I sat down with Federico Baroni to talk about WALTIC watches, how coffee shops could recycle better and why using recycled bags is the most important part of the watches design. WALTIC is the first wristwatch ever made of recycled plastic bags. It's casing is made of recycled plastic (100% from plastic bags, LDPE). Federico, being a sailor saw all the plastic floating around the world and decided to do something. WALTIC started retrieving plastic bags from polluted rivers in Córdoba, Argentina, recycling it, keeping it away from rivers and nature. Go check out their kickstarter that ends on Ma ..read more

Jessica Karr consults with start-ups focusing on product, biotechnology, and impact strategy. As the number twelve employee of Impossible Foods, she has been part of the plant-based and clean meat revolution from the start. In her role for 6+ years in R&D at Impossible Foods, she contributed to designing and launching the Impossible burger by integrating consumer insights with technical understanding of flavor chemistry, sensory data, and protein biochemistry. Through her consulting work, she has engaged start-ups locally and internationally to launch new plant-based food products by build ..read more

Lost Pines Yaupon may be the cure we are all looking for when it comes to the coronavirus. That and a healthy lifestyle. I sat down with Jason and Heidi, the founders of Lost Pines Yaupon Tea. Years ago Jason went down an internet rabbit hole about a fascinating little plant, the yaupon holly. He learned about the long history of Native Americans roasting the yaupon leaves and using it as an energizing drink. Jason spent years experimenting with different methods of harvesting, curing and roasting yaupon until he came up with the methods being used today to make the best yaupon tea around. Che ..read more

Norman Crowley may be the Elon Musk of Europe. I don't know anything more on brand than talking to Norman Crowley, CEO of Cool Planet Group. When I first met with Norman, we talked about his newest company Electrifii. The company converts classic luxury cars like Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin into high performance electric cars using Tesla components. Boasting a performance specification on par with a Formula 1 racing car, these electrified cars can hit speeds of 0 to 60mph in under 2 seconds and deliver a driving range of 600km. Electrifii makes sense when the other companies in Cool ..read more

The Nerdwallet for sustainability, Finch started out as an informational website, studying different areas of consumer goods and making recommendations. Lizzie Horvitz, CEO of FINCH Insights, has been passionate about sustainability since the age of 16 when she lived off the grid. It was there that, depending only on wind energy and rainwater, she saw the solution of climate change before fully understanding the problem. Lizzie has taken those early beginnings and created a really powerful browser extension that works with Amazon to educate consumers on their purchasing choices. Browser extens ..read more

There is nowhere on earth Erica Ferencik won’t go to take you out of your head and into the great wild world. An award-winning novelist, Ferencik writes adventure novels featuring women who brave not only internal struggles but face extreme challenges in their environment: remote forests, steaming jungles, and desolated icescapes. GIRL IN ICE is truly a fantastic story that is compelling, chilling and addicting in the best way. Even though the events of the story are fiction, you can identify with the characters emotions rooted in family, loyalty, fear and love. Erica was raised in the wilds o ..read more

Summer is officially here and so is travel. Something you might see or use out and about are single use utensils. Newlight Technologies is revolutionizing typically wasteful products and materials. Please welcome CEO and Co-Founder, Mark Herrema, on the Make Climate Cool Again Podcast.   Mark has spent the last 15 years developing a revolutionary new biomaterial called AirCarbon. By feeding greenhouse gasses to microorganisms found in the ocean, Newlight is able to extract AirCarbon and use it to replace plastic, leather, acetate and other fibers. Naturally regenerative and carbon-ne ..read more

Warby Parker is known as one of the OG social impact companies. But how are they reallllly doing? What does their report say? Are they misleading consumers or are they actually a good company. I was actually surprised at the significant amount of data that Warby had and could share. Not only did they share data from 2021 but also over the past five years so you could track progress. There were points where you noticed Warby Parker had to backtrack due to the COVID pandemic but I do think they tried to make up for it in other areas. I would say the biggest learning opportunities for other compa ..read more

Can you guess the number one thing that makes sustainability professionals feel like hypocrites? It's travel! In fact, I tell all of my podcast guests that they aren't allowed to use that answer to my classic question. But @goodwingstravel is changing all of that. Christian Møller-Holst is the CEO and founder of Goodwings. When you book a hotel with Goodwings, they calculate the carbon spend of your full trip. Yes, that includes your burger, and the plane trip you booked elsewhere. You simply fill out your chosen method of transportation, and they do the rest. Seems a little too easy?? But I'l ..read more

I need a coffee and a new glasses prescription after reviewing Jetblue's long 2019/2020 ESG report in size 5 font. BUT I think what was most interesting to me was how Jetblue is preparing for the future by assessing their climate risks and opportunities. Also I had no idea that they were the first carbon neutral airline (for domestic flights) in the US. Jetblue also alludes to a medium term timeline for carbon pricing or a carbon tax. That's a big hint for all of us of what could be coming down the pipeline. Pun intended. There is some really great data throughout the report and highly organiz ..read more