Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration

Raja Dhir is a life sciences entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Seed, a venture-backed microbiome company pioneering the application of bacteria for both human and planetary health. After our groundbreaking interview with his co-founder, Ara Katz, on Green Dreamer's episode 109, we knew we had to bring Raja on the podcast as well to learn from his complementing scientific expertise leading Seed's research and development, academic collaborations, technology development, clinical trial design, supply chain, and intellectual property strategy. On this podcast episode, Raja sheds light on common misconceptions of what "probiotics" are and what a healthy microbiome should look like; why we perhaps need to learn from how the Amish people live; how our knowledge of probiotics can be applied to address ecological challenges such as our honey bees' colony collapse disorder; and more. Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/155 Weekly solutions-based news: www.greendreamer.com  Support the show: www.greendreamer.com/support  Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast

Aviva Rahmani is an ecological artist who exhibits and publishes internationally. She's known, in particular, for her Trigger Point Theory—the idea that small points of carefully selected intervention might effect large systemic transformations—and she exemplifies this through her artwork, including Trigger Points/Tipping Points, Ghost Nets, and Cities & Oceans of If. One of her more recent works, her Gulf to Gulf Project, integrates art and science to address climate change, aiming to help re-green the earth by 36% by 2030. On this podcast episode, Aviva sheds light on what the role of art is in environmental conservation; what future generations may deduce of our time based on the artwork we leave behind; why we need to find points of sensitivity (or trigger points) to focus our efforts on in order to drive the drastic changes we need today; and more. Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/154 Weekly solutions-based news: www.greendreamer.com Support the show: www.greendreamer.com/support Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast  

Brendan Synnott is the CEO of PACT, where he's leading his team to disrupt the apparel industry for the better by using organic and fair-trade cotton as the foundation for addressing the labor and environmental issues that surround clothing. On this podcast episode, Brendan sheds light on what it takes to shake up existing, extractive corporations to render them obsolete or hold them accountable to their social and environmental impacts; why fighting for more transparency within the fashion supply chain must be the first step to bringing about positive change in the industry; and more. Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/153 Weekly solutions-based news: www.greendreamer.com Support the show: www.greendreamer.com/support Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast

We're joined by two guests today from Quail Springs Permaculture, an organization that empowers people with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration that are essential to cultivating ecological and social health. Janice Setser is its Executive Director, and Sasha Rabin is its Natural Building Director as well as the founder of her own natural building organization, Earthen Shelter. After they each came to their own awakenings of how modernization has strayed from providing experiences that that truly bring joy, abundance, meaning, and wellness, they set out to explore alternative ways of living that put social connection and earth stewardship first. On this podcast episode, Janice and Sasha shed light on why we need to go past sustainable living to regenerative living; what is problematic about our binary and linear view of societal advancement; and more. Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/152 Support the show: www.greendreamer.com/support Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast

Jay Siegel is the founder of Ground Up Impact and the creator of Sustainability Defined, the award-winning podcast that defines sustainability "one topic (and one bad joke) at a time." On this episode, Jay sheds light on why sustainability can't be defined by a standard dictionary; the root causes driving environmental degradation no matter what industry we're speaking of; what it takes to reach the general public with our messages beyond the niche of people who already care; and more.   Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/151 Support the show: www.greendreamer.com/support Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast

Debra Prinzing (@dkprinzing) is a Seattle-based writer, speaker and leading advocate for American Grown Flowers. Through her many Slow Flowers-branded projects, including SlowFlowers.com (@myslowflowers), Slow Flowers Podcast, and American Flowers Week, she has convened a national conversation that stimulates consumers and professionals alike to make conscious choices about their floral purchases. On this podcast episode, Debra sheds light on why we need a slow flowers movement; the environmental impacts of growing flowers with an artisan mindset versus a commodity mindset; the vital role of flowers in our food production; how our collective loss of knowledge on seasonality helped drive agrobiodiversity loss; and more.   Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/150 Support the show: www.greendreamer.com/support Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast

Maria Abadilla is the Founder and Chairperson of Orangutan Alliance (@orangutanalliance), an independent, industry-based nonprofit organization promoting the reduction of unsustainable palm oil in consumer products through their palm oil free certification program. On this podcast episode, Maria sheds light on the primary global threats from the palm oil industry; the evolution of how we commodified palm oil to the point where rainforests are cleared for its plantations; how we can navigate the over two-hundred alternative names that palm oil is masked under on ingredient labels; and more.   Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/149 Support the show: www.greendreamer.com/support Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast

Tamara Lim is the founder and CEO of The Wally Shop, America's first zero-waste grocery delivery service that sources from local farmers, markets, and bulk shops.   On this podcast episode, Tamara sheds light on how our current consumption model and waste management methods are setting us up for failure when we're striving to address our waste issues; what structural and systemic shifts we need in order to render disposable packaging obsolete; and more.   Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/148 Support the show: www.greendreamer.com/support Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast

Rosalinda Guillen is a recognized farm worker and rural justice leader. She's also the Executive Director of Community to Community (C2C), a women-of-color led, grassroots organization redefining power in order to end settler colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy in their external and internalized forms. Fueled by inspiration from her parents growing up and fed up with the systemic oppression in our food system, Rosalinda is working to build support for rural communities and sustainable agriculture policies that ensure equity and healthy communities for farm workers. On this podcast episode, Rosalinda sheds light on how settler colonialism continues to play out in our food system today; how the lack of work authorization for undocumented farm workers—which make up 48%-70% (or more) of our total number of farm workers in the U.S.—impacts labor standards; how food justice is related to immigration issues; and more.   Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/147 Support the show: www.greendreamer.com/support Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast

Shannon Service is an award-winning, independent reporter and filmmaker who broke the story of slavery at sea for NPR’s Morning Edition in 2012. Her new feature documentary, Ghost Fleet, follows up on that story as she sets sail with a Thai abolitionist who is scouring remote islands for slaves who’ve jumped ship.   On this podcast episode, Shannon sheds light on the difficulties in regulating our global fishing industry; how overfishing is tied to human trafficking and modern-day slavery at sea; how to address "fish-laundering" and support more transparency and traceability in the seafood supply chain; and more.   Episode notes: www.greendreamer.com/146 Support the show: www.greendreamer.com/support Instagram: www.instagram.com/greendreamerpodcast