Zero Waste Trash Talk

A zero waste sustainability podcast offering global solutions and ideas originating from our East Nashville neighborhood. We discuss universal issues like circularity, recycling, reusing, composting, energy and climate justice. We'll share what our friends, neighbors and local businesses are doing and connect with innovative programs in other cities around the globe.

Zero Waste Coffee with Crema Nashville 05/21/2021

Zero Waste Coffee with Crema Nashville Nashville's Crema Coffee business model is how we wish all businesses would operate. In our interview with Rachel Lehman we find out that Crema was one of the first Zero Waste businesses in Nashville and how they keep innovating to reduce waste and make the coffee world a better place. In addition to developing compostable coffee packaging, Crema implements costly innovations like electric delivery vehicles, reusable wholesale delivery crates and pays living wages for employees and growers. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/19191350

Chat With Chattanooga Zero Waste 03/13/2021

Chat With Chattanooga Zero Waste Would you sneak a plastic bag monster costume into your State's Legislature and wear it to meet with lawmakers? This is just one of the interesting things we found out in this inspirational interview with Sadie and Zach, the organizers behind Zero Waste Chattanooga. We discuss their Zero Waste journey and how they educate their community. Sadie has a great take on "Remedy Messaging". She sites studies that show people are more prone to waste when they think there is a remedy like recycling. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/18309923

How to Stay Environmentally Motivated During A Pandemic 02/04/2021

How to Stay Environmentally Motivated During A Pandemic With world wide Covid-19 deaths in the millions, political upheaval, social unrest and a tumultuous economy, continuing the conversation about sustainability sometimes feels like some kind of privileged guilty pleasure. Michael and Maris discuss the struggles of the past year and the importance of talking about sustainability in order to engage listeners and unify our environmental efforts to slow down the impending climate catastrophe. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/17824379

Episode 17: Tennessee Environmental Council 50th Anniversary 12/08/2020

Episode 17: Tennessee Environmental Council 50th Anniversary Do you feel like you're the only one recycling, composting your food scraps and getting dirty looks from cashiers for bringing your own bags. Finding and supporting your local environmental organizations can be a great way to stay connected and leverage your environmental actions. ZWTT is active with locally with Tennessee Environmental Council. Join us as we chat with CEO, Jeff Barrie about the 50 year history of TEC and what their plans are for the future. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/17113433

Episode 16: Zero Waste Gift Giving 11/22/2020

Episode 16: Zero Waste Gift Giving Have you thought about sustainable gift giving? How do you personalize a gift experience when sending an electronic gift card? Why do we even give gifts? Maris and Michael have a conversation about how to approach gift giving as Zero Waste practitioners. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/16909016

Episode 15: How We Do Zero Waste 11/09/2020

Episode 15: How We Do Zero Waste How do you "pull a Maris"? Is there a waiter in East Nashville with a zero waste chopstick injury from Jess? How does Michael offset air conditioning for furry Akitas? Life is full of trade offs for what's good for us, the environment and our pocketbooks. Zero Waste isn't just trying to fit all of your trash into a mason jar. It's about conserving and reusing resources. The Trash Talk hosts share some of the things they do on a daily basis to lower consumption and produce less waste. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/16738118

Episode 14: The Bloody Truth about Tampons & Pads 10/25/2020

Episode 14: The Bloody Truth about Tampons & Pads Hey Ladies! Did you know that tampons and pads that we have been told to use our whole lives are actually toxic to our bodies? Maybe this isn’t news to you, but really these foreign objects we’re putting into our bodies are NOT good for us! and they are just going to be thrown AWAY - which we all know by now that there is no away. For this episode we invited fellow Zero Waste Nashville group member Larissa Maestro to explore the opportunities for healthier more sustainable feminine hygiene options. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/16536098

Episode 13: Back To School Composting, Gardening and Food Donation Programs 10/05/2020

Episode 13: Back To School Composting, Gardening and Food Donation Programs Karen McIntyre from Nashville's West Mead Elementary is much more than a librarian. She's helped start a compost program, a school garden, recycling drives and a way for students to donate uneaten food from the lunchroom. She shares her successes and the lessons learned along the way to making her school an example for the entire Nashville school system. Karen is proof that one persons dedication can affect systemic change. Find out how you can support what she's doing. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/16283996

Episode 12: The Environmental Impact of Renting Your Items 09/20/2020

Episode 12: The Environmental Impact of Renting Your Items There are a lot of items that sit in our closets, attics or basements that only get used a couple of times a year. Do you know how many resources it took to produce, ship and sell all that stuff so that it can just sit around unused? Ruckify is a new peer-to-peer rental marketplace that makes it super easy to put unused items back into circulation AND make money in the process! THEY ALSO PLANT A FRICKEN TREE FOR EVERY TRANSACTION! Co-founder Steve Cody tells us how and why the company got started. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/16080992

Why You Need a Bidet 09/06/2020

Why You Need a Bidet In this episode, Michael talks about his experience with his new bidet and about how the process works down to the nitty gritty detail. We also hear from a couple of listeners who gave us audio testimonials about why they love their bidets. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/15904196

Episode 10: Nashville Metro Zero Waste Master Plan 08/23/2020

Episode 10: Nashville Metro Zero Waste Master Plan Does your city have a Zero Waste Plan? If it does, is it being implemented and/or championed by your elected officials? /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/15719564

Episode 9: Gleaning to End Food Waste 08/09/2020

Episode 9: Gleaning to End Food Waste Gleaning is an ancient practice mentioned in the Old Testament and codified into law in some countries. Normally, over 1/3 of the food produced in the world is wasted but during the pandemic shutdown this was exacerbated as crops were being plowed under and milk dumped down drains as distribution channels shifted from institutions and restaurants to grocery stores. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/15539558

Episode 8: What's a Food Co-op and How Do You Start One 07/26/2020

Episode 8: What's a Food Co-op and How Do You Start One Who wouldn't want a grocery store where they are part owners and can vote on the items being sold, where they come from and how they are packaged. Learn what a grocery co-op is and how to start one in our conversation with Ellery Richardson from Nashville Food Co-op. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/15356030

Episode 7: The Insanity of Plastic Recycling 07/19/2020

Episode 7: The Insanity of Plastic Recycling If plastic recycling is broken, why do we do it? It makes no sense financially or by any measure of success when it's a 90% failure rate. Even if it worked better, plastic can't be recycled more than 2-3 times before it falls apart so all we are doing is delaying the inevitable. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/15262574

Episode 6: Industrial Composting 07/10/2020

Episode 6: Industrial Composting In this episode we have a conversation with Clay Ezell from The Compost Company about how industrial composting differs from backyard composting and why Nashville is one of the few cities in the country who have a service like this that accepts food scraps and compostable plastics. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/15158132

Episode 5: Interview with Nashville Metro Public Works 06/20/2020

Episode 5: Interview with Nashville Metro Public Works Jenn Harrman, the Nashville Public Works Waste Reduction Program Manager, answers our questions about what's recyclable in Nashville and where does it go? Like many cities, Nashville has had to adapt to a changing markets for recyclables. The rules for what plastics can be recycled have changed twice in the last year, causing some confusion. Listen to this episode to get to the nitty gritty of how things work at our MRF and how the private contractor, Waste Management, fits into the picture. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/14902247

Episode 4: Dumping is not Donating 06/13/2020

Episode 4: Dumping is not Donating Zero Waste Trash Talk family member Jess Johnson discusses her experience with donations as a home organizer. She asks what each organization accepts then she finds out what they do with the items they can't use. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/14808275

Down In The Dumps with The Story Of Plastic 05/23/2020

Down In The Dumps with The Story Of Plastic In Episode 3 we talk about watching the new documentary The Story of Plastic on Amazon and we interview our friend John Hawkins, a Nashville waste diversion specialist and musician, to get his take on the problems with recycling. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/14539865

Episode 2: Filling Good with Megan from The Good Fill 05/15/2020

Episode 2: Filling Good with Megan from The Good Fill Nashville's first zero waste, package free refill store owner, Megan Gill, talks to us about her zero waste journey. She moved back to the States from Costa Rica where she taught women who had been sex traffic victims how to become beauticians. Seeing how different consumerism is here in America, it made her want to start an ethical and sustainable zero waste store in Tennessee. We discuss how the recent tornado affected her business that was followed by the pandemic stay at home closure orders. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/14435306

Episode 1: Nothing Goes Away 05/08/2020

Episode 1: Nothing Goes Away In this first episode we talk about sustainability in Nashville and what we are doing to strengthen our community. It's a hyper local conversation with ideas that can be applied to communities all across the globe. We cover city composting options; new plastic recycling regulations and the problems with the triangle numbering system; how to dine out sustainably, and what you can do as individuals to limit your environmental footprint. /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/14338013

Teaser Episode 05/02/2020

Teaser Episode If you care about the planet and are the type of person who takes trash home with them to sort, you are the right audience for this podcast /episode/index/show/zerowastetrashtalk/id/14244965

Zero Waste Trash Talk

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