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Eddie Olschanski is on a mission. Five days a week, year-round, Eddie can be seen fishing for trash in his kayak on the Cuyahoga River in the Flats. Outfitted with just a life jacket, a trash grabber, and garbage bags, Eddie and his volunteers have plucked over 50,000 lbs of trash from the shipping canal, the last place the trash can be removed before it drains into Lake Erie. Eddie founded Trash Fish CLE in 2017 to keep our lake clean, educate people about plastic pollution, and encourage people to get out and enjoy the water. For this episode, we joined Eddie on the river, along with two recruitments, Laura and Cheri. Join us as we hear what drives Eddie to do this dirty work, how he feels about "nurdles," and what Cleveland needs to do to rid our river of trash.   

Resources:
Get Involved with Trash Fish CLE
Trash Fish and the Today Show
Support Eddie
Follow Eddie on Instagram

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Curious about how the water you use every day gets to your tap? If you live in Northeast Ohio, chances are you get some or all of your water from the Cleveland Division of Water and the process of getting it from Lake Erie to you is fascinating. Today is water appreciation day on Eco Speaks CLE and speaking with us is Alex Margevicius, the Commissioner of Water for Cleveland Water. Alex oversees the 10th largest water system in the US and the largest in Ohio. Join us as he explains how Cleveland Water treats and delivers over 200 million gallons of water to customers in 80 communities daily! Hear about the infrastructure involved, the water treatment process that ensures our water is safe, and how we can protect our greatest natural asset and water source, Lake Erie. What do you think about when you turn on the tap this morning?

Resources:
Cleveland's Water Treatment Process
History of Cleveland Water - Interactive Timeline
Education and Outreach Services
2023 Water Quality Report
Lead Awareness 

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In this episode, we hear from a number of Cleveland's sustainability community in this recording from May's Eco Meet CLE event at Great Lakes Brewing Company. The evening featured a community stage where we heard from local environmental organizations about their work and the many ways we can connect and get involved. A lot is happening around town, and we are proud of all the people doing this important work. Listen to their stories here and find what speaks to you. Eco Meet CLE events are presented by Eco Speaks CLE and Venture Forward Strategies and hosted by Great Lakes Brewing Company. 

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The Ohio City Bicycle Co-Op has been helping people use bikes for over 20 years by imparting skills that encourage riding for fun, fitness, and transportation. Guided by the principles of respect, resourcefulness, and reciprocity, the OCBC's small professional staff and its many skilled volunteers refurbish donated bicycles, teach bike maintenance and repair classes, operate a bicycle thrift store, and lead community programs such as fixathons all out of their 12,000 sq ft shop in the Flats. Our guest, Jim Sheehan, is one of the founders and the director of OCBC. Join us as Jim speaks about how the spirit of cooperative work keeps wheels on the road. Hear about the Earn A Bike and Pay What You Can programs, the Idaho Stop, how to recycle a water bottle into a fender, essential bike maintenance tips, upcoming events, and much more. May is National Bike Month, and OCBC has you covered.

Guest:
Jim Sheehan, Director, Ohio City Bicycle Co-Op

Resources:
About Ohio City Bicycle Co-Op
OCBC Learn to Ride and Bike Maintenance classes
OCBC Community Programs
Donate a Bike
Become a Volunteer
Bike Collectives Network
Slow Roll Cleveland
 

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In honor of Arbor Day, we discuss local efforts to reforest the Forest City with the Cleveland Tree Coalition and the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. Cleveland was once known as the Forest City, but it's not so forested anymore, with less than 18% of tree canopy remaining in the urban core. This tree canopy loss negatively impacts the city and its residents. Two women working to understand those impacts and rebuild our urban forest are Samira alone with the Cleveland Tree Coalition and Alison Ball with the County Planning Commission. Join us for a conversation about the power of trees for community quality of life and how strategic urban planning, planting, and tree stewardship are restoring our taking root in our region for this and future generations.   

Guests:
Samira Malone: Inaugural Director, Cleveland Tree Coalition
Alison Ball, Planning Initiatives Specialist, Cuyahoga County Planning Commission

Resources:
Healthy Urban Tree Canopy Grant Program and Cleveland Tree Coalition Grant Program
Cuyahoga County Tree Canopy Viewer
Cuyahoga County Tree Canopy Assessment

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 April is a busy month in the CLE, so we bring you this short Earth Day episode where Diane goes solo and speaks about the first Earth Fest at the Zoo in 1990, what having a sustainability community means, ways to get involved, and what's in store for Eco Speaks CLE.
 
Ways to Connect:
Join the Eco Meet CLE 4 Miles 4 Water team
Register for Eco Meet CLE on May 16
Eco Meet CLE on Linked in 
Low Power Happy Hour by Conservancy for CVNP
Trash Fish with Eddie Olshanski
NEO Sustainability Ladies (connect through [email protected])

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Spring has arrived, and here at Eco Speaks CLE, we are thinking about SOIL. It is fundamental to all life on earth, so it deserves our attention. In this episode, we speak with Nathan Rutz, the Director of Soil for Tilth Soil. Tilth is an outgrowth of Rust Belt Riders, transforming food waste into a family of soil products that nourish plants, people, and the planet. Join us as we ponder the importance of healthy soil, which Wendel Berry, the  American poet, essayist, and environmentalist, calls the "great connector of lives."   

Guest:
Nathan Rutz, Director of Soil, Tilth Soil

Resources:
Tilth Soil
About Tilth
Community Compost Coalition
One Straw Revolution by  Masanobu Fukuoka
The Gift of Good Land by Wendell Berry

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In this episode, we learn how BRITE Energy Innovators is helping power the future of energy across Ohio by speaking with Jing Lyon, BRITE's Entrepreneur Programs Director, and Joe Rohan, BRITE's Accelerator Program Manager. BRITE Energy Innovators empowers founders to launch energy technology solutions and operates Ohio's only energy technology incubator in Warren, located in Ohio's "Voltage Valley." Over the past decade, BRITE has helped nearly 600 new energy tech startups and created more than 1,100 jobs. Join us to get to know Joe and Jing as we talk about rock n roll, entrepreneurship, advanced energy solutions for EVs, energy storage, and mobility. In Ohio, our future is BRITE!

Guests:
Jing Lyon, Entrepreneur Programs Director, BRITE Energy Innovators
Joe Rohan, Accelerator Program Manager, BRITE Energy Innovators

Resources:
About BRITE Energy Innovators
About BRITE's Founder, Rick Stockbridge
About BRITE's Startups
About BRITE's Energy Tech Incubator

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Meet members of our local sustainability community and hear from local climate leaders in this episode recorded during our second Eco Meet CLE event in February at Great Lakes Brewing Company. First, meet some of the people in the room and then hear from our climate panelists, featuring County Executive Chris Ronayne, Stephen Love with the Cleveland Foundation, and city and county sustainability directors Sarah O'Keefe and Mike Foley, respectively. Chris and Stephen were part of a prominent Cleveland delegation that attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt last fall - COP 27. Hear them relate their experience and critical takeaways, and then hear Sarah and Mike tell us how the City and the County are working to address climate change and create an equitable, clean energy future. So what does the future look like in our region? Executive Ronayne's vision is for us to be the "Freshwater Capital of the Future." Listen and learn about all the work underway to help get us there.   

Panelists:
Chris Ronayne: Cuyahoga County Executive
Stephen Love: Manager of Environmental Initiatives at the Cleveland Foundation
Sarah O'Keefe: City of Cleveland Director of  Sustainability and Climate Justice
Mike Foley: Cuyahoga County Director of Sustainability

Resources:
The Climate Registry recording from COP27 featuring the Cleveland leadership delegation:
Cleveland Climate Action Plan
Cuyahoga County Climate Change Action Plan
Power a Clean Future Ohio
Go Green Energy Fund

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Contact - [email protected]