SageTalking

"The fashion industry is better than other industries at covering up how polluting it actually is.

It is a massive marketing machine and very good at selling you things you don't need - shaping ideas of desire and beauty."

~ Kiki Boreel

The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, in terms of water, air and soil pollution.

Their annual greenhouse gas emissions of 2.1 billion even top those of the entire tech-industry.

The devastating destruction left in the wake of manufacturing masses of clothing by ruining land and water, depleting resources,

spreading dangerous chemicals and microplastics and mistreating and virtually enslaving workers - is nothing short of abysmal, not least to say un -intelligent, wasteful and unnecessary.

Kiki Boreel has joined me for another episode after the first Talk she created with me "Kiki Boreel Talks Climate Crisis and Fashion Industry"

She recently visited Copenhagen Fashion Week which is also called "Sustainable Fashion Week", requiring brands to fulfill certain minimum standards

in order to be able to present their clothing at the show, which is a novelty in the industry.

Kiki has gone through a big transformation from jetting around the world, modeling for all kinds of brands to

convincing her colleagues that taking a train to Scotland instead of flying is superior because of the beautiful scenery you don't get to see on the plane ; ) -

making it mission to gain knowledge and expertise on all things regarding sustainable fashion,

sharing her views about the changes that would be critical to make at the current time to knock fast fashion down a peg and make room

for a slower and more conscious way of wearing and consuming clothing.

Thank you for listening to this Talk☀🌊🌍

which came alive through the voices of

Kiki Boreel

and your host Stella Sage🌿

I met Natascha at the [y]our2040 gathering in Switzerland in June this year

and spoke to her for a short interview where I found out that she had been part of the Exxpedition Atlantic crossing and wanted to know

more about it.

Somehow we managed to also discuss differing opinions on feminism and identity politics and the value of common decency which just

made it all the more interesting : )

Exxpedition is an all women's sailing voyage across different parts of the world's oceans where the participants collect data, mainly about plastics in the oceans with the help of trained professionals, founded by the skipper and ocean advocate Emily Penn.

Natascha shares her memories from this three week voyage and the experiences and learnings that she had out on the water.

Natascha is an outspoken feminist and wants to do her part to contribute to a whole and more just world in different ways.

We open up a conversation about the meaning of feminism and other labels that people tend to give themselves and sometimes even feel obligated to.

We try to get closer to the reasons for division and occasional misuses of different words and phrases and if they should even be as important as

they are made out to be in today's "hyper aware and correct" political climate.

This conversation touches on many different issues and thoughts that we feel should be discussed openly and in respectful manners - much more so without "cancelling" one another but rather inviting in discourse, trying to open ourselves up to different view points and realities.

Like the currents of the ocean we let this conversation flow in different directions and we hope you enjoy this Talk🌊

Thank you for listening to this Talk☀🌍🌊

which came alive through the voices of

Natascha Glanzer-Fürst

and your host Stella Sage🌿

Why would a teacher's pension fund be invested in fossil fuel holdings?

Your guess is as good as mine and as Kim Benson and Jillian Maguire explain, there are surprisingly many teachers who don't know what their pensions are being invested in.

The two women founded BCTF Divest Now to petition against their pensions being invested in unsustainable ways that they have no control over and to raise awareness amongst teachers.

Every public school teacher in British Columbia, Canada gives a mandatory percentage of at least 11 % of every pay check to the B.C. teachers pension plan.

These funds are managed by BCI (British Columbia Investments Corporation) and are highly invested in fossil fuel giants as well as other

unsustainable companies.

Kim and Jillian talk about why they started the campaign, how they are working towards spreading awareness on this issue and how they are working towards getting their pension funds and those of thousands of other teachers, divested.

These goals are not always easy to reach because although there might be strong support from other likeminded colleagues, corporations, governments and executives more often than not, still go against the will of the people who actually should have the say!

We hope this can serve as a motivator or inspirational push to look at where your money flows and who manages it for you in ways you might not agree with.

Money is the result of energy we put into something and we all deserve to know what we are putting our energy into!

Strength and gratitude to all those who are standing up and working with integrity against the status quo of investing in environmental breakdown and exploitation of all kinds🌼🌼

Visit BCTF Divest Now to read more.

Thank you to listening to this Talk

Kim Benson,

Jillian Maguire

and your host Stella Sage🌿

We flush tons of valuable materials down the drain everyday.

This includes copious amounts of precious water as well as human output that would normally be part of a circular cycle in nature and can have manifold uses if we recognize it as more than material to be flushed and discarded.

Kompotoi is a composting toilet that aims to change that narrative.

In this episode I am joined by Kristina Hoch from the German Kompotoi office and the co-founder of the venture from its birthplace in Switzerland, Jojo Casanova.

Jojo and Kristina explain how the Kompotoi toilets are built, how the processes of using the toilets and then treating the human outputs work

and share their experiences with how these toilets that recreate natural cycles are received.

Right now the company is mainly renting out their Kompotoi's for events of all sizes as well as offering an alternative to the plastic chemical porta pottie's that are still mainly used at construction sites.

Of course, you can also check out their German or Swiss page in order to purchase several different toilet set ups for your own home or backyard

which seamlessly re-integrates this part of your life back into already naturally occurring, waste free cycles that

people have been utilizing for thousands of years - much longer than the conventional toilets we know today!

It's time to change the narrative, value natural resources again and spare the ones that are so precious like water🌊

So as a recent post by my friends at Kompotoi said:

EAT🍏

SHIT🚽

COMPOST👨🏼‍🌾👩🏼‍🌾

REPEAT🤎

Thank you for listening to this Talk☀🌊🌍

which came alive through the voices of

Kristina Hoch,

Jojo Casanova

and your host Stella Sage🌿

Friedensreich Hundertwasser: Painter, architecture doctor, ecological activist, philosopher.

From the Hundertwassser Archive in Vienna, I am joined by Andrea Fürst to talk about the artist and visionary Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

"Only he who acts in harmony with plants and trees, who acts in accordance with the laws of nature and the cosmic cycle cannot go wrong."

This sentence encapsulates Hundertwasser's attitude very well.

He wanted to break the grid system and functionality of architecture as well as abolish the use of the straight line that is non-existent in nature.

Hundertwasser was calling for a peace treaty with nature, for the afforestation of cities.

Green roofs, walls and courtyards were some of the most important features of his architecture.

He was very much shaped by his childhood, as the son of a Jewish mother during WWII in Austria, when he started to paint to occupy himself, having a limited radius to move and explore in.

He supposedly roamed through the forests with his mother often, where he painted nature and landscapes.

The creation of his art was a contemplative, conscious process, described by him likened to the process of how a plant grows.

He advocated for spontaneous vegetation in cities, greening everything horizontal, to give nature back to territories that have been occupied by

building activities, industrialization and modern society.

Andrea Fürst tells us about his story, visions and art in this episode.

Feel free to visit the Hundertwasser Archive in Vienna HERE

Thank you for listening to this Talk🌊☀🌎

which came alive through the voices of

Andrea Fürst

and your host Stella Sage🌿

Stephen Lester is the science director with the Center for Health, Environment & Justice.

The Center works with grassroots groups around the US that are dealing with toxic chemical problems.

On February 3rd, 2023 a train derailment occurred in East Palestine, Ohio.

Approximately 38 cars derailed, 10 - 12 of which contained toxic chemicals of the likes of

Stories like these have the tendency to make headlines and then disappear quickly from public conscience, owed to the fact that big things happen every other day.

So , we are revisiting the event, looking at the actions that were taken, or rather not taken by the authorities, the EPA and Norfolk Southern (the company owning the freight train that carried the chemicals), shedding light on the impact of the chemicals released on life and health, now and in the future.

We ask questions like:

-Was the action taken after the event appropriate?

-Why wasn't the EPA testing for specific chemicals?

-Was it necessary for Norfolk Southern to conduct a controlled burn of the already spilled chemicals?

-Why were people told to return home BEFORE any testing was done?

Stephen remarks that the choice of the EPA to only test for generic classes of groups of chemicals instead of testing for specific chemicals for the first few weeks was "pretty inadequate and really poorly planned".

He also states that until he came onto the scene, raising the issue of dioxins, no one seemed to be aware that this was something to be concerned about.

In fact the EPA had even said that there was NO reason to test for dioxins in the area.

Following public pressure the EPA then did not test for dioxins themselves but asked the company to do its own testing.

Norfolk Southern hired a consultant who put together a proposal, which Stephen noted, left much to criticize.

So the company who was responsible for the disaster was told to do their own testing for dioxins, which they have not released the results on.

Of course many questions were raised about the integrity of this testing.

We are once again missing accountability and appropriate conduct from a company responsible for damage to life on earth.

Thank you to Stephen and people like Lois Gibbs, who founded the

Read the article Stephen wrote for the Guardian here: "Here's the real reason the EPA doesn't want to test for toxins in East Palestine"

Thank you for listening to this Talk🌊☀🌍

which came alive through the voices of

Stephen Lester

and your host Stella Sage🌿

The Club of Rome was founded about 50 years ago by an industrialist who saw that if society continued living the same way,

we would eventually be using up all resources - owed to the fact that we are using them up faster than the planet can replenish them.

He commissioned four Harvard scientists to work on a simulation to see if this was really true and the results of the research showed that it was just as he had feared.

In the first publication by the Club of Rome - "The Limits to Growth" - the scientist warned about climate change and the depletion of resources, over 5o

years ago, yet not much has happened to counteract or stop the trend and to act on the information presented since it didn't fit the the strong expansion and growth agenda of the time.

Dr. Mariana Bozesan was invited to join the Club of Rome based on her work in integral investing, using capital and technology to address the needs of the planet and to move back into the realm of safe planetary boundaries.

In this episode we touch on the "smart ways" to implement the UN SDG's (UN sustainable development goals), which were developed by scientists from the Club of Rome.

📚Find Mariana's book "Integral Investing" here

Thank you for listening to this Talk☀🌊🌎

which came alive through the voices of

Dr. Mariana Bozesan

and your host Stella Sage🌿

Dr. Mariana Bozesan is an author, award winning integral investor, serial tech entrepreneur and member of the renowned Club of Rome.

I had a lengthy, philosophical and at times even argumentative conversation with Mariana in her Munich home, in a

room filled to the brim with books and more books as well as big portraits of Mahatma Ghandi and Albert Einstein.

We had the type of conversation I want to have much more on the podcast:

different angles and opinions, friendly discourse, revelations, thought provoking, horizon widening and possibly open ended.

Where we are allowed to agree to disagree while having conversations which are conducted with laughter and respect for one another while also being able to say:

"I would like to challenge you on this point:" - after one has voiced their opinion or made an argument.

After all, we are all the sum of our upbringing, environment, belief systems and many different influences and to stay open minded and keep learning is what makes tolerant and expanding minds.

Mariana for one is in the unique position to have experienced not just wealth and prosperity as well as scarcity to the pint of going to school without food.

She has also lived under the influence of two economics systems: Capitalism and Communism

Growing up in communist Romania has inspired Mariana to work hard and make the most of the free education she was offered there.

Mariana has a passion for empowering others to realize their ambitions relating to creating a positive impact.

She is a big believer in uplifting one another and searching for solutions to deal with the many crisis we are faced with, based on science.

She wants to help point out the many things that are right with this world instead of highlighting all the wrongs in order to promote a sense of purpose and direction.

She shares with us her journey to fulfilling her personal needs to the point where she felt she was able and inspired to help fulfill others needs

as well and talks about the schizophrenia she sees in the system that forces us to choose between profit and non-profit and how she detests the concept of "giving back" to people in questionable ways through foundations that give 5 % of the money made to their cause and invest the rest on Wall Street 💰

📚 PS: To read Mariana's book: "Integral Investing, From Profit to Prosperity" click here

Thank you for listening to this Talk☀🌊🌍

which came alive through the voices of

Dr. Mariana Bozesan

and your host Stella Sage🌿

E-S-G

Environmental - Social -Governance

Dr. Rupini Deepa Rajagopalan is head of the ESG office at Berenberg Bank, the second oldest bank in the world.

She built up the ESG office and strategy together with a team, from scratch, after joining in 2018.

She actually coined the term "finance with a heart" and feels like incorporating ESG standards in financial analysis is indispensable.

Though it may sound a bit technical this episode is for everyone.

As ESG is becoming a buzzword and regarded more and more as a widespread solution to "cleaning up" the dirty parts of the investment management and finance industry that is crucial to propping up those industries that are currently wreaking havoc on the world and pushing us closer to climate, societal and ecological breakdown, it is favorable that we try as best we can to develop an understanding of the concept and to question it as well.

Should you be an investor or working in the finance industry then you may be interested in what Rupini can share from her experience.

It is important to Rupini that investors and asset managers look further than solely at financial information and to consider adopting a more holistic view when deciding where money will flow.

Since greenwashing is a problem in every industry and I want us all to stay informed and engaged I asked Rupini to elaborate on a few critical questions:

- Is ESG really enough to truly transform the investment industry?

- Is it genuine and progressive?

- Are there enough genuine change agents in the industry or is it being used as a "sustainable front" to be able to continue business as usual with a "green image"?

- How is incorporating ESG compatible with the fiduciary duty of investors to get returns?

The investment industry is definitely one that needs a big chunk of transformation and the integration of a moral compass that is not geared towards money over everything.

Rupini is a very genuine, kind woman who expressed how fortunate she feels that she is possibly able to play a role in bringing about change and hopefully a bit of heart - to the industry.

If you want to make up your own mind about the Berenberg ESG implementation and strategy feel free to visit their website here.

Thank you for listening to this Talk☀🌊🌍

which came alive through the voices of

Rupini Rajagopalan

and your host host Stella Sage 🌿

Kees Klomp is a professor of applied science at Rotterdam University for Applies Science and the co-founder of THRIVE Institute.

He is also a very wise, kind, funny and humble person who really has a knack for explaining everything you would want to know about economics so clearly

and easy to follow that it makes all those years of high school economics feel redundant because you learned more in one hour with Kees than you ever did in school ;))

In this episode we touch on the ways we are taught about neoclassical economics in school and why that is so problematic:

" It basically boils down society to one big marketplace and as it was all taught to us in our formative years, we have internalized this

Kees explains how we associate ourselves with our current economic system and how its inherent flaws also stem from the fact that it solely takes "material needs" into consideration (that in overproduction) which boils us down to walking wallets - which we are not - as we have spiritual, emotional, social,... needs as well.

He also debunks some myths about GDP and the state of our wealth, well-being and economic growth.

He stresses the need for the creation of a society which can flourish and blossom rather than purposelessly hustling from a 9 to 5 every day and

the need for "existential economics" that support all life in co-existence!

And we won't leave you with that cliff hanger and for you to figure out how we get there because Kees will be telling us

about the theory of system change he has developed that includes applicable, realistic steps on how to get closer to

a different reality that many of us desperately want and we all need 🌱🌍

Thank you for listening to this Talk🌍🌊☀

which came alive through the voices of

Kees Klomp

and your host Stella Sage🌿