EcoJustice Radio

This is Installment Two of our National Zero Waste Conference series meant to elevate the voices featured during the two-day event in Berkeley, California (postponed this year). Our guests are Mike Sangiacomo, President & Chief Executive Officer of Recology and Eric Potashner, Vice President & Senior Director of Recology, speaking with our host, Jessica Aldridge from Adventures in Waste. More Info...

This is PART ONE of a special seven-part series, called, “The Plastic Plague: Connecting the Dots between Extraction, Inequity, and Pollution.” As most people understand, plastic originates from oil and fracked natural gas. In order to limit the flow of plastic, we must look to the well from which it came, before it ever becomes waste. The rapid growth of cheap fracked gas in the past decade has l...

This is Installment One of our National Zero Waste Conference series meant to elevate the voices featured during the two-day event in Berkeley, California (postponed this year). Our guest, Leslie Lukacs co-chair of the conference. More Info: https://zwconference.org/ From the time a resource is extracted and managed for product creation and consumption, to when it is consumed, disposed and then ma...

After generations of struggle, the imperative of Indigenous sovereignty over traditional lands and waters has crystallized as a growing movement in the Americas to counter the power of multinational corporations and the governments that enable them. Native Nation self-determination has proven an effective way to steward and protect resources and develop a sustainable way forward in an era of ecosy...

We speak with Chief Caleen Sisk, the Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, whose ancestral territory includes what is now known as the McCloud River watershed below “Buliyum Puyuk” aka. Mt. Shasta in Northern California. Since 2000, Chief Caleen has helped maintain the cultural and religious traditions of the Tribe and continually advocates for salmon restoration, the Human Right to Water...

Palm Oil is touted as a “miracle ingredient,” found in more than 50% of all packaged products consumed in the US. It renders makeup smooth, keeps ice cream from melting, and moisturizes our hair and skin. It is a hot commodity; giving rise to plantations in Asia, Africa and Latin America. At 66 million tons annually and 10% of permanent global cropland, palm oil is a prevalent, economically appeal...

Hear Tina and Jessa Calderon, mother and daughter duo representing the Gabrielino Tongva and Ventureño Chumash Nations, share their personal experiences, stories and insights regarding growing up as indigenous women on their Native lands. They recount the trials, traumas and tribulations, as well as the creativity, pride and healing that ensued during their process of reclaiming their indigenous l...

In recent years across the world, a groundswell of youth activism is growing, pressuring governments to stand up for social and environmental rights. It can be argued that a surge of youth activism this size has not been seen since the Vietnam War. The reasons for unrest are diverse, from fears of worsening climate, violence in schools, political corruption, racial injustice, deportation. A recent...

In this episode, we discuss the struggle to protect the sacred lands and culture of the Wixárika people, also known popularly as the Huichol, an indigenous group inhabiting the remote reaches of the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. Our guests are Andrea Perez, Indigenous Environmental Justice Advocate, and Susana Valadez Director of the Huichol Center for Cultural Survival and Traditional Arts....

The Los Angeles Harbor community is starving for oxygen. Environmental Justice Activist Jesse Marquez speaks with EcoJustice Radio about the dangers of living around five oil refineries, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and hemmed in by the truck-clogged 710 and 110 freeways. Fresh air in the shadow of an industrial sacrifice zone is often in short supply for those who call those neighborh...

On Episode 45 of EcoJustice Radio our guest Reverend Oliver Buie, Minister of Community Engagement at the Holman United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles, speaks with Jessica Aldridge on the important relationship between faith and environmentalism and what his parish has been doing to promote environmental and social justice in their community. As a member of the Steering Committee of STAND-L...

Weather extremes, soil degradation, and climate disruption have turned our attention to the potential of soil, carbon, and water cycling as a formidable and creative response to climate change. Linda Gibbs is the Owner & Principal Manager of the gardens at Woodshed Recording Studio, growing food, medicine, and soil. She teaches at the Gaia school of healing and Earth education and is a soil advoca...

On today’s show we are discussing Urban Forestry’s Impacts On Climate Change and Social Equity. Jessica Aldridge speaks with Mark Kenyon, Executive Director of the nonprofit, North East Trees. The horrific fires ravaging the Amazon in Brazil and Bolivia have sparked massive interest about how these dense rain forests influence the global weather systems by creating microclimates that have macro ef...

The Global Climate Strikes that happened from 20-27 September 2019, inspired a record 7.6 million people to head into the streets and strike for climate action. The biggest climate mobilization in history. From Jakarta to New York, Karachi to Amman, Berlin to Kampala, Istanbul to Québec, Guadalajara to Asunción, in big cities and small villages, millions of people joined hands and raised their voi...

Susan V. Collins, President of Container Recycling Institute, speaks with host Jessica Aldridge about how California underwent a recent wave of redemption center closures (those places where consumers can drop off their recyclable beverage containers for cash). So what needs to happen to fix the California bottle bill? Container Recycling Institute: http://www.container-recycling.org/ Hosted by Je...

Water is life. Clean, safe, reliable, affordable, and the future security of water is nonnegotiable. Los Angeles, California currently imports a whopping 70% of their water. And getting that water to LA is the largest use of electricity in the state of CA. When water is not captured and utilized within the system, it traverses through the city and out to the ocean. In order to shape a strong water...

Hear the wise words of Tongva Elder, Grandmother Gloria Arellanes, as she shares the heritage of the Tongva people, who inhabited and stewarded the area referred to as the "Los Angeles basin" as well as the Southern Channel Islands. Grandmother Gloria offers her insights about the state of our world, youth, elderhood and the intergenerational cycle of learning, as well as how we might honor proper...

Hear from David Lamfrom, Director of California Desert and National Wildlife programs at the National Parks Conservation Association, who will discuss the particular challenges of protecting and preserving our national parks in the Anthropocene era, including this current stage of global industrialization. David recounts the impact of the government shutdown on wildlife in national parks, includin...

Jessica Aldridge speaks with Ayla Suhail, Climate Change and Livelihood Project Coordinator at PODA, Potohar Organisation of development and advocacy in Pakistan. She is a graduate of mathematics from Comsats University in Islamabad and is finishing her up masters in Geographical Information System. Her thesis is based on "Analyzing the impact of Plastic Waste on the Urban Climate." She is also a...

Carry Kim talks with Rev. Adelia Sandoval, the Spiritual Leader for the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians/Acjachemen Nation. The Acjachemen people are the indigenous people of Orange County in Southern California and have stewarded and inhabited this region for roughly 12,000 years. Adelia is also a Ceremonial Leader, Bear Dancer, Re-Burial Rites Ceremonialist, and Keeper of Songs she has been taugh...

Carry Kim speaks with Doug Lindamood, from SonRise Ranch in San Diego County, California. He and his family own and operate this pasture based livestock operation dedicated to changing industrial, factory farming into a local, sustainable, integrity, food movement through education and outreach one family at a time. According to SonRise Ranch, Management Intensive Grazing, regenerative agriculture...

In the spring of 2019, the Sunrise Movement, building an army of young people to make climate change an urgent priority across the US, put on the Road To A Green New Deal Tour, visiting eight cities across the US to share what a Green New Deal would look like in different communities as well as spotlighting local politicians and organizers throughout the country. A Green New Deal would address the...

On this episode, Mark Morris speaks with Madeline Merritt, Core Organizer for Public Bank LA and Member of California Public Banking Alliance. She speaks about the campaign supporting AB 857, The Public Banking Act, in an unprecedented partnership between the grassroots and lawmakers. She is a water protector and community organizer who seeks to transform global systems to put the long term intere...

Over the past few years, there has been significant growth in US politics of women candidates (especially women of color) and for many this being their first run for office. As of today, there exists a record number of women in congress and more young women and women of color than ever in US History. On this show, Jessica Aldridge talks with Aura Vasquez, Environmental and Social Justice organizer...

Los Angeles is the nation’s garment production capital and the city’s second largest manufacturing sector, yet workers face injustice, usually associated with the developing world, right here in one of the largest cities in the United States. Unbeknownst to most, sweatshops are a reality in Los Angeles, California and are directly tied to some of the most notable and loved brands. However, account...