Sustainability In Your Ear

As a new generation of Apple iPhone and Samsung Note mobile phones hit the market, we talk with Republic Services about how to safely and responsibly recycle an old phone. Jeremy Walters, community relations manager at Republic, the second-biggest waste management company in the U.S. explains when and how to recycle e-waste. If you don't decide to trade-in or reuse your phone by passing it along t...

Recleim, an Atlanta-based recycler, is the only company in the U.S. using CFC capture technology to recover banned chlorofluorocarbons from pre-2005 refrigerators and HVAC systems. "No refrigerator should reach a landfill," explains Steve Bush, CEO of Recleim, because they can release five pounds or more of CFCs from the coils and insulation they contain. Recleim, which currently operates in 10 st...

Jecka Glasman, general manager of SodaStream USA, maker of the Fizzi, Electric, and Premium home soda-making machines. SodaStream helps reduce single-use plastic bottle waste, letting a household that switches from canned or bottled soda reduce its waste by as many as 3,700 cans or bottles each year. Mitch Ratcliffe of Earth911 explores the recyclability of SodaStream devices and bottles, as well...

Magnus Jern, Chief Water Drinker at Tapp Water, explains the company's TAPP 2 biodegradable water faucet filters. Tapp Water filters decompose in industrial compost piles quickly and will break down in backyard compost piles. Even the body of the TAPP 2, which is made with biodegradable PLA plastic, is largely recyclable. American families spend more than $5.5 billion on plastic-bottled water unne...

Get busy solving the food waste problem. More than 40 percent of the food produced in the United States goes to waste, uneaten and spoiled. The Earth911 team gets together for a conversation about how to take personal steps to eliminate food waste, as well as how restaurants, grocers, and farmers, among others, can help. We also talk with Robert Lee, founder of RescuingLeftoverCuisine.org, a New Y...

Evelyn Lopez and the Earth911 team gather around the microphone to talk about tuning your home and school plans for environmental excellence. Trey Grangert explains the challenge of defining what's recyclable in the U.S. Learn how to do a home waste audit and prepare for recycling improvements. Dig into school supplies and activities that will make this year the greenest yet for your kids and thei...

Learn what questions you should be asking a jeweler when purchasing responsibly. Lifting small miners in developing regions out of poverty and teaching them sustainable environmentally friendly practices is at the heart of a new movement in the jewelry industry. Monica Stephenson, president of iDazzle.com and a board member at Ethical Metalsmiths, joins Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe to talk about her...

Recycling services have real value that has long been under-estimated because they are bundled with waste removal services. Bernie Lee, Commodities Research Analyst at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries talks with Earth911 about his recent Scrap Magazine editorial, "The Service, Value, and Labor of Recycling." Perhaps if we broke out the price of recycling, we'd see more clearly that it i...

The Earth911 team sits down to talk water practices. Learn the 8 ways to green your water and about the Seabin Project that vacuums shorefronts and marinas. We look at the Eco Six Pack Ring (E6PR) that disintegrates before it harms ocean life and how to identify household hazardous waste. Earthling survey results -- how far our readers drive to recycle -- and Earthling questions about recycling fi...

Envision Plastics is a recycler of HDPE plastics that produces recyclable bottles using less power, coloring, and no raw oil. Sandra Lewis, director of business development at Envision Plastics joins Earth911's Trey Granger to talk about how consumers can contribute to improved packaging by asking for recycled and recyclable packaging when shopping.

Adam Sachs, Executive Director of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate (bio4climate.org), an educational and research group dedicated to promoting land restoration using natural techniques, joins Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe for an extended discussion. Adam shares projects that have restored land in Eastern Europe, Mexico, and elsewhere -- the transformation of previously desertified land into rich lo...

Bill Maynard, a leader in the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA), talks to Earth911 about the ACGA Annual Conference, which takes place in Atlanta from Sept. 13 to 16. You can register at https://communitygarden.org . Bill also explains the many resources available to community gardeners and how to get a successful garden started in your community.

Join Evelyn Fielding Lopez and the Earth911 team to talk recycling, sustainable choices, and answers to your Earthling questions. This week: Earthlings shared how much time they spend each week on recycling; Trey Granger explains clothing recycling, and; Secrets of DIY relief with essentials oils. Also, 10 things you can recycle by mail. Join the conversation!

Ernie Roberts, Sustainability Manager for computer accessories maker Belkin, joins Earth911's Evelyn Fielding Lopez and Mitch Ratcliffe. Ernie discusses how the company has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent and lowered its employee carbon dioxide footprint with in-house recycling and commuting programs. Belkin was recently recognized as a Sustainability Initiative of the Year by Busin...

Launching a community garden is a rewarding experience that can change your neighborhood and city by uniting people to grow and care for a plot of land together. Mary K. Hughkull, founder of Community Garden Magazine and the Community Garden Revolution podcast joins Mitch Ratcliffe to talk about the ins and outs of local horticultural collaboration!

Join the Earth911 team to hear about the rapidly changing recycling landscape in the U.S. in the wake of China's waste import ban. We also explore the top solar-using retailers, GMO food labeling, making coffee the Earth-friendly way, and refilling or recycling printer cartridges. Also, Earthly questions about encyclopedia recycling and whether we should call our listeners Earthlings or Earthers....

Solar water heating systems have matured and offer a reliable alternative to gas or electric water heaters. Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe talks with Ray Lam, founder and president of Silk Road Solar, a Chehalis, Wash.-based provider of solar heating systems across the United States. There's no more cold water at night and on cloudy days with the advanced thermal fluid systems available today.

It's sustainable living time, again! Join the Earth911 team and host Evelyn Lopez for Sustainability In Your Ear. We'll cover the best solar ovens for cooking at home and in nature, planet-friendlier fashion, the growing zero-waste grocery movement, and the hidden costs of wildlife-sourced souvenirs -- you could go to jail, just for starters. In Earthling Questions, we look at recycling shampoo an...

Peter Fiekowsky, founder and president of The Health Climate Alliance, returns for part two of a discussion about carbon capture and sequestration technologies that mine the air to remove excess CO2. The Health Climate Alliance's goal is to return the atmosphere to the CO2 levels our great-grandparents lived in, with normal weather patterns and a robust Arctic ice sheet.

Join the Earth911 gang to talk through how to recycle a whole building, which online services are most sustainable, and whether your favorite sunscreen has been banned in Hawaii. We also discuss adventure camping upcycling projects, the introduction of Stuffstr's resale service with British retailer John Lewis, and answer reader questions: Is recycling a myth? (no, but it can be much better) and w...

Terry Lehmann, founder and CEO of True Green Enterprises, talks with Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe about her company's new biodegradable hot cup and bamboo straws. True Green is based in West Palm Beach, Florida, and has a growing range of sustainably made recyclable paper products. We'll also hear from Lehmann about the challenges and opportunities in green products for women entrepreneurs.

This week, the Earth911.com team dives into keeping honeybees at home, as well as what to do when visited by an unwanted swarm. Learn which five jobs are ideal for recent environmental and sustainability grads and how to build a regular recycling routine into your day. In reader questions, find out what to do when you discover an abandoned tank of freon. It's a banned chemical, but the large white...

Feeding America, the largest food collection and distribution network in the United States, is tackling food waste in a new campaign to get restaurants and grocers to donate food rather than send it to landfills. The MealConnect program seeks to reduce the nearly 50 percent of food wasted between the field and the home. You can encourage local business to participate, as well as volunteer to work...

The Earth911 team talks IKEA's new commitment to sustainable products and removing single-use utensils from its stores, as well as how the United States will upgrade its power grid for renewable energy and the recycling secrets of stealth electronics. We'll also talk through natural alternatives to allergy medicines, the growing awareness that plastic straws are a major form of pollution, and how...

This week, the Earth911.com team talks about the latest in solar panel technology and the latest Nordic exercise craze, Plogging. It combines jogging and picking up litter. We'll also discuss cutting our travel carbon footprints through the reducing plastic use on airline flights and look ahead to a June race across the Pacific. The all-woman crew of Ripple Effect will try to break the human-power...