Flooglebinder co-founder Brad Frankel found that sending students to work in communities abroad made a huge positive impact on their mental wellbeing. Working sustainably, and with nature, helps improve personal development, and also reconnects people with nature. Making those connections with nature also helps reduce carbon footprints and changes people's behaviour in the natural world.

SEVENTEENx founder Mick Hase is passionate about providing a platform for the people making change. The SEVENTEENx speaker events highlight those unheard of, purpose-driven SMEs and small businesses with a desire for sustainability at their core. He unites a global community of engaged businesses and people in conversation with one other. Travelling Australia's capitals, he shines a spotlight on the sustainable and the inspirational.

Colin McIntosh, founder and CEO of start-up Sheets & Giggles, took an organic route to sustainability by first building the perfect business model. He made sure he understood what consumers wanted and how his brand would be a financial success, before thinking about the product. He also focused on ecology and a social conscience. Sheets & Giggles is a sustainable business which produces bed sheets from the wood pulp of eucalyptus trees, using less water and energy than cotton to produce, and no pesticides or insecticides. Sheets & Giggles has a rapidly growing turnover, thanks to Colin's formidable business background and mission-driven outlook.

Tabitha Jayne, EarthSelf director and lead coach, talks about how to coach with nature, and breaks NATURE down into an acronym: Nature connection, Adaptability, Transformative coaching skillset, Understanding of how nature impacts humans, Recognition of human/nature relationship, Evidence base. Simplifying how to coach with nature allows coaches to use the strategies and systems of nature to show individuals and organisations how to work sustainably and efficiently.

Gina Lee, founder of Upcyclers Network, tells Tabitha Jayne at Sustainable: The Podcast how recycling and reusing materials can save not only money but also the planet. Avoiding extracting virgin resources cuts the environmental impact on the planet. Upcycling creates manufacturing jobs. Emphasising the positive benefits of recycling will make it a more attractive method of production. Reusing and recycling can create a sustainable economy. And highlighting the businesses and organisations that already successfully transform waste into value-added materials will encourage others to take up this circular production model.

Bremley Lyngdoh, founder and CEO of the non-profit Worldview Impact Foundation, talks to EarthSelf’s Tabitha Jayne about the Ride East programme. Motorcyclists travel across northeast India, spreading awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Another scheme hopes to plant 1billion mangrove trees in Myanmar in the next 10 years. Bremley talks about people-led sustainability movements, and the importance of peace and stability in the drive for sustainability.

Rune Sovndahl, co-founder and CEO of cleaning and maintenance provider Fantastic Services, talks to Sustainable: The Podcast’s Tabitha Jayne about the importance of making a business truly sustainable from the inside out. Fantastic Services has replaced much of its car fleet with electric vehicles, and made its office largely paper free in an effort to reduce its waste. Rune is also a firm believer in repairing not replacing, and talks about the EU Ecodesign Directive which will make it easier for consumers to repair broken products rather than buy brand-new ones. “Whether it's a coffee machine or the boiler, you don't have to replace as much as you think,” he says. “It's basic plumbing, it's basic soldering, it's basic wiring.”

SF Bay coffee company’s Laura Rogers spoke to Sustainable: The Podcast about her family company’s commitment to supporting the coffee farmers who supply the firm, including the 63 schools, housing complexes and multiple dental and health centres they have so far built for coffee farmers in Central and South America and Rwanda. Not only this but SF Bay has worked to create 100% fully compostable coffee pods for coffee machines. Sustainable: The Podcast learned from Laura what drives the company to become the biggest family-run business in the world.

EarthSelf founder and director Tabitha Jayne looks at the evolution of Sustainable The Podcast, and how the language around sustainability can move from a model of negative stories by showcasing the positive actions being taken by business and organisations.

Sustainable The Podcast is aligning itself with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, an ambitious blueprint for a sustainable world. Tabitha highlights how businesses are already working towards a world of no poverty or hunger, with good health and wellbeing, better education and reduced inequality. Sustainable The Podcast will share the positive actions being made, to inspire other businesses, from SMEs to corporations.

"You need to step back and think; Realize that you may need to change the system in order to solve complex problems." — Richard Burrett

Join me today as we talk about sustainable investments and its importance in building a sustainable future with Richard Burrett.

Richard is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Earth Capital, a global equity firm that’s totally focused on sustainable development within the climate change nexus of energy security, as well as food and water security.

In this episode, Richard shares the importance of investing in sustainability, especially now that we’re experiencing climate change. He talks about focusing on investments that bring positive environmental impact and how to ensure its results are really positive. Moreover, Richard shares how we can make the best decisions to avoid unintended consequences.

Listen on and learn the steps to a more sustainable way of investing and consumption.

In this episode, Richard and I talk about:

• What is sustainable finance
• The importance of sustainable finance in creating a sustainable world
• Why investing in sustainability is essential in today’s climate
• The approach Earth Capital is currently using to be able to impact the way business operates
• How to make better decisions and avoid unintended consequences
• Creating profit with a purpose