Reseed

Meet the woman who digs through and documents Manhattan’s waste, to divert from landfill, raise consciousness, and create systemic change. Anna Sacks, aka the Trash Walker, creates viral TikTok and Instagram videos that shed light on the brand new merchandise that luxury brands deliberately destroy, as part of their continued efforts to fuel the relentless pace of a fashion system that is wasteful, unjust, and unsustainable.

Anna focuses on more than just fashion or brand waste, too - she rifles through city garbage to salvage good, quality stuff that ends up in the garbage. She has found canned food and fresh food, hundreds of dollars of fresh-pressed juice, toys, dishes, typewriters, clothing, candy, brand-new school supplies, and the list goes on. The amount of stuff that she finds is staggering - as is how perfectly usable it is.

This conversation explores not just our society’s waste problems - but also solutions, from legislation to personal action to being less polite in our dissent. It looks at how we are increasingly finding excessive waste as unacceptable, and are voicing our discontent, resisting this wasteful status quo, and searching for ways of living that prioritize sharing over ownership. 

Read the transcript and show notes at reseed.ca. 

How do we remake fashion so that it is regenerative, fossil-free, inclusive, and equitable? 

Fashion and textiles are where climate change, waste, labour rights, and social justice all come together. Every single one of us interacts with clothing in our everyday lives, and fashion is currently one of Earth’s most polluting industries. We have an opportunity to remake our fashion system, so that it becomes the fertile ground for thriving local economies, creative expression, and circular loops that keep us in balance within nature’s boundaries.  

Sophia Yang, Founder and Executive Director of Threading Change, joins Reseed host Alice Irene Whittaker for a conversation about fashion, justice, gender, circular economy, and climate - and how they all weave together. 

Read the transcript and show notes at reseed.ca. 

How do we redefine environmentalism so that it includes everyone? How do we embed justice and belonging into our relationship to the natural world? How can we include cities and modernity in our definitions of nature? What is the role of our ancestors in environmentalism and activism?

These questions are explored in a conversation between Chúk Odenigbo, a Founding Director of Future Ancestors, and Reseed host Alice Irene Whittaker. Chúk is an expert in climate justice, oceans, anti-racism, public health, and decolonization. 

This beautiful conversation about big ideas and complex intersections delves into using our power and influence to dismantle oppressive systems, while planting seeds that grow a vibrant and just world. 

Read the transcript and show notes at reseed.ca. 

Reseed offers in-depth, thoughtful conversations with citizens of the RE generation: people embracing redesign, reduction, repair, reuse, rewilding, resistance, and regeneration. Guests are farmers, builders, designers, artists, makers,  writers, repair café leaders, and activists.  Conversations explore how they meet the grief, fear, and despair of our moment with heartfelt, handmade solutions that are growing a world rooted in care.

Reseed tells the stories of a movement. People of all ages and backgrounds are undertaking the journey of transforming from takers in an extractive system to caretakers in a reciprocal system. The podcast welcomes listeners into a community where host, guests and audience are connected in this shared, imperfect journey.

The host of Reseed is Alice Irene Whittaker, a writer, mother of three, and environmental communications leader. The podcast launches December 2021. Read more at reseed.ca.