Earth911.com's Sustainability In Your Ear

• Earth911 Podcast: Kelly Ramsey on Life as a Hotshot Firefighter and the Burning Reality of America's Wildfire Crisis

  What does it take to stand on the front lines of one of the most dangerous and increasingly common realities of our climate crisis era? Discover the intense world of elite wildland firefighting with Kelly Ramsey, the first woman in about a decade to join the Rowdy River Hotshots, a pseudonymously named, California-based crew of highly trained wildland firefighters. In this episode of Earth911's Sustainability In Your Ear, Kelly shares insights from her powerful new memoir, Wildfire Days: A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning American West, which chronicles her transformative two years fighting fires and discovering herself in the process. Her journey into the masculine world of hotshot crews offers a unique perspective on who becomes one of these ultimate first responders, exploring not just the Marine-style training and intense physicality required, but also the personal transformation that comes from confronting both literal and metaphorical fires.As we head into 2025, the conversation takes on urgent relevance, with budget cuts reducing the number of available firefighters despite wildfires growing more severe by the decade. 1,600 firefighters have been laid off this year, despite a growing need. Kelly explains the concept of Preparedness Level 5, when there are no crews left at the time fire danger peaks, and warns that understaffing could leave the nation operating at this dangerous level for much of the upcoming fire season. She also addresses the psychological and physical toll of this extreme profession, the sobering reality of firefighter mortality. She also offers practical advice for those living in wildfire-prone areas on home hardening and evacuation preparedness. Tune in to hear Kelly's powerful story of transformation, resilience, and the urgent need to support our wildfire fighting forces. Learn more about Kelly and Wildfire Days at kellylynnramsey.com.Subscribe to Sustainability In Your Ear on iTunesFollow Sustainability In Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTube

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• Earth911 Podcast: Implasticfree.com's Simona Paganetto on Building a Plastic-Free Marketplace One Brand at a Time

  What if the solution to our plastics crisis isn't just about individual behavior change but building entirely new marketplaces that make plastic-free living accessible and transparent? On this episode of Earth911's Sustainability In Your Ear, discover the grassroots approach with Simona Paganetto, founder of Implasticfree.com, who has transformed her search for plastic alternatives into a curated directory of nearly 150 vetted brands committed to ditching plastic packaging and single-use products. What began as Simona's journey toward plastic-free living has evolved into a store that bridges the gap between conscious consumers and genuinely sustainable brands. Her rigorous vetting processes and careful curation has made Implasticfree.com a trusted resource for shoppers navigating the confusing landscape of sustainability claims and greenwashing.Simona's approach differs from typical environmental activism—she's learning digital marketing while building her mission-driven venture, creating a refreshingly authentic take on environmental entrepreneurship that prioritizes transparency and continuous learning over having all the answers. We also explore the psychological barriers people face when trying to go plastic-free, from the perception that sustainable products are always more expensive to the overwhelming nature of changing deeply ingrained habits. You can explore curated plastic-free alternatives at implasticfree.com.Subscribe to Sustainability In Your Ear on iTunesFollow Sustainability In Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTube

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• Earth911 Podcast: Terviva’s Marc Diaz Introduces the Pongamia, a Tree for the Climate Crisis

  As climate change accelerates and traditional crops face mounting pressures from drought, extreme weather, and soil depletion, innovative solutions are emerging from unexpected sources. Explore the soil-restoring potential of the pongamia tree with Marc Diaz, Chief Commercialization Officer at Terviva, an agtech company that has spent over a decade unlocking this hardy species’ dual capabilities as a nutritious food source and sustainable fuel feedstock. Through their Ponova platform, Terviva is demonstrating how pongamia can restore degraded agricultural land while building equitable supply chains that empower smallholder farmers, particularly women in India, with above-market wages and technical support. The tree’s versatility extends beyond environmental benefits. Pongamia beans are rich in both protein and oil, positioning them as valuable ingredients for food applications while simultaneously serving as feedstock for biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel.Marc explains how pongamia’s nitrogen-fixing properties improve soil health over time, making it ideal for regenerative agriculture practices, while its protein- and oil-rich beans serve as valuable ingredients for both food applications and biofuel production. With recent partnerships involving Chevron Renewable Energy Group and Japan’s Idemitsu scaling pongamia cultivation for sustainable aviation fuel, and expansion into citrus-depleted regions of Florida and California, this versatile tree exemplifies the kind of adaptive, multi-purpose approach needed for climate-resilient agriculture. He also shares insights into what farmers need most when transitioning to climate-resilient crops: technical support, financial backing, and education about new cultivation methods. By addressing these needs while placing equity at the center of their business model, Terviva is proving that commercial success doesn’t require compromising social impact.Tune in to discover how one species is helping reimagine food and fuel systems for a changing world, and learn more at terviva.com and ponovafoods.com.

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• Earth911 Podcast: B-SIDES Founder Yousuf Ahmed Introduces the Upcycled Crunch Puffs Snacks Strategy

  What if the ingredients discarded daily in food production could become the foundation of a more sustainable food future? On this episode of Earth911's Sustainability In Your Ear,  discover the pragmatic vision with Yousuf Ahmed, founder of B-SIDES, a Brooklyn-based startup, proving that upcycled snacks can be delicious and environmentally responsible. Inspired by tasting a single slice of spent grain bread in 2014, Yousuf transitioned from finance and music to food innovation, launching B-SIDES to bring upcycled, plant-based snacks into the mainstream. The company's flagship product, Crunch Puffs, transforms oat pulp—typically discarded during oat milk production—into protein-rich, allergen-friendly snacks packaged in home-compostable materials. From sourcing pulp from small Midwest oat milk makers to manufacturing in Canada and selling through Amazon and New York indie grocers, B-SIDES is creating a playbook for how small brands can lead on both climate action and culinary creativity.Yousuf shares the technical challenges of working with oat pulp as a primary ingredient and the complexities of achieving a moisture seal with home-compostable packaging. We explore how his background in finance and music has influenced his approach to food startups, including the trade-offs between local production and proximity to raw materials, as well as strategies for positioning upcycled food to sustainability-conscious consumers. As Yousuf emphasizes, sustainable products must deliver on taste and price to succeed in the market—environmental benefits alone aren't enough. His pragmatic approach offers valuable lessons for entrepreneurs: real market-winning products that can change manufacturing's negative impacts while sustaining profitable companies must compete on quality first, with sustainability as an added benefit rather than an excuse for inferior performance. You can find B-SIDES Crunch Puffs on Amazon and at select retailers. Learn more about the company at enjoybsides.com.Subscribe to Sustainability In Your Ear on iTunesFollow Sustainability In Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTubeDive into our coverage of sustainable food and packaging innovationBest of Earth911 Podcast: Alter Eco Foods CEO Keith Bearden Is All-In On Regenerative Chocolate FarmingBest of Earth911 Podcast: Imperfect Foods’ Maddy Rotman on Eliminating Food WasteBest of Earth911 Podcast: PFAS Everywhere – Consumer Reports’ Kevin Loria on Forever Chemicals in Food Earth911 Podcast: Farmstead’s Pradeep Elankumaran on Building Sustainable Food DeliveryBioplastics, Biodegradable Plastics, and Compostable Plastics: What’s the Difference?Best of Earth911 Podcast: Better Earth’s Savannah Seydel on Compostable PackagingEarth911 Podcast: World Centric’s Resource Management Team on Compostable Packaging

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• Earth911 Podcast: The Carbon Removal XPRIZE Winners

  As the world confronts the urgent challenge of removing billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, breakthrough innovation is essential to scale solutions fast enough to meet global climate goals. On this episode of Earth911's Sustainability in Your Ear, discover the groundbreaking results of the $100 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, a four-year competition among 1,300 teams from 88 countries that represents one of the most ambitious efforts to catalyze carbon removal innovation. We're joined by Nikki Batchelor, Executive Director of XPRIZE Carbon Removal, and Michael Leitch, Senior Technical Lead for the competition, to discuss what may be one of the most consequential moments in carbon removal innovation to date. They discuss how the competition's $100 million scope and multi-year timeline attracted breakthrough solutions and outline plans for continued engagement with the winning teams as they scale their innovations.[Kenya-based Mati Carbon claimed the $50 million grand prize with an enhanced rock weathering approach that spreads finely ground volcanic rock on farmland, simultaneously capturing atmospheric carbon while improving soil health for local farmers. Mati Carbon's victory wasn't just about technical innovation; it demonstrated a cost-effective approach that delivers multiple benefits in Kenya and India's smallholder farming communities. Three runners-up—NetZero, Vaulted Deep, and UNDO—each received $5 million for their distinct approaches, which spanned biochar production, underground carbon storage, and large-scale mineral spreading.In 2024 alone, humans released 41.6 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, adding to approximately 1.5 trillion tons emitted since the Industrial Revolution. Current carbon removal projects operate at a kiloton scale and must rapidly expand to millions of tons annually. The goal isn't merely offsetting new emissions—it's achieving net-negative emissions to reverse the climate damage already done, albeit slowly. Learn more about the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition and other grand challenges at xprize.org. Watch the documentary series about the competition and winners on the XPRIZE Carbon Removal YouTube channel.Subscribe to Sustainability In Your Ear on iTunesFollow Sustainability In Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTube

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