Sustainability In Your Ear

Environmental social scientist Michael Maniates, author of 'The Living Green Myth' (Polity Press, November 2025), argues with host Mitch Ratcliffe that lifestyle environmentalism — green shopping, reusable bottles, eco-labels — cannot drive the systemic change sustainability requires because 'the changes we really need just aren't for sale.' He points to the Jevons paradox, whereby increased resource efficiency historically produces more consumption, not less.

Mitch Ratcliffe interviews Don Carli, founder of Nima Hunter, about why $850 billion worth of annual e-commerce returns — generating 8.4 billion pounds of landfill waste — persist despite available technical solutions.

Mitch Ratcliffe interviews Steve Wilhite of Schneider Electric about the challenges and opportunities in electrification and renewable energy transitions for corporations.

Host Mitch Ratcliffe interviews Jasper Steinhausen about making sustainability profitable for businesses, debunking the myth that it's a cost center.

This episode explores the XPRIZE Wildfire competition and new technologies aimed at detecting and containing wildfires within the first few minutes of ignition.

Three high school students from Seattle's Bush School — Zahra Velamur, Ellie Klessert, and Kai Aizawa — join Sustainability in Your Ear host Mitch Ratcliffe to discuss MooBlue, their asparagopsis-based cattle feed additive business plan that won their school's Shark Tank entrepreneurship competition.

Mitch Ratcliffe interviews Loa Dalgaard-Worm, Circularity Hub Lead at the Forest Stewardship Council, about FSC's effort to extend its 30-year certification system into a circular economy framework.

Elizabeth Blankenship-Singh, Director of Innovation at Overlay Capital, describes the Atlanta-based fund's strategy for investing in circular economy companies across waste infrastructure, bio-based materials, and low-carbon cement.

Mitch Ratcliffe interviews Rebecca Hu, CEO of Glacier, about using AI-powered robotics to improve recycling efficiency and address labor challenges in material recovery facilities.

Mitch Radcliffe interviews David Lawes about Colorado's first-of-its-kind EPR oil recycling program, discussing the challenges of motor oil disposal and the need for producer responsibility.

Rebecca Thissen discusses the upcoming COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, and the need for adequate climate finance.

Rob Kutner discusses USEFULL's plastic buyback program that incentivizes institutions to switch from single-use to reusable takeout containers.

Mitch Ratcliffe interviews Grant Quasha about Eco Material Technologies' progress in scaling low-carbon concrete alternatives and navigating industry challenges.