The Net Zero Life

Welcome to season two of The Net Zero Life. In season one, we spoke to innovators working to bring the world closer to net-zero emissions. In season two we continuing that journey but look beyond lifestyle changes that reduce one's carbon footprint, towards the values that are the building blocks for a fulfilling, sustainable life. 

Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life on Twitter and Instagram (@thenetzerolife), at www.thenetzerolife.com or via email at [email protected].

You can subscribe to The Net Zero Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever else you get your podcasts.

On this special crossover episode, Nathan has the privilege of hosting a fellow sustainability-focused podcaster, Peter Levin -- founder and host of In Good Hands. In Good Hands is a legendary sustainability podcast, with a special focus on the consumer. Nathan and Peter discuss the In Good Hands origin story, growing the podcast, and his plans beyond the pod. They also riff on several business ideas and breakdown their impact potential. Nathan and Peter brainstorm their next collaboration and the details of their upcoming giveaway.

In Good Hands and The Net Zero Life are offering a free sustainability coaching session for one lucky listener. The winner will receive one-on-one coaching from Peter and Nathan, including a To-Do of practical, sustainability hacks personalized to your lifestyle. To enter, simply:

Subscribe to the Net Zero Life and In Good Hands podcast on Spotify or Apple

Like our giveaway post on LinkedIn or IG

On Friday (July 9) we’ll message the lucky winner!

Thanks and hope you enjoy the conversation!

We recorded this episode in May 2021.

200 Billion tons of CO2. That is the potential amount of carbon that trees -- a solution to climate change that requires no innovation -- can remove from the atmosphere. Nathan and Diego discuss what inspired his carbon consciousness, how he thinks about the path to a more sustainable world, and what forest he is most worried about.

Diego is the founder and CEO of Pachama, a Y Combinator-backed startup working to accelerate the flow of capital to carbon capturing projects starting with forests biomass projects. Pachama harnesses satellite images and machine learning to verify the carbon storage on forests and then connects directly project developers with carbon credits buyers in an open marketplace.

Pachama is a new technology startup focused on unlocking the full potential of carbon markets to accelerate forest protection and restoration as a solution to climate change. The company harnesses the latest techniques in artificial intelligence (deep learning, convolutional neural networks) and remote sensing (LiDAR, hyperspectral satellite images) to enhance the verification and monitoring of carbon capture by forests and natural ecosystems. It then aggregates vetted projects into an online marketplace platform that makes it easy for companies to access high quality forest carbon credits, as well as to monitor and share the progress of the projects with multiple stakeholders.

You can get in touch with Pachama through their website (Diego reads all of the messages from the contact page) and they are actively hiring so don't hesitate to reach out.

Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life on Twitter, Instagram and Clubhouse (@thenetzerolife). 

You can also get in touch at www.thenetzerolife.com or via email at [email protected].

Walk around any suburban neighborhood and you will see two things in abundance: solar panels and electric vehicles. Fifteen years ago, that would never have been the case. In just a short period of time, solar power and EVs have become mainstream, and today's show is about another home technology that is on the same path: Geothermal Heating and Cooling.

Today's guest is Kathy Hannun, President and Founder of Dandelion Energy, the largest home geothermal company in the U.S. Dandelion helps homeowners finance and install geothermal heating and cooling systems that reduce their home carbon footprint by up to 80%.

Kathy and Nathan do some public career development and then dive into home geothermal. They talk about the first principles of geothermal, and how Dandelion is working to help customers understand why geothermal is good for the environment and for wallets.

You can get in touch with Dandelion by emailing [email protected]. They are actively hiring, so if this work interests you, you can check out their job listings at https://dandelionenergy.com/jobs. 

Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life on Twitter, Instagram and Clubhouse (@thenetzerolife). 

You can also get in touch at www.thenetzerolife.com or via email at [email protected].

There is carbon in the atmosphere that is changing the very nature of our planet. Everybody knows this. What to do about it? And how? That's where things get complicated. 

Today on the show we hear from Shashank Samala and Max Scholten, two of the innovators behind Heirloom Carbon, which may or may not be trying to turn the oil industry inside out.

Nathan, Shashank, and Max talk about their climate journeys, capitalism as the answer to climate change, and the many challenges humanity is up against when trying to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life on Twitter, Instagram and Clubhouse (@thenetzerolife). 

You can also get in touch at www.thenetzerolife.com or via email at [email protected].

Over the course of the first season, we’ve been introduced to a host of climate problems that the world needs to solve, as well as some of the groundbreaking companies and people who are solving them.

Today we hear from one person who is committed to highlighting climate solutions, and the people behind them. Grant Brown is the founder of happyeconews.com, a website dedicated to “finding some nuggets of positivity in the vast sea of unpleasant environmental news stories.”

Grant and Nathan discuss their shared interest in the nexus of entrepreneurship and sustainability, the countries with the best environments for sustainable living, and a whole lot more.

You can get in touch with Grant on LinkedIn or at https://happyeconews.com/. 

Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life on Twitter, Instagram and Clubhouse (@thenetzerolife). 

You can also get in touch at www.thenetzerolife.com or via email at [email protected].

Part of my net-zero journey is finding more efficient ways to do the things I already do. People want to fly, eat, and live without harming the planet. Inertia is powerful, and when we have just a few (or zero) sustainable options, the harder it is to live sustainably.

Today’s guest is Corey Nobile of Impact Snacks. Corey is working to ensure that snackers can snack sustainably. 

Impact Snacks created a nutrient-dense protein powder packed with no more than five good-for-you ingredients and none of the bad stuff. Upon attaining validation by PAC-12 collegiate nutritionists and continuously selling out door-to-door, the rocket ship officially launched in 2019. 

Nathan and Corey discuss the myriad ways snack making and snack eating can be bad for the environment, and the steps Corey, Nathan, and everyone else can take to snack sustainably.

You can get in touch with Corey on LinkedIn or via email: [email protected]. 

Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life on Twitter, Instagram and Clubhouse (@thenetzerolife). 

You can also get in touch at www.thenetzerolife.com or via email at [email protected].

Extra Reading:

Beans instead of Beef - The Atlantic

Plenty - 2 acres vertical farm

Blue Horizon

TerraCycle - Recycle Everythign

PELA - biodegradable goods

Climate disclosures

Peter Levin -In Good Hands podcast

The Impact

The ocean is both our partner in fighting climate change and the home of one of humanity's favorite sources of protein: fish. There are numerous reasons for us to support sustainability in ocean communities, and today's guest, Dan Watson, is committed to making that easier.

Dan and Nathan discuss important topics like bycatch, canned tuna, and a shrimp that can punch a hole in the ocean (!!). Catch it all inside.

You can get in touch with Dan on LinkedIn or by checking out https://sntech.co.uk/.

Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life on Twitter, Instagram and Clubhouse (@thenetzerolife). 

You can also get in touch at www.thenetzerolife.com or via email at [email protected].

Sustainability work can be daunting. The existential threat to humanity’s existence has the potential to paralyze. Today’s guest is Quintin Barnes, VP & Co Founder at Allumia, and Allumia grew out of that exact paralysis. While others in Seattle were looking for a perfect solution to climate change, Quintin and his co-founders didn’t wait around and got to work. 

Allumia funds, designs, installs and maintains a complete efficiency upgrade for our commercial, industrial, and residential customers. In other words, they help you get the most from, and pay the least for, your lightbulbs. 

Before co-founding Allumia, Quintin managed Climate Policy for the Washington Business Alliance. Prior to moving back to the Northwest, he lived in Argentina for four years where he was the Director of Latin America, and eventually also Europe, for Coastal Environmental Systems, Inc. Quintin completed undergrad at Boston College with a postgraduate degree from FLACSO Argentina, where he focused on emerging renewable energy markets and carbon pricing policy. 

You can get in touch with Quintin on LinkedIn or by checking out https://www.allumia.com/. 

Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life on Twitter, Instagram and Clubhouse (@thenetzerolife). 

You can also get in touch at www.thenetzerolife.com or via email at [email protected].

Plants bear a terribly heavy burden in the fight to keep carbon out of the atmosphere. They collect and store carbon inside themselves, which is why you often hear about planting trees to save the planet. 

Today's guest, Kelly Hering from Charm Industrial, tells Nathan about how her company is working to support the plants in their crucial fight to keep carbon out of the atmosphere. It turns out that we humans can remove carbon too, we just have to be creative.

Charm Industrial is working to produce reliable, cost-competitive hydrogen from biomass. Their approach to producing industrial hydrogen is unique, and allows them to deliver carbon-neutral hydrogen reliably and cost-effectively. To do this they integrated a specially-chosen biomass crop, tightly coordinated farm operations, and a novel gasification system.

You can get in touch with Kelly on LinkedIn or via email at [email protected].

Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life on Twitter, Instagram and Clubhouse (@thenetzerolife). 

You can also get in touch at www.thenetzerolife.com or via email at [email protected].