The Geen Scene: Recent Episodes
Sustainable Earth
Navigating the world of sustainability in small business, education, and everyday life? We get it, it’s not easy being green. Sit in on the powerful conversations with the trailblazers who are walking the sustainable walk. Each episode packs inspirational ideas that will drive your passion to create a better world for you and the people you love.
We sit down with Peter Byck, documentary director, writer, and producer, and professor of practice at Arizona State University's Cronkite School of Journalism and School of Sustainability. Peter pairs documentary filmmaking with scientific research to create compelling, human-centric stories about agricultural climate solutions.
We sat down with Karen Jayne, CEO of Stardust Building Supplies. Stardust is a Phoenix-based nonprofit that has been making waves in the world of local sustainability. With its innovative approach to diverting usable building materials from landfills, this nonprofit has become a shining example of great community involvement and environmental responsibility from an organization.
We sit down with Nadya Panchenko, a sustainability coordinator for film and television. Panchenko is working towards lowering the carbon footprint and reducing waste of film industry productions such as HBO’s Euphoria and Winning Time.
With over 40% of food wasted and 1 million people in Arizona facing food insecurity, Waste Not tackling both issues with a dignified solution. We sit down with Hillary Bryant, Executive Director of Waste Not, to discuss how the organization rescues prepared and perishable food from events, like Super Bowl LVII and the Waste Management Open, and gives it to their community partners feeding hungry people.
We sit down with Dr. Braden Allenby, a seasoned engineer, lawyer, and environmentalist who discusses the built environment and its impact on the planet. He offers valuable insights into how we can improve the built environment for the better and create more sustainable and resilient infrastructure that benefits everyone.
Do you know where your water comes from? Or what happens to water once it goes down the drain? We sit down with Susan Craig, Program Director for the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation at ASU’s Global Futures Laboratory, to discuss these questions, along with water issues and conservation methods in Arizona.
This week we interviewed Damon Carson from Repurposed Materials, an “industrial thrift store.” From starting a ski resort construction waste company, to eventually refining his passion for innovating new uses of waste materials, Damon’s life experiences led him to develop a revolutionary business. Repurposed Materials operates across the U.S., and its goal is to reuse existing materials from industry. In 2022, they’ve diverted over 8.6 million pounds nationwide.
This is our final episode of season 1! We sit down with Jessie Whitfield, the owner of MISGIF, a small business that provides interactive photo booth experiences to clients hosting virtual and in-person events, resulting in high quality GIFs to keep forever. Jessie takes sustainability to heart, considering the impact that MISGIF has on the local community, critters, and the environment.
We sit down with Delia Van Heukelem, the supervisor of US operations at the water treatment company, Clearflow Group. Their main product is a flocculent block that causes sediments to clump together downstream for easy clean up for construction sites, mining sites, industrial applications, and municipal applications.
We sit down with Cave Paper's owner and operator, Zoë Goehring. Cave Paper is handmade paper production studio located in Tucson, Arizona, that is revolutionizing how paper is made and experienced through a unique paper sustainable process.
We sit down with Nick Wayne, founder of the Tucson restaurant HighWire. Through building community partnerships, Wayne has been able to bring sustainable practices to his business as well as the neighborhood surrounding the restaurant.
We sit down with Roza Ferdowsmakan, founder of Bites | Eat with Your Tribe. Her experience working on her uncle’s farm and greenhouse taught her about the symbiotic relationship between humans and their natural environment. It inspired her interest in the intersection between community and culinary experiences.The Bites app allows home cooks of all levels and professional chefs to make themselves available to cook food for people, creating community through cuisine.
We sit down with Dr. Varshovi, founder of GreenTechnologies. They are developing processes of nutrient recycling, finding sustainable alternative sources for the nutrients plants need. By creating fertilizer from waste, GreenTechnologies is making an impact on land and water.
We sat down with Jason Laros, CEM and founder of Resilience Developers. In the pursuit of building a reliable contracting company, Laros layers in sustainable construction practices and circular thinking to help construct a more efficient built environment.
We sit down with Kris Mill and Jake Lipovitch, Founders of the vegan food truck Wok This Way. Starting off with a retired US Postal truck, Mill and her nephew Jake now use their certified "green food truck" to serve up delicious vegan Asian cuisine as well and provide an inclusive workspace for people with disabilities. Or as Mill describes them, “Capabilities."
We sit down with Jesse Long and Cara Planitz-Clatanoff, founders of Company Eco, an ethical online retailer based in Red Rock, Arizona. With greenwashing growing rampant, it can be hard to know whether your purchases align with your values or not. That’s where Company Eco steps in: they review every single product on their platform to ensure that it's high-quality and eco-friendly.
This week we sit down with Cheryl Auger, CEO of My Zero Waste Store. By offering bulk soap, shampoo, and cleaning detergents, along with plastic-free and reusable products, Auger is able to help individuals reduce their waste. Opening her store during the pandemic, she had to overcome multiple challenges, all of which lead to her establishing a strong customer base. My Zero Waste Store has saved over 3.1 million pieces of plastic from being made, reducing plastic pollution.
We sit down with Street Corner CEO, Vikram Dhillon. He is using his company to bridge the gap between traditional convenience stores and large grocery stores. With offerings ranging from fresh and healthy produce to hot, ready-to-eat meals, Street Corner aims to provide people with everything that they need. After leaving his 7-Eleven life, Dhillon and his family packed their bags and moved from California to Arizona, where they're embarking on a Street Corner mission to provide fresh produce while supporting local businesses and farmers. Their flagship store is being built as a part of Culdesac Tempe, a car-less neighborhood located in Tempe, Arizona.
We sit down with Randiesia Fletcher and Herman Harris Jr., co-founders of Harris Fletcher Enterprises and the Urban Forest Project, a social enterprise in Tucson Arizona. They both grew up with food, shelter, and financial insecurity and are working towards helping people in their community break these generational chains. Their foundation focuses on a socially-just world and building a culture of sustainability, their project provides low-income housing with reduced energy consumption, green spaces filled with edible plants, and trees that mitigate the urban heat island effect.
We Sit down down with composting enthusiast JD Hill, owner and founder of Recycled City (R. City). Starting in his friend's backyard with a pickup truck, a shovel, and a passion for compost, JD has spent about a decade building this business. R. City is a composting service in the Phoenix valley that uses a regenerative process to turn food waste back into farmland. R City is returning nutrients to the soil and using it to grow sustainable and chemical-free produce.
We sit down with Melissa Harlan Founder and CEO of Drink Me! Tea Room, a unique vegan and gluten free afternoon tea experience. They strive to implement sustainability in all aspects of their business from composting food and tea bag, to recycling, to sourcing products with out plastic. Melissa's passion for her business and their mission is formed from her personal life experiences. Their sustainability initiatives have seen success through her ability to rally a supportive team of employees.