Waste Not WHY Not

Nature N8 calculates his carbon footprint and shops for the cheapest offset. But the retail therapy concludes that carbon offsets are very... off. Treating yourself with carbon offsets is apparently soothing for climate anxiety. (With 2020 vision?)  FOOTNOTE | Carbon Footprint Calculator  |  The Global Footprint Network  |  The Gold Standard    Support &ldqu...

We take another sip from our earlier episode about straws. Since then, Taiwan has introduced its plastic straw ban. But paper straws are still not the solution to our beverage needs. At the end of the episode, we also have our first listener question!  Nate was interviewed about the plastic straw ban. Support “ Waste Not Why Not ” on Patreon. Follow us on Twitter  @waste...

Two things happened this week: 1/ COP (Conference of the Parties - ie the only time countries meet to negotiate climate agreements) just wrapped up in Spain. 2/ Youth climate activist Greta Thunberg was named TIME Person of the Year. Today, we discuss something in between. Every year at COP, young activists continue to be at the front of the conversation. This episode, we meet a climate activist f...

Anyone can say we need radical change to address the climate crisis, but there’s only one Professor Naki (Nebojsa Nakicenovic). He’s even worked with Ban Ki-Moon. Professor Naki is an economist who - for the past 50 years - has been tackling the climate crisis through the lens of technological change and economic development. He’s the former deputy general of IIASA in Vienna...

Held in Taipei on August 31st, we talked with Godfrey Ngai, CFO of Xing Mobility - an electric vehicle battery company going after two thirds of the worlds vehicles. Melody Hsu - co-founder of ViaSweat - an active-wear brand trying to use more sustainable textile made from recycled materials. And Hamoun Karami - founder of Lidbot, a startup that wants to transform the way we think about trash coll...

The US and Europe are dumping trash on developing countries, right? China broke recycling, right? Wrong! Since China stopped taking in foreign recyclable waste, people have been freaking out, but, things are a bit more complicated than you think. In this episode, Nature N8 breaks down the top three myths surrounding the global trash trade and charts a way forward to fix our recycling systems....

Climate Week, some call it the most important week of the year, and best of all, Nature N8 was there this time. Each year NGOs, lobbyists, government officials, spies, flock to NYC to call for greater climate action. In this special bonus episode, hear from N8 on what really went down. Subscribe on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/wastenotwhynot) to hear the full episode. Support “ Waste Not...

Ever wonder why recycling was better when you were a kid in America? Well, it was. This episode, a trash wizard named Alex Danovitch joins N8 to talk trash in the US. The steady corporate growth of trash has tracked Alex’s career closely as he co-founded one of only four non-profit waste management facilities in the US. Meanwhile, waste haulers went public, and the US’s actual recyclin...

Nature N8 goes on “Taiwan Insider” to explain how Taiwan turned a 70% waste collection rate into a 60% recycling rate in less than a generation. Starting with an explanation in 60 seconds of how Taiwan fixed its trash problem, N8 and “Taiwan Insider” host Andrew Ryan then go on to talk about garbage trucks, podcasts, and WNWN itself.       Supp...

From bio-bags that survive landfills for years to bio-plastics that are actually just polyester, we are awash in confusing disposal messaging. The world is rejecting plastics, but in the quest for an alternative are we actually making things worse? Join Nature N8 and Emily as they sift through “biodegradable” plastics. Support “ Waste Not Why Not ” on Patreon. Follow us on...

In 2014, IKEA was among the founding members of a global campaign to get the world’s most influential businesses to use 100% renewable power. Known as the RE100, today it’s a consortium of 186 (and counting) companies, including H&M, Nestle, Apple, Google, Facebook, Walmart, Coca Cola, Goldman Sachs, and many more. In total, their electricity demand is approximately 200 terawatts hours - just...

Scientists have seen our brains shrink from long-term exposure to dirty air. In this episode we think through air pollution in a different way. What’s the newest science saying about the health impact of smog? How is new technology changing this field of study? Do face masks actually work? How do you pick air filters? Support “ Waste Not Why Not ” on Patreon. Follow us on Twitter...

In part 2 of our series on electric vehicles, we focus on light EV and its battery infrastructure. We continue our conversation with Daniel Vickery, head of engineering of batteries and energy systems at Gogoro, the electric scooter company. We nerd out on batteries and how to design better cities, and we go behind the scenes with Daniel and find out how someone can engineer for good. Support &ldq...

Electric vehicles (EV) have made a comeback since the great EV failures of the 1990's. Today, ten countries and a handful of cities around the world have planned total ban on combustion engines. The hope is that EV's would help reduce air pollution and oil consumption. But are EV’s actually good for the environment? What about our anxieties over their range? The batteries don’t last, right? They’r...

Plastic straws are everywhere. Governments and corporations are beginning to enact straw bans. That's good, right? But does banning plastic straws really help the worst of plastic pollution? In this episode we look at the real damage from straws, and why the most popular strawlternative is actually worse than plastic. We also hear from a local business in Taipei, Ooh Cha Cha, and its founder Mai B...

Corals are dying. By 2050 we probably won’t have any corals left in our oceans. But a really cool thing about coral is that it regenerates if we give it the opportunity to. So scientists around the world are trying to figure out how to regrow coral reefs, and some have even turned to 3D printing for coral restoration. But is this possible? Can technology save corals?  This is a pod...

In 2017, 20-million pounds of litter was collected around the world on International Coastal Cleanup day. Do beach clean ups actually work? And if not, why do we even do beach cleanups? Are we just wasting our time? Should we be doing something else? This is a podcast about how NOT to save the environment. Hosted by Nature N8 (Nate Maynard), an environmental researcher working on energy, ocea...

For this maiden voyage episode, we give you a sampling of the greatest viral hits of green-wash, to let you know what to expect on this journey into the heart of greenness. This is the first episode of Waste Not Why Not, a podcast about how NOT to save the environment. Support “ Waste Not Why Not ” on Patreon. Follow us on Twitter @wastenotpod . View show notes . EPISODE CREDIT | Emily...