
57 episodes

GrowthBusters Dave Gardner and Erika Arias on sustainable living
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- Society & Culture
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5.0 • 15 Ratings
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Erika and Dave dig into the more fascinating aspects of sustainable living - including the joy of living sustainably. It’s all about ending our culture’s love affair with “more,” which is not making us happier and is killing our planet. No half-hearted greenwashing here; we share the brutal and joyful truth! Dave directed the documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth, which Stanford Biologist Paul Ehrlich declared “could be the most important film ever made.”
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The Good Ancestor: Is There an Intergenerational Golden Rule?
How often do you think about the effect of your actions today on the wellbeing of future generations? What do we owe our children’s children? Are we capable of responsibly delivering on that debt? Philosopher Roman Krznaric explored these questions in the book, The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking. Krznaric thinks we do, and we can: “...humankind has always had the innate ability to plan for posterity and take action that will resonate for decades, centuries, even millennia to come. If we want to be good ancestors and be remembered well by the generations who follow us, now is the time to recover and enrich this imaginative skill.”
Long-term thinking and the rights of future generations (not to mention, compassion toward them) are a recurring theme in the GrowthBusters podcast, so we just had to read the book and schedule a conversation with its author. This fascination discussion touches on ecological economics, rights of children, short-termism, and much more.
LINKS:
How to Get Started with Family Cloth (Yup, Reusable Toilet Paper is a Real Thing)
https://redandhoney.com/how-to-get-started-with-family-cloth-and-why-you-might-actually-love-it/
Why You Shouldn't Use 'Family Cloth' Reusable Toilet Paper
https://www.thelist.com/196323/why-you-shouldnt-use-family-cloth-reusable-toilet-paper/
The Good Ancestor website
https://www.romankrznaric.com/good-ancestor
A Resolution for 2021: Be a Better Ancestor (review of The Good Ancestor)
https://grist.org/climate/a-resolution-for-2021-be-a-better-ancestor/
Doughnut Economics
https://www.kateraworth.com/
Flipping Economics on Its Head: Kate Raworth – episode 219 of Conversation Earth
http://www.conversationearth.org/flipping-economics-head-kate-raworth-219/
Thriving Economy: Not Rocket Science – episode 220 of Conversation Earth
http://www.conversationearth.org/thriving-economy-not-rocket-science-kate-raworth-220/
Shrinking Your Travel Footprint – episode 52 of the GrowthBusters podcast
http://www.growthbusters.org/shrinking-your-travel-footprint/
Dave Gardner directed the documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth, which Stanford Biologist Paul Ehrlich declared “could be the most important film ever made.” Erika Arias is researching the childfree/environment connection and is about to enter grad school.
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https://www.growthbusters.org/donate/
Archive of GrowthBusters podcast episodes
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See the film – GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth
http:www.growthbustersmovie.org
Explore the issues at http://www.growthbusters.org
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https://www.youtube.com/user/Growthbuster
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Finding Common Ground
Can we achieve some unity without giving up our integrity and core values? That’s a very current conundrum, so this seems the perfect time for us to publish this conversation. We confess we recorded this conversation last May! Apologies to our guests for the long delay. We could not make up a believable excuse that would keep our integrity intact.
When it seems like we can’t agree on even the simplest choices, one has to wonder if humanity will ever find common ground and a way out of the climate crisis. Kevin Wilhelm and Natalie Hoffman of Sustainable Business Consulting help answer these questions in their book, How to Talk to the Other Side: Finding Common Ground in the Time of Coronavirus, Recession and Climate Change.
CEO and professor, Kevin Wilhelm is a thought leader on how to bring people from different viewpoints and ideologies together to solve big challenges. He is also an instructor at the University of Washington and the author of four books – including the acclaimed “Return on Sustainability – How Business Can Increase Profitability & Address Climate Change in an Uncertain Economy.”
Natalie Hoffman specializes in research and communication between differing cultures and points of view. Hoffman has taught cross-cultural translation to a range of people from university students to environmental activists.
Kevin and Natalie share pro tips for shifting the climate conversation away from the facts and the science and instead towards personal experiences and values. Erika questions them about this method, and what is proposed to be the first step in overcoming our anxieties about the other side in order to find common ground. Plus, more about win-win solutions and focusing on the “financial bottom line.”
LINKS:
Finding Common Ground and Win-Win Sustainability Solutions in a Crisis
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/finding-common-ground-and-win-win-sustainability-solutions-crisis
Talking to the Other Side: Keys for Setting Up Difficult Conversations
https://sustainablebrands.com/read/marketing-and-comms/talking-to-the-other-side-keys-for-setting-up-difficult-conversations
Finding Political Common Ground in These Uncertain Times
https://www.acc.eco/blog/2020/5/6/finding-political-common-ground-in-these-uncertain-times
How to Talk to the Other Side: Finding Common Ground in the Time of Coronavirus, Recession, and Climate Change
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53415793-how-to-talk-to-the-other-side
Sustainable Business Consulting
https://sustainablebizconsulting.com/
On the GrowthBusters podcast, Erika and Dave explore the joy of sustainable living and provide a recovery program for our society’s growth addiction (economic/consumption and population). This podcast is part of the GrowthBusters project to raise awareness of overshoot and end our culture’s obsession with and pursuit of growth.
Dave Gardner directed the documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth, which Stanford Biologist Paul Ehrlich declared “could be the most important film ever made.” Erika Arias is researching the childfree/environment connection and is about to enter grad school.
Join the conversation on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/GrowthBustersPodcast/
Make a donation to support this non-profit project.
https://www.growthbusters.org/donate/
Archive of GrowthBusters podcast episodes
http://www.growthbusters.org/podcast/
Subscribe to GrowthBusters email updates
https://lp.constantcontact.com/su/umptf6w/signup
See the film – GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth
http:www.growthbustersmovie.org
Explore the issues at http://www.growthbusters.org
View the GrowthBusters channel on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/Growthbuster
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Shrinking Your Travel Footprint
Is flying always the worst travel choice for climate stability? Is traveling by rail always the best? You might be surprised. In this episode of GrowthBusters, Dave shares his research on this subject with co-host Erika Arias and frequent guest Joshua Spodek. We also share a great cheat-sheet, Getting There Greener – The guide to Your Lower Carbon Vacation, from the Union of Concerned Scientists. We’d like to remind listeners that while it may seem like the system is stacked against us, we really do have choices about how to transport ourselves. With a little bit of creativity, personal agency, and help from the experts, our choices can change the system!
USEFUL LINKS:
The Four Lifestyle Choices that Most Reduce Your Carbon Footprint (Lund University Study ranking carbon reduction actions)
Vacation Traveler Carbon Guide – Quick Reference Chart and the stuy behind it (Union of Concerned Scientists)
Getting There Greener – full report behind the above vacation guide
Skyscanner greener flight booking site
UCS web tool for EV efficiency in your area
Carbon Offset Info and Programs
American Idling: The Ecological Cost of Keeping the Engine Running
Climate Perks
The future of conference: Will events remain virtual after lockdowns?
On the GrowthBusters podcast, Erika and Dave explore the joy of sustainable living and provide a recovery program for our society’s growth addiction (economic/consumption and population). This podcast is part of the GrowthBusters project to raise awareness of overshoot and end our culture’s obsession with and pursuit of growth.
Dave Gardner directed the documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth, which Stanford Biologist Paul Ehrlich declared “could be the most important film ever made.” Erika Arias is researching the childfree/environment connection and is about to enter grad school.
OTHER LINKS:
Join the conversation on Facebook
Make a donation to support this non-profit project.
Archive of all episodes of the GrowthBusters podcast
Subscribe to GrowthBusters email updates
See the film – GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth
Explore the issues at www.growthbusters.org
View the GrowthBusters channel on YouTube
Subscribe (free) so you don't miss an episode: -
Philosophy of Shrinking Footprints
We set out to make this the second of a series of episodes about shrinking our travel footprint, but the conversation ended up being a broader exploration of philosophical issues related to all kinds of footprint-shrinking actions. Erika and Dave are joined by recurring guest, Joshua Spodek, host of the This Sustainable Life podcast. The conversation includes:
The joy of not flying
Generating a lot less waste
Is the new iPhone really green?
And plastic, plastic, plastic.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Donate to Support this Podcast (yes, it’s a 501(c)3 non-profit project)
Apple’s New iPhone Is Far from Green
Apple is aiming for ‘zero climate impact.’ The iPhone 12 won’t help.
The Story of Plastic
The Story of Plastic screenings
(search for The Story of Plastic)
Joshua Spodek’s The Story of Plastic panel discussion
Joshua Spodek's This Sustainable Life podcast
On the GrowthBusters podcast, Erika and Dave explore the joy of sustainable living and provide a recovery program for our society’s growth addiction (economic/consumption and population). This podcast is part of the GrowthBusters project to raise awareness of overshoot and end our culture’s obsession with and pursuit of growth.
Dave Gardner directed the documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth, which Stanford Biologist Paul Ehrlich declared “could be the most important film ever made.” Erika Arias is researching the childfree/environment connection and is about to enter grad school.
OTHER LINKS:
Join the conversation on Facebook
Make a donation to support this non-profit project.
Archive of all episodes of the GrowthBusters podcast
Subscribe to GrowthBusters email updates
See the film – GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth
Explore the issues at www.growthbusters.org
View the GrowthBusters channel on YouTube
Subscribe (free) so you don't miss an episode: -
Taking a Vacation from Carbon Emissions
How far will you go in your quest to shrink your carbon footprint? What’s eco-tourism, and is it really ecologically responsible? International tourism accounts for 8% of all carbon emissions in the world, and transportation of all types accounts for an even greater proportion of of our carbon emissions. In the first of several episodes about shrinking our travel footprint, Dave and Erika chat with Dr. Michael Hall, Professor in the Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship at University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
According to Hall, “tourism leads to the short and long term decline of natural capital at local and global scales.” Find out what Hall has to say about carbon offsetting, public transportation, local food, and building a market to service communities of people. Hall says that it isn’t about avoiding travel altogether, but about how to travel smart!
On the GrowthBusters podcast, Erika and Dave explore the joy of sustainable living and provide a recovery program for our society’s growth addiction (economic/consumption and population). This podcast is part of the GrowthBusters project to raise awareness of overshoot and end our culture’s obsession with and pursuit of growth.
Dave Gardner directed the documentary GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth, which Stanford Biologist Paul Ehrlich declared “could be the most important film ever made.” Erika Arias is researching the childfree/environment connection and is about to enter grad school.
LINKS
The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Sustainability
Economic Greenwash: On the Absurdity of Tourism and Green Growth
A Radical Way to Cut Emissions – Ration Everyone’s Flights
Pandemics, Transformations and Tourism: Be Careful What You Wish For
Pandemics, Tourism and Global Change: A Rapid Assessment of COVID-19
Carbon Trading: How Does it Work?
OTHER LINKS:
Join the conversation on Facebook
Make a donation to support this non-profit project.
Archive of all episodes of the GrowthBusters podcast
Subscribe to GrowthBusters email updates
See the film – GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth
Explore the issues at www.growthbusters.org
View the GrowthBusters channel on YouTube
Subscribe (free) so you don't miss an episode: -
Damn, It's Earth Overshoot Day Already!
If we were on a spaceship, the end really would be near – August 22. That is Earth Overshoot Day for 2020. We all know we can’t graze 100 head of cattle for long on a one-acre patch of land. We’d have a barren wasteland and a bunch of dead cattle in no time. It’s a little more challenging for us to make this calculation about meeting the needs of 7.8 billion people on a larger patch of land – the entire planet. But the laws of physics equally apply.
Analysts at Global Footprint Network do an impressive job of performing this worldwide calculation. Since 2003, they’ve been analyzing UN data and satellite imagery to estimate the planet’s capacity to meet our needs (biocapacity), and humankind’s footprint - or demand (ecological footprint) - on that capacity. Their analysis suggests we have been in overshoot since about 1970.
If you have too many people, consuming resources faster than the planet can regenerate them, and generating waste faster than the planet can convert that waste, you are in overshoot. This bonus episode of GrowthBusters features the Conversation Earth special, Welcome to Overshoot: Have a Nice Day. This is a 2020 update of the special we shared a year ago. Welcome to Overshoot explores overshoot’s causes, effects, and possible solutions, as well as some of the barriers to solving the problem. It features a who’s who of environmental and economic experts:
William Catton, author of Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change
Brian Czech, author of Supply Shock: Economic Growth at the Crossroads and the Steady State Solution, and executive director of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy
Herman Daly, author of Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development
Paul Ehrlich, Stanford Biologist, author of The Population Bomb
Kerryn Higgs, author of Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet
Ian Johnson, former World Bank vice president, former secretary general of Club of Rome
Bill McKibben, environmental journalist, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?, co-founder of 350.org.
Dennis Meadows, lead scientist, The Limits to Growth
Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist
William Rees, co-originator of ecological footprint analysis
Bill Ryerson, President of Population Media Center and Chair of Population Institute
Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology at Boston University and author of True Wealth: How and Why Millions of Americans Are Creating a Time-Rich, Ecologically Light, Small-Scale, High-Satisfaction Economy
John Seager, CEO of Population Connection
Gus Speth, former chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality, Co-Chair of the Next System Project
Mathis Wackernagel, founder of Global Footprint Network and co-author of Ecological Footprint: Managing Our Biocapacity Budget
Rex Weyler, environmental journalist
LINKS:
Earth Overshoot Day
The Limits to Growth
Conversation Earth podcasts
Ecological Footprint: Managing Our Biocapacity Budget by Mathis Wackernagel and Bert Beyers
Footprint Calculator
Move the Date
Solutions to accelerate the shift to one-planet living
Past Earth Overshoot Days
OTHER LINKS:
Join the conversation on Facebook
Make a donation to support this non-profit project.
Archive of all episodes of the GrowthBusters podcast
Subscribe to GrowthBusters email updates
See the film – GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth
Explore the issues at www.growthbusters.org
View the GrowthBusters channel on YouTube
Subscribe (free) so you don't miss an episode:
Customer Reviews
Future of humanity
This podcast is easy to understand and entertaining. It addresses how much better the future will be for generations to come if we quit abusing the planet we depend on for survival.
The essential topic to cover
Consider nearly any issue of the environment, conflict, disease, resource depletion, global warming, and so on. Follow the issue to its roots and you'll find a belief that growth will solve almost anything -- economic growth, which people believe requires population growth.
We can talk about it or not. If we talk about it we have a chance to do something about it. So far almost no one talks about it. Dave Gardner and Growthbusters talks about it.
This is the podcast of the future. It will change how you see the world, your place in it, and how to act.
Very unique podcast
I had no idea there is so much corporate welfare going on, in secret, benefitting developers and builders, at citizen expense. Paving Paradise offers information and perspective you don't find everyday. If you're concerned about growthmania where you live, Paving Paradise can help you understand why elected officials seem to love growth, and how growth profiteers are gaming the system behind closed doors. This podcast can empower you to fight back.