Sustainability Made Easier Interviews

You may have heard about the latest cruise craze, cruising to the polar regions, including Antarctica. How do these Expedition Cruises compare with traditional cruises? Expedition Cruises to the polar regions visit some of the most pristine and environmentally sensitive regions of the planet. How do these expedition cruises manage their environmental impact? If you are considering visiting the polar regions as a tourist, what are the qualities you should look for in a company to ensure your trip has a minimal impact on the environment? How much should you pay for your trip? Find out in today’s episode as we discuss the Expedition Cruise Industry with a returning guest and Polar Expedition Guide, Amanda Dalsgaard.

Some jobs are common. Others are more unique. Our guest today is a California-raised marine biologist who gets to visit some of the most isolated and pristine areas of the planet as a Polar Expedition Guide. Today, I am excited to interview Amanda Dalsgaard.

Have you ever looked at a lawn and wondered what would happen if people planted edible food crops in their yards instead of grass? What would it be like to see things normally reserved for a backyard garden grown in the front of a house in place of a front lawn? What if you did this? Would you be able to produce enough food to feed yourself? How would your neighbors feel? Our guest today began his career in traditional lawn and landscape maintenance. For over a decade, though, he has been a thriving urban farmer and market gardener who splits his time between his homes in New Port Richey, Florida and Washington Co. Maine. Not only does he produce large amounts of high-quality produce on his urban farms, he does it without the use of synthetic amendments. Our guest today is Jim Kovaleski.

Have you ever come across an overwhelming pollution problem that is unique to your neighborhood, but didn’t know how you could make a difference? An event that occurs in the Tampa Bay Florida area each year is called Gasparilla. Part of the numerous celebrations of Gasparilla is the Gasparilla Flotilla, which is followed by the Parade of Pirates, the third largest parade in the United States. It is routinely attended by over 300,000 people. Boats crowd local waterways and participate in the festivities. Plastic Mardi Gras beads are thrown over the water and between these boats throughout the Flotilla. Our guests today have discovered that these beads and the plastic they are packaged in are ending up in vast quantities in Tampa Bay waterways. Not daunted by the overwhelming size of the problem, nor the fact that they are not yet adults, our guests have created an organization to raise awareness about the dangers of and damage occurring from these beads. It is called Green Gasparilla. Our guests today are teen environmentalists, Ethan and Demetri Sedita.

The world is waking up to the plastic crisis that our planet is currently experiencing. The vast majority of all the plastic that has ever been manufactured is still around. Over time plastic products become smaller and smaller pieces of plastic. As a result, they persist in terrestrial and aquatic environments and will for centuries and millennia to come. Did you know that glitter, yes glitter, is contributing to the plastic pollution problem, since plastic is what most glitter, including cosmetic glitter, is made from? This dawned on our guest one day as she was cleaning up glitter that was coming off her daughter’s dress. So, she decided to look into finding a sustainable alternative to the plastic glitter commonly used in the United States. Now she is the owner of The Good Glitter, a company that sells biodegradable glitter to the public. Our guest today is Brittainy Martin.

In cities and towns all over the world, rain events can contribute to pollution since impervious surfaces like buildings and roads prevent rain from entering the ground. As the rainwater moves over the impervious surfaces it picks up pollutants before entering water bodies and storm drains. Rain events can also cause problems if the water accumulates and isn’t directed somewhere. Over the years, different methods from managing stormwater have been developed. Much of this infrastructure, however, is aging and needs replacement. But what if rather than replacing it with the same systems we are currently using, we rethought the entire system? Is it possible to remove stormwater, while nourishing and improving the health of vital natural resources and adding to the beauty of neighborhoods? Our guest has extensive experience in urban planning and sustainable development. Currently the Supervisor for the City of Philadelphia’s Green Infrastructure Partnerships, our guest today is Jessica Noon.

Providing reliable access to clean water and efficiently and safely removing waste from homes and businesses is one of the most critically important services provided by municipalities and utilities. Unfortunately, there is increasing evidence that people are disposing of way more than #1, #2, and toilet paper into their toilets and this is causing massive problems for plumbing pipes, sewer lines, wastewater treatment plants, septic tanks, and ultimately public water bodies. North American products marked ‘biodegradable’, ‘made with natural fibers’, ‘flushable’, and other similar claims are NOT okay to flush. Our guest co-authored a report on this topic last year called Defining ‘Flushability’ for Sewer Use: Final Report that achieved quite a significant amount of media coverage. Due to the current and unprecedented toilet paper situation and the increased use of disinfecting wipes I thought it essential to discuss this issue and stress the importance of following proper wipe disposal rules before major problems arise. Our guest today, Barry Orr is the Sewer Outreach and Control Inspector for the City of London, Ontario with over 25 years of experience in the environmental and wastewater fields. He is the author of many articles published in Water Canada’s Magazine, Environmental Science and Engineering Magazine, WEAO’s Influents Magazine and as mentioned earlier is a co-author of the Ryerson University report: Defining “Flushability” for Sewer Use. Barry is known as Captain F.O.G. across Canada and can even be found in a comic called “The Adventures of Fatberg”.

Although it is something most of us like to ignore as we go through our day to day lives, we will all eventually pass from this life. Have you considered how you would like your body treated when this occurs? If you are considering burial, where do you plan to be buried? The environmental impact of getting bodies to their eternal rest can be quite significant. Our guest today, Lexi Verhoef is a Master’s student in Sustainable Territorial Development and she is conducting research on natural and conservation burial.

Even though it isn’t often discussed the reality is that nearly half of all plastic waste is from packaging. Are you a business looking for more sustainable packaging options? Did you know that as a consumer you have the power to motivate companies to make the shift toward more environmentally conscious packaging? Whether you are a business owner or consumer, or both, our guest today will explain how you can help fight plastic pollution before it begins by making more eco-friendly packaging become mainstream. In this episode, I will be speaking with SeaHive Senior Project Manager, Kirsten Midura.

If you have ever wanted to know how businesses could be involved with removing trash, pests, and invasive species from wetlands, ponds, and lakes and restoring these areas to healthy and diverse ecosystems, complete with native plant and fish species you want to listen in. In this episode, I will be speaking with the founder and owner of Stocking Savvy Environmental Consulting, Sean Patton.