EcoJustice Radio

We have long been hearing about various threats to bees and other pollinators, including Colony Collapse Disorder, new pathogens and bee pests, environmental and nutritional stressors, and pesticides such as neonicotinoids. Impacts to Queen Bees and their genetics are also a concern. According to the non-profit organization, HoneyLove, cities are apparently the last refuge for the Honeybee. HoneyLove [http://honeylove.org] is dedicated to urban beekeeping, educational outreach, and advocating for the health and well-being of honey bees. This week, we welcome Ceebs Bailey, HoneyLove's Factotum, and Kristy Pace, their Volunteer Director.

We owe a debt to bees as they pollinate 80-90% of the world’s flowering plants, including more than 130 types of fruits and vegetables. One out of every three or four bites of food you eat was made possible by bees and the honeybee is responsible for $15 billion in U.S. agricultural crops annually. While some are concerned about the health of bees for economic reasons and threats to food production on this continent, the reality is our fate is directly connected to bees and their giveaway to the ecosystem at large, in vitalizing the growth of trees, flowers, and a host of other plants; they are essential to creating and sustaining biodiversity on the planet.

The average human on this continent consumes roughly 1.31 lbs of honey per year which translates to a bee visiting 2+ million flowers and flying 55,000+ miles. May we offer up more love, gratitude and respect to the Honeybee and learn how we can contribute to their continuance.

For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/posts/honeylove-with-84482060

HoneyLove.org [http://honeylove.org] is a Los Angeles-based educational non-profit focused on teaching the public about honey bees and aspiring hobbyists about safe and respectful urban beekeeping.

Ceebs Bailey is a writer in West L.A. who started out a few years ago with a modest tumbling composter outside the kitchen door and now has raised beds in the front yard, a flock of chickens and six beehives around the city. Kristy Pace has been cultivating community through theatre, artivism, and volunteerism for over 20 years. She is a teacher and environmental activist associated with SoCal 350, Climate Reality San Fernando Valley, and of course, Honey Love.

Carry Kim, Co-Host of EcoJustice Radio. An advocate for ecosystem restoration, indigenous lifeways, and a new humanity born of connection and compassion, she is a long-time volunteer for SoCal350, member of Ecosystem Restoration Camps, and a co-founder of the Soil Sponge Collective, a grassroots community organization dedicated to big and small scale regeneration of Mother Earth.

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url

Executive Producer and Intro: Jack Eidt

Hosted by Carry Kim

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Episode 180

Photo credit: HoneyLove

For years, Monsanto declared that their product Roundup, the world's most widely used weed killer, was safe. But in 2015, scientific studies concluded that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is probably carcinogenic. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Monsanto disagreed with the findings, as scientists worked to understand the link between glyphosate and cancer.

Dr. Chadi Nabhan's book, Toxic Exposure [https://chadinabhan.com/mybooks/], tells the true story of his role as an expert physician witness who testified in multiple state and federal trials against Monsanto. His book recounts the heartbreaking stories of numerous patients who developed the cancer non-Hodgkin lymphoma, after regularly using Roundup on yards and school grounds.

Monsanto is now owned by Bayer, one of the largest agrochemical companies in the world. These companies and the EPA downplayed the health dangers of Roundup and the active ingredient glyphosate even after Monsanto lost numerous court cases (owing billions in judgements) and settled out of court for more than $11 Billion for more than 100K patients.

In this interview we discuss the history of Roundup, the dangers of glyphosate, the trial stories and verdicts, and what the everyday person can do to fight for justice against this agricultural behemoth.

Listen to the Extended Interview: https://www.patreon.com/posts/dr-chadi-nabhan-84123670

Dr. Chadi Nabhan is an expert in lymphoid malignancies and treating and diagnosing cancers. He is author of Toxic Exposure: The True Story behind the Monsanto Trials and the Search for Justice [http://www.chadinabhan.com]. He received his medical degree from Damascus University in Syria. After performing basic science research at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, he completed his internal medicine residency as well as an MBA in Healthcare Management at Loyola University in Chicago. Dr. Nabhan maintains active medical licenses in five states, and has over 300 peer-reviewed articles and abstracts. He is also a sought-after speaker, moderator, facilitator, and the creator and host of his own podcast, "Healthcare Unfiltered" [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjiJPTpIJdIiukcq0UaMFsA].

Jessica Aldridge, Co-Host and Producer of EcoJustice Radio, is an environmental educator, community organizer, and 15-year waste industry leader. She is a co-founder of SoCal 350, organizer for ReusableLA, and founded Adventures in Waste. She is a former professor of Recycling and Resource Management at Santa Monica College, and an award recipient of the international 2021 Women in Sustainability Leadership and the 2016 inaugural Waste360, 40 Under 40.

More Info/Resources:

Buy the book, Toxic Exposure: https://chadinabhan.com/mybooks/

Salon Article: https://www.salon.com/2023/02/25/glyphosate-roundup-chadi-nabhan-interview/

Related Show: Kelly Ryerson - Glyphosate Girl - https://wilderutopia.com/ecojustice-radio/glyphosate-an-herbicide-that-kills-more-than-weeds/

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Photo credit: Dr. Chadi Nabhan

Leadership: what does it mean to lead in our times? Perhaps our times are requesting that we all express leadership in our own unique ways and forms. Etymology of the word leadership reveals root words that mean to go and also to guide. We might perceive leadership as going somewhere together with others, with being the important preposition. Because many of us have become jaded by modern leadership, influenced by patriarchy, tyranny, hierarchy and racial, social or gender inequalities. Nina Simons, Co-Founder of Bioneers, joins us to share her investigations of leadership in her book, ‘Nature, Culture, and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership’.

Ours is a time that yearns for a new, feminine, inflected and heartled vision of leadership. Where might it lead us collectively, at the local and global level? Many Indigenous peoples around the world hold understandings and perceptions about leadership that are inherently more spiritual, circular, communal and collaborative than what many of us have experienced or been taught in traditional schools or by society at large. May we redefine and expand our notions of leadership, for much is at stake for the natural world, especially including ourselves.

Some indigenous communities speak of the bird of humanity that has been flying too long with one wing. Now is the time to return to balance and fly with two wings for the benefit of the world. Nina Simons is here to explore the potentiality of leadership for our shared future.

Extended Interview: https://www.patreon.com/posts/nina-simons-83808655

Fall in love with a place, a people, with children, a cause, an organization, a creature, a species - anything that really lights you up. Then give yourself to it in some form of purposeful action…Then see who else is committed to it. Who else is in this river you’ve opted to swim in, on behalf of our collective future? Bring all of yourself.

- Nina Simons, Nature, Culture and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership

Nina Simons is Co-Founder of Bioneers [https://bioneers.org/] and Author of ‘Nature, Culture, and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership’ [https://bioneers.org/ncs/]. She leads the Bioneers Everywoman’s Leadership program. Bioneers is a nonprofit that uses media, convening, and connecting to lift up visionary and practical solutions for many of our most pressing social and ecological challenges, revealing a regenerative and equitable future that’s within our reach today. Nina speaks and teaches internationally at schools, conferences, and festivals, and co-facilitates transformative workshops and retreats for women that share practices for regenerative leadership through reclaiming wholeness and relational mindfulness. Her personal website is https://www.ninasimons.com/.

Carry Kim, Co-Host of EcoJustice Radio. An advocate for ecosystem restoration, indigenous lifeways, and a new humanity born of connection and compassion, she is a long-time volunteer for SoCal350, member of Ecosystem Restoration Camps, and a co-founder of the Soil Sponge Collective, a grassroots community organization dedicated to big and small scale regeneration of Mother Earth.

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url

Executive Producer and Intro: Jack Eidt

Hosted by Carry Kim

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Episode 178

Breathing clean air and drinking clean water are fundamental rights. However, these rights have been denied to many low-income communities and communities of color, who often live next to massive industrial facilities that pollute the air and water. Our guest is Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali [https://www.mustafasantiagoali.com/] former EPA official and now Executive Vice President at the National Wildlife Federation and Founder and CEO of Revitalization Strategies. He has been working toward solving historical injustices that target certain communities for class- and race-based discrimination putting them in the path of harm from toxic exposure, climate disruption, and industrial accidents.

In this show we discuss Dr. Ali's history of working at the EPA and why he had to leave that position. We talk about the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, OH; the EPA regulation of forever chemicals in drinking water; and vehicle pollution standards. We also discuss how the EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gasses has been dialed back by a recent supreme court decision.

Through his public advocacy, Dr. Ali shares his holistic approach to empowering and revitalizing vulnerable communities to secure environmental, health, and economic justice. And how all of us can use our talents to be part of the larger change while also curbing climate anxiety and burnout.

LISTEN to the Extended Interview: https://www.patreon.com/posts/dr-mustafa-ali-83445663

Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali is a thought leader, international speaker, policy maker, community liaison, trainer, and facilitator. Dr. Ali serves as the vice president of environmental justice, climate, and community revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) [https://www.nwf.org/About-Us/Leadership/Mustafa-Santiago-Ali]. He is also the founder of Revitalization Strategies [https://www.mustafasantiagoali.com/about-mustafa/], a business focused on moving our most vulnerable communities from “surviving to thriving.”

Before joining NWF, Dr. Ali was the Senior Vice President for the Hip Hop Caucus (HHC), a national nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that connects the Hip Hop community to the civic process. Prior to joining the HHC, Mustafa worked 22 years at the EPA and 2 years on Capitol Hill working for Congressman John Conyers, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He began advocating on social justice issues at the age of 16 and joined the EPA as a student, becoming a founding member of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice.

Jessica Aldridge, Co-Host and Producer of EcoJustice Radio, is an environmental educator, community organizer, and 15-year waste industry leader. She is a co-founder of SoCal 350, organizer for ReusableLA, and founded Adventures in Waste. She is a former professor of Recycling and Resource Management at Santa Monica College, and an award recipient of the international 2021 Women in Sustainability Leadership and the 2016 inaugural Waste360, 40 Under 40.

More Info/Resources:

https://www.gq.com/story/mustafa-ali-epa-interview

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url

Guest: Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Episode 177

While we continue to hear of and experience the perils of global heating and climate disruption, some of us fundamentally understand that the ecosystem is not broken. Rather it is human connection to Nature that is in dire need of a correction. Or better stated, a re-connection. According to the World’s Soil Resources Report from the UN of the top 10 threats to soil, soil erosion ranks number one, because it is happening globally.

Although desertification intensifies at an alarming rate, and narratives of fear and scarcity dominate, the truth is human beings can restore our ecological memory, mimic and align with Nature, and commit to making the Earth green again. It remains the best kept secret that a regenerative mindset can and will heal the world. World-renowned soil scientist and conservation agronomist Ray Archuleta, Founder of Understanding Ag [https://understandingag.com] and the Soil Health Academy [https://soilhealthacademy.org/], joins us to tap his many decades of experience working with the soil to motivate us to green the Earth once again.

Regeneration requires an understanding of relationships, a willingness to learn how Nature functions, and a shift in how and what we think. By adopting an ecological consciousness of Oneness, emulating Nature and applying Nature’s principles to the soil, we can once again live a balanced, interdependent and harmonious life.

For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

Ray Archuleta is a Certified Professional Soil Scientist with the Soil Science Society of America and has over 30 years’ experience as a Soil Conservationist, Water Quality Specialist, and Conservation Agronomist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). After his retirement from the NRCS in 2017, Ray founded Understanding Ag, LLC [https://understandingag.com], and Soil Health Academy [https://soilhealthacademy.org/], to teach Biomimicry strategies and Agroecology principles for improving soil function on a national scale. Ray also owns and operates a 150-acre farm near Seymour, Missouri that he operates along with his wife and family.

Carry Kim, Co-Host of EcoJustice Radio. An advocate for ecosystem restoration, indigenous lifeways, and a new humanity born of connection and compassion, she is a long-time volunteer for SoCal350, member of Ecosystem Restoration Camps, and a co-founder of the Soil Sponge Collective, a grassroots community organization dedicated to big and small scale regeneration of Mother Earth.

The transition from a fossil-fuel economy to a clean-energy economy is going to require the United States to build a lot of solar, wind, geothermal, energy storage and transmission and distribution systems as soon as possible. We also must consider the infrastructure necessary for building resilience and adaptation to climate change, such as sea walls, flood protection systems, and water storage systems.

Some argue one of the biggest barriers to building all this is the time and costs associated with obtaining the necessary permits and approvals from regulatory agencies. The complexity of the process gives motivated individuals the ability to drag out the approval process, which can be a significant hurdle for energy companies looking to invest in renewable energy projects.

Further, some assert we should repeal/reform the National Environmental Policy Act (called NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). These laws require federal and state/local agencies to assess the potential environmental effects of development projects, public works, and other major government actions, and involve the public at important steps in the process. On this show, we talk with Dustin Mulvaney, Professor, Environmental Studies Department, San José State University [http://dustinmulvaney.com/], and Lydia Poncé, Indigenous Activist, Water Protector, and Coordinator of Earth Justice.

We also discuss the issue of housing advocacy and protection of neighborhoods and promotion of a sustainable form of urbanism. Do environmental regulations that encourage - or even mandate - public participation for environmental justice the problem in preventing us from building a better society with Housing and Clean Energy for all?

Dustin Mulvaney is a Professor in the Environmental Studies Department at San José State University and a Fellow with the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines. His research includes work on just transitions, solar energy commodity chains, and natural resource development. He is the author of Solar Power: Innovation, Sustainability, Environmental Justice published by the University California Press in 2019, and Sustainable Energy Transition: Socio-Ecological Dimensions of Decarbonization out with Palgrave-MacMillan in 2020.

Lydia Poncé is an Indigenous Activist, Water Protector, co-founder of Idle No More SoCal and Coordinator of Earth Justice. She hosts a show called Be a Better Relative, Tuesdays on KPFK Los Angeles.

Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs.

More info: https://thebulletin.org/2023/02/want-clean-energy-fast-streamlining-environmental-reviews-could-have-the-opposite-effect/#post-heading

Mulvaney, D. 2022. Battle over the sun in the Golden State. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. June 3, 2022. https://thebulletin.org/2022/06/battle-over-solar-power-in-the-golden-state/ Stephanie Dashiell, Mark Buckley, Dustin Mulvaney. (2019). Green Light Study: Economic and Conservation Benefits of Low-Impact Solar Siting in California. The Nature Conservancy. November 2019. https://www.scienceforconservation.org/products/green-light-study

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url

Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Episode 172

Water security. Water quality. Access to water. The threat of water privatization. Our relationship to water and how we value it. Ours is a future where the preciousness of water is being tested. Every drop counts. Will humanity act as if water is a gift rather than as an entitlement, a “right” or an exclusive commodity to profit from? Our guest this week, Boris Ochoa-Tocachi, CEO and Senior Hydrologist of ATUK Consultoría Estratégica out of Ecuador [https://atuk.com.ec/profesionales/boris-ochoa-tocachi/], shares with us his view of creating a positive relationship with water.

Water sowing and harvesting methods including: albarradas in Ecuador, sand dams in Africa, wetland management and infiltration systems in Spain and the Andes work with nature to “sow” water for storage in soils, river sands, and groundwater, making water available for harvesting during times of water scarcity. These traditional systems inherently protected and replenished watersheds thereby creating sustainable cultures, aligned with Nature.

Hear Boris Ochoa-Tocachi share valuable insights on traditional knowledge and nature-based approaches to local and global water security.

For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/posts/boris-ochoa-on-82367338

Boris Ochoa-Tocachi is a civil engineer and a PhD and MSc in Hydrology from Imperial College in London, UK. He is the CEO of ATUK, an environmental consultancy company in Ecuador [https://atuk.com.ec/], and hydrological advisor for Forest Trends, DC, USA. He investigates the role of nature-based solutions and traditional water infrastructure and local knowledge for water security.

Carry Kim, Co-Host of EcoJustice Radio. An advocate for ecosystem restoration, indigenous lifeways, and a new humanity born of connection and compassion, she is a long-time volunteer for SoCal350, member of Ecosystem Restoration Camps, and a co-founder of the Soil Sponge Collective, a grassroots community organization dedicated to big and small scale regeneration of Mother Earth.

LINKS

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4990-8429

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Boris-Ochoa-Tocachi

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=hbB-_hwAAAAJ&hl=en

Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57190878695

MORE INFO

Ochoa-Tocachi BF, et al. (2019), Potential contributions of pre-Inca infiltration infrastructure to Andean water security. Nature Sustainability 2: 584–593. Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0307-1.epdf?sharing_token=ERQVk8DQIQyzIQEeCfBsAtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NtleI5LoK83AlTKkx4Q_5ufrknj0v3Gwu4McyxOPVdbnyBzKNmxoe-CvTyDUMpBaAWRygytBZ5tB7GD1lf4X5AkwTrAGQys7DcT55S1PwrIHysM9d8Sbf50AcrA5W2N0Kk8n-b6T11SG9TPWcBNUieoga9NcXJ1OHV94lkTNEtw3y0QN0zXNo5GsD-_9_L9vY%3D

Ochoa-Tocachi BF & Buytaert W (2020), Ancient water harvesting practices can help solve modern problems, The Science Breaker: Science Meets Society, Vol: 06. Link: https://www.thesciencebreaker.org/breaks/earth-space/ancient-water-harvesting-practices-can-help-solve-modern-problems

Eos Science News by AGU. Pre-Inca Canal System Uses Hillsides as Sponges to Store Water. By: Rachel Fritts, 30 Dec 2019. Link: https://eos.org/articles/pre-inca-canal-system-uses-hillsides-as-sponges-to-store-water

BBC Future. Why Peru is reviving a pre-Incan technology for water. By: Erica Gies, 18 May 2021. Link: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210510-perus-urgent-search-for-slow-water

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url

Executive Producer and Intro: Jack Eidt

Hosted by Carry Kim

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Episode 174

Photo credit: Erica Giles

Greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, such as carbon dioxide and methane, are warming the planet. This warming is then setting in motion ice and permafrost melting, release of more greenhouse gases, more heat and storms – these are feedback loops, which then feed upon themselves, as well as interact with each other and spiral further out of control.

In this show, we sat down in 2022 with Susan Gray, Director and Bonnie Waltch, Senior Producer and writer of the five-part documentary series, “Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops.” [https://FeedBackLoopsClimate.com] Narrated by Richard Gere, this series of five short films features twelve leading climate scientists, who explore how human-caused emissions are triggering nature’s own warming loops. We also learned why natural warming loops have scientists alarmed—and why they feel we have less time to correct climate disruption than previously thought.

The series is subtitled in 23 languages and can be paired with an educational science curriculum for students in grades 6-12. The films can be viewed in full at https://FeedBackLoopsClimate.com

For an extended version of this interview: https://www.patreon.com/posts/feedback-loops-64015141

Susan Gray is the award-winning director and co-writer of Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops, & Earth Emergency. She began her career as an environmental political activist and now makes documentary films about the pressing social issues of our times. Her films have been aired on major television networks around the world.

Bonnie Waltch is a Boston-based freelance producer/director/writer for documentaries and museum exhibit media and the award-winning senior producer and writer of Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops, & Earth Emergency. Other recent work include a short film about super reefs for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and media for the Pikes Peak Visitor Center in Colorado.

Jessica Aldridge, Co-Host and Producer of EcoJustice Radio, is an environmental educator, community organizer, and 15-year waste industry leader. She is a co-founder of SoCal 350, organizer for ReusableLA, and founded Adventures in Waste. She is a former professor of Recycling and Resource Management at Santa Monica College, and an award recipient of the international 2021 Women in Sustainability Leadership and the 2016 inaugural Waste360, 40 Under 40.

Resources/Articles:

https://www.woodwellclimate.org/ WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER;

https://www.oneearth.org/who-we-fund/media-advocacy-grants/project-drawdown-100-solutions-to-reverse-global-warming/ PROJECT DRAWDOWN: 100 Solutions for Global Warming

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://wilderutopia.com/ecojustice-radio/feedback-loops-climate-changes-most-critical-dynamic/

Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Episode 131

According to the LA City Sanitation District, a staggering 4,000 tons of food waste is generated in Los Angeles County on a daily basis. This food includes “dinner” scraps as well as spoiled fruit and vegetables from grocery stores and restaurants. Recently, the program Organics LA & SB1383 now requires Los Angeles residents compost their food scraps in order to reduce our mountain of organic waste and divert it away from landfills.

The aim is to reduce organic waste in landfills by 75% by 2025. Food waste makes up nearly 20% of the content in landfills. All residents and businesses are now required to do the bare minimum of separating “green” waste from other trash so that it can be recaptured and regenerated.

Where does all the green waste go? Who is using it? How is it being transformed into something of regenerative value? How can we reclaim and recycle our waste in a hyperlocal way to benefit the surrounding community at large? Most of us recognize our era asks us to take personal responsibility for closing the loop on our consumption and waste, in order to become a consciously regenerative society that benefits rather than diminishes life. David Velez from TAWA Compost [http://www.tawacompost.org] is here to share how he is turning “trash” into gold, by redistributing and rescuing food, making compost and transforming the unusable into the usable at scale.

For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/posts/david-alexander-82033336

David Alexander Velez is a social entrepreneur and innovator. He founded TAWA Compost Food Rescue [http://www.tawacompost.org] in 2022 whose purpose is to reduce waste by transforming these into valuable resources. TAWA rescues edible food, composts inedible food to make high quality compost, and thus helps recondition soil and reduce water consumption in the garden.

Carry Kim, Co-Host of EcoJustice Radio. An advocate for ecosystem restoration, indigenous lifeways, and a new humanity born of connection and compassion, she is a long-time volunteer for SoCal350, member of Ecosystem Restoration Camps, and a co-founder of the Soil Sponge Collective, a grassroots community organization dedicated to big and small scale regeneration of Mother Earth.

MORE INFO

https://paper.dropbox.com/doc/Californias-biggest-environmental-cleanup-leaves-lead-contamination-and-frustration-R3H4PGWvkSNppyL9p5ypw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja0bBcrLwPk&t=107s

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url

Executive Producer and Intro: Jack Eidt

Hosted by Carry Kim

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Episode 173

As house prices escalate, the concept of living in smaller homes has gone viral. Whether fixed to land or portable, the tiny house movement has swept across the US. Yet, what is the day-to-day reality of living the downsized life?

Our guests this week, Lindsay Wood - The Tiny Home Lady [https://www.thetinyhomelady.com/] - and Teresa Bradley from Tiny Green Adventures [https://www.youtube.com/@tinygreenadventure3464], bring a dose of reality to the challenge, but also the splendor, of living simply with few belongings in a tiny home. Can you really save money by going tiny? Is it a net positive for the environment? And what about zero waste, is that possible? Are tiny homes the way to tackle the housing crisis across the United States?

Tiny Homes, although lauded as a green way forward in a world covered in wasteful McMansions and debt enslaving rent payments, must overcome land and building regulations (that in many places) still consider this form of housing either illegal or difficult to approve. We go into all these points and more on this show.

For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/posts/tiny-home-lady-81679651

Lindsay Wood, "The Tiny Home Lady" [https://www.thetinyhomelady.com/] is on a mission to develop 100,000 Tiny Homes as attainable and affordable houses in California and across the US. Lindsay has been investing in Real Estate since 2015 and believes Tiny Homes are a solution to the housing and climate crisis. Lindsay consults and guides people dreaming of going Tiny through The GO TiNY! Academy, GO TiNY! Showcase and the GO TiNY! VIP Tours [https://www.youtube.com/@GOTINYTV] .

Teresa Bradley is the founding Director of Race to Zero Waste [http://racetozerowaste.org] and lives with her partner, daughter and cat who all live a low waste lifestyle while traveling most of the year in a 24-foot Class C Motorhome. She and her partner travel for environmental project work throughout California and showcase their lifestyle on their Instagram & YouTube channel called Tiny Green Adventure [https://www.youtube.com/@tinygreenadventure3464] .

Jessica Aldridge, Co-Host and Producer of EcoJustice Radio, is an environmental educator, community organizer, and 15-year waste industry leader. She is a co-founder of SoCal 350, organizer for ReusableLA, and founded Adventures in Waste. She is a former professor of Recycling and Resource Management at Santa Monica College, and an award recipient of the international 2021 Women in Sustainability Leadership and the 2016 inaugural Waste360, 40 Under 40.

More Info/Resources:

https://www.thetinyhomelady.com/press.html

https://garageshedcarportbuilder.com/tiny-homes-a-big-idea/

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt

Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Episode 172

Photo credit: The Tiny Home Lady