The Circularity Edge With Ken Alston

The Circularity Catalyst podcast just dropped a new episode on sustainability in action in Ghana’s cocoa farming industry. The short above is an excerpt from the full podcast episode below. Joseph Bandanna of the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa tells the stories of how cocoa farmers are generating new revenue by turning their waste streams into value-added products. As we close out 2025 and r...

Join Ken Alston on the Circularity Catalyst podcast as he delves into Aly Khalifa’s inspiring journey from a college project on Styrofoam to leading sustainable innovations. Discover how Aly’s inventive culture and actionable insights are shaping a better future. ✅ Subscribe To The Circuarity Catalyst Channel For More Videos: ✅ Contact Ken if you ahve a sustainability story to share on the Circu...

In the world of sports fandom, loyalty isn't just measured by cheers and game attendance—it's increasingly gauged by the latest team gear adorning fans' closets. But as teams constantly unveil new "looks" and limited-edition merchandise, we're faced with a growing problem: the unsustainable cycle of sports apparel purchase and use. The Annual Uniform Carousel Every year, professional and college s...

In today's episode, Ken Alston talks with Mahasen Gunawardena, a.k.a. "Lanks" who is co-founder of Sustain Credits. Remove your carbon & nature footprint through Earth Doctors -> buy trees, remove waste, improve biodiversity, protect animals - visit the SUstaina Credits website and find out about their monthly plans:  https://sustaincredits.com/plans To join the movement as an Earth Doctor and get...

As co-founder of the Bank & Vogue family of companies, Steven Bethell has been a thought leader and pioneer in the post-consumer textile space for over 20 years. Unwanted garments across the world normally make their way to landfill - Bank & Vogue is here with the purpose to develop innovative and relevant solutions for the "Crisis of Stuff". Every month the ompany receives 300 containers of old c...

In this episode, Rob Oomen is my guest. Rob is the Director General of Vytal, Mexico. He recently introduced the Vytal reusable food and drink container system in Guadalajara, Mexico. 2023 is primed for expanding this important reusable container system in restaurants, company, and university cafeterias. Already successful in Germany, this is the first use of this type of reusable container system...

Today I am talking with Tricia Carey, Chief Commercial Officer of Renewcell. Tricia held various commercial management positions at Lenzing Fibers to establish the TENCEL™ brand, build mill partners and set retailer specifications.  Tricia is an advocate for innovation and circularity in the textile and apparel industry. She recently joined Renewcell to accelerate the commercial development of Cir...

Five years ago, I went into the high Andes to pick coffee cherries and experience for myself the processes that are needed before we get that delicious taste of coffee in the morning. In this podcast episode I welcome Josh Ziegelbaum, Director of Investor Relations for Legacy Group to talk about a new roasted coffee brand called Abira, recently launched in the USA. Listen in as we talk about the s...

Here's my recent conversation with long-time friend and fellow Cradle to Cradle design practitioner, Albin Kaelin. I've known Albin for over 22 years. His story starts with the Genesis of the Cradle to Cradle design collaboration of William McDonough and Dr. Michael Braungart. Namely, creating the Climatex Lifecycle textile that confounded the Swiss water authorities because they could not find an...

Catherine Roggero-Lovisi is CEO of Modern Meadows. The Modern Meadows website states:  "Where Natural Inspiration Meets Extraordinary innovation". The company describes themselves as a purpose-driven, protein application powerhouse - building the sustainable bioeconomy. Catherine and Ken talk about the company's protein-based products and how they are intentionally designed with both performance a...

In this episode Ken Alston brings the story of "From Belo" up to date. First shared here in July 2021, Belo bags is a sustainable circular economy success story in progress. Today Ken talks again with Co-founder Maria Costa about the growth and recognition that From Belo is now garnering. From a small start-up in Belo Horizonte, Brazil as a new brand celebrating ethical craftsmanship, circular pra...

Podcast discussion with Wajahat Hussain, Founder/CEO AT Biorestore. Biorestore is a new laundry solution that restores used and worn clothing to new. This is a new way to extend the use period of cotton garments and so help to reduce the negative impacts of fashion on the environment by enabling use over a longer time period.   For more information: https://bio-restore.com/ Get full access to The...

Shikha Rathi is an enterprising one-woman solopreneur making a difference in the local community in Pune, India. Her business is called The Reup Studio. Shikha takes wastes from the Indian textile industry and turns them into one of a kind garments. As the waste offcuts are always different shapes and sizes, by necessity this requires Shikha to be creative in how her clothing is put together to ac...

Part 2 of Ken Alston in conversation with David Ferninand. This recording was made on December 11th, 2021 to coincide with David's "Quantum Pay It Forward" event and the recording of his Biodome film on the island of Ilha das Couves, Sao Sebastiao, Brazil.  Note: Ken's conversations with David cover a diverse range of topics! In this episode they talk about David's Quantum Giving event and the coi...

Ken Alston in conversation with Michiel Doorn, co-founder of Circularity Edge about Michiel's new report on the Circular Economy. Michiel talks about why he decided to write this report and reveals some of the pitfalls about creating a sustainable, circular economy based on recent work he's carried out at Circularity Edge.   Download Michiel's new report --> HERE .       Get full access to The Inq...

A recent connection to David Ferdinand led to recording this conversation. David is an American citizen living on an island off the coast of Brazil near to São Sebastião, São Paulo. Our conversation covers a range of issues related to susctainability, circular economy and life in general. I like islands as a geographically constrained model for thinking about the input and output of materials in t...

It’s the eve of the 20-year anniversary of the 9-11-2001 terrorist attacks as I publish this short episode. Today, as then, I’d normally I’d be thinking and working on matters relating to how we can change the way the global economy operates so that it creates positive, beneficial economic, environmental and social outcomes, in place of the many un-sustainable outcomes we still generate today. But...

Hi, Today I'm talking with Maria Costa of From Belo in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.  I'm excited to bring you this episode as Maria and her colleagues are woderful ambassadors for what's possible when you take your VALUES and create VALUE - social, environmental and economic intentionally, by design. For those of you who don’t know From Belo – they create long lasting, beautiful fashion accessories tha...

The new builing at Universidad EAN in Bogota, Colombia is arguably Colombia's most sustaining building to date! Listen to my interview with Jose Alejandro Martinez Sepulveda.   Jose is a long-time friend and colleague of mine.  He is the strategic development advisor for Sustainability coordination at Universidad EAN in Bogota, Colombia.   The combination of leadership and a vision in the Universi...

This week I enjoyed a restful conversation about beds with fellow ex-Brit Len Laycock who is now based in Vancouver, Canada.   Len is the designer of the new Horizontal Bed which boasts several unique design differences to conventional beds.   The Horizontal bed is is durable, long lasting and has replaceable parts to extend it's USE even further.  Materials are chosen with care to ensure they are...

Join me in conversation with Stefan Mathys of Vyn as we discuss the evolution of thinking and design of a new sneaker that is made to last and is arguably the first repairable sneaker brand. This is an inside look at a new entrepreneurial venture with the intention to become increasingly sustainable and circular, by design. Our talk was recorded just a few weeks before the first invitation goes ou...

Frankly, I’m tired of the green gloss that’s still being put on things. Actually, I’ve been tired of it for over 20 years, but in recent weeks as more people are talking again about what the “new normal”, post-Covid-19 world might look like, there’s a resurgence of what I call “green speak”. People calling for a green new deal... ...John Elkington riffing on Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s “Black Swan” co...

Today's podcast is a conversation I had yesterday with Walter Stahel. Walter is one of the leading thinkers on matters concerning the circular economy and has been actively engaged on this subject for a lifetime. Walter is the founder-director of the Product-Life institute based in Switzerland. It is the oldest established consultancy in Europe devoted to developing sustainable strategies and poli...

Hi, this is Ken Alston with the Circularity Edge podcast. Today is April 8th, 2020. On the last episode I made an open invitation to you. A personal invitation to help you with your biggest challenges and the opportunity to talk together about big questions like: WHAT NOW? And WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Well as the title of the podcast says, yesterday was a wild and wonderful day. I’m extremely hap...

Hi, this is Ken Alston with the Circularity Edge podcast. Today is March 30th, 2020. I’m starting right out of the gate with a personal offer to you. A personal invitation to help you with your biggest challenges and the opportunity to talk together about WHAT NOW? And WHERE WE GO FROM HERE. You can schedule time on my calendar by going to: https://calendly.com/kenalston/challenge Along with my co...