How can we take meaningful steps toward saving the planet while addressing our own consumption habits? In this compelling episode, Emily Paulsen and sustainability expert Ashlee Piper dive deep into the environmental crisis and explore what individuals can do to make a tangible difference.

Ashlee shares the fascinating history of consumerism, the psychological tricks behind marketing, and the innovative #NoNewThings Challenge she created to help people reduce overconsumption. Together, they discuss how small, intentional changes in our daily lives can lead to a ripple effect of positive impacts—for ourselves and for the planet.

This isn’t just a conversation about climate change—it’s an empowering call to action for reclaiming our personal power and living more sustainably.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding Consumerism: Learn how post-war industrialization and marketing created a culture of overconsumption and environmental degradation.

• The Role of Marketing: Discover how modern marketing exploits psychology to influence purchasing decisions and create false needs.

• The #NoNewThings Challenge: Explore how this initiative helps individuals reclaim time, money, and creativity while reducing their environmental impact.

• Actionable Sustainability: Practical steps for curbing overconsumption, living sustainably, and contributing to climate solutions.

• Individual Power in Collective Change: Why our personal choices matter and how they can lead to systemic improvements.

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Host Emily Paulsen is an accomplished entrepreneur and happily childfree woman shining a light on the often overshadowed childfree-by-choice perspective. Whether interviewing innovative experts or positioning leaders to scale through her Brand Studio, Electric Collab, Emily’s power lies in allowing people to feel seen and celebrated for who they are . She’s spent years honing the ability to deeply understand and amplify others in an honest, high-impact way. 

Learn more about Emily on her website: www.curiouslifeofachildfreewoman.com  

And connect with her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curiouslifeofachildfreewoman/ 

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The guest on this episode is Ashlee Piper, a sustainability expert, TV personality, author and globally recognized speaker whose work has been featured on 310+ television segments, including The TODAY Show, Good Morning America, LIVE with Kelly & Mark, and CNN, and in VOGUE, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Marie Claire, The Atlantic and Newsweek. Piper's 2018 book, Give A Sh*t: Do Good. Live Better. Save the Planet. (Running Press) has been hailed as a 'sustainability Bible' by celebrities and reviewers.

She's consulted on sustainability practices with well-known companies such as Airbnb, LUSH, Nissan and Eileen Fisher, has been a cabinet-level advisor to two Massachusetts Governors and is a judge for the Marie Claire Sustainability Awards. Piper has spoken at the United Nations, SXSW and has a popular TED Talk. She is also the creator of the #NoNewThings Challenge, which received a 2022 Silver Stevie Award for Best Nonprofit Innovation and is set to be published as her second book in 2025 by Celadon Books.

Piper has been a Professor of Sustainability Marketing at Loyola University Chicago, eco instructor for LinkedIn Learning and holds a BA from Brown University, an MSc in Evidence-Based Social Intervention from the University of Oxford, UK and an MA in Holistic Health from IIN/Columbia University.

She lives in Chicago with Skip, an 18-pound cat she found behind a dumpster, in a home that’s 98% secondhand. You can find her drinking Sugar-Free Red Bull and vodka and singing Seal’s ‘Kiss From A Rose’ at any not-so-fine karaoke establishment.

Learn more about Ashlee on her website: 

www.ashleepiper.com

And connect with her on Instagram:  @ashleepiper

Pre-order her book: No New Things