Mallory McDuff has been living on campus at Warren Wilson College for over 20 years. She is a professor who teaches environmental education at the college, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. Living and teaching at the college, and raising two daughters, has given her some unique opportunities to connect with young adults, understand their thoughts and feelings about climate change and the environment, and see how those thoughts and feelings have evolved and continue to evolve.

Mallory is the author of several books that focus on climate change and the environment, including Love Your Mother: 50 States, 50 Stories, and 50 Women United for Climate Justice and Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places We Love.

In this episode, we talk with Mallory about her experiences at Warren Wilson and how she helps inspire students who participate in the college's unique environmental education and community engagement programs. She describes how she became interested in environmental education and shares some advice for educators and future educations who might want to follow in her footsteps.

Mallory’s web site is https://mallorymcduff.com. You'll find information about her books, including Love Your Mother and Our Last Best Act, at https://mallorymcduff.com/books.

Mallory recently wrote an essay for Business Insider about her life on campus at Warren Wilson College. You can read that essay here.

In this article for HuffPost, Mallory describes how the climate crisis and her own parents' sudden deaths led her on yearlong journey to revise her final wishes with climate change and community in mind.

Want to learn about Third Act, the climate action group for people over sixty? Their website is https://thirdact.org/

Mallory also mentioned Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and her upcoming book, What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures. Dr. Johnson's website is https://www.ayanaelizabeth.com/.

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Bill Von Novak is helping to put electric vehicle batteries in the Matrix. No, he’s not creating an electric version of the popular Toyota hatchback, as cool as that would be. Think Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus, not, “I can’t believe how much stuff fits in this little car!”

Bill earned an electrical engineering degree from MIT and has a few decades of experience working with power systems for electric vehicles and UAVs. These days he works for a California-based company called Smartville. Smartville is turning used EV batteries into sustainable energy storage systems which can be used in a variety of ways.

These storage systems can provide backup power for buildings and can be used by power companies to prevent blackouts and brownouts. 

Smartville’s systems are already providing backup power for a library at the University of California, San Diego. The Smartville system helps protect the library’s collection, which includes original writings of Theodor Geisel—a.k.a. Dr. Seuss.

Along with describing the exciting work that Smartville is doing, Bill shares some interesting stories about his journey to this current career. You’ll hear about his first time driving an electric vehicle—an early prototype EV built by Ford. He talks about the solar power and battery storage systems he's built for artists at Burning Man. And he offers advice for other engineers looking to use their talents in environmental or sustainability-focused careers.

Learn about Smartville and their energy storage systems at https://smartville.io

Articles about Smartville:

“South Carolina HBCUs part of $10M US Department of Energy renewable energy project:”
https://www.wltx.com/article/money/business/south-carolina-hbcus-part-of-330million-dollar-us-department-of-energy-renewable-energy-project/101-92b21c52-2938-43e1-a79f-9b57d34a125a

“Smartville Is Giving Used Automotive Batteries A Second Life:”
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/11/07/smartville-is-giving-used-automotive-batteries-a-second-life/

"Second Life: Carmakers and Storage Startups Get Serious About Reusing Batteries:”
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/car-makers-and-startups-get-serious-about-reusing-batteries

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Laura Kits is a singer, songwriter, painter, freelance consultant and business writer. She is a climate activist and spokesperson in a movement called Extinction Rebellion.

Extinction rebellion has grown from a small group of people to a competent, powerful and fun social movement with hundreds of local groups in almost sixty countries. They are a diverse group united by a deep concern for life on Earth and how all life will be impacted by the climate and ecological crisis we are currently facing.

In this episode, Laura talks about disruptive civil disobedience and the actions that groups like Extinction Rebellion are taking to draw attention to the climate crisis. She talks about what corporations and governments are doing—and more specifically, what they aren’t doing—to address the climate crisis.

Laura shares her own reasons for becoming a climate activist and talks about actions we can all take to bring about meaningful change.

Here’s what you can do to help.

Learn about Extinction Rebellion.

Extinction Rebellion Netherlands (English website): https://extinctionrebellion.nl/en/
Extinction Rebellion Global: https://rebellion.global/

Learn about other climate action groups.

Climate Defiance: https://www.climatedefiance.org/
Just Stop Oil: https://juststopoil.org/
Letzte Generation: https://letztegeneration.org/en/

Learn about climate change.

Climate Fresk: https://climatefresk.org/
The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions by Greta Thunberg: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/709837/the-climate-book-by-greta-thunberg/

Learn about political debate, messaging, and the power of framing.

Don’t Think of an Elephant! by George Lakoff: https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-all-new-dont-think-of-an-elephant/

Enjoy more of Laura’s music.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0UntvTSyhgiZmbpT4iOofi

Laura is on Instagram at https://instagram.com/laurakitsmusic
and on Linkedin at https://linkedin.com/in/laura-kits-60462931/

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At one end of the Lakewood Shopping Center in Durham, North Carolina, a nonprofit organization called The Scrap Exchange is doing its part to promote a circular economy. The Scrap Exchange’s mission is to reduce waste and promote creative reuse.

When exactly is the last time that you threw something in the trash? How many things do you throw away each week? It’s not surprising if you don’t exactly remember.

On average, Americans throw out almost 5 pounds of trash per person every day (a little over 2 kg). Every 15.5 hours, Americans throw out enough plastic to fill the AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, which is the largest NFL stadium in the country.*

Throwing things away is the trademark of a linear economy. But these days, more and more people are talking about creating a circular economy. In a circular economy, the people who design and sell products and the people who use those products take steps to minimize waste and ensure that goods and materials can be reused.

In 2023 The Scrap Exchange collected approximately 300,000 pounds of donated materials and helped keep those items from being dumped in landfills.

In this episode we talk with Daniel Bagnell, a longtime employee of The Scrap Exchange. Daniel knows a lot about how The Scrap Exchange operates and has seen many of the changes that the organization has been through over the years. We go behind the scenes with Daniel to learn what it’s like to work at a creative reuse arts center.

* Source: https://environmentamerica.org/center/resources/trash-in-america-2/

Check out The Scrap Exchange web site: https://www.scrapexchange.org/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/scrapexchange
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scrap-exchange/

Sign up for a free, one-hour, online time management workshop. Task, Time, Energy: The Workshop is at https://scottmillercoaching.com/

Get out of your comfort Zone. Transform your relationship with time. Visit https://scottmillercoaching.com/

Janna Starr works as a Project Coordinator at U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) where she has also served as a Certification Program Specialist supporting the LEED Volume Program. Before joining USGBC she managed green events in New York City and was the Facilities & Events Manager and Sustainability Officer at the North Carolina Botanical Garden.

In this episode we talk with Janna about LEED, her work managing recycling and composting for parades and festivals in New York City, and simple things that you can do to promote sustainable practices at home and at work.

We also touch on the touchy subject of greenwashing. Can companies back up their claims about being green and promoting sustainability?

Learn more about the U.S. Green Building Council and LEED at https://www.usgbc.org

Check out the Plant Power Podcast at https://ncbg.unc.edu/about/newsroom/plant-power-podcast/

Find Janna on Instagram at @wastefairy (https://www.instagram.com/wastefairy/)

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How are scientists using AI to support research and conservation work? If you want hear from someone who is well versed in that field—someone who also understands how we can utilize cutting-edge technology while respecting traditional human knowledge and skills—you’ll enjoy our conversation with Zoë Jewell.

Zoë is co-founder of WildTrack, a nonprofit wildlife research organization that develops non-invasive and cost-effective methods to monitor endangered species. WildTrack combines advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence, and traditional ecological knowledge to identify and monitor animals in the wild. Their award-winning footprint identification technology (FIT) uses photos of animal footprints to identify species, individuals, sex, and age-class with over 90% accuracy.

In this episode, Zoë describes her first encounter with a rhino in the wild while monitoring black rhino in Zimbabwe. She explains how the impressive skills of indigenous Shona and Ndebele trackers inspired her and WildTrack co-founder Sky Alibhai to develop WildTrack's unique methods and technology.

Sign up for WildTrack’s newsletter, make a donation, or learn more about their work at https://www.wildtrack.org.

Or, get directly involved in WildTrack’s work! Start collecting footprints using their smartphone app. Go to https://www.wildtrack.org/get-involved/collect-footprints.

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Does this week’s episode artwork depict an epic comic book battle between our hero, Venus Flytrap, and the rampaging Emerald Ash Borer?

Why yes, yes it does.

Will Venus Flytrap thwart Ash Borer’s plans to take over the world? And what does any of this have to do with zombie crepe myrtles?

These topics came up randomly in our conversation with Ben Heuser, our guest for this week’s episode of Creating a Cooler World.

All joking aside, Ben does important work as a Natural Areas Steward at the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill. In this episode, Ben shares thoughts about his work, our place in the natural world, and why conserving natural spaces should be important to all of us.

Here's the link that Ben mentioned: learn about the Piedmont Nature Trails at https://ncbg.unc.edu/ncbg/piedmont-nature-trails/

Want to go down a mycelium rabbit hole? Here are some places to start:

“The surprising world of mushrooms” - https://www.bbcearth.com/news/the-surprising-world-of-mushrooms

“Fungi to save the world: How fungi roots might help build a sustainable planet” - https://mae.ucdavis.edu/news/fungi-save-world

“How do fungi communicate?” - https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/24/1071363/fungi-fungus-communication-explainer/

And here are 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Venus Flytraps - https://cnr.ncsu.edu/news/2021/01/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-venus-flytraps/

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Can you imagine making a 100-day, 1,000-mile journey in a 16-foot sailing kayak? Will Freund doesn't need to imagine it. Will made that journey up the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Miami, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia. He made the trip to talk with people in coastal communities and hear their thoughts about climate change.

Will shared the story of his adventure in a documentary called Connected By Water. After watching the film, there were a few things we wanted to ask Will.

Where did he get the idea for this trip? What was a typical day on the water like? What surprised him the most during the trip?

Will’s answer to that last question might surprise you, but it provides a valuable insight into the challenges we face when talking about climate change.

Will's website is https://willthefourth.com/. You'll find links there to his socials and to Connected By Water, which you can watch on YouTube. Along with the full documentary, Will's YouTube channel has a number of other interesting short videos about his trip.

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In this episode we share an update about the state of the podcast, a look at what's ahead, and a special invitation for you. What does all that have to do with "diving in?" Listen and find out!

(Episode artwork includes an image by Oliver Sjöström from Pixabay.)

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What makes an ecotour company succeed? How can any business stand out in a crowded sea of competitors?

James La Barrie grew up on the Caribbean island of Antigua. In this episode, James describes how a trip to South Carolina inspired his parents to found Antigua Paddles, a successful ecotour company which they operated for almost 20 years.

On a very small island with 103 competitors, Antigua Paddles was consistently ranked one of the best tour companies.

You'll learn how in this episode as James shares Antigua Paddles’ secret sauce with us. He gives us an insider’s look at the exacting attention to detail and the commitment to creating an exceptional experience that helped Antigua Paddles succeed for so many years in a highly competitive industry.

James also speaks very passionately from experience about the natural beauty of the island that he grew up on, the changes that he’s seen in his lifetime due to climate change, and some of the ways that we can inspire people to take action.

Learn about James' company, Beyond Marketing, at https://beyondmarketing.xyz/

Take our "Help the Oceans" challenge! Pick one thing on this list and do it this week:
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/ocean/help-our-ocean.html

Get out of your comfort Zone. Transform your relationship with time. Visit https://scottmillercoaching.com/