More than 675m books were sold in the US alone in 2019. We are insatiable consumers and still pro print. With print books massively outselling digital books, seems they are here to stay.

I talked with Grace, she is the co-founder of a simple, yet wonderful initiative. They are supporting sustainability by adopting 2 of the 3 waste hierarchy R’s. Their platform, bookends.ae allows for simple purchase and sale of pre-loved books. Allowing multiple “reuse” and finally “recycle”.

Have a listen to our talk, perhaps it may inspire you to make your idea into reality.

We all get hung up on our work so much that we forget to take out time for the things that matter the most. Ansar talks about his journey through Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a fatal lung disease. Going through this life-threatening condition, opened his eyes to the importance of spending more time with the people you love most.

Our Talk - We have destroyed the planet we live on. This is evident in so many ways, none more obvious than the great Pacific garbage patch. Simran, talks to me about her new venture in cleaning up the oceans. A simple, yet brilliant idea of catching the trash before it escapes to the oceans. Her company BluPhin has a working prototype and soon we will see them everywhere.

Out Talk - Talk with Badar and the state of sustainability. Badar also talks to us about his initiative, Sustainimate; a transparent communication digital media initiative. Also discussion about the job hunting and networking in the environmental/sustainability space.

Our Talk -

After having a great talk with my friend John about sustainability and Tesla a few weeks back, he scribbled a nice article on Medium. An invite to chat on the podcast was a must. We had a wonderful chat about what sustainability really is. Also discussed if Tesla is or is not sustainable. Finally, a few nice recommendations on what we can do today to make a change for a better tomorrow.

Have a listen, feel free to share feedback.

John Katsos

John E. Katsos is Associate Professor of Management at the American University of Sharjah (UAE). John researches business operations in conflict zones. He looks specifically at how businesses can mitigate political risk and enhance peace in conflict and post-conflict zones and how international businesses can limit their legal exposure as a result of foreign operations in conflict and post-conflict zones. John teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Business and Peace, Business Ethics, Negotiations, and Business Law.

Prior to AUS, John worked at Occidental Petroleum, the US Small Business Administration, the New York County District Attorney’s Office, the US State Department, the George Washington University, and the American University of Dubai. John has his JD and MBA from the George Washington University in Washington, DC and his BA in Religion from Haverford College in Haverford, PA. He is licensed to practice law in New York.

Reach out to my guest.

Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jekatsos/

Medium | https://medium.com/@jekatsos

Email | [email protected]

Our Talk -

I had the privilege of being interviewed by my son, Abdullah. The plan was to talk about why I am doing this podcast and why now. I don't think we got to that; too busy having fun and laughing. Looks like we may need to do a part 2 of this interview.

None the less, here it is, enjoy.

www.talktoali.com