This Might Just Work - Ideas for a Tired Planet

In this episode I speak to Elise Van Middelem the founder and CEO of SUGi - a pioneering social enterprise dedicated to greening cities and reimagining urban life through nature-based solutions.

SUGi is at the forefront of creating green infrastructure and restoring the human connection to nature in urban areas. Their signature approach is based on the revolutionary Miyawaki Method of planting ultra-dense, biodiverse pocket forests comprised solely of native species.

In just four years since its launch in 2019, SUGi has conceived, planted and funded nearly 200 of these pocket forests across 42 cities on 6 continents worldwide. Their work has reconnected over 52,000 youth and community members to nature through hands-on forest-making.

What started as a grassroots movement has evolved into a leading global voice for civic rewilding and ecosystem restoration. SUGi has earned prestigious recognition from the World Economic Forum, inclusion in the 1t.org trillion trees initiative, and backing from the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Along the way, they've forged powerful partnerships with iconic brands to execute high-visibility public projects that inspire environmental action. Elise's pioneering vision integrates her deep passions for contemporary art and global ecology into a unifying purpose - to empower, inspire and activate what SUGi calls "The Rewilding Generation."

To learn more about SUGI head to www.sugiprojects.com

Book Recommendation:

The Messy Middle - Scott Belsky

Email me with any comments or guest suggestions [email protected] and add me on Linked In - www.linkedin.com/in/robwreg

In this episode, I speak to Dan Sherrard Smith the founder and CEO of My Mother Tree.

Not every innovation needs to be shiny new technology or groundbreaking scientific advancements, sometimes it is creating something simple that can have a huge impact. That is what My Mother Tree are doing with tools such as the Money Carbon Calculator, which helps individuals and businesses find out where there money is invested and how they can have a big impact simply by switching banks.

In this episode we cover lots of topics from how Dan was involved in the biggest ever deal on Dragon's Den, how the calculator works, why it is so hard to change banks, why this is a powerful lever for change, advise for other ecopreneurs and much more!

Find out more about My Mother Tree

Follow Dan on LinkedIn

Dans Book Recommendations:

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Shoe Dog

Total Recall

In this week's episode I chat to Pooja Paul the founder of Habitable Earth. Habitable Earth plans to be the 'Duolingo of Climate Action' combining the best scientific insights about human behavior with the power of immersive gameplay to make planet-friendly lifestyle choices easy, fun and rewarding

Habitable Earth's mission is to empower the growing majority of climate-concerned consumers worldwide to meaningfully contribute to the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, while improving health, saving money, and having a bit of fun.

Pooja is a fascinating person bringing a global perspective after spending parts of her life in India, the US and the UK. As you will hear in the episode she studied and researched in the field of cognitive science before making the leap into climate tech, which brings a fascinating perspective.

We cover a lot of topics including the importance of habits, the perception gap, the intention-action gap and much more besides.

Useful Links:

Rad Rabbit (the 5 a day app Pooja mentions)

Books:

Regeneration - Paul Hawken

Tiny Habits - BJ Fogg

Atomic Habits - James Clear

In this episode, I speak to Max Runzel the cofounder and CEO of the company HiveTracks.

HiveTracks creates technology to help beekeepers manage their hives. Started back in 2010 at the intersection of computer science and beekeeping and now supports over 40,000 beekeepers across more than 150 countries.

That is cool on its own but what they are working on now is even cooler (well to me it is anyway) and that is using environmental data collected by bees and beekeepers to monitor biodiversity.

To find out more about Hivetracks head to https://www.hivetracks.com/

Book Recommendations:

The Invention of Nature - The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt - Andrew Wulf

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity - Peter Attia

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A short clip from episode 19 of the podcast where I spoke to Mart Drake-Knight founder of tshirt company Teemill.

We talk about how creating a circular company actually makes business sense whilst being much better for the planet.

If you enjoy it do check out the full episode and subscribe for more.

In this episode, I chat to Carlos Terol.

Carlos is a serial ecopreneur and around a year ago launched his latest venture Good Ripple which is a community platform for connecting passionate changemakers who are ready to make a difference in the world and take action.

We cover all sorts of topic including the plan for Good Ripple, thinking locally in an increasingly global society, our communication issue in climate, starting to act like an ecopreneur without quitting your job, the power of LinkedIn and how things change when you grow.

As Carlos mentions everyone out there who is a changemaker or wants to become one should join Good Ripple so head to https://nas.io/good-ripple to sign up.

You can connect with Carlos at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-terol/

Carlos book recommendation, a Gift For Conversation can be bought directly here:

https://www.agiftforconversation.com/shop/

How could we leverage blockchain technology in interesting ways to help nature?

That is what Pete Howson focuses his research on and he highlights some companies leading the way with some out-of-the-box thinking, like getting a forest to own itself!

The full episode was episode 13 from back in 2019 and you can listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Il0ztA4ITuyfB8eux7Vw9?si=0b51e79167d84876

In this episode I speak to Chris D’Agorne, the founder of How to Rewild – the UK’s most popular rewilding advice website, and is currently developing Life to Land –  a nature recovery advisory service for smaller landowners. Chris is one of the most influential voices in the growing rewilding movement in the UK. 

Chris took the bold step of re-mortgaging his house to purchase 3.5 acres of land that he has been managing for about two years now and sharing his story in the open, inspiring thousands of people with his direct action. 

In this episode we talk about everything from filming polar bears in the Arctic, to how Chris decided to buy the land, putting a price on nature, how we deal with increasing polarisation and much more. 

The best way to find out more about what Chris is working on is to head to the Life to Land website.

You can also follow Chris on LinkedIn to see updates from his project

The episode of The Wilder podcast can be found here

Chris’ book recommendations:

⁠Rooted⁠ – Sarah Langford

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In this episode I speak to Oliver Dauert the founder of Wildya, a platform that helps users understand their own complex minds and transform their eco-anxiety into action. They then use 15% of the revenue to protect & restore nature. People just show up and work on themselves, nature is restored as a consequence.

To learn more head to Wildya.earth and make sure you download the app to start working on your mental fitness whilst restoring nature!

Olivers Book recommendations:

Atomic Habits - James Clear

Rewilding: The Radical New Science of Ecological Recovery - Cain Blythe and Paul Jepson

The Social Lives of Animals - Ashley Ward

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Topher White is the founder of Rainforest Connection (rfcx.org) and is known for his work since 2012 protecting rainforests using a device he invented called the "Guardian"— made from upcycled Android smartphones. His original Ted talk can be found here.

His latest undertaking, called Squibbon, harnesses 10 years of experience creating technology for protecting rainforests to explore wilderness areas much closer to home – your own backyard. This includes a reimagined new device, Delta, which looks like a brushed aluminum mini spaceship you might imagine traversing through the galaxy, yet fits snugly into any space in your backyard, easily mounted on a tree or in your garden, allowing you to explore the wilderness just outside your door.

Weatherproof, rugged and powerful enough to capture the sounds of every living creature (including sounds the human ear cannot even detect), 24 hours a day, streaming them to your phone and home electronics to entertain, protect, educate and advise you and your family about the animal activities beyond your walls.
The product will launch on March 28th on Kickstarter, with the first devices shipping in 2023.

Head to www.squibbon.com for more info

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