Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration

Helena Norberg-Hodge is a pioneer of the new economy movement and a leading proponent of “localization”, or decentralization. She is the author of the book, Ancient Futures, as well as her latest book, Local is Our Future. She also founded The International Alliance for Localization, and Local Futures, which works to renew ecological, social and spiritual well being by guiding communities towards...

Known as the guru of distributed energy, John Farrell is the co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and directs its work on energy democracy. John is best known for his vivid illustrations of the economic and environmental benefits of local ownership of decentralized renewable energy.   On this podcast episode, John sheds light on how we came to develop and rely on our current centra...

Matt Daigle is the CEO and Founder of Rise, the leading online authority in sustainable home improvement. He started Rise as a way to solve his own problem: after having renovated a few homes and having his first child, he couldn't seem to easily figure out how he could build and/or renovate in ways that would save him money and lower his environmental footprint… and so Rise was born. As a certifi...

This is PART 2 of our conversation with Mitch Anderson, the Founder and Executive Director of Amazon Frontlines, which is an international group of human rights lawyers, environmental activists, forestry specialists, environmental health scientists, filmmakers, journalists, anthropologists, and farmers working to support the struggles of indigenous peoples and defend their rights to land, life, an...

Mitch Anderson is the Founder and Executive Director of Amazon Frontlines, an international group of human rights lawyers, environmental activists, forestry specialists, environmental health scientists, filmmakers, journalists, anthropologists, and farmers working to support the struggles of indigenous peoples and defend their rights to land, life, and cultural survival in the Amazon Rainforest.  ...

Sky Blue has spent the last 20 years living in, working for, and networking intentional communities, cooperatives, and community organizations. He currently serves as Executive Director for the Foundation for Intentional Community.    On this podcast episode, Sky sheds light on what has led to our hyper-individualistic culture and how has that impacted our collective wellbeing; what intentional co...

Greg Peterson is a green living and sustainability innovator and the Creator of the Urban Farm, a real-world environmental showcase home in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona. Open periodically throughout the year to offer classes, lectures, and tours, The Urban Farm features an entirely edible landscape and the extensive use of recycled and reclaimed materials.    On this podcast episode, Greg sheds l...

Jennifer Grayson is a Los Angeles-based environmental journalist and the award-winning author of Unlatched: The Evolution of Breastfeeding and the Making of a Controversy .   Illuminating how human civilization may be going overboard and down a path of self-destruction, she's currently exploring the human rewilding movement through her Uncivilize podcast.   On this podcast episode, Jennifer sheds...

As the President of the Society of Wetland Scientists and an advisor to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, wetland ecologist Max Finlayson has participated in global environmental assessments and site-based appraisals and written extensively on wetland management. Notably, he has expertise on the relationship and interconnectedness of water pollution, agricultural impacts, invasive species, climat...

Terry Spahr is a documentary filmmaker (8 Billion Angels), environmental activist, and the Executive Director of Earth Overshoot, a nonprofit working to make ecological limits central to all personal and public decision-making through targeted education and advocacy. On this podcast episode, Terry sheds light on what a truly sustainable lifestyle with seven billion people on earth should really lo...

Raja Dhir is a life sciences entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Seed, a venture-backed microbiome company pioneering the application of bacteria for both human and planetary health. After our groundbreaking interview with his co-founder, Ara Katz, on Green Dreamer's episode 109, we knew we had to bring Raja on the podcast as well to learn from his complementing scientific expertise leading Seed's rese...

Aviva Rahmani is an ecological artist who exhibits and publishes internationally. She's known, in particular, for her Trigger Point Theory—the idea that small points of carefully selected intervention might effect large systemic transformations—and she exemplifies this through her artwork, including Trigger Points/Tipping Points, Ghost Nets, and Cities & Oceans of If. One of her more recent wo...

Brendan Synnott is the CEO of PACT, where he's leading his team to disrupt the apparel industry for the better by using organic and fair-trade cotton as the foundation for addressing the labor and environmental issues that surround clothing. On this podcast episode, Brendan sheds light on what it takes to shake up existing, extractive corporations to render them obsolete or hold them accountable t...

We're joined by two guests today from Quail Springs Permaculture, an organization that empowers people with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration that are essential to cultivating ecological and social health. Janice Setser is its Executive Director, and Sasha Rabin is its Natural Building Director as well as the founder of her own natural building organization, Earthen Shelter. After they each c...

Jay Siegel is the founder of Ground Up Impact and the creator of Sustainability Defined, the award-winning podcast that defines sustainability "one topic (and one bad joke) at a time." On this episode, Jay sheds light on why sustainability can't be defined by a standard dictionary; the root causes driving environmental degradation no matter what industry we're speaking of; what it takes to reach t...

Debra Prinzing (@dkprinzing) is a Seattle-based writer, speaker and leading advocate for American Grown Flowers. Through her many Slow Flowers-branded projects, including SlowFlowers.com (@myslowflowers), Slow Flowers Podcast, and American Flowers Week, she has convened a national conversation that stimulates consumers and professionals alike to make conscious choices about their floral purchases....

Maria Abadilla is the Founder and Chairperson of Orangutan Alliance (@orangutanalliance), an independent, industry-based nonprofit organization promoting the reduction of unsustainable palm oil in consumer products through their palm oil free certification program. On this podcast episode, Maria sheds light on the primary global threats from the palm oil industry; the evolution of how we commodifi...

Tamara Lim is the founder and CEO of The Wally Shop, America's first zero-waste grocery delivery service that sources from local farmers, markets, and bulk shops.   On this podcast episode, Tamara sheds light on how our current consumption model and waste management methods are setting us up for failure when we're striving to address our waste issues; what structural and systemic shifts we need in...

Rosalinda Guillen is a recognized farm worker and rural justice leader. She's also the Executive Director of Community to Community (C2C), a women-of-color led, grassroots organization redefining power in order to end settler colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy in their external and internalized forms. Fueled by inspiration from her parents growing up and fed up with the systemic oppression in...

Shannon Service is an award-winning, independent reporter and filmmaker who broke the story of slavery at sea for NPR’s Morning Edition in 2012 . Her new feature documentary, Ghost Fleet, follows up on that story as she sets sail with a Thai abolitionist who is scouring remote islands for slaves who’ve jumped ship.   On this podcast episode, Shannon sheds light on the difficulties in regulating ou...

Gabe Brown is the author of Dirt to Soil and the owner and operator of Brown’s Ranch in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he and his family have been farming profitably without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for over twenty years.   Today, Gabe’s award-winning regenerative farming systems lead thousands of people to flock to his farm each year to learn how to i...

Nicole Rycroft is the Founder and Executive Director of Canopy, an international nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with over 750 companies to protect our ancient and endangered forests.   On this podcast episode, Nicole sheds light on our urgency to protect our remaining ancient and endangered forests from further deforestation; why we need to be wary of buying new clothes and text...

Abigail Dillen is the President of Earthjustice, an organization that uses the courts to protect our environment and people’s health.   Throughout her career, she's litigated many precedent-setting cases that have held polluters accountable and cleared the way for clean energy nationally, which is why we're honored to be able to share her expertise and thought leadership with you on this podcast e...

Dave Chapman runs Long Wind Farm in Vermont and is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Real Organic Project. After unveiling how our current organic standards may be misleading consumers and falling short of what "organic" should mean, he now actively fights for integrity and transparency in the National Organic Program. On this podcast episode, Dave shares the shocking reality of how pro...

Dr. Kris Nichols is the Chief Scientist at Pachaterrae and a world-renowned leader in the movement to regenerate soils for healthy food, healthy people, and a healthy planet. On this episode, Kris sheds light on the vital role of mycorrhizal fungi in indirectly supporting resilience against climate change; the importance of biodiversity in creating synergies that strengthen the health of our ecosy...