Green & Grind

This week we have on  entrepreneur and investor Mike Silvestrini.  Mike is a founding partner of Energea, a renewable energy investment platform. Mike has a extensive background in the solar industry, having managed multiple renewable energy funds in the U.S. worth over $500mm in aggregate, founded and was CEO of  Greenskies, one of the largest C&I solar firms in the industry prior to his exit, he has led the development of over 400 renewable energy projects across multiple technologies and continents. We will be discussing how Energea is making solar investment more accessible, his thoughts on the solar industry, and what direction is need to get to 100% renewable energy in the US. You can learn more about Energea at Energea.com. You can find me on instagram at Green and Grind and check out our new website greenandgrind.com where I post episodes notes and discuss sustainability topics. Hope you enjoy the episode.We'll discuss: What is Energea and how everyday people can get invested in solar projects, Where do early stage startup companies go wrong, Residential vs. Large scale solar projects, Preventing the duck curve, Future of Solar, Career advicePlease leave a review and subscribe to podcast to get notified of new episodes! Mike on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-silvestrini-2684879/) Energea (https://www.energea.com)

This week we have on Colin Tetreault.  He is a renaissance man in the sustainability space.  We'll discuss  a wide variety of topics from Environmental issues facing the City of Phoenix, Green financing, Corporate Sustainability and Public Policy, Environmental Disclosure, How businesses can get to a triple bottom line approach, Young people and sustainability careers. So lots of interesting topics this week!Colin works in sustainable business, policy, and he's a university instructor. We'll cover a wide range of topics today from helping businesses better incorporate CSR, ESG metrics, local government sustainability initiatives, and sustainability focused university courses. Colin currently works for an environmental disclosure company, he has his own consulting agency, sits as the chair of environmental quality and sustainability commission for the city of phoenix, and is an instructional professor at Arizona State University. Please leave a review and subscribe to podcast to get notified of new episodes! Colin on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/colintetreault/) Email: greenandgrind@gmail.comWebsite: greenandgrind.com

This week we have on Kate Williams.  She is the CEO of 1% for the Planet. 1% for the planet is a non-profit organization that has raised almost $300 million for environmental non-profits. They've partnered with companies like Patagonia, Clean Canteen, All Trails, and 4ocenan. They help make environmental contributions for businesses and people easy. You can learn more about this great organization at onepercentfortheplanet.org You can find me on instagram at Green and Grind and check out our new website greenandgrind.com where I post episodes notes and discuss sustainability topics. Hope you enjoy the episode.We'll discuss:-Why they chose 1% for giving-Typical day for a CEO-Balancing running a company and having a family-Eco-Anxiety-Attracting partnerships-Trends in environmental giving-Career advicePlease leave a review and subscribe to podcast to get notified of new episodes! Kate on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/katewilliams87/) 1% for the Planet (https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org)Email: greenandgrind@gmail.com

 After a brief break we are back to weekly episodes! This weeks episode is all about careers and job hunting. I will be talking with an expert in the space who has helped thousands with finding roles in the sustainability space. Trish Kenlon is our guest this week.  Trish is the Founder of Sustainable Career Pathways, a popular website and career coaching service that has helped thousands of graduate students and mid-career professionals with transitioning into roles in the sustainability space.   She is a frequent contributor of career expertise to the Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps community, has been featured on GreenBiz.com, and has appeared on several podcasts including Sustainability Defined and Degrees with Yesh Pavlik Slenk.She has presented on techniques for an effective job search at Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, Colorado State University, and many others.  Prior to SCP, Trish worked in sustainability roles with Ann Taylor, TXU Energy, and EDF.  She's also worked in project management and consulting roles for IBM, CGI, and Bank of America.  She is on the board of the Utah Sustainable Business Coalition and is an alumna of Carnegie Mellon University, the NYU Stern School of Business, and the EDF Climate Corps.   You can Learn more at www.sustianablecareerpathways.com   Check out our new website greenandgrind.com where I post episodes notes and discuss sustainability topics. Hope you enjoy the episode.We'll discuss:-What trends Trish sees in the current job marketplace-How can young people get started in a sustainability career-Mistakes that jobseekers make in their job hunt-How to network in today's environment-Advice for people looking for a job in the sustainability space right nowPlease leave a review and subscribe to podcast to get notified of new episodes! Trish on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishkenlon/) Check out her Website Here: (https://sustainablecareerpathways.com)Email: greenandgrind@gmail.com

 Erik Distler is our guest this week. He's worked for Nike and the Green Sports Alliance as well as with ESPN and many sports leagues, conferences, clubs, events, and athletes. We'll discuss how we can bring sustainability into the sports industry, how the sports industry can be a driver for environmental change, and how climate change will affect the world of sports. You can find Erik on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikdistler/) and check out the Green Sports Alliance for more information(https://greensportsalliance.org). You can find me on Instagram at @Green.and.Grind where I post episode notes and discuss sustainability topics.  Please leave a review and subscribe to podcast to get notified of new episodes! Email: greenandgrind@gmail.com

Amanda Sturgeon is our guest this week. In 2015 she was named as one of the Top 10 most powerful women in sustainability, she is a Ted Talk speaker and AIA fellow,  and she is the former CEO of the Living Future Institute.  We will discuss regenerative and biophilic design in our buildings. How we can better connect our buildings and nature. What a more sustainable built environment could look like and some of the many benefits. Check out her books- Creating Biophilic Buildings, and All We Can Save.Amanda currently works in Sydney as the regenerative design lead for Mott MacDonald. Which is one of the largest employee owned companies in the world that focuses on engineering and development consultancy. Their work ranges from airports, buildings, highways, solar installation, and rail transit. So a company that has a big impact. As some background, the Living Future Institute  is an organization that works to transform our communities to be ecologically restorative and social just, through certifications such as the Living Building Challenge and Declare Label. Living Building Challenge is the worlds most ambitious and advanced performance standard for buildings. There have been more than 650 buildings around the world pursuing Living Building Challenge.  I hope you enjoy this episode from a champion in the sustainability space.Please leave a review and subscribe to podcast to get notified of new episodes!You can find  Amanda on Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-sturgeon-faia-58407a16/Check out Mott MacDonald: https://www.mottmac.comLearn more about about the Living Futures Institute: https://living-future.org

Lindsey Kauffman is the Circular Economy Lead at Owens Corning. We'll discuss the circular economy, how large corporations are shifting from the linear  take, make, waste model. Some of the challenges that entails, and what Owens Corning is doing to improve sustainability. Stay tuned until the end of some career tips. Main Topics of Episode:What a circular economy looks like and the business case for itHow Owens Corning reduces waste in their manufacturing processes The struggle of large manufacturing companies to shift to more circular practicesLessons learned from pushing more sustainable processes Importance of life cycle assessmentsInteresting Fact: Wind turbine blades are not recyclable at end of lifeIf you enjoyed the episode please leave a review so that we can reach more people with this podcast.You can find Lindsey on Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseykauffman/Follow me on Instagram to learn more about sustainable living an business: @green.and.grind

This week we have on Lilian Liu.  She is a Sustainability Strategist at Futerra. We'll discuss environmental issues in the fashion industry. Lilian brings a different perspective of the fashion industry from last weeks episode with Kelly Burton. Lilian has had a variety of experiences in the fashion industry from working on Sustainable Development Goals at the UN to working with a NGO on textile waste in China.Stay tuned until the end of some career tips. Main Topics of Episode:How fashion brands can reduce their impactWhat would a circular fashion economy look like? Recycled materials and fabricsThe use of Hemp in ClothingClothing sustainability certificationsInteresting Facts: Clothing lifecycle  is 1-2 years and only 1% of clothes today get recycled.If you enjoyed the episode please leave a review so that we can reach more people with this podcast.You can find Lilian on Linkedin and instagram at @lilianliu and  check out wearefuterra.com or @Futerra on IG to learn more about Futerra's work and the impact they are making. Follow me on Instagram to learn more about sustainable living an business: @green.and.grind

Hey guys. This week we have on Kelly Burton.  She is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Material Exchange. We'll discuss environmental issues in the fashion industry which is one of the most polluting and what is being done about it. Stay tuned until the end of some career tips. If you enjoyed the episode please leave a review so that we can reach more people with this podcast. Next week we have on Lilian Liu, a sustainability strategist with Futerra. A agency who's mission mission is to make sustainable development so desirable it becomes normal. Hope you Enjoy the episode!Main Topics of Episode:The current fashion industryWe talk about how price has impacted companies  ability to be more sustainable but this is  a misconception that Kelly addresses. How the sourcing of the material is very energy intensive and how Material Exchange is using digital technology to reduce the impact of this sourcing.Kelly discusses 3-D prototyping and how that can reduce waste.Transparency with brand and manufacturers. Trends on sustainable fashion in the futureThe pervasiveness of microfibersInteresting Fact: The material contributes to ~43% of the carbon footprint of a brands emissionsKelly's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyburton/Material Exchange Website: https://material-exchange.comGreen & Grind IG: @green.and.grind

Today I chat with the Zero Waste Guy, Jonathan Levy about waste and recycling!!⁠Main Topics:⁠-State of the Recycling Infrastructure ⁠-Issue with the Zero Waste Movement⁠-Composting⁠-Career Tips!⁠⁠Jonathan has a popular blog and instagram account where he talks about low waste living. We'll discuss the current state of the recycling industry, what is being done to reduce waste, and tips on how you can reduce waste at home. Jonathan is very knowledgeable on the subject so this is a great episode! Stay tuned until the end of some career tips.⁠⁠You can reach out to Jonathan on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zerowasteguy/⁠⁠You can check out his website: https://zerowasteguy.com⁠⁠If you enjoyed the episode please leave a review so that we can reach more people with this podcast!

In this weeks episode, we are going to recap Episodes 1-11. I consolidated some of the best advice given by our guests on career and entrepreneurship. These highlights will give a good overview of all the topics and great conversations we've had so far. I structured the episode to cover a few different themes that came up from our guests when asked what career and entrepreneurship advice they had.  Themes that I'll cover: How to find your career direction, how there is more than one way an environmentalist can look like, importance of reaching out to people in the sustainability space, advice on starting your own business,  importance of seeking feedback, benefits of varied experiences and cross pollination, and benefits of getting out of your comfort zone.Email: greenandgrind@gmail.comInstagram: @green.and.grindNew episodes every week

Today I chat with Jennifer Ballen. She is the Head of Global Markets at Indigo Ag. Jennifer got her start on Wall Street at Morgan Stanley working on impact investing. She started a blog called The Sustainable Investor where she writes about the intersection of sustainability and business. She spent time in Brazil training to be a climate leader at Al Gore's climate course. She then transitioned out of Wall Street and went to get her MBA at MIT. After that Jennifer worked at Anheuser-Busch on packaging. Anheuser-Busch is the worlds largest buyer of glass and second largest buyer of aluminum. Jennifer is currently at Indigo Ag , which is working to harness nature and technology to better feed the planet. Indigo Ag works with farmers to improve profitability and pair farmers with carbon buyers for carbon offsets.  We discuss the trend of plant based diets and how 87% of Americans are looking to incorporate plant based protein into their diet. We also talk about the consumer pressure to force companies to focus more on the triple bottom line and greenwashing. Jennifer caps off the episode with some great career tips!You can reach out to Jennifer on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-ballen-6a2aa527/You can check out here website the Sustainable Investor: https://www.thesustainableinvestor.netAnd you can learn more about Indigo Ag here: https://www.indigoag.com*Please note I mention how Denver does have compost. So I looked into it more and they do for single family homes, but my apartment complex does not have composting*

Today I chat with Sam Ruben, Chief Sustainability officer at Mighty buildings- their mission is to build beautiful, affordable, and sustainable housing using 3-d printing and automation.Traditional construction produces 3-5 lbs. of waste per square foot. The use of the 3-D printer helps to significantly reduce that. The 3-D printed material is a thermoset composite similar to Corian by Dupont and is four times more insulating that standard concrete. Their 3-D printer uses the UV light to cure the composite as it comes out of the 3-D printer. This helps to have a zero-waste production process.Using their fabrication system, they can revise the printed finish to be smooth or to better match aesthetics of the neighborhood they occupy. In addition to the fully formed unit produced in factory. They are also producing the mighty kit system which will be a complete house.These types of systems and modern construction methods are aimed at reducing the 1 in 3 people globally that will be impacted by scarcity by 2025.They are looking to put the technology in the hands of builders and developers to help accelerate the amounting housing they can produce. Mighty Buildings is looking at a fiber reinforced version of their composite so they can get into multi-family housing and low rise units to help with urban infill density.They are looking at completing Net Zero Energy Houses by the end of this year!Mighty Buildings are able to reduce cost through their manufacturing process, they use some of that savings to add batteries for storage, and they are still able to be cheaper than comparable buildings. Some Key Sustainability Features: They are able to do Zero waste production, Net zero Energy homes, and they have committed to being carbon neutral by 2028.Mighty buildings are looking into the end-of-life use of their products and how they can use their materials as input into other supply chains to help create more closed loop system. Sam touches on industrial ecology and why we need to look into ways to better reduce waste in our product life cycle process.We also touch on cradle to cradle and the need to look at end of life of the product and incorporate that into building life cycle assessments.Sam and I discuss the the distributor network model for construction and the benefits the factory construction of buildings can have for employment, worker safety, and positive system effects of other connected industries.We touch on housing affordability and the connection between housing costs, development in wildlife areas and fires in California that have occurred. You can reach out to Sam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samruben/You can learn more about Mighty Buildings here: https://mightybuildings.com

Today we have on Marissa Strano- material innovation and sustainability manager at camelback. The company that makes reusable water bottles hydration packs and more. We talk about the changing shift in the product industry and how companies are adapting to consumer pressure for more sustainable products. We talk about how Camelback is addressing environmental concerns in their product and supply chain and the challenges that come with that. I've been in the process of building a green and grind website so stay tuned for future updates  on upcoming episodes. Episode Highlights:-Consumer push for more sustainable products-The rise of used product exchanges from companies-Balancing durability and sustainability in products-Reduction vs offsetting for manufactured products-Camelbak's sustainability goals and new product labeling program-Consumer awareness in sustainable product purchasingYou can reach Marissa on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissastrano/Camelbak Website: https://www.camelbak.comIf you enjoyed the episode. Please subscribe and add a review. It helps to reach more people so we can get more people involved in a sustainable future.

Today is a special episode. We talk about how we can bring about improved social equality in buildings and how bringing nature into buildings improves peoples wellbeing. I talked with Nicole Isle, a Chief Sustainability Officer with a Glumac. A engineering consulting firm in the building industry. This episode was originally recorded in the weeks after the George Floyd protests in June. I decided to aire this now to circle back to the topic of social equality and the role that the built environment plays in that. We must continue to strive for a more just built environment that benefits all.We also discuss how you can use creative design and teamwork to solve sustainable challenges and how potential negatives in a building design can be reformed into positive highlights in the space through challenging existing conceptsMain Topics: What does a Chief Sustainability Officer do? What is Biophilia and Biomimicry and how can we incorporate it into our buildings? Making the built environment more socially equitable. And tips for getting into the field you want.Nicole's tips at the end of the episode are truly insightful. So listen to the end for those.You can connect with Nicole on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-isle-4547ba16/ You can check out Glumac and the work they do here: https://www.glumac.com

I sat down with Charlotte Bande who is a sustainability consultant  at Quantis International. (not related to the airline like I thought).  She moved to the US from Belgium and her focus is on global climate strategies. We covered a wide range of topics from:     Trends in business regarding Sustainability practices⁠     What are Net Zero Value Chains⁠     Carbon Pricing⁠     Greenwashing     How to get involved in the growing sustainability consulting industry⁠Lots of great information in this episode!!You can find Charlotte here:⁠Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-bande/⁠Instagram: @trendysustainability⁠https://trendysustainability.com⁠⁠⁠Please leave a review on  iTunes and subscribe. It helps the podcast reach more people to make a broader positive impact.

I sat down with a City Sustainability Manager Salem Afeworki. She is the Energy and Sustainability Manager in California.⁠ She tells her story about how she is working to meet the states environmental goals in her city .⁠.⁠Salem has had quite the career! Coming from Africa to working in South America, to coming to the US. She has a wide range of experiences, so her career tips are very insightful! ⁠.⁠She's also attended a number of university education programs that she'll give advice on which ones might be right for you.⁠.⁠See link in bio for quick access. You can find on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcasts⁠⁠.⁠You can find Salem here:⁠Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salemafeworki/⁠You can learn more about sustainable living on Instagram: @green.and.grind

 I sat down with Isabel Aagaard, one of the founders of Last Object. A company that creates products to replace single use items in our daily lives.⁠ She tells her story about how she created a successful company in the competitive E-commerce space.⁠ She'll also give tips on how to create a Eco-Friendly E-Commerce store.⁠If you're interested in E-Commerce, Startups, or how companies are reducing plastic waste. This is a great episode to tune in for.⁠Last Object started on kickstarter a few years ago and has grown into a popular single use replacement product company. They have a growing reusable product catalog from swabs, tissues, and face masks. Last Object has also incorporated ocean plastic into their supply chain. If are looking to replace your single use items check Last Object on instagram (@lastobject) and their website (lastobject.com).

Struggling with your startup or getting one off the ground. A change in your mindset could make the difference. Today I talk with Christen Gilchrist, she is a mindset coach that focuses on people in the "eco-space" achieve their goals. We also talk about what its like climbing Mt. Gilmanjaro, and how traveling around Asia can help bring clarity to life decisions.Interested in starting a career in sustainability, but not sure what to pick? Want to hear fascinating stories of how people are tacking the climate issue head on? Or would you like tips from successful people on how they got to where they are? The Green and Grind podcast will discuss this and more. You can find updates on the podcast on Instagram: shanegerkin

Today we talk about EVs and the Lithium that is used for producing electric vehicle batteries. I chat with Alex Grant, a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Energy recipient, about the lithium supply chain and how we can make it more sustainable. We also chat about the growth of the industry and some tips he has for people looking to get involved in this rapidly growing sector.

I interviewed Ana Sophia Mifsud. Who works at the Rocky Mountain Institute, which is an organization dedicated to research, publication, consulting, and lecturing in the general field of sustainability, with a special focus on profitable innovations for energy and resource efficiency.⁠⁠Ana Sophia had a lot of great information about the future of buildings and what it was like being on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List.⁠

I talk with Jackson Wyatt of Greenlid. A startup that produces compostable products in Canada. We talk how he got his business off the ground, misconceptions about composting, and advice for people wanting to get involved in sustainability.