#13 Compost

How do we stay cool as the planet gets hot? In this Zero Waste Life Hacks Podcast episode, we invite Marta Segura, the City of LA's first Heat Officer, to talk to us about a warming climate and ways to keep cool. Learn how "shade equity", climate justice, the white goth, internal temperature, and thermal comfort can all help you bet the heat on any budget. Learn how to hack your home and build a swamp cooler. Learn how to beat the heat.

Our composting episode is very informative and inspiring. Sofia Ratchvich and Michelle Sinclair invite Monique Figueiredo, Founder of Compostable LA, to break down what is happening in that compost pile, what are some of the fancy names for the types of compost, and why it is so essential for compost to be a a part of our local communities.

Listening is a beautiful hack for learning, having empathy, and being present. We are honored and blessed to have Madame Gandhi as our guest for this episode. Madame Gandhi is a talented producer and musician whose Music takes the listener on a journey of liberation and beats. Her path has led her to be on the Forbes list of 30 Under 30 in Music, and her 2020 TED Talk about conscious music consumption has reached millions worldwide. It was a joy to have Madame Gandhi in the studio as she offered a genuinely unique and poignant perspective on our hack of the episode listening. Madame Gandhi led us through a 3-minute meditation that we placed at the beginning of the episode for any listeners who wish to revisit it.

What do Insomniac events, the HBO show VEEP and the local elementary school play all have in common? They all use salvaged materials from Eco Set. You can find a ‘set’ at the theater, in commercials, tv shows, movies, events, and festivals. Our special guest Kris Barberg, of Eco Set and Materials Oasis, shared hacks and inspiration around how to create a more eco-friendly set. She also shares some great stories about some epic props. We hope this episode helps people in production, large and small, find solutions from creation to tare down to redirect, divert and reuse their sets.

This episode will help anyone planning an event for up to 200 guests to reach a goal of diverting at least 80% of waste from going to a landfill. It will focus on small steps to make an event more sustainable behind the scenes. The key is in the planning phase. Take the time to know how many are attending, what materials for decor can be reused after the event, and how guests receive and consume food and drinks. These three steps seem easy, but they will take some planning. Listen to this episode to hear stories from Sofia (host) as she shares ten years of experience as a Zero Waste event consultant. We are back with Season 2! Kicking this season off, Michelle interviews Sofia to get tips on making your next event more Zero Waste. Not only is Sofia the host of this podcast, but also a ZERO WASTE event consultant. She has seen it all and sorted through the worst of post-event trash.

Sofia has a discussion with the mother of the zero waste movement Bea Johnson. Fans all over the world have taken on her challenge of fitting a year's worth trash into one mason jar. They talk about guilty pleasures, how to travel zero waste and what makes up the zero waste state of mind.

This episode was recorded on Feb 6, 2020, as part of a live panel discussion with Shopify to help merchants to find some zero waste hacks around their shipping and packaging needs. Laster year, it was projected that there would be 2.05 billion global digital buyers. But that was before the pandemic of covid 19 was announced. With the world being asked to self-quarantine and practice social distancing, we will have to see how this affects eCommerce companyies. Our producer and co-host Michelle recorded a special intro as the release of this episode comes at precarious times. Our panel included a shipping industry professional, a waste industry expert, a plastic warrior, and a merchant who applies an eco-friendly approach to their eCommerce store. Sustainability Consultant, Sofia Ratcovich of Zero Waste Co., will lead a conversation around the topics of the circular economy, opt-in/opt-out shipping possibilities, what is recyclable and how merchants can adopt a more zero-waste approach. We wish all of our listeners some silver linings in the different and precarious times. The Merchant's Q&A can be gifted to our Patreon backers. You can access this portion of the panel at any level of support. Thank you For more information on this Episode's topic visit our blog at www.zerowastelifehacks.com Thank you Shopify for hosting this event If you would like a Zero Wast consultation or want to make your next event zero waste, reach out to our host Sofia via her company www.zerowasteco.com

Did you know that it is estimated that 400 million toothpaste tubes are discarded every year in the United States only? On the global level, that number rises to 1.5 billion discarded toothpaste tubes. AND about one billion plastic toothbrushes are thrown away every year in the United States, creating 50 million pounds of waste annually.  

In this episode, themed around the plastic bag problem, Sofia interviews the founder of Chico Bags Andy Keller. Keller has become an outspoken opponent of plastic bags, creating a character called the “Bag Monster” from 500 plastic bags, the number each American uses annually. He uses this to raise awareness about the environmental impact of disposable bags. In January 2011, his company was sued by three leading plastic-bag manufacturers accusing it of causing “irreparable harm” to their business by defaming their product. Though we can not talk about that on the podcast Andy can talk facts and hacks around plastic bags. Topics discussed include how the system of recycling is broken, how it is cheaper to throw it in the landfill, benefit corporation, extended producer responsibility, take-back programs, using our dollars as votes, market-based solution, closing the loop on plastic, how50% of the plastic that you get you don't even need or want, producer responsibility on the end of life of their product and how we need to redesign the way we carry groceries home. Thank you, Andy, for being an inspiration and founding a company we can be happy putting our dollars into. For more information on this episode's topic visit our blog at www.zerowastelifehacks.com Thank you to our sponsors Chico Bags, Etee & Haute Mobile Disco Thank you to HAUTE MOBILE DISCO for curating this Episode's playlist and our theme music. To hear the music featured on this episode, and others, visit the music blog on www.hautemobiledisco.com and click the music tag ZERO WASTE LIFE HACKER. If you would like a Zero Wast consultation or want to make your next event zero waste, reach out to our host Sofia via her company www.zerowasteco.com

A very informative discussion with Plastic Pollution Coalition founder Dianna Cohen. Three California girls talk about how walking and swimming the local beaches have inspired them to take action on a big problem. In this episode’s topic of “THE CUP” Sofia and Michelle are joined by special guest Dianna Cohen ( Plastic Pollution Coalition ) and discuss hacks and facts around our relationship with cups as well as how plastic pollution affects lower-income communities, petroleum, ethylene, fracking,  plasticize, biphenyls, phthalates, impacts on human health, compressed polystyrene, neurotoxins, brand audit data, polymer chain, how using a  non plastic reusable cup is better for health and may save you money, and what's in Dianna's bag.  Hey, Get that china or fancy set out and use it.  PS we recycle less than 9% of our trash and that percentage is dropping.  We hope this episode helps you to rethink your relationship with your cups. For more information on this episode's topic visit our blog at www.zerowastelifehacks.com Thank you to our sponsors Chico Bags, Etee & Haute Mobile Disco Thank you to HAUTE MOBILE DISCO for curating this Episode's playlist and our theme music. To hear the music featured on this episode, and others, visit the music blog on www.hautemobiledisco.com and click the music tag ZERO WASTE LIFE HACKER. If you would like a Zero Wast consultation or want to make your next event zero waste, reach out to our host Sofia via her company www.zerowasteco.com