Episodes

Recorded live at the Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit, leaders from Columbus, Ohio share how they’re building a more circular and equitable approach to waste diversion. Aryeh Alex, Christy Walters, and Marcus Carano dive into practical solutions—from food rescue pilots and mattress recycling to IT reuse and green job creation. Proving that sustainability isn’t just about reducing waste, but about creating opportunities. The conversation highlights how public policy, grassroots engagement, ...

Shelly Douglas is the Executive Director of Green Columbus, who was recently awarded the 2025 Impact Award from the Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit. Since her last appearance, Shelly has broken her tree-planting records for the second year in a row, planting 74,000 seedlings in 2024 and expanding her Columbus City Schools program from 4 to 24 schools with over 650 large trees planted. However, this success story takes a sobering turn as Shelly candidly discusses how Trump's executive orde...

Carol Kauffman is the CEO of the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC). Carol traces the OEC's mission back to its 1969 founding after the Cuyahoga River fire and shares her own path into environmental advocacy through a pivotal experience in Cambodia witnessing deforestation's devastating impact. She explains the OEC's multi-level approach to advocacy, working locally, statewide, and federally to advance environmental protection and community empowerment. The conversation covers OEC's work with Powe...

Kristi Eberhardt is the Head of Sustainable Finance at PNC Bank. She explains how financial institutions are driving sustainable change by making green investments more attractive than traditional ones. Kristi breaks down sustainable finance and how PNC uses financial products to reward environmentally friendly projects. She traces the field's origins to green bonds in 2016 and explains how it's expanded beyond large corporations to include smaller, family-owned, and private businesses. She shar...

Zack Burns is the hydroponics technician at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. He explains how a pilot hydroponics program is cutting food miles, saving water, and connecting with the community. Zack explains how the zoo's hydroponics program started and why reducing their carbon footprint from animal food was important. He covers the basics of hydroponics—growing plants without soil using nutrient-rich water. The zoo's vertical system sits in two 40-foot shipping containers located off zoo...

Susan VonderHaar is the co-director of the Cincinnati Permaculture Institute and leader of Growing Food Champions. She shares her passion for building local food systems and restoring ecosystems. Susan describes permaculture as a practice, a way of being, and a form of ecological design that marries human creativity with the wisdom of nature. With a background in science, biology, and ecological research, she shares how permaculture provided her with a solutions-oriented approach, shifting her p...

Sarah Pottle is the co-founder and regional organizer for the Rust Belt Fibershed, a grassroots initiative working to rebuild a regional textile economy rooted in sustainability and care. In this conversation, Sarah shares how the Fibershed is challenging the fast fashion status quo by cultivating a local, circular system for clothing production in the Midwest—one that connects farmers, makers, and consumers in a shared ecosystem of regeneration. She explains the concept of a "fibershed"—similar...

Nathan McKee is a Sustainability Analyst at Trayak, a mission-driven company helping brands create more sustainable packaging, explores the critical role of packaging innovation in fighting climate change He talks about lifecycle assessments (LCAs), circularity metrics, and the complexities of balancing environmental impact with business needs. He explains how they use software solutions and consulting services to help companies achieve their sustainability goals and meet regulatory requirements...

Jessica Glorius-Dangelo, is the sustainability manager and project manager at MA Design. She explores how they integrates sustainability into architectural design, emphasizing the importance of storytelling in unlocking funding opportunities. Jessica discusses her journey into architecture, highlighting the influence of her father's building projects and an early college course on sustainable design that sparked her passion for giving back more than we take. She describes her experiences working...

Shailah Maynard is the co-founder and CEO of Sew Valley, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit redefining the fashion industry with a focus on ethical manufacturing, local production, and circular design. Shailah shares her journey into sustainable fashion and the vision behind Sew Valley, a nonprofit providing cut-and-sew services, small-batch production, studio rentals, and educational workshops. She emphasizes the organization's commitment to ethical manufacturing, paying living wages, minimizing wast...

Welcome to our mini-series covering the Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit. MRSS is the largest sustainability conference in the Midwest, bringing together hundreds of visionary leaders to share ideas and solutions for a healthier, more resilient, and equitable future. The annual summit features a full day of programming, including speakers, exhibitors, interactive sessions, and networking opportunities, covering a wide range of topics from climate justice and green workforce development ...