Eco Insomniacs: Recent Episodes
Eco Insomniacs
Eco Insomniacs is hosted by Diana Brandt, who interviews individual business owners, teachers, politicians, and other nonprofit founders about current trends in Eco Sustainable practices. She founded Transition To Green Community, a 501(c)(3) that offers public educational outreach through forums and outdoor events.
Diana Brand speaks with Shawn Quintero, a leadership coach and founder of HeyShawnQ Coaching. Shawn Q also offers his personal eco tips, how to encourage companies producing waste to change, as well as suggestions for all the leadership coaches out there to incorporate into their practices a mission-oriented cause that is bigger and more meaningful than any one individual.
Diana Brand speaks with Bertie Zemplen, a lifestyle coach and founder of Lifestyle Bosses, as well as an affiliate for a health and wellness company, which has been striving towards making its packaging and products more environmentally friendly. Bertie shares how his team supports malnourished children through the "Nourish the Children" social enterprise program, as well as where there is still considerable room for improvement for better eco and sustainability practices in the beauty and wellness product industry.
Diana Brandt talks with Joanne Angel Barry Colon about the Health and Wellness Industry and how personal training for some has pivoted. Joanne, the owner of Wholistic Fitness, offers a unique client service experience, and if you stay until the end you will learn a few exercises to incorporate into your daily workout regimen.
This month on Eco Insomniacs, join us to see what Halloween products pass our Eco, Sustainable rating score and play along by giving your own rating and see how they compare, plus try Howling Gourds Pumpkin Ale with us.
This month on the Eco Insomniacs, it’s all about the design, and how design for your home can be sustainable. Aaron and Diana bring on Jeanette Chasworth, owner of “The Color Whisperer” to talk about eco design. The mission of Jeanette’s business is to “transform lives by creating better living environments.” Jeanette gives her take on what it truly means to be eco and sustainable, which is about how many resources it takes to make it. Aaron shares his experiences using eco design in his house from the paints he uses to the materials his floors are made from. Jeanette weighs in with her thoughts on the best flooring material. Diana then brings up the topic of tiny homes. The three agree that tiny homes isn’t a movement, but an option for people looking for affordable housing which is also sustainable.
The Eco Insomniacs are back for not only their first show of the new year, but their first show of the new decade. Aaron and Diana use this time as an opportunity to discuss what their favorite new eco products are. Their guest for this episode is Michael Kelpacz, of the company Gaja To Ja. Gaja To Ja is a disabled veteran small business which follows the principles of permaculture and the triple bottom line. They're mostly focused on the replacement of basic single use items for food and tree-free paper. Along with Michael sharing what his business produces, Aaron and Diana get into the eco products they're glad to see more of. Aaron brings up how he's happy to see more grass fed dairy and also bamboo paper towels. Diana gets into how we're moving away from single use plastics.
The Eco Insomniacs returns with Monica Ford for the second part of discussing eco businesses. Monica Ford of the delivery service, Real Food Devotee, joins in with Aaron and Diana as they talk about what makes a business sustainable. They emphasize the importance of being truthful about what makes your business green and not lying. They get into the importance of how sustainable a business needs to be and if it's okay to not be perfect right away. And lastly, Aaron, Diana, and Monica tackle the issue of whether it's good, bad, or somewhere in between when large corporations purchase small eco brands.
The Eco Insomniacs are joined this month by Monica Ford, the founder of the first ancestral foods home delivery service Real Food Devotee. With Monica's successful business, which began out of first discovering traditional food in order to turn around her health, she discusses with the hosts how her business operates and where they see eco businesses headed in the future. They get into topics such as eco businesses expanding into larger companies and even some which have been bought by larger, more conventional companies. Monica, Aaron, and Diana all discuss how they feel about those scenarios. Monica also shares where she sees her business headed in the future.
Last month, the Eco Insomniacs podcast had its first guest. Zero waste consultant, Jonathan Caplan, joined Aaron and Diana to discuss what it means to be green in 2019. They only scratched the surface of the topic last time, so they brought him back to the studio. Jonathan discusses what we're doing to reduce waste in the United States as compared to other countries and what obstacles are getting in the way. Jonathan ends with talking about the positive ways we're starting to have less thrown out. Diana then gets into some other positive green trends we're seeing, but Aaron, being the appropriate omnivore, explains why fake meat made in a factory might also have its downsides, and how meat from regenerative agriculture could be the way we're headed for the future.
The Eco Insomniacs is back to being a trio. Zero Waste consultant Jonathan Caplan joins Aaron and Diana for a discussion on what it means to be green in 2019. The three of them debunk the idea that being green is a just a trend, but also are aware that others still think it's a trend. They discuss the best ways to get the skeptics on board. Diana brings some optimism to the discussion by mentioning ways that we've been seeing businesses become more sustainable recently. And Jonathan weighs in on all of the issues discussed with what he's seen as a waste consultant.
Eco apps are a place where two almost opposite technologies come together: big tech and appropriate tech. In a world of smart phones, tablets, smart TVs, and other smart technology, they’ve got apps for every interest imaginable. And that even includes environmental subjects. But despite many great ideas, many of these apps are presented in a rather dull way. From the names to the layout to the content they provide, many eco apps aren't marketed correctly. Aaron and Diana discuss which eco apps work and which ones need improvement if they want to catch on.
From a short hiatus, Eco Insomniacs is back. The podcast is now a duo of just Aaron and Diana, and here they discuss clean tech. Aaron begins with the history of electric vehicles. Diana then goes into what we can expect to see in the next five years and further down the road from that. She talks about how the future in technology which we're seeing now is much closer to the utopias from TV shows and movies than the dystopias. Diana gets into how all of the different types of emerging technologies can be used for clean energy. She also explains how some things we thought we'd never see, such as flying cars, can even become a reality.
Aaron, Gary, and Diana return from their busy lives working 24/7 to improve the planet to take some time to talk about being sustainable during the holidays. Food waste is a major concern for all of them. Aaron brings up things you can do to avoid having too much food in the first place. Diana talks about composting food as well donating food to non-profit organizations. Gary discusses vegetarian options of food for the holidays as well as tips on having environmentally friendly decorations and gifts. Along with being sustainable on the holidays, all three of them agree we need to make the season more giving than receiving.
Aaron, Gary, and Diana have trouble getting enough sleep with all of the eco activism they're doing with their different organizations, but they somehow find time do their first podcast together. They discuss how to be more sustainable on Halloween on everything from the candy and treats to the costumes to the decorations. Along with all of the ways Halloween has become damaging to the environment, the Eco Insomniacs also agree consumerism and profit have gotten in the way of this otherwise fun holiday and talk about how we as people can take it back.