People Places Planet

On average, Americans waste about 40% of their food. In this episode, we sit down with Linda Breggin, Director of ELI’s Center for State, Tribal, and Local Environmental Programs and Project Coordinator for the Nashville Food Waste Initiative (NFWI), and Sam Koenig, a research assistant at ELI. A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council, NFWI seeks to develop high-impact policies, strategies, and practical tools to serve as models for cities around the country. Linda and Sam discuss the scale and impact of food waste and the actions that are being taken to address it.

Today, the Environmental Disruptors series is thrilled to take you behind the scenes of an indoor cannabis grow operation. Through this audio and visual episode we feature Jesse Peters, the co-founder of Eco Firma Farms. This 23,000 square foot facility is located just outside Portland, Oregon and is no ordinary operation. Sensor devices, LED lighting and automation systems blend with a software platform to monitor and regulate the nutrient feed, light and water needed for optimal plant growth. Jesse explains how the capital investment in technology has ultimately translated into financial and environmental sustainability for Eco Firma Farms. As a seasoned cultivator, Jesse believes that technology has a vital role to play in cultivating sustainability in the cannabis industry. To watch the video, click here. This episode is the fourth in a series presented by the ELI Innovation Lab, an initiative of the Environmental Law Institute, working to drive environmental performance in business and technology. The series, Environmental Disruptors, features a diverse set of innovators (including entrepreneurs, inventors, and government officials), and shares stories of their work to transform conventional systems to create a more equitable and sustainable world. ★ Support this podcast ★

What’s up with cannabis and the environment? From air, water, and nutrients, to packaging, waste, and pesticides, the cannabis sector is fraught with sustainability challenges. This episode of Conversation With Environmental Disruptors features Kaitlin Urso, a cannabis environmental consultant based in Denver, Colorado. Within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Small Business Assistance Program, Kaitlin works on the ground with growers and businesses to implement a strategy to drive sustainability in cannabis. Today, 33 states have legalized cannabis for medical use --- 10 of these states, in addition to Washington DC, have also legalized cannabis for recreational use. Just ten years ago, only 13 states had legalized medicinal cannabis. Recreational cannabis wasn’t legal on the state level until 2012, with Colorado and Washington state forging the path. This year alone, Forbes predicts nine additional states could legalize recreational cannabis use. The cannabis industry is transforming rapidly. But what does this mean for the environment? Back in 2017 ELI’s Director of Technology Innovation and Environment, Dave Rejeski asked Is Marijuana the Next Big Thing? and considered some of the environmental implications of this fast-growing (pun intended) industry. In this episode Kaitlin Urso (cannabis environmental consultant at CDPHE) and Azi Akpan (science and policy analyst at ELI Innovation Lab) digs into some big sustainability questions, exploring the priorities, challenges, and obstacles to driving sustainability in cannabis. Last month, Kaitlin Urso led an air quality project to collect data on four cannabis farms, to track volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions across plant types, sizes, ages, and growing conditions. Read the Science Magazine article here. ★ Support this podcast ★

Only 3% of the world’s water resource is freshwater, yet the demands on this constrained and non-renewable resource is extraordinary and will continue to be for generations to come. Water scarcity and quality is just as much a problem in our own backyards as it is everywhere else. In today’s episode we will be exploring just one way to stop using water! We will be talking to DJ Patterson, a local water steward who founded Oklahoma’s first and only waterless car wash service, EcoGreen Mobile Detailing. A carwash is estimated to use between 80 to 140 gallons of water per wash. EcoGreen is not just avoiding the use, but is also preventing the release of harmful chemicals into waterways or the sewer system. ★ Support this podcast ★

An estimated 25 million tons of fish is used in animal feed per year. Is there an alternative to feeding livestock from limited marine resources? In this inaugural episode of Environmental Disruptors, Kasantha Moodley, ELI’s Manager of Innovation and Governance, interviews the co-founders of Grubbly Farms, Patrick Pittaluga and Sean Warner. They discuss the beginnings of Grubby Farms, a fly farming operation, an idea that if scaled, could avoid exploiting the ocean’s limited resources, to feed livestock. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this podcast, Ethan Shenkman, former Deputy General Counsel of EPA and current partner of Arnold & Porter, and Stacey Sublett, a shareholder with Beveridge & Diamond, discuss environmental law and policy in the Trump era and, more specifically, the limits of executive branch authority. The episode was brought to you in partnership with the American Bar Association Section on Civil Rights and Social Justice . ★ Support this podcast ★

The first episode features our President Scott Fulton and our Director of the Technology, Innovation and Environment Project, Dave Rejeski. They'll be discussing a new paradigm for environmental protection. ★ Support this podcast ★