Go Green Radio

Alan Bell was a star prosecutor for mob trials in Florida in the 80's. When he began getting severely ill many believed he was being poisoned by the mob. It turned out that that it was exposure to hidden toxic chemicals in his office building that made him so sick that he was forced to spend nearly a decade living in a sterile “bubble” in the remote Arizona desert. When his health improved, he teamed up with other lawyers (including those featured in the films Erin Brockovich and A Civil Action) to avenge hundreds of environmental victims in court. Bell discovered that his plight was just the tip of the iceberg. Millions of people get sick and die each year because of toxic chemical exposures—without knowing they're at risk. His new book offers a view of one of the most important global health issues of our time. Robert F Kennedy Jr. called the book: “a riveting memoir with serious health implications for us all”.

Growing your own food, even in a small space, is now much easier thanks to GrowOya. Their porous clay irrigation vessels are an ingenious, modern method of watering your garden borrowed from the ancient wisdom of South America. Tune in to learn how these water-saving devices can be used year after year, and are revolutionizing the access to healthy, local food – even in drought areas. Our guests today are Brant Cheetham, co-founder of GrowOya, and Justin Cutter, with the Compass Green Project, who uses Oyas in school gardens.

In his new book, Paul D. Blanc, M.D., outlines the century-long history of “fake silk,” or cellulose viscose, used to produce such products as rayon textiles and tires, cellophane, and everyday kitchen sponges. He explores the export of hazardous manufacturing to developing countries, and the current “greenwashing” of viscose as an eco-friendly product. He describes the poisonous materials and environmental abuses involved in the manufacturing process, and the grave impact it has on human health. Deeply researched and boldly presented, Dr. Blanc’s book brings to light an industrial hazard whose egregious history ranks with those of asbestos, lead, and mercury.

Just this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued advice regarding fish consumption which is geared toward helping women who are pregnant or may become pregnant – as well as breastfeeding mothers and parents of young children – make informed choices when it comes to fish that are healthy and safe to eat. Our guest today is Sean Wittenberg, President and Founder of Safe Catch, Inc. We will discuss the health benefits of eating low-mercury fish, how to ensure the fish you eat is safe, and the unique way that Safe Catch delivers its products to consumers.

SwiftMile is tackling the first and last mile problem in transportation. Fifty percent (50%) of most auto trips are less than three miles, and thirty percent (30%) are less than one mile. This leads to traffic, smog, and congestion in urban environments on a global scale. Swiftmile is creating a network of solar powered eBike hubs for first/last mile commuters. Users can locate and rent an eBike or eScooter with the tap of our Swiftapp at a solar powered Swiftstations, then use to it to get across town or for a quick trip, then return at the same location or another one on the network. Our guest today is SwiftMile founder and CEO, Colin Roche.

As the world’s population continues to grow, the demand for increased amounts of food strains our soil and the ecosystems juxtaposed to agricultural sites. International NGO, Rare, and its partners have just announced the launch of a global competition, Solution Search. The contest is open to any organization that has an innovative solution in sustainable farming, while promoting behaviors that strengthen biodiversity across the agricultural sector. Examples of potential entries include: sustainable land use management that integrates the consideration of biodiversity and ecosystems; alternative pest control practices that reduce toxic run-off into local water sources; organic farming methods that increase soil biodiversity (or other species); livestock control measures that protect local flora and fauna; and innovative approaches that reduce human-animal conflicts in agricultural zones. Tune in as we learn more from Rare CEO, Brett Jenks.

California’s primary clean water supply, upon which 25 million people depend, is out of date, unreliable and inefficient. California’s largest supply of clean water is dependent on 50-year-old levees. Earthquakes, floods and rising sea levels could cause these levees to fail, putting the fresh water supply at risk from saltwater contamination. The current system is inefficient and cannot adequately capture and store water when it is available. The state is losing fresh water that could be used by farms, businesses and communities. Without an update to the water infrastructure, the environment and the state’s economy are at risk. Tune in today as we talk with Jeffrey Kightlinger, the General Manager of Metropolitan Water District, and Erin Mellon, Communications and Outreach Advisor at the California Natural Resources Agency.

As the temperature plummets, homeowners will crank up the heat to keep warm and toasty - quickly burning through money and energy. In fact, home heating uses more energy and costs more money than any other system in your home, typically making up nearly half of your utility bill. So, what is the best way to keep the cold out, the heat in, and your energy bill low? Tune in as we talk with Tom Carney, Fujitsu General America and 30-year HVAC professional, who will educate us on the various home heating options available today and tips on how to choose the one that’s best for you and your family.

Globally, 1.2 billion people do not have access to clean water. Another 2.7 billion lose access to clean water for at least one month a year. The world’s water problems are getting worse, not better. But teams of scientists working to reverse the trends are nearing breakthroughs and raising hope that water borne disease, poisons buried in sediment, deadly floods, erosion, and environmental stress on water sources will be mitigated and/or diminished. On Wednesday, November 2nd UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon awarded eight leading researchers the 7th Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water in recognition of innovations and inventions they have developed to address the world’s urgent water problems. Today we will speak with four of the award winners: Dr. Shafiqul Islam from Tufts University; Dr. Gary Parker of the University of Illinois; Dr. Peter Webster of the Georgia Institute of Technology; and Dr. Dr. Tissa H. Illangasekare of the Colorado School of Mines.

Sustainable Minds® has just launched a catalog of products that meet the most rigorous environmental and material health reporting standards in the building industry. The catalog is free to building professionals – architects, engineers, and construction – who would otherwise spend hundreds of hours searching for products that qualify for LEED v4, Green Globes, the Well Building Standard and the Living Building Challenge. For manufacturers who have made the commitment to product transparency, the Transparency Catalog™ provides a way to market their products, and presents their information in a simple, standardized and consistent way. Tune in as we talk with Sustainable Minds® CEO, Terry Swack, about how this new catalog will transform the green, healthy building movement, and how it could affect everyday people in their offices, homes and schools.

October is National Energy Awareness Month! Studies show that seventy-four percent of Americans support efforts to protect the environment: hence, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2016's Greenest Cities in America. To determine which cities promote an environmentally friendly lifestyle, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 100 largest cities across 20 key indicators of sustainability, ranging from 'greenhouse-gas emissions per capita' to 'number of smart-energy policies and initiatives.' Today we will talk with analyst, Jill Gonzalez, who will discuss the criteria and results of the report on America’s Greenest Cities.

The loss of the grid would not have been a threat 100 years ago because the population of the country was only about 76 million people. At that time, the production of food was not yet dependent on electrical power, and few homes were entirely electric. Today the population of the United States is about 325 million people, and we rely on a reliable source of electrical power for food production, clean drinking water, sanitation, medical care, and so much more. Today we will talk with Benjamin Dancer, author of a new book, Patriarch Run, and member of the Colorado EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security. We will discuss some of the vulnerabilities of our modern power grid, and how renewable energy sources and distributed generation could help strengthen the resilience of our grid.

Bad food laws are handcuffing America’s most sustainable farmers, producers, sellers, and consumers, while rewarding those whose practices are contributing to the food industry’s biggest problems, according to food lawyer and scholar Baylen J. Linnekin, author of Biting the Hands that Feed Us: How Fewer, Smarter Laws Would Make Our Food System More Sustainable. Linnekin acknowledges the importance of laws that keep people—and the environment—safe. He offers policy recommendations for some well-intentioned but misguided food laws—like the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Others—like farm subsidies and rigid standards of identity—he proposes eliminating altogether. Tune in as we talk to Linnekin about sensible public policy that will improve food safety, eliminate waste, and address hunger.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, commercial buildings have high energy needs and can put great strain on the nation's power grids during peak periods. Developing more efficient buildings helps ensure a steady supply of affordable power and significantly lowers operating costs for businesses, schools, hospitals, and more. Creating an energy efficient building begins with monitoring and managing the building’s energy consumption. Today we will talk with the CEO of InTech Energy, Ashish Goel, and his team about their new cloud-based affordable energy management system.

Offering insights and guidance from prominent academics and journalists, The Good Crisis: How Population Stabilization Can Foster a Healthy U.S. Economy -Population Connection: 2016- takes on one of today’s most pressing challenges: keeping our aging population healthy, productive, and prepared for today’s technologically-focused jobs. At the same time, today’s youth must be prepared for productive futures through education, skills training, and delayed parenthood. Dispelling anxieties about the impact of slowing population growth on Social Security, commerce, and society, this collection of essays presents innovative and practical solutions to issues from labor shortages to fossil fuel dependence. Backed by extensive research and real-world examples, The Good Crisis presents a path to a more productive, sustainable world. Tune in as we talk with John Seager, one of the book’s authors and President and CEO of Population Connection.

The modern day Edisons have done their job. We need not wait any longer. We are poised to wake up to a world running completely on renewable energy. Waiting any longer is like saying we shouldn’t have used the personal computer in 1985 until the smartphone was invented. In their new book, “All-Electric America,” authors S. DAVID FREEMAN, former utility CEO, and LEAH Y PARKS, a journalist in the electricity industry, explain how making the transition to an all-electric, all renewable society by the year 2050 is necessary, practical, and achievable. An energy infrastructure powered by the sun and wind and running on electricity, for all our energy needs, will be reliable, cleaner, safer, and CHEAPER. It will be superior to the system we have today and will lead to a better future.

For those who eat animal products, there is a growing demand for assurances that the animals are treated humanely. Packaging for products like eggs, milk, cheese and meat are replete with phrases like, 'free range,' 'cage free,' and 'pasture fed.' But consumers who do their homework soon learn that those phrases may not mean what we envision, and may not ensure that the animals producing our food are well cared for. Today we’ll be joined by Andrew Gunther of the Animal Welfare Approved -AWA- certification program, whose food labeling standards have been named by Consumer Reports as the only 'highly meaningful' food label for farm animal welfare, outdoor access and sustainability. AWA is an independent, nonprofit farm certification program--and one of the nation's Top 5 fastest growing food label claims. We will also be joined by Sarah Hoffman, founder of Green Dirt Farm, MO who will give us the farmer’s perspective on what it means to enact and maintain the standards of AWA.

Today we’ll be joined by Hip Hop Caucus President and CEO Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. to discuss his work for climate justice and a new partnership with the 100 percent Campaign to support access to clean, affordable energy for all. Rev. Yearwood is known as one of the most influential people in Hip Hop political life. He works tirelessly to encourage the Hip Hop generation to utilize its political and social voice. A national leader and pacemaker within the green movement, Rev. Yearwood has been successfully bridging the gap between communities of color and environmental issue advocacy for the past four years. With a diverse set of celebrity allies, Rev Yearwood raises awareness and action in communities that are often overlooked by traditional environmental campaigns.

Steve Jurovics’ new book HOSPITABLE PLANET: FAITH, ACTION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE provides a biblically-based case for climate change as a religious/spiritual issue as well as an environmental one; discusses 10 measures to mitigate it, and advocates an environmental rights movement, akin to the civil rights movement, to push for change. Steve holds BS and MS degrees from Columbia University and a PhD in Engineering from the University of Southern California. He has had about 20 technical papers published over the years and given numerous presentations at professional conferences. Aspects of climate change mitigation have been the focus of his engineering work for more than two decades. The increasing severity of environmental problems led him, out of spiritual curiosity, to research the environmental teachings in the Bible. Tune in as with talk with Steve about his new book!

Recently, the CDC released new guidelines in the fight to prevent Legionnaires' disease. With recent outbreaks of Legionnaire's throughout the country in Flint, Michigan and Bronx, NY, the maintenance of a building's water system is more important than ever. The guidelines are a huge step forward to help building owners control Legionella bacteria once it has entered their buildings from the public water supply and help prevent uncontrollable deaths from the disease. Today we will speak with Tonya Winders, President and CEO of the Allergy & Asthma Network, the leading nonprofit patient education and advocacy organization for people with asthma, allergies and related conditions. We will discuss what Legionnaires' disease is; why the Allergy & Asthma Network supports the new guidelines; how Legionnaires' disease can cause asthma and respiratory problems; and the importance of being aware of the disease to prevent hundreds of deaths each year.