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We often hear about vertical economic growth and vertical integration in business but the idea of growing our food vertically sounds fantastical.
Nov
22
Future Food Production: The Sky’s The Limit
Nov
15
Rainmakers and Water Misers
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Remember when Lex Luthor designed a weather-controlling machine? Superman, of course, foiled his sinister plans…or did he? Using technology to control the weather sounds like the exclusive domain of comic books and science fiction, but it’s happening in reality, both in the US and in China.
This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise talks with Kathryn Flagg, whose recent article in Orion Magazine discusses the practice of cloud seeding, including its history, how it helps, and how it may harm. As the projected impact of climate change includes widespread fresh water shortages, people are searching for answers. Of equal importance, though, are our practices around water use and conservation. A little later in the show we hear from Peter Williams, the Chief Technology Officer for IBM’s Big Green Innovations Unit. He tells us about how a smarter design in our water meters can help advance more conscientious consumption of the earth’s most precious resource.
Nov
8
Power: Easy As Riding A Bike
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Since man’s romance with fossil fuels and electricity began, bicycles have mostly been viewed as an obsolete technology. But pedaling remains one of the most efficient mechanisms to harvest human energy. While it falls short of a panacea, increasing our use of pedaling beyond traditional transportation is on the rise – and it shows what’s possible. The simple, healthy act of pedaling is replacing fossil fuels for a growing list of innovative projects.
Around the world, bicycle-based systems are powering boats and snowplows, school busses, water lifting machines in farming villages that have no electricity, gyms and rec centers, and even music concerts. And with gas-powered generators in New York’s Zucchotti Park being banned, the protestors at Occupy Wall Street have turned to pedal power for alternative electricity generation as well.
From obesity to climate change, solving some of our most seemingly intractable problems start with the simplest of steps, or in this case, pedals. This week on Sea Change Radio, we talk pedal power with two evangelists for the technology. First, host Alex Wise speaks with Adam Boesel, whose Green Micro Gym in Portland, Oregon is raising awareness alongside pulses. Then, we hear from Paul Freedman, the founder of Rock The Bike, a San Francisco organization that puts on pedal-powered concerts and other events. Later in the show, Wise reads excerpts of “Power For The People“ by Kate Gordon at the Center for American Progress.
Nov
1
Urban Environmental Pioneers: Hunters Point Family
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If you drew a map of San Francisco and plotted all the spots where there was environmental blight, then plotted the city’s population by race, you’d find an alarming overlap between where chemical waste and other hazards are located and the highest concentration of the city’s African American community. Namely, you’d find the Bayview-Hunters Point area. This week on Sea Change Radio our topic is environmental racism, and our guests are Lena Miller and Takai Tyler, co-executive directors of Hunters Point Family, a community-based organization located in the heart of San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point. These women are driven by a vision to empower at-risk youth. They tell host Alex Wise how they realize that vision by giving inner-city young people the tools to become the environmental entrepreneurs and green job pioneers of tomorrow.
Oct
25
Tapping Into Geothermal Energy
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Humans have been capturing and using geothermal heat from the earth for a very long time. Geothermal energy was being used in China back in the 3rd Century BC and the Ancient Romans, of course, used it
to heat their baths and their buildings. Now, in the 21st Century, geothermal power comprises a significant portion of the energy grid in countries ranging from the Philippines to Nicaragua. This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise talks with Karl Gawell, Executive Director of the Geothermal Energy Association, an organization that advocates for the expansion of geothermal for electricity production. He explains how geothermal works, tells us who the major players are in the industry, and talks about what needs to happen to move the United States toward fully embracing this ancient but largely untapped resource.
Oct
18
Shopping More Responsibly With Good Guide
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Good Guide is a web-based index that scores products from food and beverage to apparel and appliances on their health, environmental and societal impacts, allowing consumers to be truly informed. Good Guide also has a mobile app, so you can literally scan the barcode of the product that interests you, see how it rates, and be directed to products in that category with the highest ratings. This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise speaks with Dara O’Rourke, co-founder and chief sustainability officer of Good Guide.
Oct
11
Environmental Journalist Jeff Goodell on Politics, Policy & Coal
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Oct
11
Podcast Exclusive: The Impact of Rising Sea Levels (not for radio distribution)
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The founder of Sungevity (a Sea Change Radio sponsor), long-time social entrepreneur, and a former Greenpeace campaign manager, Danny Kennedy sits down with host Alex Wise to discuss the impact of rising sea levels on some of the world’s poorest countries.
Oct
4
Wrap It Up: Packaging Solutions
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So many of us try to be responsible, eco-conscious consumers: we walk or bike to our local food co-op or natural foods store, our re-usable canvas shopping bags in tow. But try buying organic or green products that don’t come in petroleum-based plastic packaging and you’ll soon be presented with another slew of challenges. Those of us who’ve been frustrated by this reality will be happy to learn that there are some people and companies working to reduce the use of plastic packaging in the food industry. This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise speaks with the founder of a zero-waste grocery store opening soon in Austin, TX, a nut butter entrepreneur who hosted an industry-wide summit to come up with compostable squeeze packs and a snack chip executive whose company has introduced a greener bag for its products.
Sep
27
Remembering Wangari Maathai (1940-2011)
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“It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.” -Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist and peace activist who was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, died this week from cancer at the age of 71. Maathai was best known as the founder of The Green Belt Movement, a group she started in 1977 that encouraged poor women to collect native tree seeds in the wild in order to ensure they had access to sustainable firewood for cooking and potable water. Eulogies came pouring in from around the globe upon news of her passing. Fellow Nobel Prize laureate Desmond Tutu described her as a “visionary African woman” and Al Gore said that Maathai “overcame incredible obstacles to devote her life to service – service to her children, to her constituents, to the women, and indeed all the people of Kenya – and to the world as a whole.”
Sea Change Radio co-founders Bill Baue and Francesca Rheannon sat down with Maathai in the spring of 2009. This week, we remember the spirit of Wangari Maathai by bringing that conversation to you in its entirety.
