Once Upon a Planet

In this episode, Verda and Jon talk to Marcus Erikson an ex Marine and scientist on a journey to understand what happens with all of our plastic. He has tracked it down the Mississippi, to the world's oceans and finally, into the desert, where it is killing camels. Our plastic trash is everywhere, literally. Join us as we talk with someone who is passionate about exposing it's whereabouts. One part depressing, one part fascinating and one part inspirational, this scientist is going to continue to blow the lid off our plastic problem!

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In a departure from our usual science lased, data based episodes, where we chat with environmental engineers, scientists and deep subject matter experts, today we get to chat with one of our own kind! Doug Shapiro, Vice President of Research and Insights at OFS will share his own personal insights and those of OFS. Join us in learning how a company like OFS, who makes furniture, can create harmony outside, a wonderful community and beautiful furniture.

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Jason McLennan started the International Living Future Institute. He created the Living Building Challenge, followed by the Living Product Challenge, the Living Community Challenge, The Red List, and the Declare Label just to name a few. Oh, and he also has written 7 books, but otherwise he's a bit of a couch potato and needs goals. When he's not creating new green standards, he's running his own architectural firm, McLennan Design, and when he's not doing that, he's breaking dishes with us! And we found out he's pretty damn good at breaking things!!

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Todd Bracher and Tina Cheng are industrial designers in Todd Bracher Studio, but they are so much more than that. They are design strategists, game changers and innovators, and they challenge clients to break some damn dishes. With a multi-disciplinary team, they bring science to design. They are philosophic and thoughtful as well, and their science is not without poetry and art. Todd tells us that a tree is truthful design. It is part of it's eco system. A car or a table are opinions, and we tend to agree. Todd and Tina are in search of truthful design and they may have found it.

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Brian Kelly wants to preserve the legacy of our trees. He is a photographer and archivist. Maybe even a tree whisperer? These silent sentinels are hundreds and even thousands of years old and are dying faster than ever before due to human activity and climate change. He is trying to capture their essence as quickly as he can before they are gone. Their legacy is what Gathering Growth, his foundation, plans to leave our children. Photographs of once great trees. We talked to Brian about the wisdom that trees bring to our everyday life. So, the next time you walk outside, don't forget to look up.

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Petrice Jones is a successful actor. In fact, we would say he's officially "made it" in Hollywood. So, now he only needs to sit back and watch the money roll in, right? But Petrice is not that kind of actor. He's an activist, so when he saw something, he did something. Petrice noticed the pile of plastic water bottles that accumulated on set while he worked. So, he set out to change the industry by creating a re-usable water bottle that could be handed out on sets, instead of plastic ones. But why save the movie industry when you can save the planet? So, Petrice Jones started The One Movement. Every One Bottle purchased removes 44lb/20kg of low-grade ocean waste (equivalent to 2,000 single-use plastic bottles) and converts it into the raw materials needed to create a house, which he then builds. These are donated to the homeless waste collectors who clean up our waterways. So, not only does One Movement try to provide an alternative to plastic water bottles, it actually is removing ocean waste and impacting the social issues it causes. Wow. You'll love Petrice. We did.

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Molly Morse is CEO of Mango Materials. She's also an engineer with a PhD. Wanna guess what she's up to? Get a load of Molly- she's making a biodegradable plastic! That's right...a plastic that doesn't last forever in our environment and wind up in our oceans. And as if that isn't amazing enough, she makes it with methane, a greenhouse gas that is even worse than carbon! That's right, she's taking methane out of our environment while she's making a biodegradable plastic. Interested yet? Tune in to episode 16 to hear Molly break some damn dishes. She's a badass.

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Algae can be a good thing. It produces more oxygen and captures more carbon than all the forests in the world combined. A rise in global temperatures, excess nutrient runoff and human activities create harmful effects of algae blooms which pop up everywhere as a visible reminder to the invisible issue of water pollution. Enter this episode's resident hero, Ryan Hunt. Ryan's company Bloom, makes foam from this algae and is currently working with over 80 brand partners. By the end of 2020 his company had cleaned over 850 million liters of water and 524 million cubic meters of air. Maybe algae blooms aren't such a bad thing after all?

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Bryan and Rebecca Pape are co-founders of MIIR, a design forward and generosity driven drinkware company with a social and environmental mission. A certified B Corp and 1% for the planet member, MIIR choses people and planet over the demands of Wall Street. What does that mean? Since 2010, they have partnered with some of the most respected nonprofits in the world to fund long term, sustainable projects in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector. Their coffee mugs and water bottles are beautifully designed and have a social impact! They don't just look good on your counter, they're saving our planet!!

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Verda is excited to finally talk with someone in the art world! Air Copeland is a surfer, an award winning indie writer, producer and director. He's also worked at 5gyers , an institute focused on ocean plastic pollution. He's now Executive Director at Compound, a community art center in Long Beach, California. He will talk about the power of art to create change and build community. Art has the power to impact the way we see the world, break some dishes and pose the tough questions we need to be asking right now as we face today's challenges to the wellness of our people and planet. Jon might chime in if he's feeling feisty!

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