatives. Waste is just a design flaw. Emma and the Final team are on a mission to change that.

Thank you to Aspiration for sponsoring our show! To learn more about Aspiration, visit aspiration.com/eco.

Find me on: Instagram @ecochicpodcast + @lauraediez, on Facebook, Twitter. I’m also on clubhouse as @lauradiez ! Sign up for my weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/f9324e3609e4/eco-chic

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