green living

60: Cannon Design – Living Centered Design

Whether designing for equity in education, accessible healthcare, inclusive communities, new scientific discoveries or the “next big idea” in business, Cannon Design leverages a full suite of end-to-end services to help organizations and the people and communities they serve to flourish.

Cannon Design does this through a design approach they created called Living-Centered Design. Living-Centered Design realizes that to create a world where people continuously flourish, we must address the complex interdependencies that exist between people, businesses, communities, society and the environment.

We talk with Eric Corey Freed, director of sustainability at Cannon Design, about how a well-designed building can not only have an environmental impact but also increase productivity. How can we achieve that? Listen to Eric on Mindful Businesses podcast.

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Architecture
60: Cannon Design - Living Centered Design
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59: Amazi Foods – Snack on Purpose

Renee Dunn, Founder of Amazi Foods, studied abroad and did her thesis research in Uganda. While living there, she was blown away by their organic tropical fruits, bursting with flavors unlike back at home in the US. But stand after stand, people traded fruits raw or looked for cheap ways of processing or exporting. She had heard stories about cocoa farmers never saw a chocolate bar. Those at the heart of the resources were completely separate from the opportunity and innovation that existed in the global market —resulting in high unemployment and food waste. This sums up a lot about our supply chains as a whole.

Meanwhile, back at home, consumers look for products that serve a higher purpose. She realized there was a huge opportunity missed not only for local industry and job creation but also to satisfy a growing need for US consumers. Amazi Foods source directly from farmers and keep production in-country by partnering with Ugandan businesses. By creating over 150 jobs and paying 2-3x the local wages, paying farmers up to 67% above market price, prioritizing women and smallholder farmers, and committing to contribute over $13 million to the Ugandan economy over the next 4 years, they bring 100% made-in-Uganda products to the US markets. Listen now only on Mindful Businesses podcast.

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Africa
59: Amazi Foods - Snack on Purpose
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58: UpMeals – Healthy Food Hotspot

Vending machines and sustainability seem to be diametrically opposite objectives, But Upmeals is bringing together these two objectives in its innovative. Drew Munro, a professional Vancouver-based caterer, and Ryan Angel, a Red Seal Chef and Registered Holistic Nutritionist. He saw a market need for an option that allowed businesses to provide healthy, ready-to-eat meals for their employees or customers, in a scalable, cost-effective way. UpMeals is a flexible alternative to costly traditional catering or meal delivery services. Freshly made meals are delivered weekly to each refrigerated vending machine that can be monitored remotely via an app to determine the popularity of menu items and reduce waste.

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Food
58: UpMeals - Healthy Food Hotspot
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57: Ceres Greenhouse Solutions – Designing for a Better Future

We have on our show Marc Plinke, founder/CEO, and Miriam Schaffer Marketing and Communications Specialist of Ceres Greenhouse Solutions. Inspired by the Roman Goddess of Agriculture, Ceres is a company devoted to growing plants. Their core team consists of engineers, architects, builders, plant experts, designers, and tinkerers. Founded in 2011, Ceres Greenhouse Solutions aims to reinvent the traditional greenhouse. They combine passive solar design principles with innovative heat-storage techniques to create the most energy-efficient and durable greenhouses for any climate in the world. The result is a smarter, ‘greener’ greenhouse design: one that regulates its own temperature, can grow year-round, withstands the harshest weather, and uses little to no fossil fuel energy.

Ceres greenhouse solutions can be found around the world, in climates as far-ranging as Alaska to South Africa for backyard gardeners, sustainable farmers, school administrators, and big industrial growers. Listen to Marc Plinke and Miriam Shaffer on Mindful Businesses.

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Agriculture & Farming
57: Ceres Greenhouse Solutions - Designing for a Better Future
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56: Jeffrey Hollender – Seventh Generation

Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder and Board Chair of the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), which through its national member network represents more than 250,000 businesses in a wide range of industries. He was co-founder and CEO of Seventh Generation, which he built into a leading natural product brand known for its authenticity, transparency, and progressive business practices.

As an early thinker and adopter of sustainable practices, Jeffrey brought to market several green products. He talks about how and why is a living wage important. He talks about the impact of a living wage on an individual and societal level – both emotionally and financially. What sustainability means is far more than just doing no harm – we have to be a net positive. Do more good through regenerative practices. AT ASBC, he leads and lobbies for policy changes in these issues which he is passionate about. Listen now only on Mindful Businesses.

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Fashion and Beauty
56: Jeffrey Hollender - Seventh Generation
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54: Sproutworld – The Original Plantable Pencil

We talk to the CEO of Sproutworld – the original plantable pencils. All aspects of the Sprout pencil are sustainable and non-toxic – from the biodegradable seed capsule to the 100% natural clay and graphite core and sustainably harvested wood. Regardless, of whether you are an experienced gardener or a novice, you can choose Sprout pencils in color or in grey, and when it’s time to stop writing you can start planting, e. Start enjoying vibrant flowers, fragrant herbs, or fresh vegetables.

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Design and Innovation
54: Sproutworld - The Original Plantable Pencil
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53: The Grandad Company – Unisex Circular Street Clothing

Hand-made in The Grandad Company’s London home studio; The Grandad Company is a closed-loop streetwear brand whose mission is to breathe life into reclaimed vintage menswear for a new unisex generation. An upcycling brand, with being environmentally conscious at its core. “Wear your grandads’ clothes!” Don’t let your grandads’ clothes go in the bin!” – says Jess Grech, the founder of The Grandad Company. Hear about her sustainable passion to create an upcycled unisex street clothing brand – made one piece at a time.

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Design and Innovation
53: The Grandad Company - Unisex Circular Street Clothing
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52: Hungry Harvest – Eliminating Food Waste and Hunger

What started as a senior project in his dorm room at the University of Maryland, became his passion. “Everything we do is driven by the belief that every person has the right to eat healthy and every fruit and veggie grown deserves to be eaten. We won’t stop until that belief becomes reality.” – Evan Lutz, CEO, and co-founder of Hungry Harvest. Listen to his story.

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Food
52: Hungry Harvest - Eliminating Food Waste and Hunger
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51: Clean and Proud – Creating Sustainable Fashion from Plastic Waste

Clean & Proud kicks off in 2018, when two environment and ecology enthusiasts George Berthon and Beatrice Engström, living in Malawi sit together to once again talk about the problem of plastic waste littering the streets and the nature of this country they love so much. It was that evening that they decided to act against pollution. With a small amount of cash they had on hand and the help of a partially successful crowdfunding campaign, Beatrice and George set out to create machines to recycle all that plastic polluting Malawi. But they fail to operate these machines to their full potential. It was at this moment that they came across this simple and effective technique on the internet to heat-seal single-use plastic waste (such as packaging and plastic bags) together to create a durable and practical material. Since then, Clean & Proud has strived to create and produce wonderful eco-friendly and ethical products, handmade with always a little African touch to warm the hearts.

Learn more about their passion for bringing environmental change and their love for the East African nation, Malawi.

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Africa
51: Clean and Proud - Creating Sustainable Fashion from Plastic Waste
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49: Othalo – The Future of Housing

OTHALO™ has developed a patent-pending technology to manufacture building systems using recycled plastic waste. The main market is the developing world where there is a massive need for affordable houses, refugee shelters, temperature-controlled units for storage of food and medicines, camps (hospitals, schools, temporary living) for disasters and emergency situations.

Frank Cato Lahti, has been developing and testing the OTHALO™ technology in partnership with SINTEF in Trondheim and the University in Tromsø since 2014. The company was formally established and patent applications filed in 2019. After years of self-funding the development, OTHALO™ is now in a position to scale up the company, supported by UN-Habitat, global thought-leaders, and many engaged partners. Frank joins us from Vard, Norway, a town filled with legends of magic and the Northern Lights. Listen to his fascinating journey in this episode.

For more episodes go to our website:https://www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/podcast-1
To learn more about Othalo:
https://othalo.com/

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Europe
49: Othalo - The Future of Housing
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