Mindful Businesses

Carbon cycle occurs naturally in nature during photosynthesis. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen and when animals consume the plants they release the carbon dioxide that is again absorbed by the plants. Human activities put out more carbon than nature can handle. We have to use every possible way to absorb this excess carbon from the atmosphere. Soil is an excellent source to capture and sequester carbon.

In this episode we talk with the son of a generational farmer, Robin Saluoks of eAgronom, who uses technology to provide solutions that encourage farmers to operate smarter and sustainably. eAgronom helps farmers monitor and verify sustainable practices, generate carbon credits, increase agricultural efficiency, and gain better access to financing in the future. They use data and technology to inform the farmers about the soil conditions and help them get financing to adopt sustainable farming practices. They then help the farmers sell their carbon credits in the carbon market thus helping them off set some of the costs of changing to sustainable farming. Learn more about this win-win solution from the Founder and CEO of Eagronom Robin Salouks.

https://www.eagronom.com/

https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

#carboncapture

#sustainablefarming

#Carboncredit

#humous

#carbonfarming

#Carbonsequestration

#mindfulbusinessespodcast

#eagronom

Majority of the conversation around fashion waste revolves around finished products that end up in the landfill. But around  12 % that is around 6.3 million tonnes per year is sent by brands to the landfill in the design and development stage. These would be sample booklets with swatches and unused fabric rolls and prior to Fabscrap they ended up in the landfill. We talk with Jessica Schreiber CEO and founder of FabScrap, a non-profit whose 80% of earned income comes from service fees and fabric sales. They receive service fees from brands to Fabscrap to pick up their textile waste, similar to when they pay for recycling or trash pickup. They do this with an army of volunteers, almost 100 unique ones per month and their staff in Brooklyn and Philadelphia. Their staff take extra precautions to assure brands that their copyrighted materials are shredded and don’t reenter the market. Fabscrap also sells the fabrics to quilters, sewing enthusiasts, fashion students and assuring nothing that is picked up by Fabscrap goes to the landfill. With the long-term goal to influence habit and policy they create impact reports that they share back with their brands - how much and what fabric they picked and how was it sorted and if reused or not. Jessica believes that this makes the brands internalize the cost of their waste and may help them reevaluate and optimize their design and planning process. Learn more about this first of its kind initiative and organization on this episode of Mindful businesses.

This episode is a re-air from May 17, 2023

#textilewaste

#mindfulbusinesses

#sustainablefashion

#fabricwaste

#fabscrap

#sustainablefashion

This week we revisit an episode on innovative pumped energy storage with RheEnergise! 

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Energy systems need to decarbonise to prevent climate change. There are many solutions to generate energy without using fossil-fuels, but renewable sources of energy are intermittent, depending on how long the sun shines, number of windy days per week - leading to a mismatch between supply and consumer demand. Energy needs to be stored to match the demand with the supply. Presently energy produced is stored in hydroelectric pumps by pumping it up and releasing it as demanded. RheEnergise is bringing innovation to pumped energy storage, with a solution called High-Density Hydro®. They use a fluid with 2.5x the density of water, that means they can generate 2.5 times the energy generated by water and they can be installed on small hills instead of mountains. This opens up a number of feasible locations to store this energy - sites where you are not dependent on rainfall or a water source and hills instead of mountains. Learn more of this fascinating invention that will help us decarbonize energy production from Stephen Crosher, CEO of RheEnergise.

This episode is a re-air from November 29, 2022

https://www.rheenergise.com/

https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

#energystorage, #decarbonising, #sustainablenergy, #renewableenergy #mindfulbusinesses

Oil spills in our world where engines are omnipresent are almost inevitable. Larger accidental spills on land and water have catastrophic effects on the environment, plant and animal life. Ironically some of the industrial spill clean-up solutions often used may not always be eco-friendly. SaveSorb is a totally natural, sustainable plant material. Using sphagnum peat moss in a proprietary method, it is dried, sieved, blended and pH balanced to create the most effective absorbent of hydrocarbons (oil based compounds) and chemicals available.

SaveSorb absorbs almost all hydrocarbons, chemicals and their vapors. It encapsulates them within its molecular structure and will not leach contaminants into the environment, even under pressure. SaveSorb is very safe to handle. In its natural state it partially absorbs the fumes, making it useful for cleaning up small spills containing flammable liquids.

SaveSorb is available as a loose product in bags and in a variety of manufactured products from Spill Kits, absorbent mats and socks. Listen to the world renown jockey turned entrepreneur, Ronnie Ebanks who seized the opportunity when he was introduced to this “miracle-product”.

https://savesorb.com/

https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

#oilspill #sustainablesolutions #ecofriiendly #ecofriiendlycleanup #sphagnumpeatmoss #mindfulbusinesses #savesorb 

As we sip our daily cup of tea, we may wonder how and where it was grown and its impact on our planet. Tea production impacts our planet and people on several layers. The farming practices employed, wages paid, living conditions of the workers and its overall impact on our planet. In  2006, Numi Organic Teas was one of the founding (amongst 30 businesses) to be certified as a B corp. They had been mindful of how and from whom they source their organic teas, procuring them from Fair Trade and Verified Labor farms, but they knew they had to do more.

The realization that there can be no tea without water - clean drinking water, made the brother and sister team, Ahmed Rahim and Reem Hassani, co-founders of Numi Organic Tea introspect the purpose of their company.They launched “Together For H2OPE” - a nonprofit program bringing clean, safe drinking water to tea farming communities around the world.

The journey from farm to cup requires raw materials, packaging, transportation and water for steeping. They established a “Climate Action Plan” with a detailed, measurable process to reduce and offset the impact of Numi Organic Teas on the planet. Climate action can’t wait. Numi is committed to giving you the tools to fight climate change, starting with their Carbon Footprint Label. In this episode we have Reem Hassani, who shares the vision and mission of Numi Organic Teas. Listen and learn.

https://numitea.com/

https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

#tea #tealover #floraltea #teas #fairtrade #sustainablefarming #mindfulnusinesses #numitea

As a way of welcoming Spring let's learn about composting, specially curbside composting. The result - a beautiful rich soil ready for your spring planting. Let's hear more in this episode. This episode is a re-air from October 4, 2021

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Black Earth Compost was founded in January 2011, in Gloucester, MA. Originally a one man, one truck, Cape Ann company, it has steadily grown to become the leading full-service compost company in New England. With over 25 trucks, they are dedicated to collecting food scraps from residents, schools, supermarkets, colleges, and more, all across eastern MA and RI. They are also the only vertically integrated company that composts the material too, returning it to customers and selling it in garden centers across Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. They are your one-stop-shop for all your organic waste collection or garden soil needs.

In this episode, we talk with Conor Miller, Partner, CEO of Black Earth Composting as he shares his journey and how the business had to pivot during the pandemic to moving from commercial pick-ups to residential pick-ups and compost delivery.  Learn more in this episode.

#garden #eco friendly #sustainability #greenliving #sustainablecooking #soil #dirt #rhodeisland #foodwaste×#newengland #composting #compost #gardening #zero waste #sustainable #planting #gloucestermassachussetts #organicwaste×

The risk assessments that governments and corporations make to encourage marginalized communities and uplift them, have themselves become a hurdle to the assistance that they wish to provide. Honnold foundations wishes to fill that gap by partnering closely with nonprofits in a space where their needs are too small for governments and not profitable enough for businesses. The Honnold Foundation was founded by professional rock climber Alex Honnold in 2012. After a rock climbing expedition around the world,  he decided to focus his giving on solar energy - as it was so tangible.

They engage and collaborate with these communities to expand equitable solar access.  The Honnold Foundation is a proud partner with community-based organizations all over the world who are using solar energy to improve lives and reduce environmental impact. They partner with communities in Africa, Americas, Asia and in the Native American communities in North America. Native Renewables empowers Native American families to achieve energy independence by growing renewable energy capacity and affordable access to off-grid power.  To learn more about this truly mindful and giving philanthropy listen to Emily Teitsworth, Executive Director of Honnold foundation, in our latest episode.

https://www.honnoldfoundation.org/

www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com

#solarenergy #marginalizedcommunities #mindfulbusinesses #honnoldfoundation

We just heard that “the Delhi High Court has granted an injunction in favor of Barefoot College restraining Barefoot College International (BCI) from using “Barefoot College” (and the two-feet logo) for any purpose whatsoever. More specifically, the Court has restrained BCI from continued use of the domain name www.barefootcollege.org. Further, the Court has also forbidden BCI from using “Barefoot College” as part of their company name.” We are happy for our guests who feel vindicated. On this occasion, we would like to re-air this very thought provoking and powerful episode.  This episode is a re-air from January 24, 2023

Most US elementary school students learn about photosynthesis in their science class. The process is very simple - chlorophyll in the leaves and green stems absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen back into the atmosphere. It is nature's elegant way of capturing carbon dioxide. Carbon cycle is where humans and human activities put out carbon dioxide and processes such as photosynthesis absorb it. But when the NET carbon dioxide into the atmosphere exceeds what is absorbed - that to the extent of 30 - 50 gigatons of carbon dioxide, then we have a problem on our hands. Observing and learning from nature our guests Beth McDaniel, President and Dr. Steve McDaniel, CEO and Chief Innovation Officer of Reactive Surfaces try to replicate the carbon capture process in nature in their solution. They have created coatings that can be applied to surfaces to capture carbon - just like nature does it with leaves and stems. Using polymeric materials thinly spread on a surface, adhere to the surface and then cured. These surfaces when exposed to sunlight, will photosynthesise, capturing and fixing carbon, using the photosynthetic process to carbohydrate. To learn more about this truly fascinating solution listen to our latest episode of Mindful Businesses.

Mentions:

Embassy Row Project - Envirotech Pre - accelerator

Xprize

Musk Foundation

#climatechange #carboncapture #carbonsequestration #mindfulbusinesses #reactivesurfaces #photosythesis #learnfromnature #sustainablematerials

https://reactivesurfaces.com/

https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

We have this love-hate relationship with plastic. It is versatile, durable, light-weight and used in a multitude of applications. How do we recover and give this plastic a second life or third life?

Today we have with us Doug Woodring, Founder and Managing Director of the Ocean Recovery Alliance - Bringing Creative Surprise to Environmental Engagement. Ocean Recovery Alliance is focused on entrepreneuring programs to reduce plastic pollution, both on land and water, by creating strategic solutions for governments, industry and communities which lead to long-term, hands-on business practices that engage. They purposefully design programs to educate, build awareness and provide solutions which inspire positive societal change at the community, national and international levels. We learn more about their initiatives such as their global app that crowd sources and alerts authorities about trash on land along waterways. They have worked with cosmetic companies such as LUSH to help them look at their products and how they can reduce the plastic - for instance by eliminating glitter from all their products. Learn more of such efforts by the non-profit Ocean Recovery Project on this episode.

Mentions:

Ricron Panels

Lush Cosmetics

https://www.oceanrecov.org/

https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/