Reacts: The Waste-Free World by Ron Gonen

"You've got my brain now on what's the most eco-friendly weapon. I think it might be nunchuks."

Kristen and Kyla are joined by activist Robert Miller to discuss the book "The Waste-Free World" by Ron Gonen, an in-depth look at how transitioning to a Circular Economy could help curb the extremes of climate change. This is a divisive book that makes some great points while undermining it's own message by narrowly focusing only on how Capitalism is the best way forward. Tune in for a lively, thoughtful discussion full of fun facts!

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Eating Local

“I do know somebody who in University lived in a tiny apartment and had a deep freeze in his bedroom… it seemed slightly murdery, but it was just because he liked to buy discount chicken.”

In this episode, Kristen and Kyla dive into the ethics of eating locally (it might be more complicated than you think!) Topics: what is the reasoning behind the Eat Local movement; explaining the Slow Food movement; how to eat local; Localism vs Cosmopolitanism; is eating local really better for the environment and for systemic inequality?

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Conflict Minerals

“That’s typically what taxes are, Kyla. We just don’t apply them to a lot of big companies…”

Kristen and Kyla wrap up their discussion on electronics by exploring the complicated story of conflict minerals. Topics: what are conflict minerals; Democratic Republic of the Congo and conflict minerals; The Enough Project; what companies can do; what legislation can do; what you can do.

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Ethical Pets

"Anybody who can afford a Sphynx cat can also afford to pay somebody to wash their cat’s folds for them."

Kristen is on vacation, so Kyla takes the opportunity to talk about her new kittens (her favourite subject these days). But is it ethical to keep pets? Topics: mental health, breeding, the history of kitty litter, how to dispose of pet waste, vegan pet food, going waste free, alternatives to keeping pets.

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Consumer Electronics and the Environment

"I remember years ago going to an optometrist, and they ask how many hours of screen time I have in a day and at the time I think I sort of sheepishly said like 4 hours, or something like that, knowing it was actually higher. But today if I went it's like… well how many hours am I awake in a day?"

In part 2 of the electronics summer series, Kristen and Kyla discuss the impact of our favourite tech items on the environment. Topics: mining; rare earth mineral refining and toxic waste; e-waste dumping and recycling; the right to repair and planned obsolescence; what you can do.

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Coffee

In this episode, Kyla and Kristen talk about everyone’s favourite work drug: coffee. Topics: how coffee is made; coffee history; the coffee industry; working conditions on coffee farms; what is a fair price for coffee; the environment and coffee growing, brewing, packaging, and accompaniments; what you can do.

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Plastic Free Periods with Jasmine Tribe

In this episode, Kristen talks plastic free periods with Jasmine Tribe, Campaign Manager of City to Sea’s Plastic Free Periods campaign. City to Sea is an environmental nonprofit working to stop plastic pollution. Topics: the Plastic Free Periods campaign, period products and plastic pollution, why you shouldn’t flush period products, reusable alternatives, the Rethink Periods program, period poverty, and access to free period products.

Looking to try something new? Reusable period product discount codes are available at the City to Sea website! Link here: https://www.citytosea.org.uk/campaign/plastic-free-periods/products/

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Ethical Periods

“I always feel so metal holding a chalice of my own blood.“ In this episode, Kyla and Kristen open up a discussion about menstruation, period stigma, and a range of reusable period products. Topics: period positivity, period poverty, the free bleeding movement, menstruation and the environment, plastic free period products (plastic free tampons, menstrual cups, reusable pads, period underwear).

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The Fallout from COVID-19 with Steven Ayer

This is a special episode on COVID-19’s impacts and the prospects for a just recovery, created in partnership with PhiLab, the Canadian Philanthropy Partnership Research Network. Kristen and Kyla are joined by Steven Ayer to discuss the Toronto Fallout Report. Steve is the President of Common Good Strategies. He is also the lead researcher and author of the Toronto Foundation’s Vital Signs Report and, most recently, the Fallout Report. The Fallout Report explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto. Listen in for a discussion covering topics from health inequality to food insecurity, mental health, economic challenges, housing, and the future of the nonprofit sector.

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Cultured Meat

Would you buy lab-grown meat if you could? Cell-cultured meat is now being sold in Singapore, and it is coming soon everywhere else. In this episode, Kyla and Kristen are joined by climate activist Robert Miller to discuss the promise and dilemmas of cell-cultured meat. Topics: how cultured meat works; the race to bring lab grown meat to market; justifications (animal welfare, climate change, hunger, antibiotic resistance); is cultured meat a good solution and can people get over the “weird” factor.

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Chocolate with Samantha Luc

“We call it an ugly fruit…the uglier it is on the outside, the more beautiful it’s going to taste on the inside.” In this episode, Kyla and Kristen are joined by Samantha Luc to talk about chocolate. Samantha is a former professional chocolate eater! She used to be the Head of Traceability and Tastings and Education at Soma Chocolatemaker. Now she is working with companies across a variety of industries to support their traceability efforts with Wherefour ERP. Topics: what is chocolate; the history of chocolate; chocolate and colonialism; poverty and the price of chocolate; child labour; deforestation and chocolate.

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Biogas With Peter Harris

"Our politicians aren't experts. I think that was quite evident when a man was made minister for women."

Kyla and Kristen are joined by Peter Harris, post-doctoral research fellow for the Centre for Agricultural Engineering in Australia, working on the bioenergy and bio-resource recovery team. He works on projects involving a process called anaerobic digestion, which can be used to turn biowaste into energy, while recovering useful elements. Pete discusses: the history of anaerobic digestion, what is biogas, can cow-farts be turned into energy, the potential for biogas as a sustainable energy source, barriers to biogas adoption, and how can we best utilize this technology?

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Winter Gear

“I’ve just googled, and a Canada goose can live to be 24 years old so. There ya go.”
”Ah. It’s further proof that meanness makes you live longer.”

Kristen and Kyla examine winter boots and jackets in an attempt to answer the question: is it even possible to buy ethical winter gear? Topics: synthetic vs animal products, winter boots vs snow boots, how long do ducks live.

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2020 Wrap-up Quiz

"So if you combine the estimated wealth of those 2153 billionaires, it exceeds the wealth of how many other people on the planet?"
In this episode, Kyla and Kristen say goodbye to 2020 with a wrap-up quiz, featuring previous guests Brianna Botchwey, Fariya Mohiuddin, and Alexandra Sundarsingh. The group looks back at ethical consumption trends and issues from throughout the year.

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