We Can Remake The World

There is good in every circumstance, but it's not always easy to see. With so many challenges right now, how can we find the good? Nathan explores the two most important habits to manage the ups and downs we're all experiencing these days: being honest and compassionate with yourself, and looking for the good and the growth in every circumstance. Often it's the most difficult times that cause us to grow the most. Which doesn’t mean we ignore how tough circumstances feel. 

But WE CAN overcome those feelings of powerlessness. Nathan shares stories from his own life that reinforce the good that often comes from the most difficult situations, and explores how we can apply this idea collectively to our current situation. WE CAN come out from all of this stronger, and more committed than ever to building a better world together.

These days it's easy to lose our heads, but staying calm is crucial. So often, during a crisis those with the least suffer the most. What does a crisis mean for the food insecure? Kim Buffington of Eden Gives joins us for a second conversation to discuss the importance of staying calm amidst troubling times, not just for our own well-being but also to protect the most vulnerable among us. Kim tells us about her volunteer team in Detroit who, despite countless reasons to avoid going out, are delivering more meals than ever to those in need. Kim thinks she knows why. She believes that serving others is THE KEY to keeping ourselves centered during this unprecedented time. Join us for a conversation about how we can be assets rather than burdens for our communities. Get inspired about the change you can make even, while we stay home to stay safe.

SUPPORT Eden Gives: Learn more, volunteer, and donate at https://edengives.org/.

CHALLENGE: Choose your own adventure. Do whatever you feel is in your power to uplift or serve someone in your life, whether they’re family, friends, or strangers. Choose what you have to offer and offer it. Be part of the solution to a problem for someone else.

TAKEAWAYS: 1: When we care for others, we care for ourselves. 2: We choose how we respond to a crisis, and the choices we make impact others. 3: Challenges can separate us, or bring us together.

 Visit www.wecanremaketheworld.com for more info and resources. 

We can end food insecurity.  Roughly 24 million in the United States alone don't have enough fresh food to eat. Kim Buffington is committed to doing something about it. About 14 years ago, Kim’s life changed. She made a choice to start a new path focused on serving the people of Detroit with food as her foundation. Through her nonprofit, Eden Gives, Kim is bringing fresh food to families who need it. With an ambitious vision for the future of Eden Gives, Kim plans to transform her community through urban farming, local alliances, and fresh food grown on the same block as the customers it feeds. Listen for ways you can support Eden Gives' mission, and connect with local food programs in your community.

 SUPPORT Eden Gives: Learn more, volunteer, and donate at https://edengives.org/.

CHALLENGE: Sit down and consider what you possess – skills, talents, resources, food, or anything – and how what you have could make a difference in someone else’s life. Make a list. Choose one thing from your list and take one action toward making your impact a reality.

TAKEAWAYS: 1: Food is essential, and when we transform how communities relate to food we transform those communities. 2: There is power in supporting local community solutions to local community problems. 3: We can all make change by recognizing what’s “in our hands” – whatever it is that we have to offer - and offering it.

Visit www.wecanremaketheworld.com for more info and resources. 

How we shop matters. Everything we buy has impact. We can support companies whose products protect human rights and the planet, or not. Join us for a conversation with Kenneth Smith, CEO of  Hempy's, for an honest look at fashion and how we can make it better. Kenneth has been aware of the potential that alternative materials like hemp have for years as the owner of a hemp clothing line based in San Diego, CA. Kenneth educates us on the endless uses for hemp, how it could transform our environment and our industries, and why it was blacklisted for over 100 years. Hemp is one of the most versatile and sustainable materials on the planet - good for business, good for us, and good for the Earth. Yet growing it was restricted until late 2018. Is it time for hemp's 21st century moment?  Hemp goes way beyond CBD. Listen in and learn how you can be part of hemp's next chapter.

SUPPORT Hempy’s: Shop high-quality hemp goods at https://hempys.com/, and support other hemp-based and slow fashion companies!

CHALLENGE: Learn more. Choose one element from today’s episode that surprised you and dig into it. The more we know about the alternatives we have, the more we expect solutions that work. Check out the documentary “True Cost” on YouTube, and learn more about fast fashion and how it’s impacting our environment and human rights around the globe.

TAKEAWAYS: 1: We have countless underutilized resources like hemp, which can support our environment and transform our world. 2: It’s time for the next chapter in the story of hemp. Let’s help it grow. 3: We don’t need EVERYONE to change the world, just ENOUGH of us. We explore the idea of critical mass, and examples of it in history.

Visit www.wecanremaketheworld.com for more info and resources. 

Be kind. Changing the world can be as simple as that. In our first informal conversation Nathan interviews cellist, Peter Pearson, who also happens to be Nathan’s partner. Nathan and Peter discuss staying positive in the face of overwhelming negativity, the simple power of being kind to another person, and how each of us can approach every day so that we bring our best selves to the table. None of us has everything figured out, but we can choose how we treat ourselves and others to make this world a better place. Join us for an everyday conversation about everyday things with a focus on being the best we can be.

Join us in two weeks for our episode with Kenneth Smith, CEO of Hempy’s, to learn about the thousands of ways hemp could change the world! Visit wecanremaketheworld.com for more episodes, information, and resources.

When times get tough, it’s time to focus on others. The most powerful way to overcome our own problems is to be there for the people around us. When we’re focused on lifting someone else up we take up the space where our worries lived with a feeling of purpose, and we remind ourselves how powerful our connections to people around us are. Nathan explores 5 BENEFITS that getting outside of ourselves and focusing on others can bring us, even in the most challenging of times. Listen in, and accept our challenge for you to make a list of five things you can do over the next two weeks to support someone else. Make a phone call, write a letter or email, donate to a local nonprofit, pick up groceries for your neighbor. Find ways to forget about your own worries and be there for someone else, and notice how it affects your day and your week for the better.

What are you grateful for? These five words can change your life and our guest today can prove it. After transforming his own life with gratitude, Teddy Droseros made it his mission to share what he learned with as many people as possible. Join us for a conversation with Teddy as we discuss the gratitude spaces he's creating in schools and businesses around the globe through his nonprofit, Grateful Peoples. In one troubled middle school, poor student behavioral reports decreased by 40% IN ONE YEAR after all 300 students began using Teddy’s gratitude practice every day. Teachers reported that even they were treating each other better. Listen to learn more about how gratitude might just hold the key to a better world. 

SUPPORT Grateful Peoples: Purchase a beautiful, hand-designed gratitude journal or donate to support at https://gratefulpeoples.com/.

CHALLENGE: Gratitude challenge! Every day for at least one week, spend 10 minutes of your morning writing down what you’re grateful for. Notice how it affects the rest of your day. Consider building this practice into your routine long-term for an extra boost of positivity every morning.

TAKEAWAYS: 1: Gratitude is simple, but it can change your life. 2: Gratitude is easy and free. 3: Gratitude can transform communities, and build better societies.

Visit www.wecanremaketheworld.com for more info and resources. 

Instead of more animals, let’s make ocean plastic go extinct. Every minute, the equivalent of ONE GARBAGE TRUCK full of plastic enters the oceans. And currently ONLY 9% of plastic is ever recycled. Single-use plastic is a problem, but we can change that. Join us for a conversation with Emma Rose Cohen, CEO and founder of FinalStraw – the world’s first collapsible, reusable metal straw. Emma takes us through the plastic problem, what has created it, and how to stop plastic pollution in its tracks. Save the oceans: the sea turtles, dolphins, beach dwellers, and mermaids will thank you. Click here for a free plastics guide download we created with FinalStraw!

SUPPORT FinalStraw: Shop Final’s amazing reusables at https://final.co/.

CHALLENGE: Reusables challenge! Make a commitment to AVOID ONE OR ALL of the following common disposables: plastic straws, plastic cutlery, plastic bags, or disposable coffee cups. Commit to avoiding the disposable(s) of your choice for at least the next two weeks, and consider making permanent choice to end disposables from your life for good!

TAKEAWAYS: 1: Straws are STEP ONE on the path to ending disposables. 2: Plastic is NOT THE PROBLEM. It’s how we use it. 3: Recycling is NOT the answer. Reducing,  reusing, and REFUSING are the keys to solving our plastic problem.

Visit www.wecanremaketheworld.com for more info and resources. 

Let’s chuck food waste in the trash. Over 90 billion pounds of food are wasted every year in the United States. And just one-third of that could end hunger overnight. Join us for our first guest episode featuring Robert Lee, CEO and co-founder of Rescuing Leftover Cuisine. RLC is a non-profit based in New York City which collects leftovers from restaurants and offices all over the city and delivers them to those without secure access to food. Food delivery for those in need. Listen for ways that you can help to solve the food insecurity problem exactly where you are. Join the conversation, go zero waste, and become part of the solution.

 SUPPORT RLC: Sign up to volunteer or donate to support at https://www.rescuingleftovercuisine.org/.

CHALLENGE: Donate something. Food, clothes, toys, whatever you have of value that someone may need. Find a shelter or donation center near you, and make a contribution. 

TAKEAWAYS: 1: WE CAN solve hunger with what we already have. 2: We waste more than we realize, and if we stop wasting we could change the world. 3: The face of food insecurity is not always visible on the surface. Our communities need us. 

Visit www.wecanremaketheworld.com for more info and resources. 

You want to change the world? So do we, and our guests can help. Host Nathan Gardner introduces the ideas of our show and previews the stories we’ll be telling. Stories of people who are coming up with innovative new ways to solve every problem we face, and about the impact we can each make every single day. Every day we have an opportunity to make the world a better place. So what are we doing about it? Our show will get you engaged, informed, and inspired so that you can make a difference right now exactly where you are. OUR FORMAT: Introduce a problem, guest conversation, key takeaways, impact-driven CHALLENGE, and what you can do today to make a difference. Tune in, get inspired, share these stories with others, then get out there and change the world.