Once Upon a Planet

Ginger Krieg Dosier is the co-founder and CEO of Biomason - and they have a goal to help save our Earth, one brick at a time. Taking inspiration from marine ecosystems, Biomason aims to eliminate the need to emit carbon to produce building materials - developing a way to grow cement bricks and tiles with bacteria in order to replace traditional cement, the production of which, she says, generates more carbon dioxide than all but two countries, China and the United States. Ginger Krieg Dosier and the Biomason team have a BIG goal and disrupting a billion-dollar building materials industry won't be easy, but it's a goal that's worthy of their efforts because as she says "the planet doesn't have time to wait." Learn more about Ginger Krieg Dosier and Biomason: https://biomason.com/ Break Some Dishes is an Imagine a Place Production, presented by OFS: https://ofs.com/imagine-a-place See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guest today is Jeff Frost - he's a material specialist with Brightworks Sustainability and co-founder of mindful MATERIALS collaborative; an industry-led initiative to make it easier for building professionals to select products with health and environmental attributes. Jeff is recognized as a national subject matter expert on how building material choices affect human health, climate change, and the environment. In today's episode, we learn from Jeff how healthier materials are a pathway to a healthier planet...and a healthier YOU. Get to know Jeff Frost and Brightworks Sustainability: https://brightworks.net/people/jeff-frost/ Learn more about the Mindful MATERIALS mission: https://www.mindfulmaterials.com/ Break Some Dishes is an Imagine a Place Production, presented by OFS: https://ofs.com/imagine-a-place See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, we welcome the Founder & CEO of Humanscale, Bob King. During our discussion, Bob reveals how combining sustainable principles with business acumen has led to industry-leading success. We also explore the problems, complexity, and difficult decisions required to create true progress in sustainability as a manufacturer - including the urgent need for all manufacturers to adopt material transparency and eradicate the use of harmful ingredients...all in an effort to ensure a healthier planet for the future. To learn more Humanscale, please visit: https://www.humanscale.com/ Break Some Dishes is an Imagine a Place Production, presented by OFS: https://ofs.com/imagine-a-place See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Porter Fox, author of "The Last Winter,” trekked the world to tell the story of what he’s seen firsthand — a winter that’s shrinking. Fox is a lifelong skier, so he has a personal interest in cold, snowy weather. But less winter and less snow doesn’t only mean less skiing; it could also spell the end of the natural world as we know it. In today's episode, Porter Fox explains what he learned by crisscrossing the globe with scientists and adventurers to better understand the scale of this climate catastrophe and how humans might yet have time to respond. Visit the link below to learn more about Porter Fox and pick up your copy of "The Last Winter." https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/porter-fox/the-last-winter/9780316460934/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Season 3 of Break Some Dishes is here and we are so excited to be back! In today's episode, we take look into our crystal ball to see what 2022 has in store in the world of sustainability. We also preview our lineup of incredible guests, as we go deep with people who are trying to upend the status quo and find solutions for our planet. But that's not all - we are also BREAKING some news today too! We're so excited to announce that Break Some Dishes is now part of Imagine a Place Productions! Through this new partnership with Imagine a Place, Break Some Dishes will be part of an amazing podcast network dedicated to gathering industry-leading voices that have the power to inspire and educate through conversation and storytelling. This new podcast network is a culmination of inspiring content centered on issues that are important within our industries, but also globally, and we’re so glad that OFS shares our passion for a healthy planet and wants to propel these efforts forward. Listen to our interview with Doug Shapiro, host of the Imagine a Place Podcast, to learn more about this new partnership and what's ahead for Break Some Dishes. It's going to be a fun year and we look forward to you joining us! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Verda and Jon gather up some of their favorite people for a fun presentation at NeoCon, a big furniture/interior design show. These guests represent some of our favorite episodes over the past year, and we had a blast putting them all together in the same room - like a fun, amazing person stew! Listen to this group talk about design through a lens of climate change and unique design perspectives. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Are we filling our landfills with furniture? We are so accustomed to buying cheap furniture because it's easy and accessible, but why aren't we investing in pieces that will last our lifetime and get passed down to the next generation? Should we treat furniture like art, or family heirlooms meant to be passed on, each piece carrying its own recorded history of ownership? Dave Bryant and Judd Rosengart think so, and so do we! Judd and Dave are founders of an amazing concept called Heirloom Design. They want to create a movement that recognizes beautiful design and keeps it out of landfills. Better yet, they want to preserve the legacy of each piece for the next owner, creating a family tree of ownership that will be forever preserved with the piece. We love this idea, so please tune in and break some dishes with Heirloom Design! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Finally, the interior design profession has come together and created an amazing pledge to impact climate change! This is long overdue, as the potential for interior designers in every segment of the industry is huge! Listen in as Jon and Verda talk with Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief of Metropolis Magazine and Gary Wheeler, CEO of ASID as they explain what they want to achieve with this pledge. We are excited, as we see this as a perfect first step to activate our industry to impact change and provide the infrastructure and resources to support everyone in this effort. The interior Design Profession can make a massive impact on climate change, and we are taking a monumental first step!!! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Jon and Verda talk with Annie Bevan, Executive Director of Mindful Materials. We are all affected by the materials in our built environment. Can Mindful Materials finally be the "Easy Button" to understanding what we're putting in our spaces? Annie thinks so! Mindful Materials is industry owned and led and really wants to be a resource for all designers out there. We need manufacturers to be transparent and work to optimize impacts by reducing harmful effects of product ingredients. Let's start rewarding the manufacturers who are reducing their impacts. Transparency doesn't mean better, it means you understand. We need manufacturers to start working on reducing toxic chemistry! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jon and Verda join Jane Abernethy and Annie Bevan in talking about material transparency on a panel with our host, Mortarr CEO Abby Murray. Jane Abernethy is Chief Sustainability Officer for Humanscale and Annie Bevan is the Executive Director of Mindful Materials. Who better to talk about material transparency than these two? Are we paying attention to what goes into product? Some of us are, but many companies still do not know what their suppliers are using in their product. Should we be sitting on furniture and carpet made with mysterious combinations of ingredients? Are we fixing the chemistry of making things? If you don't know about Mortarr, they are breaking a few dishes as well! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode of Break Some Dishes finds Verda and Jon talking to an amazing activist by the name of Auden Schendler. Auden has been the Vice President of Sustainability at Aspen Ski Company for over 20 years, and his voice carries an amazing message, actually more than one. We love Auden because he truly offers a unique perspective on tackling climate change. While he began speaking primarily about impacting climate change in a corporate setting, Auden speaks with us about "Corporate Complicity". What are corporations REALLY doing to affect climate change? Are they really doing enough? Are they really just transferring the blame to us? Hey...as Auden said, we didn't wake up today and decide we absolutely had to drive a vehicle that consumes fossil fuels. Auden brings a fresh perspective about rolling up our sleeves and jumping in the trenches to get stuff done! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jon and Verda talk with Joey Roth about more than just coffee. Joey is an industrial designer who is focused on vessels, crafted from materials that get better with age. Joey wants to design product that people want to fix rather than replace. How long will it last? How long will it be valuable to us? These are important questions. Joey designs better coffee pods that will compost, not sit in landfills. Joey is trying to incorporate positive change in ritualistic behavior, and Verda wants him to address friction in these special moments. Can Joey do it? Tune in and see!! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jon and Verda talk to a textile designer!! Finally, we get to break dishes with Lori Weitzner, renowned textile designer and environmental activist. Lori introduces us to the idea of "cultural sustainability". How can we preserve the old way of making things while bringing it to scale to serve our industry? Lori tells us to understand what is in abundance, and focusing on that material. She's worked all over the globe, and even activated a small village in the Philippines to apply their craft to textiles, and bring that back to their community. This is social activism at it's finest! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode's special guest is Greg Norris. Currently Chief Scientist for the International Living Future Institute and Director of the Sustainability and Health Initiative for Net Positive Enterprise at MIT, Greg Norris is one of the top LCA experts in the country. Amongst his most impressive projects is the creation of "Hand-Printing", where it's not just about choosing to be less bad, but trying to make things better by fixing what we've broken. While we all would love to do this, Greg's program allows large organizations to actually measure their positive impact. Imagine that! Greg has an amazing way of understanding our impact on the planet, and we think you'll love the way he connects! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Verda and Jon talk to Marcus Erikson an ex Marine and scientist on a journey to understand what happens with all of our plastic. He has tracked it down the Mississippi, to the world's oceans and finally, into the desert, where it is killing camels. Our plastic trash is everywhere, literally. Join us as we talk with someone who is passionate about exposing it's whereabouts. One part depressing, one part fascinating and one part inspirational, this scientist is going to continue to blow the lid off our plastic problem! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a departure from our usual science lased, data based episodes, where we chat with environmental engineers, scientists and deep subject matter experts, today we get to chat with one of our own kind! Doug Shapiro, Vice President of Research and Insights at OFS will share his own personal insights and those of OFS. Join us in learning how a company like OFS, who makes furniture, can create harmony outside, a wonderful community and beautiful furniture. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jason McLennan started the International Living Future Institute. He created the Living Building Challenge, followed by the Living Product Challenge, the Living Community Challenge, The Red List, and the Declare Label just to name a few. Oh, and he also has written 7 books, but otherwise he's a bit of a couch potato and needs goals. When he's not creating new green standards, he's running his own architectural firm, McLennan Design, and when he's not doing that, he's breaking dishes with us! And we found out he's pretty damn good at breaking things!! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Todd Bracher and Tina Cheng are industrial designers in Todd Bracher Studio, but they are so much more than that. They are design strategists, game changers and innovators, and they challenge clients to break some damn dishes. With a multi-disciplinary team, they bring science to design. They are philosophic and thoughtful as well, and their science is not without poetry and art. Todd tells us that a tree is truthful design. It is part of it's eco system. A car or a table are opinions, and we tend to agree. Todd and Tina are in search of truthful design and they may have found it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brian Kelly wants to preserve the legacy of our trees. He is a photographer and archivist. Maybe even a tree whisperer? These silent sentinels are hundreds and even thousands of years old and are dying faster than ever before due to human activity and climate change. He is trying to capture their essence as quickly as he can before they are gone. Their legacy is what Gathering Growth, his foundation, plans to leave our children. Photographs of once great trees. We talked to Brian about the wisdom that trees bring to our everyday life. So, the next time you walk outside, don't forget to look up. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Petrice Jones is a successful actor. In fact, we would say he's officially "made it" in Hollywood. So, now he only needs to sit back and watch the money roll in, right? But Petrice is not that kind of actor. He's an activist, so when he saw something, he did something. Petrice noticed the pile of plastic water bottles that accumulated on set while he worked. So, he set out to change the industry by creating a re-usable water bottle that could be handed out on sets, instead of plastic ones. But why save the movie industry when you can save the planet? So, Petrice Jones started The One Movement. Every One Bottle purchased removes 44lb/20kg of low-grade ocean waste (equivalent to 2,000 single-use plastic bottles) and converts it into the raw materials needed to create a house, which he then builds. These are donated to the homeless waste collectors who clean up our waterways. So, not only does One Movement try to provide an alternative to plastic water bottles, it actually is removing ocean waste and impacting the social issues it causes. Wow. You'll love Petrice. We did. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Molly Morse is CEO of Mango Materials. She's also an engineer with a PhD. Wanna guess what she's up to? Get a load of Molly- she's making a biodegradable plastic! That's right...a plastic that doesn't last forever in our environment and wind up in our oceans. And as if that isn't amazing enough, she makes it with methane, a greenhouse gas that is even worse than carbon! That's right, she's taking methane out of our environment while she's making a biodegradable plastic. Interested yet? Tune in to episode 16 to hear Molly break some damn dishes. She's a badass. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Algae can be a good thing. It produces more oxygen and captures more carbon than all the forests in the world combined. A rise in global temperatures, excess nutrient runoff and human activities create harmful effects of algae blooms which pop up everywhere as a visible reminder to the invisible issue of water pollution. Enter this episode's resident hero, Ryan Hunt. Ryan's company Bloom, makes foam from this algae and is currently working with over 80 brand partners. By the end of 2020 his company had cleaned over 850 million liters of water and 524 million cubic meters of air. Maybe algae blooms aren't such a bad thing after all? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bryan and Rebecca Pape are co-founders of MIIR, a design forward and generosity driven drinkware company with a social and environmental mission. A certified B Corp and 1% for the planet member, MIIR choses people and planet over the demands of Wall Street. What does that mean? Since 2010, they have partnered with some of the most respected nonprofits in the world to fund long term, sustainable projects in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector. Their coffee mugs and water bottles are beautifully designed and have a social impact! They don't just look good on your counter, they're saving our planet!! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Verda is excited to finally talk with someone in the art world! Air Copeland is a surfer, an award winning indie writer, producer and director. He's also worked at 5gyers , an institute focused on ocean plastic pollution. He's now Executive Director at Compound, a community art center in Long Beach, California. He will talk about the power of art to create change and build community. Art has the power to impact the way we see the world, break some dishes and pose the tough questions we need to be asking right now as we face today's challenges to the wellness of our people and planet. Jon might chime in if he's feeling feisty! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In today's episode, Jon and Verda talk with Royce Epstein, with Mohawk Group and Rebekah Matheny, of The Ohio State University. Rebekah is our first educator, and they are educating the new student generation about the value of Life Cycle Focus. Generation Scrap, as they've been dubbed, is teaching us how to design resourcefully. This just may be one of the solutions we need to combat the climate crisis. What sort of treasures can a designer make from materials about to hit the landfill? Rebekah calls this Holistic Sustainability and she wants to spread the word. They're a scrappy duo! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Scott Fulbright, founder of Living Ink, has harnessed algae, a byproduct of water pollution, to replace ink made from fossil fuels. The ink isn't green though, it's carbon black and he's solving the climate crisis one algae bloom at a time. This green goop provides us with over half of our oxygen supply and pulls carbon from the air, so why not make ink out of it? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amanda Kaminski, founder of Building Product Ecosystems shows us how to maintain a circular economy by giving a new life to hard to salvage building materials like gypsum board. Amanda keeps these hugely prevalent construction materials out of our landfills in an effort to curb the carbon footprint of a building. Concrete has one of the highest carbon footprints of any building material. Amanda is working hard to change this! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our dynamic duo, in an effort to stave off climate catastrophe, decided to celebrate their tenth episode by re-visiting why they think podcasting is important now-why you shouldn't be afraid to shout at the world and say what you feel. We aren't perfect at this right now, but you can't be afraid of mistakes or failure if you want to make an impact. The planet still needs advocates and we think the design industry will be a huge lever in climate control. The problem? Are designers making the changes right now that need to be made? More importantly, is everyone on board? Because if every single designer is not putting the planet first in making climate decisions, then we are far from fixing things. We think we can find some unique voices that have not been heard in our industry. We think we can find stories that will inspire change. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join us as we talk with Russell Greenberg, founder of RUX Studios. They are a design hub looking to create a better world, one company at a time. With Stickbulb, they are using locally sourced wood from New York City's water towers to create beautiful light fixtures and fix the broken supply chain. Reclaimed wood is a relic! They are also creating conceptual time pieces that deepen our connection with the past, the present and the future. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jon and Verda break some dishes in episode 8 with Josie Abate, Sustainability Officer at Keilhauer, a gentle, earth kind Canadian furniture company that can design and manufacture elegant, contemporary carbon neutral furniture. What? A carbon neutral chair? You heard that correctly, so tune in to find out how a company like Keilhauer makes beautiful product that helps our planet as well. We'll talk about supply line management, picking good partners and finding ways of removing Red List ingredients from product. Who needs edge banding anyway? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Verda and Jon have a bright, young and energetic person on this episode who's doing some amazing work around the globe right now. Can we break him down? Can he melt our brains with chemistry formulas we haven't thought about since our high school chemistry days? The answer to one of those questions is yes, but there are many more in this episode that go into the new super fuel of the environmental movement-Green Ammonia. This is going to change the way we fuel our ocean fleets. Green Ammonia is a game changer. Why aren't we all talking about this? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In our sixth episode, Jon and Verda talk with Lisa Conway, VP of Sustainability for Interface Carpet. Interface, under the leadership of founder Ray Anderson, has led the way in the conversation around embodied carbon. With a new campaign called "Love Carbon", Interface is talking about being carbon neutral and even carbon negative! Can we all start making and using products that take carbon out of the environment? Interface seems to think so! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Stop sucking with The Lonely Whale Foundation! Jon and Verda get to talk to Dune Ives, NGO trailblazer and CEO of The Lonely Whale Foundation about individual action and corporate responsibility. She walks us through the "Stop Sucking" and "Hydrate Like a Mother" campaigns. We'll talk about hero corporations and her work with The Next Wave initiative. And of course, we'll make Dune tell us the story of "The Lonely Whale". See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Break some damn dishes on this episode with Jon, Verda and Chad Nelsen, CEO of Surfrider Foundation. We'll talk about the power that surf communities have in driving legislation. We'll discuss the problem with "localism" and how "Surfonomics" is giving coastal communities the leverage they need to save their coastline environments. Chad is an amazing leader who recognized early that if you love the ocean, you will work to save it! And, are you curious about this "Bag Monster"? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In our third episode, Jon and Verda spend some time with Jane Abernethy talking about the toxic ingredients in product that need to be removed, and what this means to your supply chain. Jane is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Humanscale Corporation, and has been a driver in their work achieving the coveted Living Product Challenge Certification, removing Red List ingredients and in creating a Net Positive Impact on our planet. This episode talks about something new-Forensic Design. Is it a thing? Jon and Verda think so! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bad design is bad for the planet. In today's episode we talk to Oliver Campbell, who runs packaging for DELL Computer. As you can imagine, DELL Computer creates a fair amount of packaging! Oliver has taken on ocean plastic pollution by starting the Next Wave Collaborative, along with the Lonely Whale Foundation and is making packaging from ocean bound plastic. He's also working to use re-captured carbon from India to produce ink for his boxes. Who said packaging wasn't sexy? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Break Some Dishes, a podcast by Verda Alexander and Jon Strassner, takes a closer look at some of the environmental crises we face as a global community, and under the lens of creativity and design, talks to outliers who have worked to break some dishes and find solutions. Bad design is bad for the planet. We need to design our way out of our climate crisis! Verda is an artist and designer and Jon is a talker, and together they find those unique people who have found amazing ways to make a difference in saving our planet. We'll talk about ghost fishing, ocean plastic pollution and the work being done to remove poisonous ingredients from products. But, that's just the tip of the iceberg, so before it melts, join us for some lively conversation! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In our second episode, Verda and Jon talk with David Stover, one of the founders of Bureo, a Ventura, California company that takes discarded fishing nets, cleans them and recycles them into nylon pellets which are then manufactured into products. We'll talk about ghost fishing, and what a calamity that is, we'll also talk about recycling and the inevitable need to use materials that fit into the circular economy. David doesn't blame plastic for our woes, he blames our expectation that we can use plastic without consequence. As David says, "We need to design our way out of this." So, designers...can we? Can we, as a design community start making hard decisions that move the needle? Hold a piece of plastic in your hand and ask yourself "What will happen to this when I'm done with it? When I throw it away, where do I think it will go?" We need to break some dishes here! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.