In todays episode we speak with Claire Schlemme, the founder of Renewal Mill. A company up cycling fibrous byproducts from food manufacturing into high value ingredients. 

Renewal Mill  supports the circular economy by diverting food from landfill and ensuring all calories and nutrients dont go to waste but get a second life as a new food ingredient for consumption. The company focuses on flour alternatives as their main product, derived from Okara and soy, banana, oats, corn and pineapples, among others. 

The problem: In the US along, approximately 30-40% of the food supply is wasted - worth billions of dollars of wasted value, and all the water, fertilizer, land use, and labor involved in producing that. Producing methane which is 28X more warming impact than carbon dioxide - in some calculations food waste is one of the largest material found in landfill and municipal waste streams. Economic Research Service of the US - around 13.5% of Americans are food insecure - meaning they dont have reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable nutritious food.  

The solution: Renewal mill extends the life of these ingredients, still rich in nutrients, to create new healthy ingredients suitable for consumption and existing baking processes. Whether thats at home or industrial baking, these products extend the life, and help divert food waste going to landfill. 

This conversation dives into our pursuit for real impact, solving multiple problems within one solution family, the realities of up cycling food,  and how taking one step towards an idea brings about plentiful new opportunities!

Renewal Mill: https://www.renewalmill.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoq1q4XAdOSEmiCEMBk9seGcC3gkC1LzObqUjgQ4nBlAqw_Rz2RI

Full YT episode: https://youtu.be/UTDFWuT474Y

In todays episode we speak with Cleo Escarez, the founder of Redyoos. A company focused on supporting the clean energy transition through recycling jewelry and precious metals. 

Redyoos supports the circular economy by reducing the need for mining for new finite precious metals, and provides a direct end of life solution for consumers and businesses to properly discard their pieces.  

The problem:  Precious metals like silver and gold are critical for green technology like solar panels, batteries, medical devices, more. Yet An estimated $61 billion in precious metals is landfilled annually. These materials are essential for processing in computers, phones, medical devices, solar panels, and wind turbines. 30-50% of virgin silver and gold production go toward jewelry, in a time when there is increasing demand for these critical technology.  Its also getting harder and harder to find these finite materials in nature. 

The Solution: Precious metals are infinitely recyclable without any loss of quality, offering a viable path to a more stable and sustainable supply chain. Redyoos connects the end of life of jewelry into renewed inputs for critical green technology through recycling. 

This conversation dives into our pursuit for real impact, finding the blue ocean opportunities in combining unlikely industries,  and the power of cross industry partnership. People don’t usually put jewelry and green technology in the same conversation but Cleo proves their link and finds solutions for one with the waste of another.

Redyoos

Video Interview 

In todays episode we speak with Anna Hammond, the founder of Matriarch Foods. A company that upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into delicious, healthy products for food service, retail, and emergency food.

We learn her story working in the arts to engaging local farmers in the New York City region, which lead to her discovering how we can extend the full value of our crops in our current food system. 

We discuss the skills she brings to the table, the scale of the problem of current agriculture industry and how she is expanding her business to fight food waste, bring healthy food to those in need, and changing the way people think of up cycling food. Tackling food waste is a critical channel to address the climate crisis and so the work of companies like Matriarch Foods and others are essential to immediately address our changing climate. 

Matriark Foods

Full Video

In this episode of Re.Vert Ventures, we sit down with Dan Kurzrock, founder of Upcycled Foods (formerly ReGrained), a pioneer turning the food upcycling movement into a thriving business.

Based in the Bay Area, Dan shares how a college beer-brewing hobby turned into a mission to give “spent grain” a second life. From dorm room experiments to scaling a purpose-driven company, his story is one of persistence, creativity, and reimagining what we call waste.

We explore his path through creative financing, evolving business models, and the broader impact of upcycling — from reducing food loss to creating value for businesses and communities alike.

It’s a powerful case study in innovation, sustainability, and finding win-win solutions at the intersection of waste and worth.

Check out Upcycled Foods here: https://upcycledfoods.com/

Youtube version here: https://youtu.be/j0veWhLoNXc

In this episode of Re.Vert Ventures we speak with John Metcalf, founder of Upgraded, the leading tech subscription service in the US focusing on MacBooks.  

Based in Austin, we hear John’s story from childhood to being self employed to full time founder and everything in between. Culminating to John creating a platform enabling the a new model for device ownership and creating a scalable take back program for one of the leading consumer electronic brands in the world, furthering the circular economy in the tech space. 

We learn about his journey from the US to Asia, to Europe, the lessons learned from starting businesses in each of these distinct cultures. We get transparent about his business model, the unit economics that allow Upgraded to work, and the environmental impact that leasing unlocks. 

This is a great case study for thinking differently about distribution, ownership, and impact.

Upgraded: https://getupgraded.com/

Video Interview: https://youtu.be/6Y574LYMqV8

In this episode of Re.Vert Ventures, we speak with Ken Elliott, founder of IND Hemp, the leading source of industrial hemp food, feed and fiber ingredients in the country.

Based in Montana, we hear ken’s story of going from the environmental services sector to discovering the restorative properties of growing hemp. From there he decides to go full in on this magic crop and grow his industrial hemp business to becoming one of the largest in the country. 

We hear about his mission and god lead journey, the  goodness of hemp, and its impact on the environment and the communities surrounding it. The challenges of working in the hemp industry and his advice for anyone entering this burgeoning industry. 

Re.Vert Ventures is an interview focused podcast and media platform looking at the climate crisis through the lease of entrepreneurship, and digging into the jouneys of those founders making a real difference. All Interviews and stories can be found here. 

IND Hemp

Re.Vert Ventures Instagram 

Re.Vert Ventures TikTok

Welcome to Re.Vert Ventures Season 3 (formerly Growing Green Ventures). We’ve made a few aesthetic updates, but the heart of the show remains the same: exploring the climate crisis through the lens of entrepreneurship and digging into the journeys of founders making a real impact.

This season, we’re focusing on the circular economy — reimagining waste as a valuable input, and exploring bio-based and regenerative materials across fashion, food, consumer tech, and beyond.

Today I’m joined by Alan Mak, founder of Version Tomorrow, a production platform helping brands and creators produce high-quality, environmentally responsible apparel through innovative recycled and organic cotton fabrics. Alan is also the managing partner of the fashion label Public School NYC.

In this episode, we trace his path from finance, to working with his family in the fashion industry, to building women’s contemporary brands, joining Public School, and ultimately launching Version Tomorrow. His story is full of insights for anyone looking to pivot, grow, and expand their career or business with purpose.

Version Tomorrow: https://versiontomorrow.com/

VT IG:https://www.instagram.com/versiontomorrow/?hl=en

Re.Vert Ventures: https://www.instagram.com/revertventures/

Youtube:

In this final episode of the podcast, we speak with Liz Ricketts, Co-founder of The OR foundation to shed light on the last stage of life of our garments.  We dive deep into their work, and the economic systems that allow this whole mess to happen in the first place. 

The OR Foundation is a non profit operating out of the US and Ghana focused on addressing textile waste and supporting the local community of Kantamanto market in Accra, Ghana, the worlds largest secondhand clothing markets. Their work sits at the intersection of environmental justice, education and fashion. With the decline in quality and increase in overall production, the amount of garments with limited value and unsellable has ballooned, putting the onus to dispose of the remaining textile waste on the global south, where the problem did not originate and where proper waste management infrastructure doesn’t exist. This has created tremendous environmental and social problems for many communities in the global south.  The OR foundation work includes immediate relief through direct action on human rights and environmental abuses, educational programming and awareness and research and institutional advocacy to steer systems level policies and investment.  

In this episode we speak about: 

• Fashion brand’s role in over production, and the real end of life of our garments
• Waste Colonialism 
• Local circular ecosystem found at Kantamanto Market 

Check out their work here: theor.org 

The OR foundation is behind the ‘Speak Volumes’ campaign urging fashion brands to be held accountable for their over production, by leveraging extended producer responsibility programs to create a justice-led circular textile economy: stopwastecolonialism.org

Youtube: https://youtu.be/UkaoVe_fPzM

In this episode, we focus on what happens to our clothes post consumption.  We speak with Alex Husted the co-founder of Helpsy. 

Helpsy is  on a mission to keep clothing out of trash by enabling the collection, sorting and responsible distribution of secondhand clothing and shoes. They provide pick up, sorting, and distribution services across America. Once collected and sorted Helpsy sells off their second hand clothes to thrift stores and distributors around the nation, making sure that the garments have a new life through resale or go to the correct recycling initiative. 

In 2023 alone Helpsy collected over 31 Million pounds of clothes and shoes. That’s 100  items of clothing every minute. Helpsy is a certified B-Corp whose for-profit, social enterprise model has saved the municipalities they work with over $1.3 million in waste disposal tipping fees.

We discuss:

• The financial impact on municipalities of post consumer textile waste 
• The economic opportunities in handling post consumer products 
• The web of players handling your clothes post donation 

Check out their work with municipalties, thrift stores and their impact on their community: https://www.helpsy.com/

Youtube: https://youtu.be/f_CF0hpVGh0

In the 6th segment of this series, we take a look a company is helping extend the use phase of our garments post purchase. I speak with Rachel Sterling, the co-founder of Alternew. 

Alternew offers bespoke tailoring and repair services for brands by connecting them and their users to local tailoring shops. This allows customers to tailor their clothes upon purchase to ensure perfect fit easily. 

In this episode we discuss: 

• The business case of extending a garments life to reduce its overall environmental impact 
• Identifying opportunities in underserved segments of the supply chain 
• Support a declining trade and educating consumers around repair 

Poor fitting clothes are at top of the list for why clothes get returned (~70% of returns cite sizing was the cause of the return), many times never returning to the shelves for resale. By tailoring a garment, the fit is improved, meaning the user will wear and cherish that item for longer, extending its life and therefore reducing the need for further purchases, returns, or clothes sent to donation centers. 

Fun fact: wearing your clothes for an extra 9 months, reduces its carbon footprint by 20%. 

Check out their work here: https://www.alternew.com