In Good Hands: Recent Episodes
Peter Levin
Acclaimed energy policy advisor, Hal Harvey, and award-winning NYT journalist, Justin Gillis, join us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Their new book, “The Big Fix”
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Where exactly the “key decisions” are made
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Who has the power to pull these policy levers
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How kids convinced their school to buy electric buses
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Turning up to state panels to fight for clean air
You can learn order “The Big Fix” here.
Replate Founder and CEO Maen Mahfoud joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The Replate eureka moment
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Launching the v1 as a Wix website
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Scaling to 1000s of partners, incl. Netflix, Amazon + more
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Rescuing millions of meals
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Enabling other communities to reduce waste
You can learn more about Replate here.
AWSM Sauce Co-Founder Carl Starkey joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The AWSM origin story
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Creating a better sauce, without the waste
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R&D’ing the first prototypes
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Working with the Minnesota Twins
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Launching online nationwide
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The long term impact potential
You can learn more about AWSM here.
AWSM Sauce Co-Founder Carl Starkey joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The AWSM origin story
-
R&D’ing the first prototypes
-
Creating a better sauce, without the waste
-
Working with the Minnesota Twins
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Launching online nationwide
-
The long term impact potential
You can learn more about AWSM here.
Rebellyous Foods Founder and CEO, Christie Lagally, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Why the plant-based revolution is not inevitable
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The key insight underpinning the company's origin
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Destructive vs constructive food production
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Rethinking how we make plant based meats
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Building infrastructure and a consumer brand in parallel
You can learn more about Rebellyous Foods here.
For the last thirty years, corporate sustainability has meant the pursuit of ‘eco-efficiency’ and ‘win-win’ opportunities. But what if we have it all wrong — what if these are just myths that give us the illusion of progress, while the data suggests otherwise?
Renowned industrial ecologist Dr. Roland Geyer joins us to explore the hard truths, his groundbreaking research, and a new paradigm designed to (finally) reconcile business and the environment.
You can learn more about Roland here and order his new book “The Business of Less” here.
Show notes:
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Calculating the total amount of plastic ever produced
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The impact of his groundbreaking plastics research
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Why “eco-efficiency” and “win-win” opportunities are sustainability myths
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The notion of “net-green” and how businesses can get there
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Why he’s optimistic about the future
Better Meat Co Founder and CEO Paul Shapiro joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The second domestication
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Creating real meat without animals
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The pitfalls of traditional plant-based meats
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The promise of their signature product, Rhiza
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Growing his high school club into a national organization
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3 ideas he wants to see other entrepreneurs pursue asap
Check out the Better Meat Co here.
Omaze Founder Matt Pohlson joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Magic Johnson and the company’s eureka moment
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How Omaze raises ~10x more than traditional fundraisers
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The risk analyses they do before paying upfront for the prizes
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His near-death experience
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Raising over $150M for charity
Check out Omaze here.
Fulton Co-Founders Libie Motchan and Daniel Nelson join Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The current state of Big Footwear
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Inventing better footwear, starting with insoles
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Running a carbon-negative supply chain
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Why they chose Portugal for manufacturing
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The perfect partner and the future of Fulton
Check out Fulton here.
EnergyX Founder and CEO Teague Egan joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The New Year’s Eve trip that led to his eureka moment
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Why lithium is the next battleground
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How lithium is extracted and using technology to recover it more efficiently
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Getting on the Impaulsive show and how he leveraged the publicity
Check out EnergyX here.
The brains behind Solutions The Game Sam Levac-Levey and Mehrad Yaghmai join Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The eureka moment
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Making the first prototypes
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Working with orgs like Drawdown to inform game content
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Gearing up for the launch of their Kickstarter
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The impact their already seeing with players
Check out their Kickstarter here!
On this special crossover episode, Peter ditches the host seat and joins Nathan Zvi as a guest on his podcast, The Net Zero Life.
GIVEAWAY DETAILS!
In Good Hands and The Net Zero Life are offering a free sustainability coaching session for one lucky listener.
The winner will receive one-on-one coaching from Peter and Nathan, including a To-Do of practical, sustainability hacks personalized to your lifestyle.
To enter, simply:
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Subscribe to the Net Zero Life podcast on Spotify or Apple
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Like our giveaway post on LinkedIn or IG
This Friday (July 9) we’ll message the lucky winner!
Solar Polar Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Robert Edwards joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The WHO paper that sparked the eureka moment
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Developing cooling systems that require no electricity
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Using the technology to preserve medicines in developing countries
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Leveraging the system for food and crop waste reduction
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Enabling zero-carbon homes and building
Learn more at: solar-polar.co.uk.
Described as Silicon Valley's Favorite Fixer, Bradley Tusk is the world's first venture capitalist investing solely in highly-regulated industries. From managing Mike Bloomberg's 2009 mayoral race to becoming Uber's first political advisor, Bradley is no stranger to pursuing various regulatory levers to push for progress.
And on this week’s episode, Bradley joins us to discuss:
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Why “highly-regulated” is their investing strike zone
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Advising Andrew Yang’s mayoral campaign and his NYC Request for Improvements
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How politicians can advocate for climate progress
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Examples of how Tusk Ventures uses their political expertise to support founders
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Founding IG Acquisition Corp and where they have their eyes set
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The different moonshot projects he’s incubating, like mobile voting
Learn more at: tusk.vc.
Emrgy’s Founder and CEO Emily Morris joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The major obstacles holding back the growth of hydropower
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Prototyping the first Emrgy turbines
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Delivering reliable power without the need for construction or dams
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Securing millions of dollars from the U.S. Dept of Energy
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What types of waterways are a good fit for their turbines
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Adjacent markets the company is exploring
Learn more at: emrgy.com
Bowery Farming’s Katie Seawell (CMO) and Carmela Cugini (EVP of Sales) join Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Leaving exec roles at Pepsi + Starbucks to join Bowery
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Creating farms 100x more productive than traditional agriculture on the same footprint of land
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Owning the entire supply chain- from seeding through fulfillment
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Stepping up for retailers and communities during COVID
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Trends in grocery and online food delivery
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The future of farming
Learn more at: boweryfarming.com
Recorded in May 2020.
This week we’re joined by Simple Feast Co-Founder and CEO Jakob Jønck to explore:
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Starting Endomondo and growing it to 30M users
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Getting acquired by Under Armour
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Insights from building a fitness co that carry over to food
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How Simple Feast differs from standard meal kits
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Entering the US market and how they’re thinking about expansion
Learn more at simplefeast.com
This week we’re joined by Trane’s VP of Innovation Rasha Hasaneen to explore:
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Making the world’s largest climate commitment
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Why Trane is positioned to reduce 2% of the world’s annual emissions
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Changing the way we heat and cool buildings
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Advancements in refrigerants and cargo transport
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The future of healthy, energy efficient spaces
Learn more at tranetechnologies.com
This week we’re joined by Endless West Co-Founder and CTO Mardonn Chua to explore:
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The problems with the alcohol industry today
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Producing wines and spirits in a lab
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Developing their own line of whiskeys and wines
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Enabling brands to launch their own sustainable spirits
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The moonshot potential for Endless West
Learn more at endlesswest.com
This week we’re joined by Tenzing Founder and CEO Huib van Bockel to explore:
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The Sherpa and their role in the Tenzing origin story
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Getting a beverage startup off the ground
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Learnings from 7 years as Head of Marketing at Redbull
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Winning as the David in a room of Goliaths
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Becoming a carbon-negative brand
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Entering the US market
Learn more at tenzingnaturalenergy.com
This week we’re joined by Anya Doherty and Lila Mehta from Foodsteps to explore:
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Transitioning from post-grad researcher to startup founder
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The key data-gathering challenges with footprint assessments
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What they found after analyzing U of Cambridge’s catering footprint
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If carbon labels influence what students purchase
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The company’s long-term impact potential
Learn more at foodsteps.earth
This week we’re joined by Sunhomes Founder and CEO Alan Knudson to explore:
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Creating low cost, net-zero, fully self-sustaining neighborhoods
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Why building off-grid is so much faster, cheaper, and cleaner
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Cutting construction times down from decades to a few years
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Extending battery life from 10 years to 30 years
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Geothermal as the future of HVAC and why it’s sucked until today
Learn more at sunhomes.io
This week, we’re joined by National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC) Founder and Executive Director, Heidi Sanborn.
As a leader in the solid waste industry for over 30 years, Heidi is one of the nation's top experts on producer responsibility and product stewardship.
In addition to NSAC, Heidi is an elected Board Member on the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Board, the nation’s sixth-largest, community-owned electric service provider.
Learn more at nsaction.us
This week we’re joined by Goldune Founder and CEO Azora Zoe Paknad to explore:
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The big leap from executive role at Food52 to founder at Goldune
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How she’s bootstrapped the initial Goldune marketplace
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Prioritizing BIPOC and women-owned brands
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Keeping consumers informed around an item’s end of life
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Developing their own products and what’s in the pipeline
Learn more at goldune.com
On this week’s episode, Sunday Founder and CEO Coulter Lewis returns to the hot seat to explore:
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Growing the business 10x over the last year
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Shocking facts about the lawn care industry
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Landing their first nationwide retail distribution deal
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The Sunday product roadmap
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All the domains he owns, like tacodessert.com
Learn more at getsunday.com
On this week’s episode, U.S. energy expert Jay Hakes explores:
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Becoming the Administrator for Clinton’s U.S. Energy Information Admin
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Pioneering EIA.gov
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Directing Research and Policy for President Obama’s BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Commission
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Serving for 13 years as the Director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library
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His upcoming book, Energy Crises: Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Hard Choices in the 1970s
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Major policy decisions during three presidencies and what they mean today in our fight to solve climate
You can order Jay's new book here.
This week we’re joined by Clever Carbon Founder and CEO Michelle Li to explore:
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Her journey from cancer genomics to climate startup founder
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How we should be talking about climate
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Why carbon footprint literacy is a major opportunity
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Their carbon coffee menu
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The company's longterm impact potential
Learn more at clevercarbon.io
This week we’re joined by Táche Founder and CEO Roxana Saidi to explore:
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What inspired her to start making pistachio milk
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Overcoming massive minimum order requirements
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Launching Táche during COVID
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The footprint of pistachios vs other nuts
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New products in the pipeline
Learn more at pistachiomilk.com
This week we’re joined by NAADAM Co-Founder and CEO Matthew Scanlan to explore:
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Getting stranded in the middle of Nowhere, Mongolia
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The eureka moment
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Transforming the cashmere industry
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Prioritizing sustainability across the org
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Parlaying their supply chain into other owned brands
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Becoming the next CPG conglomerate
Learn more at naadam.co
This week we’re joined by Carbon Zero Founder and CEO Scott Hickle to explore:
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The Carbon Zero eureka moment
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Why most people don’t care about offsets today
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Automating carbon offsets at no cost to the customer
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Physical products that enable virtue signaling
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The company's moonshot potential
Learn more at carbonzero.cc
This week we’re joined by Danny Kennedy from New Energy Nexus to explore:
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Fighting for planet health before it was vogue
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Running Greenpeace’s Australia Pacific region
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Founding one of the first major solar companies
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What we need to go 100% clean worldwide
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How he plans to support 100k startups by 2030
Learn more at newenergynexus.com
This week we’re joined by Michelle Shi and Amber Liu from Plug and Play Ventures to explore:
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A new startup accelerator model
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Supporting founders with non-dilutive capital
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Connecting startups with the fortune 500
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Trends the firm is actively investing in
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Their request for startups
Learn more at plugandplaytechcenter.com
This week we’re joined by Leila Nattagh, Founder and CEO at W2R Solutions, to explore:
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Starting her first venture
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How to measure a company’s carbon footprint
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Extracting energy from biosolids
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Managing the sustainability department at Goodwill
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Finding non-obvious markets for unsold, donated items
Learn more at w2rsolutions.com and read more of Leila’s writing here.
This week were joined by Jake Tauscher, Investor at G2VP, to explore:
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Why we should be buying more carbon offsets
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Embedding offsets into our everyday lives
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The most interesting startups he’s shortlisted
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Industrial efficiency as a key opportunity area
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Overhyped trends
Learn more at g2vp.com and read more of Jake’s writing here: https://medium.com/@john.l.tauscher
Wren cofounder Landon Brand joins us on this week’s episode to explore:
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The big eureka moment
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Why we should be offsetting our footprint
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Whether corps or individuals should bear responsibility
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Lifetime offset as a standalone product
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The impact potential for Wren
Learn more at wren.co
DeliverZero cofounders Adam Farbiarz and Lauren Sweeney join us on this week’s episode to explore:
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The big eureka moment
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Finding their first restaurants and consumers
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Reintegrating reusables back with their partner restaurants
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Trends in food delivery
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The impact potential for DeliverZero
Learn more at deliverzero.com
Stojo cofounders Jurrien Swarts and Alex Abrams join us on this week’s episode to explore:
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The big eureka moment
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Creating a collapsible cup
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Expanding into new reusable categories
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Merging reusables with loyalty programs
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Building Tupperware 2.0
Learn more at stojo.co
Bruvi Co-Founder and CEO Mel Elias joins us on this week’s episode to explore:
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Growing The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to $500M and 1,000+ stores
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Coming out of retirement to start Bruvi
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Winning against incumbent coffee makers
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Why single-serve is more sustainable than brewing pots
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A big idea he’d like to pursue in the future
Learn more at bruvi.com
Rydro Farming’s Founder and CEO Nolan Ryan joins us on this week’s episode to explore:
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Why most indoor farming startups focus on leafy greens
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The challenges with specialty crops, like tomatoes
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How Rydro changes the game for restaurants
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Harvesting high-quality food 365 days a year
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Converting distressed assets into indoor farms
Learn more at rydrofarming.com
Fair Harbor Co-Founder and CEO Jake Danehy joins Peter on this week’s episode to explore:
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Figuring out how to turn plastic into swimsuits
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How they funded the launch of Fair Harbor
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Testing their products at over 500 trunk shows
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Their first major issue and what it taught him about customer service
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Co-founding the company with his younger sister
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Upcycling millions of plastic bottles
Learn more at fairharborclothing.com
CarbonCloud Founder and CEO David Bryngelsson joins Peter on this week’s episode to explore:
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How carbon footprints are calculated
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His bullish take on climate labels
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How his PhD led to the start of CarbonCloud
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Why focus on the food sector
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Landing Oatly as a customer
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How the company makes money
Learn more at carboncloud.com
This episode is supported by EAS. EAS creates one of the industry's most effective air purifiers, used by school systems, operating rooms, and even the NBA. Learn more at easne.com/jade and use code INGOODHANDS for $500 off your purchase.
According to the IPCC, we have 9 years to stop the worst consequences of climate change from the moment Biden takes his seat in the oval office.
On this week's episode, we cover the top 3 takeaways from Biden's climate plan, examples of good vs bad policy, and a bipartisan idea to push the economy closer to net-zero emissions.
Learn more at joebiden.com/climate-plan
This episode is supported by EAS. EAS creates one of the industry's most effective air purifiers, used by school systems, operating rooms, and even the NBA. Learn more at easne.com/jade and use code INGOODHANDS for $500 off your purchase.
EcoCart’s Co-Founder and CEO, Dane Baker, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The eureka moment
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Building offsetting tools for Shopify storeowners
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Launching a chrome extension for consumers
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Onboarding over 10,000 merchant partners
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Browser extension customer acquisition strategy
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The moonshot potential for EcoCart
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Bonus: why the Starbucks rewards program is overhyped
Learn more at https://ecocart.io/tree
This episode is supported by EAS. EAS creates one of the industry's most effective air purifiers, used by school systems, operating rooms, and even the NBA. Learn more at easne.com/jade and use code INGOODHANDS for $500 off your purchase.
Hamama's Co-Founder, Camille Richman, joins us on this week's episode to discuss:
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Going from nuclear engineering intern to startup founder
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Creating a fail-proof indoor farm for your home
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Growing microgreens without soil
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The magic that makes Hamama work
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Exploring online vs offline distribution
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The one thing rotting in her idea graveyard
This episode is supported by EAS. EAS creates one of the industry's most effective air purifiers, used by the NBA, school systems, and operating rooms around the world. Learn more at easne.com/jade and use code INGOODHANDS for $500 off your purchase.
Environmental Air Specialties (EAS) CEO, TJ Winalski, joins us on this week's episode to discuss:
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Running the ship at a 100-year-old (!) company
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The inextricable link between climate and air quality
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Why indoor air quality is 2-5x worse than outdoors
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The consequences of poor air and how they solve it
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Turning the Toronto Raptors from the league’s sickest team to NBA champs
This episode is proudly supported by EAS. If you wish to learn more about or buy the JADE air purifier for your home or office, head to https://easne.com/jade and use code INGOODHANDS for $500 off your purchase.
Just Salad’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Sandra Noonan, returns to the hot seat to discuss:
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Pioneering the climate nutrition label
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What goes on behind the scenes to enable carbon labelling
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Building out the “climatarian” menu
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Different companies working on carbon accounting and tracking
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COVID’s single-use multiplier and the future of reusables
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De-risking startup opps with public RFPs and competitions
Learn more about Just Salad here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Impact Snacks’ very own Corey Nobile and Nick Oliveri return to the hot seat for an idea jam about:
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Seaweed farms
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Space waste management
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The potential of rocks as a new packaging material
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An AI that can automate your career
Special guest: boiling teapot sound that makes a subtle appearance throughout (sorry about that!)
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Returnity’s CEO, Mike Newman, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Pivoting the company after a request from the ThredUp CEO
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How Returnity integrates with brands
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Powering reuse in a world of cardboard and poly mailers
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The key issues plaguing national couriers like UPS
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How gov’t and private industry can solve delivery
Learn more about Returnity here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
tentree’s Co-Founder and CEO, Derrick Emsley, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Starting a carbon offsetting company as a high schooler
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The eureka moment behind “planting ten trees with every purchase”
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Pitching on “Dragon’s Den,” Canada’s “Shark Tank” counterpart
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Breaking down their DeAndre Jordan collab and other strategic partnerships
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How they decide what apparel gets the green light
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Their plans for planting 1 billion trees by 2030
Learn more about tentree here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Dishcraft’s Co-Founder and CEO, Linda Pouliot, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Founding the world's second largest consumer robotics company
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The Dishcraft eureka moment
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How the dishwashing robots work and integrate with commercial kitchens
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Her take on personally-owned vs “rented” reusable products
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Enabling reuse programs at restaurants
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The daily output of a single Dishcraft hub and opening hubs around the world
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The prospects of a franchising model
Learn more about Dishcraft here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Aether’s Co-Founder and CEO, Ryan Shearman, join us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Getting his start in metals running product development at David Yurman
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How a motorcycle accident inspired his first startup, FUSAR
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Growing FUSAR’s customer base to 130+ countries and selling the company
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Aether’s eureka moment
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Capturing CO2 and transforming it into diamonds
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Offsetting the entire jewelry industry’s footprint
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The carbon footprint of an average wedding
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Getting ready for launch day
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The merchandising plan for Aether
Learn more about Aether here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
RAYU Co-Founders, Caroline McKay and Mónica Durán, join us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The RAYU eureka moment
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Being women-owned and women-made
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Setting up their supply chain in Equador
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Learnings from running comms @Soho House
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How they handle “imperfect” product
Learn more about RAYU here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Future Meets Present Founder, Amer Jandali, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Opening for LMFAO + starting his career as a pro DJ
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His startup, which he describes as if “IDEO was run by Al Gore and Skrillex”
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Their first product, the Braceletote
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Organizing “Marketplace of the Future,” Climate Week NYC’s closing event
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Running a conference in the year of COVID
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New projects in the pipeline for Future Meets Present
Learn more about this Friday's (9/25) Marketplace of the Future event here!
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Impact Snacks Co-Founders Corey Nobile and Nick Oliveri, join us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Creating one of the world's largest sneaker trading communities with 120k+ members in 100+ countries
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The crash course on starting a snack bar startup
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Commercializing the industry’s first edible wrapper
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Building a carbon negative, vertically-integrated supply chain
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Using Tiktok + LinkedIn to win the attention of customers
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Ideas rotting away in our idea graveyards
Learn more about Impact Snacks here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
CHOOSE Founder and Managing Director, James Longcroft, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Their flagship CHOOSE bottle
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Launching their own consumer products
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Becoming the packaging provider for large CPGs
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The opportunities across daily consumables
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Using enzymes in waste management
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Ideas rotting away in our idea graveyards
Learn more about CHOOSE Packaging here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
So Good So You’s Co-Founder Rita Katona joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Her big leap from Target HQ to startup founder
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The playbook on launching a juice company
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Scaling distribution from 0 to over 4,000 stores
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Setting up their zero-waste manufacturing facility
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Why their new BtrBtl™ packaging is a huge deal in the beverage industry
Learn more about So Good So You here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
When people think about taking on climate change, we default to things like recycling and reuse.
But what about the bank accounts and credit cards we use multiple times every day?
Did you know the world’s largest banks have funneled more than $2.6 trillion into fossil fuels since the Paris agreement?
On this week's episode, we're joined by Aspiration Co-Founder and CEO Andrei Cherny to talk about pioneering the world’s first socially and environmentally-conscious bank.
Learn more about Aspiration here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
National Geographic’s Explorer-in-Residence and the founder of Pristine Seas, Dr. Enric Sala, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The irrefutable link that binds human and economic health to the health of the planet
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The top offenders destroying the world around us
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Changing everyday behaviors at scale
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His upcoming book, "THE NATURE OF NATURE: Why We Need the Wild"
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How garbage in the Andaman Sea affects families in Minnesota?
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The three key opportunity areas businesses and policymakers should focus on
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Where governments should reallocate taxpayer dollars
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The moonshot projects he's most excited about
Pre-order Dr. Sala's upcoming book here.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Fun milestone: we crossed the 15k subscriber mark! WOW! Big thanks to everyone who’s been with us since the start, and a warm welcome to everyone who’s new to the show.
We cover a lot of ground in this one: why concrete is failing our planet, the future of building, the Amazon for local farmers, and even Tyga's foray into cloud kitchens.
It's a fun one, and we're really excited for you to listen. Thanks again for coming along for the ride!
Learn more at: ingoodhands.us
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Rob Koenen, Boxed Water’s Chief Marketing Officer, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Winning the attention of consumers in 2020
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Why Patagonia is thriving while North Face struggles
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Boxed Water vs plastic bottles
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BetterPlanet and behind the scenes of a viral campaign
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Prioritizing physical vs online distribution channels
Learn more at: boxedwaterisbetter.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Originally recorded in February 2020.
Brad McNamara, Co-Founder and President of Freight Farms, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Scaling local food production around the world
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Decentralized vs centralized farming
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Drive-in farmer’s markets
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Notable customer stories
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The future of food production
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Two big ideas rotting in his idea graveyard
Learn more at: https://freightfarms.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
On today’s episode, we’re joined by Jinesh Shah, former co-founder of Y-Combinator-backed Mylk Guys and now the founder of Mumbai-based EazyChef. Thank you Jinesh for your courage, honesty, and vulnerability in this conversation.
Oliver Walker-Jones, Head of Communications at Lilium, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The moonshot that is Lilium
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Running comms at a $375M pre-launch startup
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How their flying experience will work
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Today's most exciting transportation experiments
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The big idea rotting in his idea graveyard
Learn more at: https://lilium.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Caroline Cotto, COO at Renewal Mill, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The notion of upcycling and how it works
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Incubating at Hodo Foods
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Going-to market as an ingredients company
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Okara flour and their product pipeline
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Interesting companies built on upcycling
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Getting onto retail shelves amidst COVID
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Her take on my “idea of the week”
Learn more at: https://renewalmill.com
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Adam Greenstein, Manager of Government Partnerships at Superpedestrian, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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What sets the company apart from existing scooter companies
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Engineering the most hi-tech electric scooter
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Working with cities to implement mobility programs
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Defining success metrics for these programs
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Helping small businesses reopen faster and cheaper
Learn more at: https://superpedestrian.com
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Sandra Noonan, Chief Sustainability Officer at Just Salad, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Becoming the first U.S. restaurant chain to carbon label their menu
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How carbon labeling works and why it’s important
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How other industries are introducing their own carbon labels
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The notion of a “carbon footprint allowance”
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Building the calorie counter of carbon for everyday use
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Prioritizing sustainability in their stores, despite COVID
Learn more at: https://justsalad.com
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Kelly Drennan, Founder of Fashion Takes Action, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Getting her start in 2007
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Advancing sustainability in the industry
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The effect of COVID on progress
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VR fashion shows
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The most interesting trends and startups she’s seeing across the ecosystem
Learn more at: https://fashiontakesaction.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Julia Cohen, Co-Founder & Managing Director of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, joins us on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The good, bad, and ugly of plastic
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“Big plastic” and the industry’s $1B bailout
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Innovative reusable concepts and startups
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Algramo and a rethink on CPG
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Bans on bans of plastic (yes, you read that right)
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Helping local leaders implement smart policy
Learn more at: plasticpollutioncoalition.org
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
In Good Hands producer Dan Mahoney joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Why the future of farming is local
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The $.99 burger
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The significance of spend shifting from food to healthcare over the last 40 years
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Vulnerabilities in factory farms
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Opportunities in regenerative agriculture
Learn more at: ingoodhands.us
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Bowery Farming’s Katie Seawell (CMO) and Carmela Cugini (EVP of Sales) join Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Leaving exec roles at Pepsi + Starbucks to join Bowery
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Creating farms 100x more productive than traditional agriculture on the same footprint of land
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Owning the entire supply chain- from seeding through fulfillment
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Stepping up for retailers and communities during COVID
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Trends in grocery and online food delivery
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The future of farming
Learn more at: boweryfarming.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Patrick Pittaluga, Co-Founder and COO of Grubbly Farms, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Starting up after reading a clickbait article
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Getting into the insect-farming business
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Closing the “agricultural loop”
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Serving the backyard chicken market
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Insects as a waste management solution
Learn more at: grubblyfarms.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Jeremy Nusser, Co-Founder and COO of Avalow, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Inventing the self-watering garden
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The common causes of unsuccessful gardens and how they're failure-proofing the process
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COVID's impact on grocery and eating habits
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The effect of temperature on flavor
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Why gardens are an underrated climate solution
Learn more at: avalow.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Pierre Paslier, Co-Founder and co-CEO of Notpla, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Creating the world’s first disappearing packaging solution
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Launching the company by accident after going viral on YouTube
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Crowdfunding over $850,000 in 3 days
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Partnering with marathons, gyms, and cities to replace single-use bottles
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The business model and scaling international
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New products in the pipeline and the moonshot
Learn more at: notpla.com
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Isaac Saul, Editor of A Plus, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Leading editorial at Ashton Kutcher’s media company
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Turning good news into good business
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Creating content for shares instead of views
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The effects of COVID on climate news and sentiment
-
His best growth advice for emerging media orgs
Learn more at: aplus.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Colin McIntosh, Founder and CEO of Sheets & Giggles, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Getting fired and his inspiration to start up
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Launching one of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns ever
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Why he hates the word “sustainable” in brand messaging
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COVID's impact and how the team is contributing
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Who's had the biggest impact on his learning
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The best idea rotting in his idea graveyard
Learn more at: sheetsgiggles.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Joshua Luft, Co-Founder and CEO of Everlasting Wardrobe, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The inspiration to start Everlasting
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How they bootstrapped the initial marketplace
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Convincing brands to give inventory for free
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The cost and sustainability benefits of renting
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Keeping company culture intact during COVID
-
Learnings from managing one of the highest grossing bars in the US
Learn more at: everlastingwardrobe.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Samira Far, Founder and CEO of No. 2, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Starting a sustainable toilet paper company
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Bootstrapping one of the fastest-growing DTC brands
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The impact of pandemic on her business
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When brands should use vs avoid Amazon
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How COVID-19 will affect different ecomm categories
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The best idea in her idea graveyard
Learn more at: gono2.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Diego Saez-Gil, Founder and CEO of Pachama, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The zigzag path to the eureka moment
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How Pachama is helping reforest the planet
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Using AI, LiDAR, and satellites to verify and monitor carbon projects
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Raising over $4M from some of Silicon Valley’s top investors
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How carbon compliance is affecting major industries, like airlines
Learn more at: pachama.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Sean Grundy, Co-Founder and CEO of Bevi, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The eureka moment
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How water co’s are just competing on brand
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Creating V1 and selling to their first customers
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The power of polarizing marketing
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Getting Bevi into an HBO show
-
Scaling to 1,000s of offices, hotels, and dining halls across the US
Learn more at: bevi.co
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
On today's episode, Peter and Dan explore the most interesting climate projects that have missed the mainstream, and riff on the top business ideas rotting in their idea graveyards.
Topics:
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Home Algae Farms and functional art
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How the pressures of climate will manifest on nutrition labels
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Sweatcoin for sustainability
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“Buy one give one” Shopify plugin
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Plastic marketplaces
If you've enjoyed listening to our show, please subscribe- would mean a lot to us!
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Steph Hon, Founder and CEO of Cadence, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The problems in personal care today
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Prototyping 200+ versions of product #1, the capsule
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Bringing on a manufacturer as an equity partner
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Raising $400k as a first time, solo founder
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“Soft-serve Sephora” and the future of Cadence
Learn more at: keepyourcadence.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Mauro Cozzi, Emitwise’s Co-Founder and CEO, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The eureka moment
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Tracking emissions across a company’s operations
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The pros and cons of international climate regulation
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Simulating the eco impact of supply chain adjustments
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“Miracle tech” in carbon capture and energy generation
Learn more at: emitwise.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Rob Koenen, Boxed Water’s Chief Marketing Officer, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Winning the attention of consumers in 2020
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Why Patagonia is thriving while North Face struggles
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Boxed Water vs plastic bottles
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BetterPlanet and behind the scenes of a viral campaign
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Prioritizing physical vs online distribution channels
Learn more at: boxedwaterisbetter.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Paul Gambill, Nori’s Founder and CEO, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Pioneering a new way for anyone to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere
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The different ways to facilitate carbon removal
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If carbon offsets create a “cop-out” incentive for industry
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The significance of the Microsoft announcement
-
Embedding “carbon removal as a service” into e-commerce checkouts
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Advising the next president on climate policy
Learn more at: nori.com
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Colleen Jansen, Chargepoint’s Chief Marketing Officer, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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How Chargepoint got its start when electric vehicles (EVs) were practically a thing of the future
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Operating the largest EV charging network in the world
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”Roadblocks" to accelerating our transition to electric
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Running the marketing function at Chargepoint vs. her time at Linkedin, Microsoft, and Yahoo
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The most interesting startups she’s seen taking on climate
Learn more at: https://chargepoint.com.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter + instagram and let us know who you want to see on the show!
EPA report on transportation emissions.
Tara Ritter, IATP’s Senior Program Associate for Climate and Rural Communities, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The causes of soil degradation
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How soil is connected to the climate crisis
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Myths around animal agriculture
-
The promise of regenerative agriculture
-
Fighting climate change with farmers
Learn more at: https://iatp.org.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter + instagram and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Jonathan Cedar, Climate Neutral’s Co-Founder, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Starting BioLite and powering 100k homes across Africa
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Providing solar energy to 1.5B people who live off-grid
-
The Climate Neutral eureka moment
-
Calculating a company’s carbon footprint
-
Working with 100s of orgs, like Allbirds and Kickstarter
Learn more at: https://climateneutral.org.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter + instagram and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Coulter Lewis, Sunday’s Co-Founder and CEO, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Traditional lawn care’s “brute force” approach
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How a trip to Home Depot inspired the idea
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Raising $9M+ to create toxic-free lawn kits
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Leveraging soil samples and satellite imagery
-
The RoundUp fiasco
-
How Sunday fits the broader climate narrative
Learn more at: https://getsunday.com.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter + instagram and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Gregory Constantine, Air Company’s Co-Founder and CEO, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Why a spirits-maker is receiving awards from NASA and the United Nations
-
The climate footprint of alcohol production
-
Turning CO2 from the air into vodka
-
Pricing and balancing premium vs access
-
The pros and cons of alcohol’s 3-tier system
-
Creating future products from excess carbon
Learn more at: https://aircompany.com.
Follow @ingoodhands on twitter + instagram and let us know who you want to see on the show!
Happy holidays, everyone! In today’s special NYE episode, Peter is joined by In Good Hands producer, Dan Mahoney, to riff on:
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The most important takeaways from EP1-EP19
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Creating closed-loop systems
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How to compel responsible corporate behavior
-
The business opportunities in waste
-
Growing profit in the face of sustainability
-
Favorite episodes and moments
Who else should we be talking to?
Email: hello@ingoodhands.us
DM: https://instagram.com/ingoodhands
Sabine Valenga, Food For All’s Co-Founder and CMO, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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The food waste problem and how to solve it
-
Launching a surplus food marketplace
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Building demand before supply
-
Solving food insecurity at scale
-
Standing out in the food delivery space
Learn more at: https://foodforall.com
Stephanie Benedetto, Queen of Raw’s Founder and CEO, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Her eureka moment
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The hidden costs of the fashion industry
-
How the Queen of Raw marketplace works
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Solving the chicken-and-egg problem
-
Quantifying climate impact
-
Other markets with huge waste issues
Learn more: https://queenofraw.com.
Caitlin Leibert, Chipotle’s Head of Sustainability, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
-
Creating the sustainability department
-
Diverting 50% of waste from landfill by 2020
-
Solving single-use packaging at scale
-
Regenerative agriculture vs lab-grown protein
-
The highest-impact areas for restaurants
Learn more: https://chipotle.com/about-us/sustainability.
John Belizaire, CEO of Soluna, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
-
Building a 37,000 acre wind farm
-
Their $200M "MVP"
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Why Southern Morocco for site #1
-
The environmental footprint of bitcoin
-
The promise of blockchain
Learn more at https://soluna.io.
Nick Kenner, Founder and CEO of Just Salad, joins Peter on this week’s episode to discuss:
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Founding Just Salad and the eureka moment
-
Running the world’s largest reusable bowl program
-
Executing a zero-waste agenda at a national food chain
-
Sustainability as a business strategy
-
The pros & cons of online food delivery
End of life has been a binary decision for centuries- cremation or burial. Unfortunately, these options come with grave costs.
Cremation and manufacturing caskets, headstones, and grave liners emit CO2 into the air. Embalming fluid pollutes adjacent water and soil ecosystems. The list goes on…
Enter Katrina Spade and her company Recompose - the public benefit corporation pioneering a better, greener end-of-life alternative.
Learn more at: https://recompose.life.
Consumers spent over $517B online with U.S. merchants in 2018, up from ~$449B the year prior. As online shopping increases, this means more packaging and an increasingly significant shipping footprint.
Enter Jesse Genet and her company Lumi - the LA-based startup helping the world's top e-commerce brands build beautiful (and sustainable!) packaging into their supply chains.
Learn more at https://lumi.com.
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there’s a floating mass of waste twice the size of Texas. It’s there because humans dump 10 million tons of plastic into the ocean each year.
Enter Brian Bushell and his newest venture by Humankind - the personal care company eliminating single-use waste from our daily routines.
Learn more at https://byhumankind.com.
“If you were to take food waste and size it up as a country, it’d be the third largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, behind China and the US."
And of all the food types that end up going to waste, bread takes the #1 spot.
Enter Shannon Flannigan and her company Toast Ale - the international food waste company transforming leftover bread into delicious pints of beer.
Learn more at: https://toastale.com.
Americans use enough straws to wrap around the Earth 2.5 times every day.
On top of that- plastic straws can't be practically recycled and don't decompose, leading to long-term pollution of our land and oceans.
Enter Emma Rose Cohen and her company FinalStraw - the world's first collapsible, reusable straw that just went from zero to $5 million (in 9 months!) by removing 100,000s of plastic straws from our daily lives.
Learn more at https://finalstraw.com.
We've been heating water the same way for over a century. This leads to 100,000s of gallons of wasted water every year, and significant energy inefficiencies.
Enter Jerry Callahan and his company Heatworks - inventors of a new technology that heats water instantly within 1° F of the setpoint and uses a fraction of the energy.
Learn more about Heatworks at https://myheatworks.com
According to some reports, animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gases than all of transportation combined. Not only that, animals are a very inefficient way to convert plant calories to meat calories (their current function in the food system).
For example, chickens require 9 calories of food to produce every 1 calorie of meat. That’s a staggering loss, and pigs and cows are even worse (~15 and 25 calories, respectively).
Enter Aylon Steinhart and his company Eclipse Foods - inventors of the first plant-based dairy products that require no sacrifice, ever. “It’s not a dairy alternative, it’s a dairy sequel.”
*This episode is brought to you by Bite Toothpaste Bits, the world's first, 100% plastic-free toothpaste tablet. If you’re looking for an easy way to cut single-use plastic from your life, go to BiteToothpasteBits.com and use code INGOODHANDS for $5 off their flagship 4-month subscription, incl. free shipping!
The global toothpaste market is huge. In 2018, it was valued at $26 billion and is expected to reach $36 billion by 2024. Unfortunately, it also comes with an enormous cost.
More than one billion toothpaste tubes end up in landfills and oceans every year. That’s equivalent to fifty Empire State Buildings — every. single. year.
Enter Lindsay McCormick and her company, Bite - the world's most sustainable oral care company on a mission to eliminate single-use plastics, one smile at a time.
*This episode is brought to you by Bite Toothpaste Bits, the all-natural, plastic-free, chewable toothpaste tablet. If you’re looking for an easy way to cut single-use plastic from your life, go to BiteToothPasteBits.com and use code INGOODHANDS for $5 off their flagship 4-month subscription (incl. free shipping)!
We've seen the headlines. "Plastics expected to outweigh fish in the ocean by 2050." "Marine life are choking on plastic." "Microplastics found in our food, water, and getting into our bodies."
But plastic isn't the true enemy. Products designed for a single use are the root problem. It’s why most things we buy become waste in the first place and end up in landfills, our oceans, and our soil.
Enter Tom Szaky and his company Terracycle, the new-age waste management company recycling the non-recyclable and solving our single-use crisis.
*This episode is brought to you by Bite Toothpaste Bits, the world's first, 100% plastic-free toothpaste tablet. If you’re looking for an easy way to cut single-use plastic from your life, go to BiteToothpasteBits.com and use code INGOODHANDS for $5 off their flagship 4-month subscription, incl. free shipping!
A significant portion of all food grown ends up in a landfill. It’s a problem the UN says costs the world ~$2.6 trillion each year, much of which stems from produce going bad before it’s consumed. Spoilage is also the reason why millions of people around the world go hungry — without cold storage infrastructure, the produce can’t stay fresh long enough while it’s being transported to rural areas.
Enter Apeel Sciences, the company who’s developed a plant-derived, edible coating that can keep produce from going bad for weeks longer than usual, even without refrigeration.
*This episode is brought to you by Bite Toothpaste Bits, the world's first, 100% plastic-free toothpaste tablet. If you’re looking for an easy way to cut single-use plastic from your life, go to BiteToothpasteBits.com and use code INGOODHANDS for $5 off their flagship 4-month subscription, incl. free shipping!
A third of the world's food goes to waste, in large part because grocery stores refuse to put "ugly" produce on their shelves. “Onions that are too small, potatoes that are shaped like your favorite celebrity, and carrots that fell in love and got twisted together.” By some estimates, this amounts to nearly $1 trillion of annual waste and the emission of ~8% of all human-caused greenhouse gases. At the same time, millions of people go hungry every day.
Enter Abhi Ramesh and his company Misfits Market, the online grocery store selling sometimes funny-looking, always delicious produce, designed to break the cycle of food waste.
*This episode is brought to you by Bite Toothpaste Bits, the world's first, 100% plastic-free toothpaste tablet. If you’re looking for an easy way to cut single-use plastic from your life, go to BiteToothpasteBits.com and use code INGOODHANDS for $5 off their flagship 4-month subscription, incl. free shipping!
Palm oil is everywhere. It’s in our food, clothes, shampoo, and even the fuel that powers our cars. But this $61 billion industry has drastic environmental and societal costs: up to 300 football fields of rainforest are cleared every HOUR to make room for palm oil plantations -- releasing CO2 into the atmosphere and destroying entire ecosystems along the way.
Enter Shara Ticku and her company C16 Biosciences, the Y-Combinator-backed startup creating the world’s first synthetic palm oil alternative.
*This episode is brought to you by Bite Toothpaste Bits, the world's first, 100% plastic-free toothpaste tablet. If you’re looking for an easy way to cut single-use plastic from your life, go to BiteToothpasteBits.com and use code INGOODHANDS for $5 off their flagship 4-month subscription, incl. free shipping!
Our cities are at the mercy of an industrial food system that ships in high-calorie, low-nutrient, processed food from thousands of miles away. It’s destroying our health and the very planet on which it relies.
Enter Tobias Peggs and his company Square Roots, the urban farming pioneer on a mission to reinvent the farm and how we feed the world.
*This episode is brought to you by Bite Toothpaste Bits, the world's first, 100% plastic-free toothpaste tablet. If you’re looking for an easy way to cut single-use plastic from your life, go to BiteToothpasteBits.com and use code INGOODHANDS for $5 off their flagship 4-month subscription, incl. free shipping!
Plastic was meant to last forever, but most is only used once. 14 billion pounds of our trash is dumped into the ocean each year and it’s breaking down into tiny pieces of plastic that’s showing up in our food and water supply.
Enter Sarah Paiji Yoo and her latest venture Blueland, a new type of CPG company taking on the global plastic problem.
*This episode is brought to you by Bite Toothpaste Bits, the world’s first, 100% plastic-free toothpaste tablet. If you’re looking for an easy way to cut single-use plastic from your life, go to BiteToothpasteBits.com and use code INGOODHANDS for $5 off their flagship 4-month subscription, incl. free shipping!
When you hear the phrase “climate change” what comes to mind? Just last week, the UN published a report indicating the world’s food supply is in imminent danger due to climate change. And it seems like every day there’s a new headline about a future like this.
So what can we do about it?