Sustainable Planet

Michael and Kimberly trace the history of the 'Beyond Petroleum' campaign sent us all off to calculate our carbon footprint, how to cast a wider Climate Shadow, and suggest that we should probably cut Bill Gates some slack for flying in his private plane. Key Topics How British Petroleum's campaign to rebrand itself as ‘Beyond Petroleum’ has us wondering whether foregoing air travel or counting ou...

As Sustainable Planet's cross-interview with The Politics Guys, Kimberly talks with Akshat Rathi, award-winning senior reporter for Bloomberg News and host of Bloomberg Green's climate podcast, Zero, about his new book, Climate Capitalism: Winning the Race to Zero Emissions and Solving the Crisis of Our Age. Listen to Part One of the interview on The Politics Guys Topics Kimberly & Akshat discuss...

Food waste might not be at the top of anyone's "Top 10 List of Worst Environmental Offenders," yet the impact is huge and far-reaching. The United Nations revealed we waste so much food that it's 5 times the CO2 caused by the aviation industry! When we waste food, we also waste every resource that goes into producing that food. Listen to find out how to avoid food waste in pursuit of a more Sustai...

Just how huge of an impact does the livestock industry have on the planet? The Economist developed its 'Big Mac Index' to indicate currency values based on the cost of a McDonald's Big Mac. We consider the many costs to people and the planet not included in the price of a Big Mac burger. Key Topics Find out why our diets are taxing the planet How eating meat is an inefficient way to convert plants...

At every turn, people feel compelled to buy stuff. We examine how consumerism took hold of us, the sorts of policies governments enact that encourage or discourage consumption, and what reasonable changes people can make to be kinder to the planet. Key Topics The growing list of Rs-Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Repurpose, Reinvent, Reimagine, Recycle Living in a single-use, disposable consumer society th...

In their premiere episode, Michael and Kimberly talk about what they've learned over the decades as university professors, introduce sustainability, give an overview of its key challenges, and consider what living more sustainably involves. Key Topics What a 14th-century tuberculosis epidemic has to do with conspicuous consumption Why living in a developed country is way worse for the planet than...