The Global Grit Experience

What is sustainable tourism and how can we be better travelers? And, equally important, how can we protect our own natural, cultural and historical places where we live from overtourism? It's a balance but more and more destinations are making it happen. That's good news.

Jonathan B. Tourtellot, a National Geographic Explorer, is a journalist, editor, speaker, and consultant specializing in the intersection between tourism and care for places. While at National Geographic, he introduced the concept of destination stewardship and launched the “Places Rated” surveys reported annually as National Geographic Traveler cover stories. He now runs the nonprofit Destination Stewardship Center (DSC), including an online e-magazine, the Destination Stewardship Report. He was a contributing author in the book Overtourism: Lessons for a Better Future (Island Press, 2021) and is featured prominently in the just-published book Destination Stewardship by Tonya Fitzpatrick (KoganPage, 2026). In his new Substack, The Fragile Map, he reveals how the taxes travelers pay for lodging can promote overtourism. Look for his story entitled “The Mystery Tax.”

Resources:

www.DestinationCenter.org

Destination Stewardship Report

The Fragile Map

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Erika talks with guest, Bridget Guiza from the White Earth Tribal and Community College. Bridget talks about the challenges of our time being at the nexus of food, water, and energy sovereignty and being allies with Indigenous and rural communities.

Bridget is the Customized Education Coordinator at the White Earth Tribal and Community College. She has a background in Environmental Systems and Planning and has experience in philanthropy, environmental justice, energy development, food sovereignty, and workforce development. Her current work focuses on building career pathways with and for the people of White Earth and adjacent communities.

CLARIFICATION in EPISODE: MTERA stands for the Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association.

Resources

White Earth Tribal and Community College

https://www.wetcc.edu/

Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association - Empowering tribes to manage tribal energy resources through collective action.

https://www.mtera.org/

https://www.mtera.org/

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In this episode, Dr. Joel Powell shares his perspective on expanding acceptance of people as an absolute necessity to the preservation of the environment. And, that political organization and cooperation is the ticket out of the mess we're in.

Dr. Joel Powell whose been a professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Minnesota State University Moorhead for almost forty years.

Resources

Book by Douglas Rushkoff about consulting tech billionaires on surviving the apocalypse.

https://rushkoff.com/books/survival-of-the-richest.html

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In this episode, Dr. Judi Roux shares about the environmental impacts of fast fashion and clothing waste and how she's embraced creative upcycling to make a difference.

Judi Roux, Ed.D has been an educator for over 30 years. As the founder of tROUXly treasures, she's combining her experience and enthusiasm for environmental sustainability with her passion for yarn crafting. She does this by repurposing clothing memories and sharing those skills with other crafters. She teaches t-shirt yarn cutting and crocheting classes at various educational venues around Duluth and the north shore of Lake Superior.

RESOURCES

Swagcycle: https://www.swagcycle.net/thinking-about-the-life-of-a-t-shirt/

Clothing Mountain Visible from Space:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/the-clothing-mountain-visible-from-space-how-60000-tonnes-of-discarded-clothes-ended-up-in-chiles-atacama-desert/articleshow/132689467.cms

Impacts from Modern Purchases

https://northshorejournal.co/editorial/impacts-of-modern-purchases/

Life Cycle of a T-Shirt

The life cycle of a t-shirt - Angel Chang

Statistics About Fast Fashion Waste

https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/

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Thanks for listening and being a part of The Global Grit Experience. I SO appreciate you!

Guest Cedar Walters talks about the harms of plastics in our bodies and the environment in this episode and shares tactics to reduce plastic use.

Cedar Walters is Senior Director of Community Programs at West Central Initiative (WCI), where she leads community initiatives and connects people and communities with resources that support sustainability and resilience. In 2025 and 2026 she organized and supported eight community screenings of the Plastic People documentary, which led to the formation of a Beyond Plastics local chapter in west central Minnesota. Prior to joining WCI, Cedar worked at a county recycling facility for six years and became obsessed with waste reduction – specifically for plastics and food waste.

Cedar holds an MS in Biology and Environmental Education from North Dakota State University and has experience in distributed solar development, composting and recycling program development, sustainable food systems, and native prairie restoration projects. In her free time she can be found in her pollinator garden, spending time with family, reading, camping, knitting, and organizing for more inclusive and equitable communities.

RESOURCES

Beyond Plastics: trainings, resources, studies, fact sheets, map of local groups, speaker bureau, and more! https://www.beyondplastics.org/

Reasons to Say No to Plastics: https://files.captivate.fm/library/d7963bca-c38f-4d72-ae91-8cdf07543597/Reasons-to-Say-No-to-Plastics-Beyond-Plastics.pdf

Sustainable Closet Basics: https://files.captivate.fm/library/c83f24bf-6b68-4ec2-8d0a-0f95f0cd47fc/Sustainable-Closet-Basics.pdf

Thrift Tips and Gifts: https://files.captivate.fm/library/891f05db-1ed3-4c39-91e4-8e59fa005d3a/Thrift-Tips-and-Gifts.pdf

Compostable Products Purchasing Guid: https://files.captivate.fm/library/c0e48e78-f7dc-4692-aecc-8dacec5406d6/Compostable-Products-Purchasing-Guide.pdf

Reducing health impacts from plastics - Blog: https://www.beyondplastics.org/ask-a-scientist/avoid-plastic-toxic-chemicals

For West Central MN Specifically:

Quarterly Advocacy Trainings coming up in November – free on Zoom, pick a date that works for you:

• Saturday, 11/7 at 1:00 PM ET US
• Tuesday, 11/10 at 7:00 PM ET US
• Thursday, 11/12 at 7:00 PM ET US

Screening of Plastic People -coming up on September 26th at 6:30 pm at the Becker Co Museum in Detroit Lakes, MN https://www.facebook.com/share/1LUpEdwQFH/

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I SO appreciate you!

Erika

What does voting for the environment mean? How can we find our way through political hype? How do we listen to candidates more critically?

My guest today is Dave Homans. Dave is a retired physician who serves as Citizen Climate Lobby’s Co-Coordinator for the state of Minnesota. He is active in lobbying our elected representatives to promote policies that will mitigate climate warming.

Resources

• Open Secrets https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=elizabeth+manson&order=desc&sort=D
• Govtrack.com https://www.govtrack.us/
• Billtrack50 https://www.billtrack50.com/info/
• The Cook Political Report https://www.cookpolitical.com/
• League of Women voters https://www.lwvmn.org/2026-candidate-forums
• Environmental Voter Project https://www.environmentalvoter.org/
• Citizens Climate Lobby https://citizensclimatelobby.org/

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Thanks for listening and being a part of The Global Grit Experience. I SO appreciate you!

In this episode I give a little background of how I got into video, capturing stories around the world, and eventually, here, as a podcaster and host of The Global Grit Experience.

Examples of videos mentioned in the podcast

Volkswagen ID.4 Road Trip - What Fuels You- Ep.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ85tn5HDJ0

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV - Soul Pursuits Ep.1 - https://youtu.be/mlRZ-lckRWs?si=_CAeZTq5fLGZhxHd

Soul of of the Western Balkans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahpRDIo87n0&list=PLbXm1PcDvCSe_PjQUF6v1F51amDjI4cq7&index=24&t=2s

Woodland League - Ireland: https://youtu.be/MUT6miz2Kys

How do we as humans balance our self-interest drive with environmental sustainability. There’s no easy answer but it’s definitely worth pondering, talking about, and hopefully acting on for the future of our natural world (and us). My guest today is Dr. Dennis Jacobs, retired physics professor, pilot, aeronautical engineer, sustainability educator, and author of multiple books.

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How do you make stuff happen - like saving a beautiful area from development and creating instead an amazing nature-based park that the locals, wildlife, and tourists love? Let’s find out in this episode with guest, Polly Andersen. Polly’s love of nature led her to champion the Wannigan Regional Park in her hometown of Frazee, MN.

Resources

https://wanniganpark.com/

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Thanks for listening and being a part of The Global Grit Experience. I SO appreciate you!

Honey bees! In this episode I chat with Sawyer Gilsdorf, professional beekeeper with Björn’s Colorado Honey in Boulder, Colorado (and my awesome nephew) to learn what’s involved with beekeeping year round in colder winter climates. And, of course, learn some amazing honey bee fun facts and their intricate matriarchal society.

Resources:

Björns Colorado Honey

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Thanks for listening and being a part of The Global Grit Experience. I appreciate you!