Mindful Businesses

We talk with Dr. George Huber, Richard Antoine Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and the director of Center for Upcycling Waste Plastics (CUWP) about his research in recycling plastics. His technology offers a solution to filtrate the polymer from different plastics by applying solvents solvents. Though multi-layer plastics are more complicated his technolog...

In this episode we talk with Eric Schwarz, General Manager of The Glad Products Company. He talks about Glad's commitment to reducing our environmental footprint, and helping consumers with their own green goals. Their sustainability journey focuses on 4 key areas: Products, Production, Packaging and Programs. Products with less plastic - Glad has developed breakthrough technology that enables the...

Francisco Benedicto Valentine, CEO of CLIMATETRADE, shares with us the journey about how CLIMATETRADE connects companies willing to offset their carbon emissions to a large number of verified environmental projects. They help companies achieve carbon neutrality by providing innovative emission offsetting services. They work hard to maintain the trust of our clients by offering total traceability t...

Zuleyka Strasner, founder of Zero Grocery moved from East London to San Francisco to work for Facebook. She saw the need to for a plastic - free grocery. To learn about customers needs and habits she started by delivering first in plastic containers and then in plastic-free containers. She soon learned that most of the customers were willing to try new products curated by her delivered in a sustai...

70% of the world’s population lacks access to an electric washing machine. Hand washing clothes sounds like a simple task but for many women around the world, it poses a significant obstacle to their wellbeing and livelihood. Navjot Sawhney was a curious child always trying to figure out how things worked. He grew up to be an engineer and wanted to use his engineering and design skills for good. H...

Paul Shapiro, author, entrepreneur at the age of 13 told his parents that he wanted to become a vegetarian. Until that point every meal that Paul ate had meat. From that moment on, he has been on a journey to help reduce the consumption of meat on the planet. First by lobbying for better farm and agricultural practices to writing a book and talking about it. He soon realized that people have to be...

When Tharun Kumar saw the lake where his housing complex empties their sewage burn for 14 hours non-stop, he decided to do something about it. He started asking around and realized that the overburdened municipalities had transferred the sewage treatment responsibilities to the home owners. We chat with Tharun Kumar, founder and CEO of EcoSTP Technologies - an IT professional who wanted to be the...

In this episode, we have Luis Fernando Velez founder of Amor Perfecto with whom our host Vidhya Iyer talks about their common love for a good cup of coffee - with its perfect aroma and complex flavors. Luis shares what is entailed in producing a rich and fragrant coffee. It starts from the coffee cherry picked at the exact ripeness using high-tech refractometers to find the optimal ripeness to pic...

This Holiday Season with so much uncertainty around we bring to you again an episode of hope and giving. Please donate generously to this non-profit The Farmlink Project started by Aidan Reilly and James Kanoff - winners of 2021 Congressional Medal of Honor Service Award. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

Every year, 15 Million trees are cut down to produce paper, build homes, and make furniture. From this, millions of tons of wood waste are generated annually. A portion of this waste is recovered and sold to downstream markets to make particle board or wood pellets for energy. The remaining sawdust is either burned - contributing to air pollution - or sent to landfill. Though biodegradable, sawdus...

We talked with Sagent's CEO Gordon Smith about how Sagent works to reduce the environmental impact by lowering emissions, pollution, and energy investment. They do it a) by repairing and refurbishing networks they extend the useful equipment life with telecom repair services b) by maintaining an industry-leading network test, repair, and maintenance facility. They have expert technicians who perfo...

Countries must meet their sustainability goals and head towards net-zero. These goals cannot be achieved in silos but need cooperation, trust, and partnerships. We bring two such sustainable start-ups which are from adjacent industries with one firm goal – to reduce the carbon emissions and air pollutants from the air. Today we speak with Angad Daryani – CEO and founder of Praan – Clean Air For al...

This episode has two parts - in part one, we talk with Amy Peterson, the co-founder of Rebel Nell about her inspiration and motivation to start Rebel Nell. While living next to a homeless shelter in Detroit, MI, she got to learn up-close the women who lived there and their challenges. One day out on a jog she finds a piece of graffiti that she envisioned could be repurposed into meaningful wearabl...

Each year, industries such as Waste-to-Energy, Cement and Biomass for power generation, send millions of tonnes of thermal residues to landfill. At the same time, these thermal processes produce significant amounts of carbon dioxide that are released into the atmosphere. We talk with Maarten Van Roon, Chief Commercial Officer of Carbon8 Systems. Carbon8 solutions is the result of hard work and per...

We talk with Eric Schaffner, CEO and Founder of ZeLoop. A revolutionary and eco-friendly platform that makes consumers a crucial part of the plastic circular economy, allowing them to contribute to the reduction of plastic waste and be rewarded for it. This innovative and responsible app aims to reward the pro-environmental behaviors of consumers with the prime focus being on plastic bottle collec...

We talk with Dr. David Stone, inventor of Ferrock - Carbon Negative Building Material. David as a doctoral candidate, at the Arizona State University, researched on how to prevent iron from rusting. It is especially challenging where iron exposed to humidity and oxygen in our atmosphere returns to its natural state - rust. During experimenting with silica as a rust-inhibitor, he saw the silica and...

What if there was a new kind of data center that could directly warm homes and heat hot water, instead of a gas boiler? One that could use the energy used in cloud computing, not once but twice, and also take away the need for the additional energy used for cooling? That is exactly Thermify's innovation does. Using energy, twice. We talk with Garry Felgate Chair & Energy Lead at Thermify. The tech...

We talk with Ashay Bhave, founder of Thaely, who as a middle-schooler dreamt of becoming a sneaker designer. His journey begins at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, where disenchanted within the first year, he returned back to Dubai to pursue a degree in business at Amity University. As a designer Ashay wanted to solve problems - the problem of plastic grocery bag waste - we consume 3...

Black Earth Compost was founded in January 2011, in Gloucester, MA. Originally a one man, one truck, Cape Ann company, it has steadily grown to become the leading full-service compost company in New England. With over 25 trucks, they are dedicated to collecting food scraps from residents, schools, supermarkets, colleges, and more, all across eastern MA and RI. They are also the only vertically int...

https://www.hexcelpack.com/ https://www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/ HexcelPack™ was founded in 2014 using an updated version of a 30-year-old technology developed by David Goodrich, with the idea of using paper to replace the traditional, one-use plastic products that are prevalent throughout the world in the packaging industry. HexcelPack’s™ proprietary slit paper technology was developed in th...

https://mykudos.com/ https://www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/ In this episode, we talk with Amrita Saigal, founder of Kudos, natural disposable diapers - the only disposable diaper that has 100% cotton touching baby's bum all day. Kudos is the only disposable diaper to have earned the cotton natural™ seal for being lined with 100% cotton instead of plastic. Kudos have also been certified to the s...

We speak with John Salzinger founder and Seungah Jeong CEO of MPOWERD, about their company mission and passion to give back.  In 2012 MPOWERD created Luci, the first inflatable solar light with the goal of making an affordable clean energy product that people could use in any situation. They create sustainable, affordable, and thoughtfully designed products that suit the needs of the many. The bel...

https://www.unrest.world/#apply https://www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/ We talk with Orr Vinegold, founder of UNREST, driving impact through ethical & sustainable businesses. He is hugely passionate about turning businesses into a force for good. UNREST supports founders ready to re-imagine what profitable companies can do for the planet and people. The program provides start-ups with the opport...

Want to join us in making a difference? We are raising money to benefit Education Foundation for Afghanistan Inc, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.   A little bit about Education Foundation for Afghanistan (EFFA), - founded by Prof. Zarjon Baha, Purdue University, an octogenarian who emigrated to the United St...

Greyston Bakery partners with its non-profit arm Greyston Foundation to connect the community to the resources that they offer. They partner with other non-profits like Hope's Door (helping victims of domestic abuse) and Westchester Jewish Community Services to bring opportunities, support, and hope to the members of their community. Each day, they consider the impact of their decisions on their w...