Clean & Green Living

After a reflective journey spanning over 100 episodes and three years of "This or Something Better," I am thrilled to unveil the podcast's exciting rebrand as "Clean and Green Living" The podcast that helps you reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals through easy and affordable lifestyle changes.  Set to launch next Tuesday, the show’s mission is to empower listeners with easy and affordable ways...

Sometimes you can do all the things to protect your health; sleeping well, exercising, eating a health diet using safer products, and you still get sick, you still get cancer. That is the story of today’s guest, Eliza Caplan. While cancer is a part of Eliza’s story, it is not what defines her.  Eliza is a passionate educator and advocate for clean living. She has spent the majority of her adult li...

In this week’s episode I am talking with Maggie Spicer, the founder of Source Beauty ESG, a Washington, D.C.-based advisory firm that focuses on sustainability and social impact in the beauty and personal care sector.  In a world where greenwashing often blurs the lines between genuine sustainability and empty marketing claims, Maggie is here to help us navigate this complex terrain and empower co...

Have you ever thought about the environmental costs of the personal care products you use every day? It wasn’t until somewhat recently that I started learning more about this topic, mostly in part because of my work with Beautycounter. Beautycounter is among very few companies in the beauty industry that share their climate goals and the impact their products have on the planet. Today’s guest is w...

This is the first of 4 episodes that will cover people and companies trying to make the highly toxic and wasteful beauty industry safer and more sustainable.  The Beauty industry produces over 100 BILLION pieces of plastic every year. Today’s guest Justin Wolff didn’t want to be a part of that problem. Justin and his co-founder Allie set out to do one thing, create a beauty brand where nothing goe...

Today’s guest is Anna Robertson, co-founder of The Cool Down. You may be familiar with The Cool Down from Episode 85 with Nina Tooley. If not, the Cool Down provides educational content with not just the goal of raising awareness about climate change, but it's also about empowering communities and individuals to take meaningful action.  Today, we'll explore Anna's personal journey that led her to...

As you know, this month on the podcast, we are diving deep into the inspiring journeys of individuals who are making a significant impact in the world of climate change.  Today’s guest, Kate Gaertner, is a woman of immense achievement and accolade. Kate is the Recipient of the prestigious Global 50 Women in Sustainability Award in 2022, a Circular Leader, Board Member, Keynote Speaker, and the awa...

As many of you might know, I spend the summer living in Chamonix, France where the impacts of climate change are front and center as the glaciers around Mont Blanc are receding. As I travel back and forth across the Atlantic each Summer,  I can't help but think how my own travel is having an impact on the environment. Here is the dilemma that I, and I’m guessing many of you, have. I love to see an...

Earlier this year, I attended an event hosted by the Kilian Jornet Foundation and the outdoor brand, Normal where world-known mountain athletes shared the ways they are reducing their environmental impact and the impacts of climate change. The event's MC and today’s guest was Huw James; an adventurer, filmmaker, and science communicator. Huw has dedicated his life to inspiring positive actions in...

In this episode, I am joined by three remarkable teenagers who will be sharing their experiences, insights, and aspirations as they navigate  the most pressing issue of their time, climate change. We'll be talking about their motivations for entering the world of climate activism, the specific impacts of climate change on their lives and those of future generations, and, it wouldn’t be an episode...

Welcome to the 100th episode of This or Something Better! I started this show 6 months into the global pandemic. My goal was to share stories of hope; to introduce you to inspiring people doing things to help make people and the planet safer, healthier and happier, and as I look back at the guests I have talked with over these 100 episodes, I am in awe. Despite all the bad things happening in the...

This week we are digging deeper into Beauty and endocrine disputing chemcais. For anyone who follows the podcast, you know this is a topic I have addressed here multiple times. Other episodes include my conversations with Lindsay Dahl, Mia Davis and Drs. Shana Swan, Leonardo Trasande and Lora Shahine.  In each of these episodes, I try to provide more insights into the science and data behind the c...

It's hard to believe it, but it has been over two years since Dr. Annie Fenn's debut here on the podcast in episode 13. Let me introduce you to Annie if you haven't listened to that conversation. She is the founder of Brain Health Kitchen, an evidence-based online resource for how and what to eat to resist cognitive decline. Annie's mission is to help people care for their brains while still eatin...

Today we are diving into the very important topic of sustainability in the fashion industry. There are all sorts of statistics thrown around about sustainable fashion, many of which aren’t actually true. Bad information can be shared in greenwashing campaigns trying to sell you something, or it may even be shared, unintentionally, through channels like this.  The goal of today’s guest is to dispel...

Nearly everyone owns at least one pair of jeans, if not multiple. There is so much to love about denim: its range of shades, faded appearance, it’s versatility. We all love denim so much that it’s estimated that billions of jeans, and with that 70,000 tons of indigo, are produced each year.   What you may not know is that synthetic indigo and most dyes are made from fossil fuels and are processed...

If you listen to the podcast regularly or follow me on social media, you know that ingredient safety and transparency in the beauty industry is something I am particularly passionate about. And, while I have an immense amount of knowledge on this topic, I am certainly not an expert. Fortunately, today’s guest is.    Today I am talking with Mia Davis, VP of Sustainability & Impact at Credo Beauty,...

I will admit that I used to think the people standing outside Trader Joe's asking me to sign a petition against glyphosate and Monsanto were crazy. I didn’t really know anything about Monsanto or about Glyphosate or anything about farming, for that matter.    All of that changed when I heard Dr. Zach Bush on the Rich Roll podcast. Suddenly, my eyes were opened to the impact of pesticides on our de...

We, and I am going to speak directly to women right now, do, on average, more household work and more of the child related work than men; and in many cases, while also trying to maintain full-time professional careers. So, is there really a way to actually balance all of that without making sacrifices? I’m going to go out on a limb and say “no”.   My guest today, Alicia McKenzie, knows a thing or...

Our guest today is my friend Regan Nelson, host of the This or Something Better podcast. Her podcast is dedicated to the stories of innovators and positive change-makers committed to making the world better. Regan is also a consultant for Beautycounter, the leader in clean beauty products. "The $63 billion beauty industry in the US is predominantly governed by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic...

Every 30 seconds a football field's worth of natural area disappears. Open spaces serve so many important functions within our communities; they help improve air quality, reduce urban temperations, give people a place to enjoy an active lifestyle and promote a sense of community. They play a vital role in our cities and despite their known benefits, they are difficult to protect and preserve.  My...

Every 30 seconds a football field's worth of natural area disappears. Open spaces serve so many important functions within our communities; they help improve air quality, reduce urban temperations, give people a place to enjoy an active lifestyle and promote a sense of community. They play a vital role in our cities and despite their known benefits, they are difficult to protect and preserve.  My...

I am going to put it out there in all my shame and embarrassment, but there have been multiple occasions in the past few years where I have said something to my daughter after a game or race and then immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say. When it comes to balancing being a caring parent with my innate competitor, sometimes I fail, and I fail miserably. Today’s guest is going to help me an...

There is only one brand whose mission is to save the planet, and that is Patagonia. Just recently, the founder, Yvon Chouinard, transferred his family’s ownership of the company, valued at $3 billion, to a specifically designed trust and non-profit organization committed to fighting climate change.  While most people are familiar with the Outdoor brand Patagonia, fewer people know about their food...

Fertility has dropped more than 50% over the past 50 years worldwide and while some might think it’s an evolution problem, that’s not the case. The reality is that chemicals in our environment and unhealthy lifestyle practices are disrupting our hormones and causing reproductive havoc. This has resulted in decreased testosterone and sperm count increased miscarriage and an alarming decline in fert...

Our consumption of clothing has risen by 400% in the last two decades. The textile industry produces 10% of global greenhouse emissions. Approximately  85% of clothing ends up in a landfill, and the average U.S. shopper doesn’t wear 50% of the clothing in their closet. How’s that for some eye-opening stats? The textile industry is a major contributor to climate change, and there is no time like th...