Podcast: USA

9: Ehlers Estate – Sustainable Winemaking

With summer fast approaching, sipping a glass of wine, we wondered about the practices of vineyards – a highly competitive and commercialized industry. Around the same time we were pitched by Ehlers Estate for an interview with their General Manager and Winemaker. In our conversation with several of the mindful business leaders, we sought insights into the economics of running a sustainable and profitable business. The strategies that they use to achieve sustainability goals and still be profitable.

In this episode we talk with Laura Diaz Munoz, Winemaker and GM of Ehlers Estate about her journey from a food scientist to a winemaker and a sustainable one at that. Ehlers Estate is one of the oldest wineries in North America established in 1886 by a German immigrant Bernard Ehlers. On July 1, 2008, after three years of verifiable organic farming, Ehlers Estate was awarded organic certification from the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). But that was not enough – they went on to implement steps to include regenerative farming practices. Using nature to help solve nature’s problems with minimal or no intervention. Interventions whether it be in the yeast or sulphurs in their heritage wine, use of fungicide or pesticides. They employ innovative techniques to reduce water consumption during irrigation and reuse the water used in the wine making process. In addition, with the use of technology, such as sensors in the soil they can determine accurately how much to irrigate the vines, further conserving water, a scarce resource. In this enjoyable conversation with Laura Díaz Muñoz, her passion for saving the heritage vines and artistically creating wine blends that bring out the flavor and aroma of each fruit in the blend. But for me, the cherry on the top of this business is that this for – profit business is part of Leducq Charitable Trust – an international grant making organization to support research in cardiovascular disease and stroke. Learn more about this mindful business on this episode of Mindful Business.

#sustainablewines #sustainablefarming #wines #wineplague #delucqfoundation #delucq #mindfulbusinesses

Read More
Cover
Agriculture & Farming
9: Ehlers Estate - Sustainable Winemaking
Loading
/

8: Circular Design Consultants – Net Zero Homes

When Jodi Bakst and Cor Rademaker, co – founders of Circular Design Consultants had the opportunity to develop oa piece of land in North Carolina, they had the vision to make it North Carolina’s first net-zero neighborhood. They put this vision to pen and paper to create Array Sustainable Design and bring to market a twelve lot neighborhood on 60 acres, in picturesque Orange County, North Carolina. In this episode they share how their homes are energy efficient and the challenges that they faced in creating this project. They sell individual lots to buyers who can build custom homes abiding by the neighborhood’s covenants. They believe developments like their net-zero neighborhoods will be the neighborhood of the future and they are excited to be the first of its kind in North Carolina. Listen to this lively and passionate couple on this episode of Mindful Businesses.

Mentions:
Array Sustainable Living
GAF Energy
Timberline Solar
Eric Corey Freed

#netzero, #mindfulbusinesses, #solar, #GAF, #sustainabledesign, #aarayliving
https://arraysustainableliving.com/
https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

Read More
Cover
Architecture
8: Circular Design Consultants - Net Zero Homes
Loading
/

7: Loop And Tie – Gifting That Gives Back

Receiving a gift makes people happy, incentivizes and motivates employees, and builds corporate morale. Businesses give gifts for various reasons – a promotion, to say thank you, reaching a milestone or even”just because”. The businesses try their level best to match the gift to the employees tastes. That can be a daunting task for the gifter. Loop and Tie aims at making corporate gifting intentional, sustainable and an opt-in gift experience. They have observed that with the opt-in gifting, the receiver can choose the gift of their liking. It helps businesses send unique, elevated gifts that help your brand stand out — and make a difference doing it. Loop and Tie are the first and only carbon regenerative gifting platform. For every gift shipped, through their land restoration and regenerative agriculture initiatives make a net positive carbon impact. Their gifts are thoughtfully sourced from independent creators, makers, and artisans. They even have a gift-it-forward capabilities that allow the receiver to support charities, non-profits, or causes that matter most to them. Learn more about giving sustainable from the Founder and CEO of Loop and Tie, Sara Rodell on the latest episode of Mindful Businesses.
https://www.loopandtie.com/
https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

#sustainablegifting, #mindfulbusinesses, #loopandtie, #Carbonpositive, #corporategifting, #gifting #employeemorale

Read More
Cover
USA
7: Loop And Tie - Gifting That Gives Back
Loading
/

6: Our Sustainable Home – Eric Corey Freed; Foundation and Windows

The cement industry puts out 8% of the world’s CO2 emissions, but having said that, it is very durable and technically made with natural materials. As we go along this journey to build a sustainable home, we look into options to reduce the consumption of cement and therefore concrete in our home. We delve into the techniques to build a strong and dry foundation or basement that can withstand the upward ground water pressure and the thrust from the ground on the side walls with minimal cement consumption. A sustainable house begins with a good system to envelop the home to minimize heat loss and energy consumption. Besides insulation and construction techniques we look to windows and how they can help us in creating a tightly sealed home. A well-designed and thought-through window placement design can also help us with solar gain and create desired airflows in the home reducing costs of heating and cooling the home. What are the factors to consider when selecting a foundation or window technology? We learn more from our expert Eric Corey Freed, LEED Fellow Principal, Director of Sustainability at Cannon Design on this episode of Mindful Businesses.

https://www.cannondesign.com/people/eric-corey-freed
https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

#sustainablehome #oursustainablehome #mindfulbusinesses #U-Values #Rvalues #superiorwalls #triplepanewindows #tiltandturn #cementindustry #greenhome

Read More
Cover
Architecture
6: Our Sustainable Home - Eric Corey Freed; Foundation and Windows
Loading
/

125: Savesorb – Save Time, Money and the Environment

Oil spills in our world where engines are omnipresent are almost inevitable. Larger accidental spills on land and water have catastrophic effects on the environment, plant and animal life. Ironically some of the industrial spill clean-up solutions often used may not always be eco-friendly. SaveSorb is a totally natural, sustainable plant material. Using sphagnum peat moss in a proprietary method, it is dried, sieved, blended and pH balanced to create the most effective absorbent of hydrocarbons (oil based compounds) and chemicals available.

SaveSorb absorbs almost all hydrocarbons, chemicals and their vapors. It encapsulates them within its molecular structure and will not leach contaminants into the environment, even under pressure. SaveSorb is very safe to handle. In its natural state it partially absorbs the fumes, making it useful for cleaning up small spills containing flammable liquids.

SaveSorb is available as a loose product in bags and in a variety of manufactured products from Spill Kits, absorbent mats and socks. Listen to the world renown jockey turned entrepreneur, Ronnie Ebanks who seized the opportunity when he was introduced to this “miracle-product”.

https://savesorb.com/
https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

#oilspill #sustainablesolutions #ecofriiendly #ecofriiendlycleanup #sphagnumpeatmoss #mindfulbusinesses #savesorb

Read More
Cover
Sustainable Materials
125: Savesorb - Save Time, Money and the Environment
Loading
/

124: Numi Organic Tea – Activating Purpose

As we sip our daily cup of tea, we may wonder how and where it was grown and its impact on our planet. Tea production impacts our planet and people on several layers. The farming practices employed, wages paid, living conditions of the workers and its overall impact on our planet. In 2006, Numi Organic Teas was one of the founding (amongst 30 businesses) to be certified as a B corp. They had been mindful of how and from whom they source their organic teas, procuring them from Fair Trade and Verified Labor farms, but they knew they had to do more.
The realization that there can be no tea without water – clean drinking water, made the brother and sister team, Ahmed Rahim and Reem Hassani, co-founders of Numi Organic Tea introspect the purpose of their company.They launched “Together For H2OPE” – a nonprofit program bringing clean, safe drinking water to tea farming communities around the world.

The journey from farm to cup requires raw materials, packaging, transportation and water for steeping. They established a “Climate Action Plan” with a detailed, measurable process to reduce and offset the impact of Numi Organic Teas on the planet. Climate action can’t wait. Numi is committed to giving you the tools to fight climate change, starting with their Carbon Footprint Label. In this episode we have Reem Hassani, who shares the vision and mission of Numi Organic Teas. Listen and learn.

https://numitea.com/
https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/
#tea #tealover #floraltea #teas #fairtrade #sustainablefarming #mindfulnusinesses #numitea

Read More
Cover
Agriculture & Farming
124: Numi Organic Tea - Activating Purpose
Loading
/

1: Our Sustainable Home – Eric Corey Freed – Living Centered Design

In this series Mindful Businesses – Our Sustainable Home, we will document the process and the choices a homeowner goes through in making their home sustainable. Not all choices are often ideal – it has to be a balance between what are the viable options available in the market, the cost and the associated capability in implementing the sustainable solutions. We reach out to our earlier guest who so eloquently shares his wisdom. Eric Corey Freed – a Leed Fellow, is the Director of Sustainability at Cannon Design, an architecture firm that creates living centered design, gives a step-by-step guide to make a home sustainable. In this episode we talk about the skeleton of the home – what are the construction methods to build a frame, insulation options and energy solutions. Learn more from the one and only one Eric Corey Freed.

https://www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

Read More
Cover
Architecture
1: Our Sustainable Home - Eric Corey Freed - Living Centered Design
Loading
/

110: Junobie -Eco-friendly Reusable Breast Milk Storage Bags

As formula companies’ productions are limping back to normal, after the recall, a question some people ask is why can’t mother “just” switch to breastfeeding their infants. As most mothers know that it is not that easy to make that switch. Breastfeeding a baby can be hard – it needs support from the family, spouse, pediatrician and most importantly the medical community. Breast milk can be stored up to four days in the refrigerator giving the mothers some flexibility to return to work or even sometimes even share some of their milk with other mothers. This breast milk needs to be stored in a safe, convenient, and long-use product. Our guest in this episode, Nickey Ramsey, Founder & CEO of Junobie does just that, empowering women with a convenient pouch made of silicon. Learn more in this episode of Mindful Businesses.

https://www.junobie.com/
https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

Read More
Cover
Sustainable Materials
110: Junobie -Eco-friendly Reusable Breast Milk Storage Bags
Loading
/

109: Pass the Honey – It’s Absurdly Good

Next time we grab a packet of honey to add to our tea – we should stop and think how a commodity so valuable and nutritionally dense is given for free. According to Douglas Raggio, founder of Pass The Honey, 70% of all honey is not pure. There is rampant fraud and honey is adulterated by blending with sugar syrups or many other methods of adulteration. In order to address this level of fraud in the industry, Pass the Honey establishes trusting partnerships directly with beekeeper suppliers so we know how our honeycomb was produced and have full traceability and transparency from beekeeper to consumer.

Fake honey, deceives consumers and floods markets with a cheap product, driving honey prices so low beekeepers are having a hard time staying in business. The beekeepers have had to find alternate sources of livelihood, such as pollination services, that require them to travel far and wide to help farmers pollinate their crops. This further causes stress to the bees and they lose 45% of their bee population every year because of this movement. Why do the farmers require this service? Learn more about this and the importance of bees in our food systems in this episode of Mindful Businesses.

https://passthehoney.com/pages/about-us
https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/
#regenerativeagriculture
#beekeeping
#sustainbleagriculture
#passthehoney

Read More
Cover
Agriculture & Farming
109: Pass the Honey - It's Absurdly Good
Loading
/

108: Cerebelly – Science Backed Baby Food

Today we talk on our show with Dr. Teresa Purzner and Nick Langan, co-founders of Cerebelly who as parents of infants wanted to make sure that their kids get the best possible nutrition not only for their physical but also for brain development. They were surprised to learn when they flipped over a packet or bottle of baby food the mismatch between the actual stated ingredients and the nutrients in the baby food. Teresa knew that the baby brain, as complex as it is, develops in stages and each stage requires different nutrients for its optimal development. The brother and sister duo started experiment with baby foods with your own children and wanted to bring the art and science of baby food to other babies. Teresa and Nick teamed up with world-class pediatricians, nutritionists, and food scientists. Together, they created Cerebelly—delicious, farm-fresh, organic baby food that provides real nutrition for a growing brain and body. Cerebelly unites neuroscience, nutrition, and organic, farm-fresh food to give them the very best from the very start. Learn more about their attention to details and passion in this episode of Mindful Businesses.
https://cerebelly.com/about-cerebelly
https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

Read More
Cover
Food
108: Cerebelly - Science Backed Baby Food
Loading
/