Go Green Radio

Even before the pandemic, chronic neglect of America's public schools forced students and educators across the country to learn and work in outdated and hazardous school buildings. Now, the COVID19 pandemic is exacerbating the consequences of our failure to make necessary investments in school infrastructure. The Reopen and Rebuild America's Schools Act (RRASA) of 2020 would invest $100 billion in...

Our guest is Justin Draplin, owner of several Tiny Home Communities in South Carolina. He is developing and manufacturing the first ever NET-POSITIVE tiny home set for national sales and distribution this year. Draplin's tiny home will generate far more energy than it consumes; providing consumers with the ability to live smaller, smarter and more sustainably. Tune in to learn more!

Most people have heard about Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, start-up food companies working to bring plant-based foods from the fringe to the mainstream to create a more sustainable and healthier world. While these products are thriving in the marketplace, they are still more expensive than the cost of meat and were developed for the retail sector, making them inaccessible to many...until now....

Palm oil is included in a broad range of products that many of us purchase on a routine basis: food, cosmetics, paints, pills, and even hand sanitizer. With over 200 different names, palm oil is tough for the average consumer to spot in the ingredients lists of common consumer goods, but there is good reason to try. Palm oil has been linked to environmental devastation and human rights abuses. Tun...

On today's show we'll be joined by Mike Van Brunt, Sr. Director of Sustainability for Covanta, a leading waste to energy company. We will discuss the air emissions, water use and greenhouse gas emissions of their operations, and I'll ask tough questions about their impact on environmental justice (EJ) communities.

On today's episode we'll be joined by Josh Balk, VP of Farm Animal Protection at the Humane Society of the United States. Josh leads high-profile political campaigns to pass farm animal welfare laws, including the historic Prop 12 initiative in California which passed in 2018 with more than 60% of the vote. It became the strongest law for farm animals in the world, banning the confinement of egg-l...

Schools are vital hubs to their local communities and are uniquely positioned to teach students waste reduction behaviors. Students can learn waste reduction at schools and bring that messaging home to their families, caregivers, and all those with whom they come in contact. Schools and universities generate about 562,442 tons of waste each year in California. Almost half of school waste is compri...

On today's episode of Go Green Radio, we're going to talk about two very special community garden projects in Los Angeles. These gardens grow so much more than plants and food – they nourish the hearts and minds of the people in the community around them. Tune in as we talk about the USGBC-LA's 2020 Legacy Project: the West Adams Resiliency Garden project, which centers on the needs of individuals...

Join us for a conversation with subject matter experts on what it means to create a healthy building in which to work, live and learn, particularly during a time when indoor air quality is receiving unprecedented attention due to COVID-19. We will discuss best practices, technology and design factors that create optimal health conditions for building occupants. Our guests are Sara Neff, SVP of Sus...

The Green Bronx Machine is one of the most inspiring organizations in the green schools movement! Stephen Ritz is the founder of the Green Bronx Machine, and today we will talk to him about how urban agriculture is changing children's lives through better nutrition and new attitudes toward food. At a time when our nation is keenly aware of the disparity between high- and low-income communities, th...

If you've heard of the plastic-free lifestyle, but think you don't have time for it in your busy life, prepare to be delightfully wrong. The new book, Say Goodbye to Plastic, shows you how, whether you're seeking to knock plastic out of your life or just try out a few novel eco-hacks, you'll learn how to go joyfully plastic-free in the kitchen, bathroom, office, dining room and more. As a plastic...

Ben Lecomte is a marathon swimmer, ocean advocate, entrepreneur, and speaker. He swam the Atlantic from Cape Cod to France in 1998. In 2018 he attempted to swim the Pacific, but after 165 days of swimming his team had to call it off due to severe storm damage to their mainsail. During each swim, Ben collected data on plastic pollution in the ocean and worked with scientists to create extensive, un...

In recent months PFAS contamination has been found in the groundwater in a small suburb of the Bay Area of California. There is no obvious source for the chemical contamination, and currently, the local water agencies must fend for themselves to pay for treatment to keep their drinking water safe. Tune in as we talk with Olivia Sanwong, President of the Board of Directors for the Zone 7 Water Agen...

2020 has been a painful year in so many ways, but for communities of color, the suffering has been especially severe. Today we'll be talking to Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., founder of the Hip Hop Caucus, about the ways in which environmental racism and injustice place a disproportionate burden on communities of color, and the many ways his organization is working toward a just, sustainable, and prosp...

The Wyland Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is dedicated to promoting, protecting, and preserving the world's ocean, waterways, and marine life. The foundation encourages environmental awareness through education programs, public arts projects, and community events. Today our guest is Steve Creech, Executive Director of the Wyland Foundation. Tune in as we talk with him about some...

Today we are joined by Miguel Veiga-Pestana, SVP of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability for RB, makers of common household brands like Lysol, Woolite and Clearasil, just to name a few. Under Miguel's leadership the company has instituted a rigorous set of policies and reporting to create measurable, transparent environmental benefits throughout all their brands.

The EPA set legal limits on nitrate levels in 1962 to prevent acute cases of methemoglobinemia, which causes an infant to suffer from oxygen deprivation in the blood after ingesting excessive nitrate. More recent studies have found correlations to additional human health risks. An Environmental Working Group (EWG) investigation found that nitrate contamination in drinking water has grown steadily...

Prior to the pandemic (and hopefully soon thereafter), most kids spend the majority of their waking hours at school. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) has a significant impact on a student's ability to learn. Classrooms with polluted air, high CO2 levels, and poor lighting can make it difficult for students to learn even if they have the best teachers, most current technology, and a positive atti...

Our guest today is Cory Long, founder and Executive Director of the Making a Change Group in Chester, PA, a community just outside Philadelphia. If you look at Chester from the USDA's Food Access Research Atlas (formerly the Food Desert Locator), you will see it is objectively a Food Desert. If you look at Chester from the EPA's environmental justice screening and mapping tool, you will see it is...

Author, Paul Wheaton has come out with a wonderful book on making a huge, positive, global difference from your own home! Prioritize comfort over sacrifice while saving thousands of dollars. Explore dozens of solutions and their impacts on carbon footprint, petroleum footprint, toxic footprint, and other environmental issues. Tune in as we talk with Paul about his new book, Building a Better World...

Feeding America is the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization—a powerful and efficient network of 200 food banks across the country. As food insecurity rates hold steady at the highest levels ever, the Feeding America network of food banks has risen to meet the need. They feed 40 million people at risk of hunger, including 12 million children and 7 million seniors. But Feeding Americ...

The pandemic has put the world in a heightened state of anxiety, but there were already underlying signs of trouble before COVID-19 hit. Suicides are at their highest point in 50 years, record numbers of Americans are taking medication for anxiety and depression, and opioids kill more people in the U.S. than car crashes. Dr. Margaret Klein Salamon's new book, Facing the Climate Emergency: How to T...

Nearly 70 percent of the fresh produce sold in the U.S. contains residues of potentially harmful chemical pesticides, according to the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) 2020 Dirty Dozen™. EWG's newly released consumer guide outlines the produce items with the most amount of pesticide residue, as well as a list of the fruits and vegetables with the least amount. Tune in as we talk with EWG toxico...

Tune in as we talk with Janine Benyus about how she has helped some of the world's top companies design for the future by drawing inspiration from 3.8 billion years of nature's blueprint. Benyus has worked with companies like Boeing, Colgate-Palmolive, Nike, General Electric, Herman Miller, HOK architects, IDEO, Interface, Natura, Procter and Gamble, Levi's, Kohler, and General Mills to create sus...

Farmland dominates the landscape and watersheds in the Midwest. The way that land is used and managed has profound effects on our health through the water we drink and the food we eat. Farming can actually make water cleaner and the environment healthier. Farms doing exactly that are scattered across the Midwest. Tune in to learn how the Environmental Working Group's Midwest division is using remo...