Happy Holidays from Your Hosts

[00:00:10] Dominique: Hello. Welcome to our holiday episode of Green Champions.

[00:00:14] Adam: Thanks for joining us in a conversation with real people, making real environmental change in the work that they do. I'm here with Dominique, our sustainability expert.

[00:00:22] Dominique: And I'm so glad to be here alongside Adam, our social enterprise extraordinaire. We bring you guests usually who saw the potential for impact in their job or community and did something about it.

[00:00:32] Adam: From entrepreneurs to artists, scientists to activists. This podcast is a platform for green champions to share their stories and plant new ideas. We've just had a fantastic year sharing those ideas. 

[00:00:42] Dominique: Today, Adam and I are bringing you our holiday episode. This is a special pause basically where Adam and I, you just have the two of us. No guests today, and we're gonna be reflecting on the year we've had putting out episodes to our wonderful listeners and reflecting the two of us on the conversations we've got to have. 

[00:01:02] Adam: Yeah and this year we've had over 40 episodes, which is really exciting for a brand new podcast to get this off the ground and really share stories of what people are doing in their jobs to work towards a better climate.

[00:01:13] Dominique: We've had so many amazing green champions join us for conversations this year. and we really wanted today to focus on some of our favorite themes from the last year. Kind of reflect on some key learnings that we both hadAnd this for you will serve as a highlight reel.

[00:01:29] Adam: Yeah. And just a shout out to Shelly Douglas, who was our first guest. She's the director of Green Columbus. And she came on and I remember just being blown away by how many trees that Green Columbus plants through their volunteering event for Earth Day.

[00:01:43] Dominique: All right, Adam, should we jump into our favorite themes? 

[00:01:45] Adam: Let's do it 

[00:01:46] Dominique: All right, I'm gonna go first. I brought two themes today that I thought were big takeaways for me. And the first one was that a lot of our guests really talked a lot about volunteering as a way to transition into a new industry or like sustainability overall.

So for me, I think that point of view has been the question mark of there's so many amazing people in really impactful roles, but how do you get there? And we have LinkedIn and some of these platforms that kind of make career paths more transparent now, which is amazing, but sometimes you still can't figure out how somebody got from step one to two. I personally found it very inspiring and interesting. And I think it brings up the kind of the topic of like equity too in this space that volunteering has been a really big step for some of our guests. 

Two guests that stand out to me having that story were Aryeh Alex and Dana Watts. 

So Aryeh Alex is the sustainability manager for the city of Columbus. He kind of fell in love with Yosemite Park. And previously was someone who identified as a little more of like a home body but fell in love with parks and national parks, state parks, and that really made him curious about how these organizations come to life. He volunteered at those parks and it was through people seeing him, meeting him, and seeing the value he brings to his role, which goes into Aryeh Alex's episode to get to know how amazing of a person he is and the energy he brings and creativity. But he just showed up at parks and has been volunteering and then he now is working for the city. I think that's just really awesome.

[00:03:20] Adam: I love that too, of just being able to show up and volunteer about something that you're curious in and that enthusiasm bubbles over, people notice that.

[00:03:27] Dominique: And you learn so much. Everyone has all these rules of how you're supposed to learn everything, and I think it's awesome to hear people who just put themselves there.

[00:03:35] Adam: Yeah, I remember being at OSU and talking to some students about how much they hated networking events because they felt so fake and disingenuine. But when you're volunteering, you're actually doing something of value and you're building new connections in ways that lead to things that you can't even imagine. 

[00:03:49] Dominique: Dana Watts had a similar journey. She is a wedding planner that incorporates sustainability into her wedding planning.

Her business is called Thyme and Details, and she saw a gap in that space. She was studying sustainability at Ohio State and wanted to be a part of making weddings a part of the sustainability conversation. So she just started working for wedding planners, helping them out and just kind of learning through watching them. I think that's been really, really awesome to hear how much learning these individuals that I personally really admire and look at as experts to hear how they began as amateurs and learned from just being the kind of ground level team member. 

[00:04:29] Adam: Well, and when you're involved, it gives you the opportunity to start noticing where change is possible. I think what struck me out of Dana's episode was really this idea that she found how to take care of the waste that comes out of the receptions at weddings and repurpose it, find a new home for it. Either partnering with local organizations that are already doing food rescue, finding a place for the flower bouquets to go, cleaning up these different pieces. Just on the fact of stepping back and, and looking at how a system worked after volunteering in that and being part of it.

[00:05:00] Dominique: Yeah, that's such a good point too of, I think you go to school or get trained in something. You're hearing somebody show you how to look at it. So that's a good point that I think there's also added value from letting yourself experience something and learning from the ground up on your own. And that creates space for having more fresh, creative ideas or new perspectives because you weren't just having it laid out for you in a book or you know, , that space you give yourself to see for yourself.

[00:05:30] Adam: Yeah, and I think that's something I learned from you this year around sustainability in general, is that it's not like there's one fixed answer. There's, "Here's the best that I know right now." But that's changing five years from now, 10 years from now, we're gonna know more and that's gonna change again. And so you need this creativity to kind of show up to a situation and try new things in order to find out here's what works and here's what is going to lead to that positive change.

[00:05:56] Dominique: Yeah, I didn't include this as a theme, but that also feels like something else I've appreciated with our guests. They've come in here being really humble about their accomplishments, which I think is because they really know how long the journey is to getting to perfection or whatever you wanna call that, like goal line.

And I think we've both been really nervous for some guests to come in and really excited about all they're gonna be able to brag about. And then it's been a lot of, "Oh, I shouldn't be here, or, oh, don't listen to me." But they've all been really fantastic regardless. But the humility is definitely 

[00:06:32] Adam: I think that's a common trait I've noticed. 

[00:06:34] Dominique: Well, on that sense, one thing I've noticed about the people that have come in is they've developed a real good skill of measuring, here's where I am now and here's where I want to go. Not really a theme that I was bringing up, but like Grant did a really good job with this when he was talking about building the first ESG report in the hotel industry, right? For the company that he works with and how a lot of that time was spent just on measuring where they currently were at so that they could identify here are the opportunities for us. And I think that kind of detailed mindset is another thing that people bring is like being able to say, "Yeah, I'm gonna actually sift through the trash or look at the hard numbers and figure out where I am so I can measure out here's where I want to go".

And nobody has been an exception to that. 

[00:07:17] Adam: One theme that really struck, kind of going along that lines of volunteering, another theme that I noticed was this community involvement. 

One guest that really stood out was Lisa Goldsand and Circular Thrift. Right? She does these events around thrifting in her local community. Especially like she'll go into schools and environments where people have specific you know.

[00:07:37] Dominique: Kinda like niche clothing needs. 

[00:07:39] Adam: Where it's got value in that community, but nowhere else. So taking it to a Goodwill is less effective if that's getting sent to a school district that's 10 miles away. And so she does, does these events where she brings people to together to really thrift and, and share these clothes. And I love that idea of making it fun to get people involved. Giving them a reason and almost a way to be part of the solution. 

And I think that's important for a lot of people where it's not the top priority in their life, but there's an easy way for them to get involved. 

Another person was Joseph Klatt. And I didn't realize when he came in that he used to work for Precious Plastics, which is a company in the Netherlands which really is around empowering communities and people to do their own plastic recycling at a very local level. So if you're a hobbyist or you're with a group of people, how do you actually break up pieces of plastic that you've gathered recycle them and create new, new things from that? 

But it is a lot about connecting with people in your community so that you can manage those resources in a way to make things like plastic recycling. 

And now he's gone on to build his own company and he's come back, but I love that spirit of yeah, this is not something that we do on our own. We're involving other people and those around us in coming up with new solutions.

[00:08:54] Dominique: Yeah, I think both Lisa and Joseph share that common thread for me in talking about really tangible solutions that are local applications, but like a globally minded solution. So it works anywhere, but for it to be really positive for a community, it really needs to be done locally. So Joseph traveled around to Spain other areas on the Netherlands, Africa. He talked about different communities that he would jump into to help them build these plastic shops basically that could repurpose and build products. 

And then Lisa, with doing these kind of. Mobile thrifting solution popups. Both those I think really give a nod to that ' Think Global, Act Local' concept, which will be a common theme for us to bring up in our upcoming episodes, which we can't tell you about just yet.

But I think that, that theme is, really powerful. And it's great to see it proven to be true. And so many of these solutions and people are doing really great things with it.

[00:09:55] Adam: And also Joseph and Lisa were two very special guests at our Launch Party, which we did over at the Global Gallery Cafe. They came out and we did our first ever live podcast with the both of them.

Something that was very scary for me. Dominique was very cool and collected but it was really fun just seeing the community come together around sharing ideas for sustainability.

[00:10:17] Dominique: Yeah, and thanks to that we've been able to have so many episodes still going, and we're very grateful for all the listeners that listen to Adam and I have really cool conversations with amazing guests and we hope you're enjoying it as much as we are. 

 My second theme that I took away from this year was the ability to make progress through discomfort or confusion because I think, my two things I think that I've come away with this is how to get into the space and how to keep moving. And I just really admired some of the advice and the perspective on staying positive when things are confusing or hard or the deeper you get into an industry, you learn more and more about how much more there is to do. 

I think one of those folks is Jane Boehm. She talked about beginning her career by kind of like learning how to build a zero waste islandAnd I don't really know if she knew where she was going next, but then she just took this long road trip and kinda used that for some inspiration And she was talking about her mindset around like rural environments and kind of evaluating our food scene on her drives and then letting herself like sit with that discomfort and confusion and then find herself now in her role as a food waste administrator for a salt waste authority and the cool projects that she's going to interact with community members, bringing together all these things she's collected in her career basically. 

And. That was echoed again by Tyler Bonner, who joined us and talked about Zero Waste Event Productions. He was an AmeriCorps member. Working with Rural Action which is an organization that does a variety of work for the Appalachian community, but Tyler was specifically in charge of finding a solution to all these big events that pop up and then tear down and create a lot of waste as we all come together. And we don't wanna have less concerts, we don't wanna gather less. We're grateful for the chance to do that, but how are we making it sustainable? And Tyler has really dug into just starting. Like how did AmeriCorps member position turn into someone who could carry the baton, build a business out of it, and now he's traveling around the country helping to make sure that zero waste practices are at concerts So yeah, I just thought that was really impressive. 

[00:12:23] Adam: I love Tyler's story. Fun fact. He was an early guest on my original podcast, People Helping People back on the early days of Zero Waste Event Productions. At the time, they had just, you know, gotten some new conveyor belts that they were taking to the Nelsonville Music Festival and really rolling out some of this. So they were starting to grow beyond just their main festival and offer that. And now , he's going around, they're involved in so many events throughout the year. He's really built up a capacity for volunteers and, and organizers and having. A process in place where they can scale this out to many events.

And so there, there is that thing of like sometimes in the beginning it's really confusing and it's tough and you just play with it until you figure it out. But as you figure out something, that experience starts to compound and you start to be able to have really great impact. So some of it's starting with what you've got and pushing until you find a solution.

Yeah.

[00:13:11] Dominique: Yeah. 

And I think sustainability is a space where the more you learn, the more you realize there's room for improvement. So I think that's been really positive for me to personally hear and, and learn from these people about is how do we acknowledge progress needs to be there, but how do we run towards it and continue to do something that goes in the right direction?

It's easy, I think, to be like kind of paralyzed by that or wonder if you're working on the right thing. So I think I admire a lot of our guests who've been able to talk about the growth they've seen in the face of a challenge.

[00:13:44] Adam: Well, speaking of that growth, I think there's also the side of being able to evaluate decisions on, on how they fit into a business. So one of the big themes that stood out for me was how do you incorporate what makes business sense in terms of sustainability?

[00:13:58] Dominique: I like this theme.

[00:13:59] Adam: Well, Kevin Butt was a, a really cool guest of ours. Head of sustainability over at Toyota, came in and he does a lot of different work on the sustainability projects there. But I remember one sticking out in my mind about a facility where they were piping in water from the Colorado River over a huge, long distance, and then discarding it after it was being used and it was a lot of waste, right?

[00:14:22] Dominique: A lot of waste for a community that also really needs water.

[00:14:26] Adam: And they transformed this facility to basically be using its own water, right? So occasionally, they need to add a little bit of water, but they no longer need to pipe in tons of water into that facility. It's cleaning the water in that facility and reusing it so that it's not adding to the waste stream, going out and not consuming a lot of water. It saved them a lot of money, right? 

So sometimes they're these ways to find solutions which are financially really beneficial for a company, but also much better for the planet. And so again, I brought up Grant and this effort of recording everything for their ESG report so that they could make those decisions around what's the easiest low hanging fruit that's gonna save us money in terms of sustainability. 

But sometimes it's a little bit more than that, right? When Erin Shafer came in, she talked about at her consultancy getting around and being at a party where they were measuring their sustainability impact of everybody flying in and how they could make that better. And she started finding like-minded people in her company where they were concerned about sustainability, and they managed to turn that into an offering that they have at their consultancy for their clients. But introducing that business line meant they had to make a business case for it, they had to figure out what the need was, they had to figure out how to pitch that to people to get those projects. 

And some of that is finesse of being able to connect with other people that are gonna support you. And not just trying to push a solution but collaborate with others to come up with something that is gonna make financial sense for companies to say, yes, this work makes sense for us to do.

[00:15:51] Dominique: Definitely. And I think that's a common thread across the board that, you know, everybody who's come on Green Champions somehow has gotten their role or retained their position, or had that role created because there was business sense or a grant that was willing to put dollars behind this initiative.

So I hope our listeners also take away from that not only how have these individuals explained the value proposition behind what they're working on, which is so powerful and needed to continue this growth, but also how jobs can look different in this space and how these are roles we do need to fill and things that need to be accomplished and like, here's how we gather funding collectively to make it happen.

[00:16:31] Adam: So I think something that like makes me really excited about our listeners has been the idea of people who are looking to find their place still in the world of sustainability because there is so much need for more highly skilled people to be focused on this effort. So it's cool that we're able to showcase so many different ways to make the business case that it is there. And whatever your skillset is, there's a place for you to be part of this work. If that calls out to you. 

[00:16:57] Dominique: Hopefully you can also check out some other episodes to see who's out there doing what work and hear their stories and find them inspiring or find a way to continue the work that they're dedicated to.

[00:17:07] Adam: And I have to say, I'm very thankful to be on this journey with Dominique. It's been a lot of fun this year learning about something where I was personally concerned about, but I didn't have much context. And I feel like I have a lot more context now. But that wouldn't be possible without you tuning in and listening to us. We always love feedback. I don't know if you know this, but you can scroll down to the bottom of the show notes and there's a little link that says, send us a message and you can tell us what you like, what you enjoy, what you'd like to hear more of. 

[00:17:33] Dominique: What I'd like for Christmas is to hear what you think.

[00:17:37] Adam: 

[00:17:37] Dominique: Let us know what you've enjoyed hearing, what you'd love to hear more of. Is there a sustainability field we have not scratched the surface of yet? Do you know a sustainability champion that would be an amazing storyteller to chat with us. Do you think that we didn't dig deep enough into a certain topic? And you still have questions? Nothing's off the table. Even a hello lets us know that you're there. 

And thank you Adam for making this possible. Without your podcast aficionado skills, we would not be here on episode 40 And this has been very fun and very fulfilling to have these conversations and I'm very grateful that we've been able to do this with so many people. It's a very interesting collective effort.

[00:18:16] Adam: I really appreciate having you in the room for all these conversations of really having the context of what needs to be asked and what these conversations can be framed around in order to get the most useful information. 

I'm also really excited for next year.

[00:18:28] Dominique: We have some fun things coming in the pipeline and you'll hear them very soon.

As always, Green Champions bring together people who've championed sustainability. We will continue to put real names and stories behind the idea that no matter your background, career, or interests, you really can contribute in the fight against climate change.

[00:18:46] Adam: You can find our episodes at thegreenchampions.com. If you want to stay in the loop, give us a review and follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Also, send us a message. If you have questions about climate change or sustainability. You can reach us on our website through thegreenchampions.com.

Our music is by Zane Dweik. Thanks for listening to Green Champions. We'll dig into another sustainability success story in our next episode.

[00:19:07] Dominique: Happy holidays. 

[00:19:08] Adam: Happy holidays.

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