Everyday Green Home

For the month of September, I have selected new and past guests on the podcast to showcase women who are making a difference.

Today, I'm bringing yet another show that I really loved out of the archives for you to enjoy. This podcast was recorded back in May of 2017 with Suzanne Shelton, the founder and owner of Shelton Group, which is one of the leading marketing communications agencies, exclusively focused in the energy and environmental arena. They are sustainability marketing experts!

In our conversation, we spoke about the work that Suzanne's company does with market research and polls, and how it has given them a chance to gain an understanding of what people are thinking, their perceptions, and what they are doing in terms of energy and the environment. The pandemic has raised our awareness of the health, wellness, and safety issues that we have in our homes. This has become more and more important as we look to support the companies that reflect our values in what they are doing. It is still relevant, and it applies to our current situation. I hope you enjoy it!

The energy space

Suzanne started the company 25 years ago. About eleven years in, she realized that they needed to focus on being the best at something, rather than trying to be all things to all people. They had done a lot of work in the energy space, and looking at where it was heading they realized that there were going to be a lot more environmental problems. It was something they felt passionate about so they decided to focus exclusively on that arena.

Polling Americans

Today, Shelton Group is well known for polling Americans and Canadians, to understand their thoughts and perceptions, and what they are doing in terms of energy and the environment, and how that shapes their buying preferences.

Edgy campaigns

Shelton Group is well known for edgy creative campaigns to help people make informed decisions, and for their research work.

Mainstream

Talking sustainability used to be a niche. Now it has become mainstream. That means that the cost of green fixtures for homes has come down.

Top five

The top five of the thirty-six "nice to have" features that people want in their new homes save either energy or water.

Greener homes without breaking the bank

Shelton Group has figured out how to build beautiful homes that are greener and more energy-efficient, without breaking the bank.

Commercial construction

In commercial construction currently, you have to search to find contractors, developers, and architects who are not using sustainability principals.

Residential construction

There's more of a challenge with sustainable practices within residential construction. Millennials entering the home buying market, however, are often more aware of things like indoor air quality issues and chemical content issues.

Basic expectations

When people don't ask questions, it doesn't mean they don't care. Most people simply assume that their basic expectations in terms of sustainable practices are being met in the construction of new homes.

Asking the right questions

Homeowners sometimes don't know the right questions to ask builders. They just want to know that their family will be happy, healthy, and safe.

Builders want to sell homes

Builders want to sell homes so they build what they believe will sell. There are studies that show that certified efficient and green homes sell faster, they sell for more money, and they retain their value better.

Effective marketing

To do effective communications, and effective marketing and advertising, you have to understand what people are thinking. The data that Shelton Group collects tells them that. They can even compare what people are thinking about today with what they were thinking eight years ago.

New questions

They ask new questions every year because new issues come up.

Results

The results of the studies fuel the development of Shelton Group's creative campaign work so that they can build the right campaigns and marketing materials to sell more products, build brands, and create social movements.

Most people believe that climate change is real

64% of Americans believe that climate change is happening and that it's caused by man. And 51% of Americans are concerned and feel anxious about it, which means they want to do something about it. Only 6% understand that the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions in this country is from the energy we generate to use to heat and cool our homes.

Making a positive impact on the environment

People need to understand that the best way that we can make a positive change to the environment is through our homes.

Links and resources:

Shelton Group

Market Research Reports

Buy Stuff for Your Home, Curated by Marla

Spotlight Companies to Support on EGH Podcast

This month, I am enjoying highlighting so many women who have made a difference! My guest for today is Donna Miller, the founder of Purse Power. Donna has made a difference in my life, and also in the lives of many other women!

Donna is a former Human Resources Executive who spent thirty years in Corporate America. A few years ago, she and her sisters came to the blinding realization that women make 80% of all the purchasing decisions. They understood that it meant that if women collectively choose to buy only from the companies that actively promote women, and they could create a funding stream for battered women's shelters in the process, they could shatter glass ceilings and change women's lives in a matter of quarters rather than decades.

That was how the idea for Purse Power was born.

Since then, they have started doing presentations about what they have been trying to create, and they have built a national platform of more than 750,000 women-owned and women-led businesses. And they have also created a Google Chrome extension with Carnegie Mellon, to find those businesses when you're shopping online, and some phone apps to show you where the women-owned businesses are when you are physically near them.

I invited Donna to join me today to talk to us about Purse Power, to share what she's been doing during the pandemic, and to discuss how women can come together to drive change very rapidly.

Point of sale

Purse Power is trying to give people who want to support women-owned businesses information at the point of sale to help them know who they want to be buying from.

Women align with greener choices

Women tend to align themselves with greener choices because of the health and wellness aspect, and those choices help women to feel empowered.

Driving change in the green and sustainability industry

In the green and sustainability industry, there is currently a lot of thought process that's going in the direction of women driving change.

One out of four women

Donna points out that one out of every four women in America gets impacted by domestic violence, and they need help.

People are willing to help

If you would like to accomplish something, you need to let the people around you know what you are doing and what you need. You will be amazed at how connected people are and how much they will help.

The power of connection

Donna's approach to building a network and building connections is to go at it from being helpful to the people you are trying to reach, and also to the people you want to partner with. Understanding who she is trying to get in touch with, and what they want and need, worked very well for Donna. And then she would find a way to bring them all together to share best practices and insights and build a sense of community.

Donna's magic

Donna's magic for making a difference in this world lies in figuring what your life is all about, planning backward from there, and being bold.

Insight

The thing that gave Donna insight into what she wanted to do was to use Stephen Covey's idea of beginning with the end in mind.

Making a difference

She discovered that she wanted to make a difference for women, and she has been doing that ever since then.

Let's Share the Journey

When the coronavirus pandemic started, Donna realized that many of the entrepreneurs in her network would be struggling. To understand the issues they were facing, to offer them support, and to share some resources, she created a webcast called Let's Share the Journey, where some of the leading thinkers in the nation share their journeys and their ups and downs, and answer questions.

A hub

Donna has acted as a hub for connecting people, and that has worked very effectively in her journey.

Networking and reconnecting

Zoom has been a good platform for people to reconnect with their old connections in a new way.

Staying in contact

It is important to keep in contact with the people in your network consistently and build a relationship and rapport with them over time because you don't want to connect with them only when you need something.

A great way to connect

Offering to help and asking people what they need is a great way to connect with them and to add value to your business.

Purse Power

There are currently 758,000 companies registered in Purse Power's directory. You can use Purse Power to list your business, if you are a woman, and to find women-owned and women-led companies.

Links and resources:

Purse Power

Purse Power - Register Your Business

Let's Share the Journey - Coronavirus Resources

Donna's LinkedIn

Everyday Green Home - Shop Products from Women Owned / Led Businesses

Welcome to the Everyday Green Home Podcast! Today, I'm happy to be sharing a very humorous podcast that I pulled out of the archives. My frequent co-host, Tony Pratte, and I recorded it in St. Louis, back in the spring of 2017.

In this show, Tony and I interview Angie Mendica, who works with Crescent Plumbing Supply in St. Louis. We met Angie through the Homebuilders Association in St. Louis, and Angie and I were also together in the Professional Women in Building Council.

Angie is very funny, and she is a delightful person to have around in any situation! She has been with Crescent Plumbing Supply for about a decade, and her role is to educate people about the benefits of their plumbing products. A big part of what she does is talking about toilets.

Today's episode focuses on the quantity of water that we use in our homes. We discuss the importance of saving as much water as possible, and we talk about the benefits of having the right kind of plumbing fixtures and a good toilet. And Angie explains how we can have it all with long-lasting water-efficient plumbing fixtures designed to complement your home and look fantastic.

Why plumbing fixtures are so important

Water-efficient plumbing fixtures are important because they make it easy for us to use less water, and they help us to waste a lot less water. And having plumbing fixtures that don't leak and work efficiently helps us with our water goals and saves us money.

A lot of water is used and wasted in America each year

According to the EPA, the average American family uses about 300 gallons of water a day. That adds up to an average of around 109 500 gallons of water per year. We also need to bear in mind that a typical home leaks between 200 and 20 000 gallons each year, and we are paying for it!

Crescent Plumbing Supply offers many different products and services

Crescent Plumbing Supply covers all aspects. Their residential side offers homeowners many different products and services, and they also have a large commercial side.

A timeless product that conserves water

Many homeowners go into Crescent Plumbing Supply looking for timeless, functional products, and they are delighted when they discover that those products also conserve water.

Kohler toilets

Water-efficient toilets and plumbing have come a long way since the early 1990s. Crescent Plumbing Supply are suppliers of the Kohler toilet. In 2011, Kohler came out with an efficient new water-saving flushing technology with a canister type of flushing mechanism that is very efficient.

The cleanliness aspect

Apart from their bulk removal aspect, Kohler toilets also have a cleanliness aspect that sets them apart from any other one on the market.

Dual flush toilets

Dual flush toilets typically have a half flush option for liquid waste and a full-flush option for solid waste. There have been several different generations of dual flush toilets. Things have progressed a lot since they first came out, and the ones that are available today work very efficiently even though they use very little water.

Kohler product suites

Kohler has product suites available where everything is coordinated and matching. That includes the faucets, the sink, the toilet, the showerhead, and even the recessed mirror, and they come in a variety of different styles.

A lot of engineering goes into creating an efficient toilet

Angie was impressed with one of the engineers at Kohler when she had the opportunity to go there for some training a few summers ago. His job was to engineer the best toilet on the market, and the trainees could flush the toilets he created and those created by engineers from other companies. The trainees were much more impressed with the toilets designed by the Kohler engineer than they were with those designed by their competitors.

Kohler signature stores

There are Kohler signature stores all over the country. There are designed for end-users and they are there to create a buyer's experience and give people a first-hand example of what their options are.

Educating people about Kohler products

Kohler products constantly get updated, so you can rest assured that all their water-saving fixtures and fittings work extremely efficiently. And they often host educational events to keep homeowners and plumbers informed about their latest products.

A great reason to work with a company like Crescent Plumbing Supply

A great reason to work with a local company like Crescent Plumbing Supply (or a similar local plumbing supply company in your area) is that they understand the systems of plumbing, and they know how all the various parts impact the system as a whole. And they can help plumbers and homeowners to select the very best quality products that will solve all their problems and function efficiently for many years to come.

Links and resources:

Referrals/Links:

Blog Referencing Podcast - Water Usage Relates to Energy Usage: How Much Water Are You Wasting?

Curated by Marla: Low Water-Use Plumbing Products

Crescent Plumbing Supply

WaterSense from US EPA

I'm excited to share today's podcast with you! This show originally aired two years ago, back in 2018, and Sheridan Foster, the founder of the digital media company, Elemental Green, is my guest. We have a great conversation today about how Elemental Green makes it easy for you to make sustainable choices that are better for you, which will also enhance your living experience.

Going green is a constant learning curve. Sheridan and I are passionate about everything related to green homes, and we both love connecting people with information. We hope you will enjoy learning about greening your home, and discovering how it will improve your health and wellness, and make your life a lot more comfortable!

The founding vision for Elemental Green

Sheridan founded Elemental Green with the vision that every home can be a greener home. She created the company as a resource for homeowners, builders, and designers so that they can make every decision, for either a home-build or a renovation, more sustainably.

Elemental Green is a web-based resource

Elemental Green is a web-based resource with a presence on social media. The richest set of information is available on their website, Elemental Green. There, you can see the topics that they're featuring in either products or educational articles. You can also search the website for a specific product.

The fundamental role of Elemental Green

The fundamental role of Elemental Green is to connect people who are looking for solutions, with real products that are currently available. They partner with various brands and bring their solutions forward to make people aware of them at the very time that they are looking for solutions.

An educational piece

A large part of Elemental Green is an educational piece that is there to assist people in understanding what green means.

An inspirational piece

There is also a beautiful, inspirational piece to Elemental Green, where they show people lovely homes and suggest that they incorporate some of the sustainable features in their homes.

Green is not only about energy

Green is not only about energy. It is also about all the different materials that you bring into your home. So, becoming aware of the chemicals in the products you use, and of how sustainably the things you buy are manufactured and sourced, is a big part of living green.

Going green saves people

Many people think that going green is only about saving the planet. Sheridan clarifies that by explaining that the planet is simply a place for all of us, as people, to live, so going green is just as important for the wellbeing of people.

Helping people understand that the benefits are real

Both Sheridan and I are working hard to help people understand that the benefits of greening are real, and it is also beneficial for their families and their communities.

A great solution to a frustrating problem

Elemental Green was born out of the frustration that Sheridan experienced when trying to make sustainable decisions for her home-build. Every decision involved hours of research to find a list of solutions for ways for her builder to make things greener.

An educational tool

Initially, Sheridan saw Elemental Green as a potential educational tool for homeowners, and she also saw it as something that architects and builders could use as a simple resource.

New materials

Elemental Green is helpful because it keeps up to date with all the new materials that are coming out every day.

Elemental Green makes it easy to find products

Elemental Green makes it very easy for you to find green products. It features articles about various green topics, and share links to hook people up with the products that are related to the topic.

Good choices made easy

Sheridan understands that if it's hard to make good choices, you're going to go with what you already know. So Elemental Green is there to make it easier for you to make good, sustainable choices.

A better option

Once you know that there's a better option, there's no reason not to use it. And you gain so much by having a green, sustainable home.

Sustainable products are good quality

A sustainable product is a quality product, and it will last for a long time, so even if it costs a little more than a conventional product, it's worth it!

Links and resources:

Elemental Green

Affordable Green Homes Hub

Curated by Marla: Things You're Gonna Love for Your Home

Sheridan Foster Interviews Marla Esser Cloos

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. That means that if you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products or services that I believe in and usually use myself.

A few years ago, I met Steve Feldman, the Founder, and CEO of Renovation Angel, on a panel presentation at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS). Steve has had an interesting career path with an unusual twist, and in 2001, he stumbled into an incredible market that nobody else was doing at the time.

He is joining me on the podcast today to share the fascinating story behind Renovation Angel, and to talk about its process and achievements, his grand vision, and the positive way the project impacts the whole community.

Our conversation will give you something new to think about regarding ways to recycle and reuse things in the home.

Steve's colorful background

Steve used to be a rock and roll DJ back in 1979. His first job was playing classic rock from eight in the evening until one in the morning, at a radio station in Westerly, Rhode Island. He stayed with the radio station for eighteen years, moving up from a DJ, to Program Director, to Sales Manager, and finally to Senior Marketing Manager for three stations, where he was selling radio advertising and doing the marketing side of the radio.

Doing fund-raising for recovery

Steve is also a recovered addict. He has been in recovery for thirty-two years now, and he shocked the radio industry in 1998 when he announced that he was leaving his respected position to do fund-raising for addiction recovery.

A thirty-million dollar loss

He started his fund-raising in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he managed to find a very wealthy donor who was worth one hundred million dollars. Then, in the 2001 stock market crash, his donor lost thirty million dollars, so she gave Steve his final check, and wished him good luck.

A great idea

The next-door neighbor of Steve's wealthy donor was the queen of Iran, the wife of the Shah. And in her driveway was a sign, saying "Demolition in Progress". Steve was curious, so he drove up to the mansion, only to find that there was nothing there apart from a huge pile of bricks. That sparked the idea for him to start earning money in a bad economy, rather than asking people to donate it to his cause.

An innovative way to earn money

He decided to make some money by getting kitchen fixtures and furniture donated out of mansions that were being demolished or renovated.

An article in the Greenwich Time newspaper

Steve shared his idea with a real estate agent who knew the editor of the Greenwich Time newspaper. The real estate agent then spoke to the editor, and so, in October of 2001, the Greenwich Time did an article about his idea.

Learning how to recycle kitchens

After the article came out, Steve got thirty-six phone calls, from architects, builders, designers, real estate agents, and even from hedge-fund managers. So he spent the next four years learning how to recycle kitchens, and how to sell them.

Growing the program

Steve's program started to grow from word of mouth only because he did not have a website, or even a name for the program, at the time.

Running a full-time program

Then, in 2005, he decided to see what would happen if he ran his program on a full-time basis. So he obtained some seed money and started running the program with the name, Green Demolitions.

The darlings of Greenwich

The Green Demolitions team became the darlings of Greenwich, and within three years, they grew to have thirty-five employees and stores in Connecticut, the Catskills, and the Poconos.

The banking crisis

The enterprise grew, and they were recycling hundreds of kitchens. And then, the banking crisis happened in 2008. They were fortunate, however, in that the New York Times had done a full-page article on Green Demolitions in April of 2008, which allowed them to get some notoriety in New York City.

Changing and growing

Over the next four years, things changed. Steve transferred the entire operation to the name, Renovation Angel and, in 2012, he and his team moved into a 43,000 square foot store in Fairfield, New Jersey, and they expanded into nationwide recycling.

They got a lot of celebrity support, and the operation continued to grow from strength to strength.

Fantastic achievements

In fifteen years, they have recycled over 7000 kitchens, created over $25,000,000 worth of new recycling jobs, and they have written checks for $2.3 million to charities helping addiction recovery, youth at risk, and homelessness.

Links and resources:

Renovation Angel

The Luxury Bargain Hunter's Club

Miele and Renovation Angel Create Exclusive Recycle & Rebate Trade Program to Promote Sustainability

Green Kitchen Accessories You'll Love From Everyday Green Home

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. That means that if you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products or services that I believe in and usually use myself.

The desire to create a green and healthy environment comes to everyone from a different place, and for many of us, it was something in our childhood that initially sparked our interest. My guest for today, Sara Ivey, spent much of her childhood playing outside, and gardening, composting, and recycling was the norm in her family home while she and her brother were growing up.

I invited Sara to join me on the podcast to talk about the Oklahoma Green Schools Program, to discuss the role she plays in the Department of Environmental Quality, and to explain the importance of helping our children understand where all their resources come from.

About Sara

Sara wears several different hats. In her first role, she is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Green Schools Program, which involves working with schools all across Oklahoma and helping them to go green in a way that best suits each school. In her other role, she is the Education Coordinator for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, and that meshes very well with the Oklahoma Green Schools Program. The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality graciously allows Sara to work on the Oklahoma Green Schools Program under the umbrella of the Education Coordinator.

Recycling

When Sara was very young, her parents introduced her to gardening, composting, and recycling, even though recycling was not very cool, or common in the 1980s. Her parents used to drive their recycling to a drop-off point on Saturday mornings.

Water is a precious commodity

When Sara was in college, she became interested in environmental topics. She grew up in New Mexico, so she was always aware of how precious water is as a commodity, and so became very interested in water resources and started studying everything she could about the environment. That ultimately led her to where she is today.

A wasteful society

We live in a very wasteful society, and although living a green life seems very natural for some of us, it is still a relatively new way of living. Our grandparents did not live in that same way as we do now, so they generally have a much better grasp on how to use resources wisely.

School children need to understand where the resources come from

Every school kid is going to grow up to be a consumer, and one day, they will be making all the decisions. That's why it is so important for them to understand where all the resources come from, as early on as possible, so that they can make the best decisions, and set themselves up in the best way possible.

About the Oklahoma Green Schools Program

The Oklahoma Green Schools Program got started by a group of interested parties with different areas of expertise. They were energy experts, architects, and people who knew a lot about water, and they wanted to help the schools that did not have the expertise to understand how to save resources, like water, energy, and landfill spaces.

Six steps to certification

They wanted the schools to be able to say that they got certified as green schools, so they created six steps to certification. And they also made flags to promote the program within the schools.

The Oklahoma Green Schools Program is not just for students

The Oklahoma Green Schools Program is not only there for the students. It is for the school as a whole. It is to empower both the students and the teachers in a way that they can make a difference.

The five investigations for Project Learning Tree

The Green Schools Program has five areas of investigation for schools in partnership with Project Learning Tree. They are:

1. Energy
2. Environmental quality
3. School site
4. Waste and recycling
5. Water

Changing the lights can make a difference

It is interesting to discover how much energy gets saved by changing from using light bulbs to using LED lights.

Lights out lunches

After doing energy investigations, schools come up with all kinds of innovative ways to save energy. A novel idea was to have Lights Out Lunches once a week where only natural light was allowed in the cafeteria.

Form a Green Team and involve school staff stakeholders

When creating a Green Team, it is a good idea to get the maintenance workers and the administrators of the school building involved from the outset so that they will be willing to work along with the team to help make a difference.

Trash Audit

The Oklahoma Green Schools Program encourages the schools to do a trash audit, to sort the recyclable items from the waste, and to get to know exactly how much food is being wasted and thrown away.

There are many resources available for activities at home

The Oklahoma Green Schools Program was designed for use in almost any kind of educational scenario so that everyone can participate. And there are many different resources available on their website that can be used by homeschoolers, for activities at home.

Referral Links / Resources:

OK Green Schools

Project Learning Tree

Engage Your Students in Greening Their School

Checklist of Environmental Actions for Schools

i-Tree Design Tool

DEQ's Environmental Education Program

NEED Curriculum Resources

Oklahoma Recycling Association

Join Us for Monthly Green Schools Webcast Opportunities

Sara's emails: [email protected]

[email protected]

Life has changed in so many different ways for everyone as a result of the global pandemic, particularly in the area of schooling, which has become a big issue for most parents. So I invited Beth Brown and Keri Knutson to join me today to talk about some solutions.

Beth and Keri both have children in school, and they have been doing a lot of work to solve the current problems around schooling. They are with me today to share what they are learning and experiencing and to talk about the innovative ideas that they have come up with for educating children in the best way possible under the present circumstances.

About Beth

Beth is a creative person, and she has a background in interior design. She is currently involved in social media management, and she works from home as a virtual assistant.

This year, she has decided to home-school one of her children.

About Keri

Keri is a teacher by trade, and she has been working in different capacities in the field of education for the last seventeen years. For most of that time, she has been teaching children from kindergarten to second grade in public school. She has also taught preschool, and, for the past eight years, she has also been an adjunct professor at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO).

Keri has three kids at home, and right now, she is taking a break from public school teaching to work on her doctorate.

Conversations about schooling

Beth and Keri live in the same neighborhood. There have been several neighborhood meetings held there recently, to talk about the changes that are happening in the school district and the different ways that everyone is choosing to deal with the current situation.

Two main options for parents

Three months ago, most of the parents in the Deer Creek School District got two main options for schooling. The first is that the children can return to school in August. And if any incidences of COVID occur in the schools, they can return to doing distance learning for as long as necessary. The second option is for parents to keep their children at home, and go ahead with virtual schooling for the whole semester.

A third option

A third option was offered to the parents of children from the seventh grade upwards. That is for an academy, where children from the seventh to the twelfth grades can do a blended school option. That means that they can do certain things, like band and special science classes, on the school campus, and everything else can get done at home.

Things vary in different places around the country

Things are different, however, in different districts, and different areas around the country.

A split schedule

Schools in Beth and Keri's area have now decided to opt for a split schedule based on state recommendations, to ensure that proper social distancing can take place if necessary. That means that if they reach an orange level, as determined by the Department of Health, they will create a split schedule so that only half of all the students are present in the school building at any given time.

The underlying issue

The underlying issue is that parents are trying to do what is best for their children, while also juggling their work and their lives at home. There is a lot to consider, and even more to be done, and it can all feel very frightening and overwhelming.

Beth's decision

Beth has two children at home. Her daughter is thirteen, and, like most of the other kids of her age, she wants to go back to school full-time, so Beth is allowing her to do that.

Beth has decided, however, to keep her second-grader at home, and go a hundred percent virtual with his schooling. Although she does not relish the idea, she has chosen to embrace her role as a parent, to have a great attitude, and to make the best of a difficult situation.

Lots of options

There are lots of options, and ultimately it is up to the parents to weigh them all up and make the best decision for their children and themselves.

Bear in mind that things always go better with a positive attitude!

Links and resources:

Referrals:

When Coronavirus Pivots Education Plans: How to Set Up a Homeschooling Space Anywhere

Working and Learning from Home During the COVID-19 Outbreak

At-Home Learning Resources for the COVID-19 Outbreak

How to Turn Your Living Space into a Home Office, Home School, and More During Coronavirus

101 Free Resources for Home-Schooling During COVID Crisis

CuriosityStream/CNN - Use code "CNN" for 25% off annual plans.

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Collection of Fun & Useful Websites for Your Classroom

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. A couple of years ago, my regular co-host, Tony Pratte, and I did a podcast about these three Rs. The idea behind this trio of actions is to extend the life of an item so that we don't keep on having to manufacture new ones.

Well, there's a fourth 'R' now, and that's REFUSE, which gives us the power to refuse to act in any way that will add to the current global crisis.

This global pandemic has changed so much about our day-to-day living and almost everything that we used to think normal has changed in some way. In fact, Tony feels that the only thing right now that is normal is chaos! Join us in the conversation to learn how this is the perfect time to look at everything in a different light and to consider doing things in a new and better way.

Tony's bio

Tony is the Director of Builder/Contractor Relations at The Sound Room in St. Louis, Missouri, where he is responsible for building relationships between home builders and The Sound Room System designers to help create the ultimate home experience.

Tony has been working in the construction industry for more than eighteen years. During that time, he has been building relationships, and he has become a valued part of the construction team, assisting his builder clients with delivering their customers' dreams. He is currently a member of the Home Builders Association of St. Louis and Eastern Missouri, where he also served as a member of the Board of Directors from 2007 to 2011. His specialties are builder development, industry networking, and interior design.

A disposable society

Although the manufacturing of products creates jobs and brings in revenue, one of the problems with wealthy economies is that the general mindset becomes one of a disposable society. And as a result, everything becomes disposable, and people feel that they need to keep on buying new things.

The fourth R

The fourth R stands for Refuse. You can flat-out refuse to buy or use things that you don't need. This action is closely linked to Reduce, and the whole idea is for us to refuse to use single-use items, like straws, plastic bags, and disposable cups, any longer.

Latest and greatest mindset

Many of us have even adopted the "use it and throw it away" mindset for some big things, like TVs, for example, or computers or phones because technology is always changing, updating and getting cheaper. And some people think they must always have the latest and the greatest of everything available.

A practical example of reuse

If you buy a new TV, something needs to happen with the old one. It could get donated to someone who needs it, or you could sell it at a garage sale.

Broken items don't get fixed

Today, most people don't even think about having anything repaired. And the prevailing mindset of most companies, when it comes to old technology, is to no longer manufacture any replacement parts because it works out cheaper to buy a brand new item. So people often end up with their old equipment on their hands, and they don't know what to do with them.

Recycling electronics

Once a week, a couple goes around to the electronics business where Tony works to collect old electronic equipment for recycling. They break it down, strip out any usable parts, and sell them on the internet as replacement parts.

Repairability

Repairability also plays into the three Rs because it conserves resources, and it extends the reusability of items.

Plastic

Plastic is everywhere! It is useful, and it changed our lives in the previous generation. Single-use plastic items, however, have also contributed to the "throw-away" mindset. So, the way we use plastic, and how we treat it has become a big concern for many of us.

Learn to refuse

We all need to refuse to buy things we don't need. And we also need to refuse to use single-use items, like plastic straws and water bottles.

Remember, you can make a change by just saying "no".

Links and resources:

The Sound Room

Alternatives to Single-Use Plastic Bags from Everday Green Home

Single-Use Plastics 101

Electronics Donation and Recycling

Companies that pledge to be a force for good! That's exactly what B Corporations do. Gail Garey, founder of Impact 360 Strategies, shares what B Corporations are, and how her love of the outdoors and her corporate background set the stage for her work with B Corporations. Her mission is to guide and empower business professionals to accelerate environmentally friendly and socially responsible sustainable business practices that improve the bottom line and create positive social change. Gail provides some tips to assist people in taking the right action. She also shares valuable information about the things that we all can do in our busy lives to make a positive change in the world.

Gail's bio

Gail is the founder of Impact 360 Strategies. Her mission is to guide and empower business professionals to accelerate environmentally friendly and socially responsible sustainable business practices that improve the bottom line and create positive social change.

Gail's background

Gail has worked primarily in the corporate world. She left her corporate career a few years ago to pursue a career more aligned with her passion.

Nature is Gail's therapy

Nature is her therapy, so Gail has always loved being outdoors. She loves running, going hiking with her dogs, and skiing cross-country in the winter. And, even though it can be a challenge because north-west Colorado gets a lot of snow, she also loves working in her garden.

Gail was hosting a video series

Gail interviewed Marla some time back, for a video series that she was hosting called Let's Save the Planet, Easy Everyday Tips to Empower Yourself, and to Protect the Environment Now. And, out of that video series has emerged a bi-monthly email that Gail now sends out regularly, containing tips about the kinds of changes that we all can make, as individuals, to make a difference, and to live a more environmentally conscious life.

Some great work is being done

Gail points out that there is a lot of great work getting done by both individuals and companies in the environmental space right now, in terms of fighting climate change, doing research, and taking various actions.

Launching a consulting business

Gail is excited to launch her consulting business, Impact 360 Strategies. Impact 360 is a consulting firm that is going to guide and empower business professionals to accelerate environmentally and socially responsible, sustainable business practices that will improve their bottom line and create positive social change.

A strong tie

Our health and wellness are closely tied to that of the community in which we live, and also the rest of the world. Any action that is taken by any of us adds up and ultimately helps to change how things are in the world. So any small change you make can ultimately result in a big difference for the environment.

Our health

The state of our health is tied intrinsically to the health of the planet. So it is in our best interest to be aware of how the choices we make influence our immediate environment, and the whole world.

You can choose

There are many programs available that allow us to get to know what all the different companies are doing. That gives lets us choose who we want to align ourselves with and where we want to spend our money.

The B Corporation Movement

B Corporations all have a B Corporation certification. The reason why Gail loves the B Corporation movement is that it is the way that we, as consumers, can get to know the difference between a good company and one that does good marketing.

Growing people's awareness of B Corporations

Part of what Gail's consulting firm focuses on is increasing the awareness of people about the B Corporation movement and working with purpose-driven companies that want to become certified as B Corporations.

What a B Corporation is

B Corporation is the certification of a company.

B Corporations are companies that marry profits with purpose. They are committed to working for environmental and social benefits, as well as making a profit.

A rigorous, independent, third-party verification process with the non-profit entity, B Lab ensures that those companies meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, legal accountability, and transparency. The successful companies get a logo to inform people that they are, indeed, B Corporations.

Links and resources:

Gail's Website

B Corporation - A New Kind of Business That Balances Purpose and Profit

B The Change - The Stories of People Using Business as a Force for Good

Everyday Green Home's Products From B Corp Companies

You can make a bigger difference than you think to the environment by making small changes to what's on your plate.

We're talking about food today, and we have Hannah Levbarg joining us to talk about how to green your plate. Hannah will be discussing the benefits of plant-based nutrition, and she will explain the effects of a plant-based diet on the environment.

About Hannah

Hannah is a realtor in Sante Fe, New Mexico, with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. In her spare time, she is a passionate amateur in plant-based nutrition, and how the way we eat affects the environment.

Hannah is originally from Austin, Texas, and she went to Oklahoma University. Most of her friends and family are still in Austin.

Health issues in Texas

In Texas, there's a huge population of twenty to forty-year-olds being hospitalized for COVID, and many of them have issues with being overweight, diabetes, and early-stage heart disease.

Hannah's passion for food

Hannah has a huge passion for food, and she's been an avid cook for all her life. She's always had a broad palate, and she particularly enjoys ethnic cuisines.

How Hannah became interested in food

Hannah was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2017. She was carrying too much weight at the time as a result of her job and her lifestyle, so she decided to get things under control by setting herself off on a course to maximize her health.

Packing more produce into her diet

Hannah made an effort to optimize her health. She started watching vegan cooking shows to get some inspiration for ways to pack more produce into her diet because she thought that would help. She had no intention of going vegan at the time, and she didn't think she was a fit for that kind of lifestyle.

A rabbit hole of information

Hannah got taken down a rabbit hole of information that included a lot of medical data about diet, nutrition, and disease patterns.

Changing the way she was eating

Two years ago, Hannah realized that she had to change the way she was eating. When she discovered that there were correlations between diet and some of the biggest killers, like diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and heart disease, her husband also agreed to go along with a radically changed diet.

Since then, Hannah has been learning whatever she can about eating for optimum health.

A certificate in plant-based nutrition

This spring, Hannah got a certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell. She chose to do that particular course because it counts as medical continuing education for medical professionals. So, although she's not yet a nutritional expert, she is a pretty well-schooled amateur.

Environmental impacts

Hannah started learning a lot about environmental impacts shortly after she and her husband changed their diet to a plant-based one.

When the UN also released their 2018 report on climate change, it strongly implicated animal agriculture in many of the environmental problems that we are currently experiencing.

A big change in diet

Hannah thinks that it was probably a lot easier for her to change her diet than it would have been for most other people because she has been a life-long cook, and she knows how to handle all kinds of food.

Following a plant-based diet can be socially isolating

Hannah discovered that following a plant-based diet can be a bit socially isolating. Even so, she advises people who are interested in doing it to impact their health, to go all the way with it because in that way they are likely to see results very quickly, and that is very motivating.

It's not so hard to do if you know how to cook

Hannah explains that making the change is not so hard to do. All you have to do if you're used to roasting a chicken and a tray of vegetables, for example, is to take off the chicken, and rather have some puy lentils with the roast vegetables, and perhaps some nut cheese.

If you know how to cook, it's not that hard to tweak things around and make sure that you're getting all the things you need in your diet.

The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine

Hannah follows The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine. They have exam room podcasts that you can check out on Facebook or YouTube, and they have been talking a lot about how easily the coronavirus can live in packaged cold meat. Although cooking destroys the virus, you will still be handling it beforehand.

Making a change for the better

Hannah points out that we don't need to eat meat to be healthy, so this is an ideal opportunity for us to make the change to a plant-based diet. It will be healthier for everyone and a whole lot better for the environment.

Remember - a small change can make a big difference.

Links and Resources:

Hannah's Website

Hannah's YouTube Channel

The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine

NutritionFacts.org

The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell