Second Nature

The climate crisis has a way of making hard things even harder — and that includes gender disparities. From their professional lives to their personal lives, climate change has left many women vastly under-resourced and at risk, all while taking on the heavy toll of caring for their families and communities through climate mitigation and resilience. In this episode, we hear how the climate gender gap is affecting our community, talk to WOCAN founder Jeannette Gurung about how women continue to work through vast climate inequities around the world, and we hear from Commons' founder and CEO Sanchali Seth Pal about how health disparities women face as a result of climate disaster. 

Planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence have us in a disposable consumption cycle. But it hasn't always been this way. When and why did we stop thinking things were worth fixing?In this episode, we get a history lesson in planned obsolescence, visit Adrienne Ferre, who is helping run a Makers Hub in LA, complete with a tool library and repair cafes. And we catch up on Right to Repair legislation with Commons' founder and CEO Sanchali Seth Pal. 

This episode originally aired on June 12, 2024. Becoming more conscious consumers is a pivotal step in building a more sustainable economy, but how do we deconsume in a consumerist world? When we buy less, we save money, cut down on clutter, and lower our emissions. This collective shift has another big impact — helping us to steer the economy away from disposable products, unsustainable resource use, and dangerous supply chains.On this episode of Second Nature, we hear listeners' take on overconsumption and their tips for deconsumption. We also chat with climate activist and educator Lauren Bash about Buy Nothing groups, Repair Cafes, and her own deconsumption journey. Plus, we find out who's doing all this overconsuming and the impact it's having on the rest of the world.

Help us win a Webby! It only takes a minute to vote. Vote here!Often on urban lots, behind chain link fences, adorned with hand-painted signs, plots burgeoning with fruits, vegetables, and flowers, flanked by compost piles — the humble community garden feels like a salve for so much that ails us. On this Community Voices episode, we're going from Los Angeles to Brazil to hear how community gardens have brought people much more than fresh fruits and vegetables. With food prices on the rise and so many of us losing touch with the abundance of our communities, we thought it'd be nice to hear how community gardens have helped you, our community.

The secondhand clothing market isn't equipped for textile recycling. So when your donated clothes don't sell, where do they end up?With the rise of overconsumption and fast fashion, clothes have piled up in thrift stores, landfills, and incinerators around the world. Countries like Ghana and Chile are dealing with fashion waste from countries like the U.S., UK, and China, and the impacts are vast. Mountains of clothes lead to fires, polluted waterways, dying ocean life, and lost livelihoods. So how do we stop the cycle? How can we donate with purpose and dignity, and get fashion brands to actually take accountability for the full lifecycle of their clothes?Listen to hear what our community does with their used clothes, how a new law could force companies to clean up their act, and how Los Angeles's Suay Sew Shop is dealing with the untenable amount of clothing donations from wildfire relief. ➡️ If you want to support Suay Sew Shop, you can browse their site here and contribute to their Textiles Aren't Trash fire relief campaign. By the way, you can earn rewards for Suay purchases and donations in the Commons app!

In a capitalist society, value is measured in dollars and cents. But the resources we take from planet Earth can't be repaid in any kind of financial currency, and we're already paying the price for the debt we owe. ‍So the question on many people's minds is "Can we even have ethical consumption under capitalism?" In this episode, we find out that despite having differing opinions on the answer to that question, we often agree on the solutions for what comes next.‍Listen to hear how our community answers the title question, economist and sociologist Juliet Schor helps us plan for what comes next, and Commons founder and CEO Sanchali Seth Pal explains how modern and historical boycotts can be tools for collective action.‍➡️ If you want to vote with your dollar, join our April challenge in the Commons app (available in U.S. and Canada) This Earth Month, we're avoiding the brands spending millions to block climate progress. 

Feeling bummed out by climate setbacks? Or maybe you're outright angry? We're here for you. With 40% of Americans starting to align their money with their views, it's clear that we're ready to push back on recent climate challenges.In season 3 of Second Nature, we're balancing hope and action — from company boycotts to community gardens. With the help of community voices from around the world, top-tier experts, and a dose of history and data, we'll give you all the motivation and inspiration you need to take climate action that matters. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode! (00:00) - Trailer

This episode originally aired on June 4, 2024. We're about to break ground on season three, the soil outside is warming up and we're ready to get our hands in the dirt. So we wanted to revisit this episode as we prep our gardens for spring.Stoops, balconies, and windowsills are ripe for growing food. Today, we're riding out the ripple effect that urban gardening can have on our lives and the planet.Second Nature is your community for practical, sustainable living. On this episode, we're getting inspiration and practical tips to start small, fruitful home gardens in urban spaces. We're also talking about the carbon footprint of home gardens and realizing the ripple effect that growing our own food can have on our lives and the environment.

This episode originally aired on July 9, 2024. As more and more people are boycotting big brands like Amazon, we thought it was the perfect time to bring back this episode about how ditching convenience culture can actually make us more sustainable citizens.Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our use of Amazon has skyrockted, making the company the second biggest U.S. parcel carrier after the US Postal Service. Amazon has become the poster child for convenience culture, but the time we save for the sake of convenience is putting us in financial and carbon debt. In this episode, we're grappling with our fraught relationship with our Amazon Prime subscriptions and getting practical tips to break free from convenience culture and start shopping more sustainably. ‍On this episode, you'll hear:‍Listeners share their complex, conflicted feelings about using Amazon. MIT research scientist Erez Yoeli shares how we can have a more sustainable relationship with Amazon and how to close the action vs intent gap.How Amazon gets you to buy so much stuff and how its fast-paced shipping comes at the cost of workers' health and pay.

This episode originally aired on May 29, 2024. As we're prepping for season 3, we're revisiting this episode in honor of our February Collective Challenge in the Commons app: Boycott Fast Fashion. Join us!Fast fashion is cheap, but the low cost to customers comes at a high cost to garment workers, communities, and the environment. So, how do we break free from the fast fashion cycle?Second Nature is your community for practical, sustainable living. On this episode, we're commiserating with listeners over the allure of fast fashion and getting real tips to break free from it. Plus, we're doing the math on the impact of buying less fast fashion and talking to Kestrel Jenkins (journalist and host of Conscious Chatter) about the human cost of fast fashion. ‍On this episode, you'll hear:Practical guidance from real-life, former fast fashion shopaholics. An interview with journalist and Conscious Chatter host Kestrel Jenkins about the human cost of fast fashion and how to recenter the supply chain in our buying habits. What happens when get this right? Commons CEO and founder Sanchali Seth Pal does the math on how ditching fast fashion can make a real carbon impact.  

We're excited to hear from your for season 3! Fill out this form to start your submission to Second Nature: https://j09c5.app.link/e/KfZvWw9izPbAfter you fill out the form, you'll receive questions based on the topics you chose, with details about how to submit your audio.At the end of this call for submissions, you heard the voices of listeners Jordan Webb, Cindy, and Artie Sadahiro.  (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0

When you're trying to live more sustainably, fashion can be hard to navigate. The industry is ripe with greenwashing that masks exploitative practices for people and planet. But sustainable fashion is an expansive, exciting world of circularity, repair, and trustworthy, responsible brands.On this episode (our season 2 finale!), we're coming face-to-face with the cost conversation when it comes to sustainable fashion, getting real about overconsumption, envisioning a practical future for the industry with fashion expert Samata Pattinson, and finding out what sustainable fashion means to you. Plus, we're talking to Commons' Carbon Strategy Manager Sophie Janaskie about what to look for in a sustainable brand. ➡️ If you're struggling to find sustainable fashion brands that you can trust, we got you. The Commons team has researched and rated hundreds of fashion brands so you can skip the greenwashing. Check it out here: thecommons.earth

A third of the food we produce goes to waste, and a shocking amount of that waste happens in our own homes. The good news is that fighting food waste is easy with a few life hacks up your sleeve. And even better, it'll save you money too. ‍In this episode, we hear what types of food our community struggles with and get their tips to curb the waste. We're asking plastic-free, low-waste chef Anne-Marie Bonneau about her recipes and tips to eat our food before it becomes waste. We're also reckoning with the amount of money we're tossing out with our food waste and finding out some surprising upsides to food delivery. 

We're eating way too much meat. An unsustainable, unhealthy amount of meat. If you're looking for one way to drastically improve your health and carbon footprint — plant-based eating is it. But even if you're not going fully plant-based, reducing your meat intake is a huge step in the right direction. ‍In this episode, we hear how our community has noticed a difference in their health since eating more plant-based, how much of an emissions impact we can make by eating fewer hamburgers, and we're talking to Professor and Nutrition Scientist Christopher Gardner about exactly how meat impacts our bodies. 

When we need or want something, our first thought is often, "Where can I buy it?" But what if our first thought was: "I wonder if my neighbors have it?" Buy Nothing groups and free groups are community-rooted solutions for overconsumption and how much overconsumption costs us and the planet. Whether you're looking for empty plastic containers for a craft or you want to give away an old Kindle you don't use, these groups are a great way to realize the resources and generosity of our neighbors.  On this Community Voices episode of Second Nature, we're diving into the generous, thrifty, free world of free groups and Buy Nothing groups to discover new opportunities to connect with community and find new value in our stuff.

Government seems to move slower than the pace of climate change, so do our votes for climate candidates and policies actually make a difference? ‍In this episode, we're connecting the dots between climate and policy and hearing from people around the world about how their governments' policies are affecting their lives and their regions. We're also catching up with HEATED editor-in-chief Emily Atkin to hear how climate reporting has changed over the past couple of presidential terms and how she keeps her head above water after a decade of reporting on climate. We'll also talk to Commons founder Sanchali Seth Pal about climate policies around the world that have actually worked. ‍If you're looking for resources to help you vote for the planet in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, or any upcoming U.S. election, here are some resources that could help: Vote Climate U.S. PAC's Voter Guide, Climate Cabinet's Climate Scorecard, League of Conservation Voter Scorecard.

Plant-based cheese is better than ever, but can we expand our expectations of cheese to ease our reliance on Big Dairy?Cheese is delicious. Even aspiring vegans find cheese hard to quit. But making dairy cheese is not only rough on the planet — the dairy cows' lives aren't great either. In this episode, we're getting the full picture of the impact of dairy cheese, including the United States' decades-long surplus cycle with the cheese industry and how it's connected to Pizza Hut's Summer of Cheese. We're chatting with famed vegan chef and cheese icon, Miyoko Schinner about how far plant-based cheese has come and her favorite plant-based cheese bases. We're learning practical tips to learn to love plant-based cheese, and having our very own cheese taste test.

Gifting isn't easy for everyone, and it certainly isn't cheap. On top of that, unwanted gifts can be wasteful and lead to piles of returns or trash. But becoming a more sustainable, low-waste gifter will make you a better gifter and save you money!In this episode, we give you dozens of great gift ideas from our community, and all of them are backed by the research of leading Dr. Julian Givi. We'll also talk about the carbon (and waste impact) of big holidays like Christmas. If you want more gift ideas, we've got you covered! The Commons team curated gift guides for everyone on your list with over 300 unique, memorable gift ideas, including vintage items, experiences, and DIYs.

Whether it's from a catastrophic storm, a brutal heat wave, or dying coral reefs, we're all dealing with the effects of climate change. All that stress and sadness can lead to climate anxiety (aka eco-anxiety). If you've felt anxious about the state of our climate, you're not alone. In our first-ever Community Voices episode of Second Nature, we're focusing all on you, our listeners, to hear various ways to cope with climate anxiety through nature, community, and gratitude.If you're looking for more resources to help with climate anxiety, we highly recommend this list from the team at All We Can Save.

Can you convince others to take climate action without being a nag? When you do what you can live sustainably, there inevitably comes a time when you want to spread the gospel and share your practice with others. It's a fantastic way to expand your low-carbon impact, but how do you communicate with people in a way that they'll actually be receptive to?On this episode, you'll hear: Unique ways that our listeners are sharing their climate practices with people in their lives. A way to invoke action for anyone who cares about climate. Alyssa Barber shares techniques and tips she's used to build a community of hundreds of thousands of people who care about climate.How solar panel installation is a lesson in community climate action.

There are a lot of factors that go into the decision to have kids. Creeping up on that list is climate change. In the first episode of season 2, we're diving into this tough topic with the help of community stories, data, and professional research from Dr. Jade Sasser. On this episode, you'll hear: How the climate crisis has impacted our community's choice to have (or not have) kids. How population growth affects the climate crisis. The emissions of babies.How to talk to your family about how the climate crisis is affecting your decision. Dr. Jade Sasser's research perspective on how people have answered the kid question over time.  The overpopulation debunked.Resources to navigate the decision to have kids in a climate crisis.

Trying to live more sustainably? Looking for motivation to keep at it?  If you're looking for personal stories, practical tips for sustainable living, a weekly dose of climate optimism, or you just want to feel in community with others, this is the show for you.Every Wednesday, hear how listeners around the world take action every to combat climate change and create the kind of world they want to live in. We'll get expert answers to your burning climate questions and calculate the potential carbon impact of collective action.Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Thanks so much for being part of the Second Nature community. We can't wait to hear from you! Fill out this form to start your submission to Second Nature: https://j09c5.app.link/kOYGSJD7XLbAfter you fill out the form, you'll receive questions based on the topics you chose, with details about how to submit your audio. At the end of this call for submissions, you heard the voices of listeners Mac Hansen, Rozalia, Rachel Sirwatka, Jonathan Cheng, Amea Wadsworth, and Larisa Jitaru. 

We heard from listeners that one of the top barriers to eating plant-based is who we eat with. So much of our food is rooted in culture and tradition, and breaking from the norms of our social circles may create some dinner table friction. But we're here to help!On this episode, you'll hear: Listeners share how they're family reacted when they started eating plant-based. Tried and true advice on how to eat in harmony with meat eaters. How Isaias Hernandez's family reacted when he became vegan and what his vision of a more equitable plant-based future looks like. Data-backed responses to the most common questions you mat get as a first-time plant-based eater. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our use of Amazon has skyrockted, making the company the second biggest U.S. parcel carrier after the US Postal Service. Amazon has become the poster child for convenience culture, but the time we save for the sake of convenience is putting us in financial and carbon debt. In this episode, we're grappling with our fraught relationship with our Amazon Prime subscriptions and getting practical tips to break free from convenience culture and start shopping more sustainably. ‍On this episode, you'll hear:‍Listeners share their complex, conflicted feelings about using Amazon. MIT research scientist Erez Yoeli shares how we can have a more sustainable relationship with Amazon and how to close the action vs intent gap.How Amazon gets you to buy so much stuff and how its fast-paced shipping comes at the cost of workers' health and pay.

Tired of working 9-5 at a job or a company that's not focused on sustainability? We've got good news. You don't need a sustainability degree to get a green job. There are green jobs out there for any skillset, and in this episode, we're going to help you find them. ‍On this episode, you'll hear:‍How listeners are adapting their job into a green job, or starting fresh in a new industry. Kristy Drutman (aka browngirlgreen), the co-founder of the Green Jobs Board talk about hiring, representation, and resources in the green jobs spaceThe job numbers in the climate spaceAnd how a green jobs are a crucial part of a more sustainable economy

Composting is one of the easiest climate actions and there are so many ways to do it! On this episode, you'll get a straightforward explanation of how composting works and all the inspiration and guidance you need to start composting — no matter where you live. Listen in to hear:Listeners' firsthand advice for composting in any living situationYour composting questions answered by Dr. Sheridan Ross of Compton Community GardenThe carbon impact of composting our food wasteIf you want to get personalized recommendations for composting in your area, try the Composting action in the Commons app.

Becoming more conscious consumers is a pivotal step in building a more sustainable economy, but how do we deconsume in a consumerist world? When we buy less, we save money, cut down on clutter, and lower our emissions. This collective shift has another big impact — helping us to steer the economy away from disposable products, unsustainable resource use, and dangerous supply chains. On this episode of Second Nature, we hear listeners' take on overconsumption and their tips for deconsumption. We also chat with climate activist and educator Lauren Bash about Buy Nothing groups, Repair Cafes, and her own deconsumption journey. Plus, we find out who's doing all this overconsuming and the impact it's having on the rest of the world.

Stoops, balconies, and windowsills are ripe for growing food. Today, we're riding out the ripple effect that urban gardening can have on our lives and the planet.Second Nature is your community for practical, sustainable living. On this episode, we're getting inspiration and practical tips to start small, fruitful home gardens in urban spaces. We're also talking about the carbon footprint of home gardens and realizing the ripple effect that growing our own food can have on our lives and the environment.

Fast fashion is cheap, but the low cost to customers comes at a high cost to garment workers, communities, and the environment. So, how do we break free from the fast fashion cycle?On this episode of Second Nature, we're commiserating with listeners over the allure of fast fashion and getting real tips to break free from it. Plus, we're doing the math on the impact of buying less fast fashion and talking to Kestrel Jenkins (journalist and host of Conscious Chatter) about the human cost of fast fashion. ‍On this episode, you'll hear:Practical guidance from real-life, former fast fashion shopaholics. An interview with journalist and Conscious Chatter host Kestrel Jenkins about the human cost of fast fashion and how to recenter the supply chain in our buying habits. What happens when get this right? Commons CEO and founder Sanchali Seth Pal does the math on how ditching fast fashion can make a real carbon impact.  

Plant-based eating is one of the most impactful climate actions we can take, but changing our diets can be overwhelming. How can we get started and stick with it?On this first episode of Second Nature, we're hearing from listeners about how they've started adding more plants to their plates, finding inspiration in delicious recipes, and getting inspiration from the power of our collective action. ‍On this episode, you'll hear:Motivation and practical tips from listeners across the plant-forward spectrum: flexitarians, vegetarians, and vegans.An interview with food writer Alicia Kennedy about how the food industry needs to reckon with the environmental impact of meat, plus delicious plant-based recipes to try.How our collective shift to more plant-based meals can impact the meat industry.

Can we live sustainably in an unsustainable world? Second Nature is a new podcast from Commons exploring how sustainable choices impact our lives and the planet. Every week, hear how listeners around the world take action every to combat climate change and create the kind of world they want to live in. We'll get expert answers to your burning climate questions and calculate the potential carbon impact of collective action.Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!