Green Sense Radio

Do green issues transcend red and blue?

President Biden began his term nearly a year ago facing massive environmental and public health challenges. One year in, how has his administration fared when it comes to the big environmental issues - especially ones that don’t get much media coverage?  

This week we’re joined by Lisa Frank with Environment America Research & Policy Center to look at how the current administration is tackling environmental challenges such as climate change, pollution, energy policy, and more. 

A straw house the big bad wolf can’t blow down!

This week we spoke with Anthony Dente, principal engineer, Verdant Structural Engineers 

to discuss sustainable building material such as straw, bamboo, hemp, and cob as novel new green building materials.  We review the benefits and limitations and talk about projects in which straw has been used to construct residential and low-rise commercial buildings.

An Economic Solution to Reclaiming Plastic Ocean Waste!

Eight million metric tons of plastic waste end up in our oceans each year. This week we spoke to Patrick Simpson of PKS consulting, who is working to launch a Mobile Plastic Ocean Waste Recycler pilot system in Alaska coastal communities. Listen to the full episode and learn how this system collects plastic in the oceans and turns it into usable plastic building materials, creating an economic driver for ocean cleanup.

‘Cool people helping other cool people to accelerate start-ups.

It’s a new year and you’re ready for change – it’s finally time to trade that paycheck for a dream. But how do you start your startup and make the world more sustainable? Gener8tor is a nationally ranked accelerator program that brings together founders, investors, corporations, job seekers, universities, musicians and artists. This week we spoke with Ryan Jeffery, Managing Director of the newly launched Sustainability Accelerator to discuss how Gener8tor is launching a new program to accelerate investing in sustainability and climate tech startups. He talks about the program and how you can be one of the five winners picked to enter the program- the reward a $100,000 investment.

WILL TECHNOLOGY BRING ORDER TO CHAOS AND CREATE A BRIGHTER FUTURE?

It’s easy to be negative these days as the media bombards us with news about the ongoing pandemic, inflation, kinks in the supply chain, a dysfunctional government compounded by a waterfall of negative social media that can make the future feel hopeless.  But what if, technology and innovation can turn all that negativity into innovation that make life better for us all?

Practical Futurist Michael Rogers has been tracking trends in technology for decades. He's a speaker, moderator, panelist, author, journalist, not to mention the New York Times futurist in residence.  Michael shares his optimistic insight into how technology will make a better life better.

2021 - The Year of the EV!

This week we sat down with Tom Appel, publisher of Consumer Guide automotive for a look back on this year’s top automotive news. This included a discussion on Charge anxiety, EV price hurdles, Toyota’s $70 B investment in EVs and why Elon Musk is Times person of the year.

Can AI technology help solve the food waste problem?

Commercial food production and food waste are responsible for one-third of greenhouse gasses. This week we spoke with Rian McDonnell, CEO of FloWaste, a technology startup that is determined to address the business, environmental and ethical issues of food waste. FloWaste uses AI that includes a camera-driven, machine learning system that tracks how food is being wasted - and how it can be reduced.

Gaming Climate Change?

If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that video games are more popular than ever. With millions of games available and players at every age it brings up the question, how can we share important messaging through these games? This week we spoke with Earthshot’s Co-founder and President Mark Bernstein to discuss the company’s new development of video games that are inspiring climate change. 

Good COP, Bad COP!

Now that the dust has settled, and the UN COP 26 climate summit is over we sat down with Washington Post Climate Solutions Reporter, Michael Birnbaum to discuss his thoughts on this year’s summit. Birnbaum gave us his first-hand account of the good and bad that occurred at the 26 international summits to address climate change in Glasgow Scotland. 

Climate Change - Is it up to the younger generations to make the change?

This week host Robert Colangelo spoke with Susannah Miller, Head of Science at the International School of Indiana. Inspired by this crop of young adults and their concern for people and the planet, we spoke about the student’s passion for the environment and how it inspires Susannah to incorporate science lessons into the classroom. Robert also spoke with three students from Miller’s class to get their thoughts on climate change, sustainability, and the future of our planet.