In With the New

Lauren Gregor is the Founder and CEO of Rent-a-Romper, the first shared closet for little ones to help parents and the planet. Lauren discusses what inspired her to start Rent-a-Romper, how consumer mindsets towards clothing rental have changed in recent years, and the many ways that Rent-a-Romper is working to make children's clothing more sustainable.  Listen in to learn how it all works.   Lear...

Spencer Williams is the CEO and President of West Paw, creator of American made, high quality, eco-friendly dog toys, beds, leashes, and collars. Always looking to push the envelope in sustainable manufacturing, West Paw uses recycled ocean-bound plastic, recycled-plastic-bottle stuffing, and a proprietary fully-circular plastic that can be ground up and recycled into new toys again and again.   C...

In this episode, Avril Tomlin-Hood speaks with Ted Fleming, founder of Partake Brewing, about his mission to craft a variety of award-winning, expertly brewed, low-calorie, non-alcoholic beers that people are proud to drink anywhere. Ted discusses the rapid growth of the non-alcoholic beer segment and shares the challenges and rewards of growing Partake, including the positive impact the company h...

Desirée Dupuis is a social entrepreneur and founder of Kove Ocean Foods, a seaweed-based CPG food brand, along with VOES & CO, an ethical, sustainable vegan fashion brand. Desirée   is passionate about living a life of purpose and making an impact in the world by creating permanent, sustainable change. She has been living a vegan lifestyle since 2008 and is proud to use her voice to advocate for a...

Tara Milburn is the founder and CEO of Ethical Swag. In this episode, Tara shares her passion for using business as a force for positive change and shares how she started Ethical Swag, a sustainable promotional products company.   Check out the show notes here.  

Adam Molson is the VP of Rental Communities and Sustainability at Daniels Corporation, a Toronto-based real estate developer committed to building communities that positively impact the environment. Daniels is on a mission to decarbonize real estate development by focusing on the whole-life carbon impact of the homes they design and build.    Check out the show notes here.  

In this episode of In With the New, Avril speaks with Christie Lagally about her journey from aerospace engineer to founder and CEO of Rebellyous Foods. Rebellyous Foods is on a mission to build a world where food production is not a dirty business, and they've started by creating the perfect plant-based chicken nugget—one with the same juiciness and texture as a chicken nugget – and at a similar...

Did you know that the current food system feeds animals and not people? In this episode, Avril interviews Elysabeth Alfano, CEO of VegTech Invest, about the inefficiencies of the current food production system and the need for a more sustainable approach. She delves into the impact animal agriculture has on the planet and what people can do to move towards more environmentally friendly options.  ...

Are you looking for a way to find trusted vegan and cruelty free products? In this episode, Avril interviews Vikas Garg, the founder and CEO of the abillion app. They discuss Vikas' personal journey to veganism and how it inspired him to create the abillion app. After his parents fell ill, Vikas started thinking more seriously about the role food plays in his life. He decided to go vegan, which re...

Genia Mineeva is the founder of BEEN London, a sustainable, handmade accessories brand that British Vogue named one of the most innovative fashion companies in the world. Genia started her career as a political journalist in the BBC newsroom, where her inquisitive nature led her to question why so many reusable or recyclable materials end up as waste. What she discovered led her to launch BEEN Lon...

In this episode, Avril speaks with Jeremy Lang, founder and VP of Sustainability at Pela. The company is best known for its biodegradable phone cases and its countertop composter, Lomi. We live in a world where the food system is broken. So much food is either lost or spoiled. What makes Lomi incredible is that in just 3-5 hours, it breaks down food scraps into nutrient-rich plant food. This leads...

Dr. Lara Ramdin is the Chief Innovation and Science Officer at Upcycled Foods Inc., which powers the B2B upcycled food economy with product development expertise, cutting-edge technology, and a growing portfolio of ingredient solutions. The company's patented food upcycling technology creates proprietary ingredients that are delicious, versatile, clean-label, and nutritious from food that would ha...

Keri Andriana is the Founder of Amschela, a UK-based luxury accessory brand that focuses on encapsulating the intrinsic charm of the modern-day contemporary woman with on-the-go sustainably made pieces for life. Amschela is PETA-approved and strives to use high-quality, environmentally friendly certified materials that are sustainable, serve to reduce our carbon footprint, and are not harmful to a...

Craig McIntosh and Carissa Campeotto are the Co-founders of Trendi, a Vancouver-based tech company reducing food waste by using robotics and automation to upcycle it into valuable products. Trendi's BioTrim units go direct to the source — farms, fisheries, distributors — to convert surplus or unsalable (visually nonconforming) foods into shelf-stable, nutrient-dense single commodity ingredients. B...

Ani Wells is a sustainable fashion consultant, impact communications specialist, and the co-founder of Simply Suzette, a storytelling platform and consultancy exploring the juxtaposition of sustainable fashion with a focus on denim. Ani works closely with market leaders in the denim world, advising them on sustainably focused campaigns and communications to create global impact. She has had the ho...

Kimberly Chamberland is the Founder and CEO of Big Mountain Foods, an award-winning plant-based food company established in 1987. Going back to her vegetarian roots, she has established herself as a true culinary expert and pioneer in her own right. Today Big Mountain Foods remains a family-owned business with distribution across North America. They are committed to sourcing local, cruelty-free, s...

Jessica Malach is the VP of Marketing and Insights at Social Nature, a product discovery and trial platform powered by almost 1 million natural shoppers. She leads their United States and Canadian consumer insights and brand partner programs.  Jessica began her career in the natural health industry in 2004, leading company growth strategies with senior roles at Alive Publishing Group, Vega marketi...

Graham Stewart is the founder and EVP of Fibre52, a cost-effective, eco-conscious processing technology which massively decreases the environmental impact of cotton dyeing. Graham has decades of experience as a textile and apparel production fiber to brand specialist in the textile industry in production, marketing and leadership roles. For the past two years, Graham has been developing Fibre52's...

Sasha Bricel is the Director of Marketing at Nature's Path Foods, a pioneer in the organic food movement, and a leader in sustainable food design and development. Sasha is responsible for bringing Nature's Path brands to the world, growing the Nature's Path Organic Leadership legacy, and driving leadership effectiveness. Sasha is a Cannes and D&AD award-winning marketer and leader with over 10 yea...

Lindsay O'Donnell is the Founder and Marketing Director of Piquant Marketing, a creative and strategic marketing agency that has worked with over 100 vegan and vegetarian food and wellness brands. Lindsay's passion for growing and supporting "foodpreneurs" and food brands started at Whole Foods Market and led her to found Piquant in 2016. Lindsay is also the co-owner and marketing partner of Plant...

Emma Smith is the Founder of Zimt Chocolates, handmade artisanal chocolates that are vegan and certified organic. Zimt was founded in 2011 with the aim of supporting those who are most vulnerable through sales of chocolate and by spreading knowledge and opening hearts. Zimt is an ethical vegan company at heart and makes decisions consciously for environmental and human rights reasons. Their ingred...

After working in the fashion industry for over fifteen years as a brand manager for top international brands, Silvia Jeane Gallo founded jeane & jax in 2014 with the vision of combining her fashion expertise with her compassion for nature. Today, jeane & jax designs and produces stylish and luxurious vegan handbags, with the mission of providing consumers with ethical and sustainable alternatives...

Originally from just outside of north London England, Joey's career as a fashion designer has taken him across five continents. It was in 2019 that Joey decided to switch from designer to factory owner and start Veshin factory in Guangzhou, China. Veshin (pronounced V-shin) is built on a philosophy centred on sustainability, transparency & environmentally progressive values, and is an original equ...

Brent Baker is the Lead of New Business Development for MIRUM®, Natural Fiber Welding's (NFW) categorically new, plant-based, and plastic-free leather alternative material. Brent supports designers and makers around the world to reduce reliance on plastics and animal products to shrink their footprints and expand their creative palettes. In an industry awash with incremental solutions, NFW is driv...

Kelly Drennan is the Founding Executive Director of Fashion Takes Action (FTA), Canada's only non-profit organization dedicated to advancing sustainability in the fashion industry. Her role at FTA is to remove the barriers to sustainability that exist for the entire fashion system, through initiatives such as the annual World Ethical Apparel Roundtable conference (WEAR), Sustainable Fashion Toolki...