Season 7 Intro - The Conversations We Want to Have

​[00:00:05] Dominique: Welcome back to Green Champions.

[00:00:06] Christy: Thanks for joining us in a conversation with real people sharing sustainability success stories. 

[00:00:10] Dominique: This podcast is a platform for green champions to share their stories and plant new ideas. I'm Dominique.

[00:00:15] Christy: And I'm Christy, and this, believe it or not, is season seven.

[00:00:19] Dominique: Season seven's kinda crazy. 

Before we get into what's coming up, Christy, I'd love to take a look at where we've been and what's been going on over the last season, 'cause we did something a little bit different. 

[00:00:29] Christy: We did. We did this partnership with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, or MORPC for short, and it was all built around their annual Summit on Sustainability. So Dominique, you obviously know about this summit on sustainability because you're a speaker. That's pretty awesome. 

[00:00:44] Dominique: They were very kind to allow me to do one of their PechaKucha talks.

Which for those who are not familiar, we talk about it a little bit in our chat with JR in the past season. But it's actually like a universally used format for speaking events like this. I don't know where it originated from, and I think potentially I'm pronouncing it incorrectly, but I will say the MORPC team calls it the PechaKucha talk, so I have adopted that pronunciation from them.

 It's really interesting. when you're up there, it's very nerve-wracking 'cause the slides auto-advance, and then you only have six minutes and 40 seconds. But it's like TED Talk style, these advancing slides. Christy and I are sitting right now, I haven't actually done it yet, it's a little more scary.

I'm sure it's gonna go great because they have offered a lot of great support. 

[00:01:21] Christy: So far, we've had three guests, and we've done six episodes. It was just fun in getting to dive deeper on some of the summit speakers and learn more about them, so much fun, had such great conversations.

[00:01:33] Dominique: And our goal with the partnership with MORPC really was to highlight their initiatives. They're a regional planning commission, which a lot of regions govern that a little bit differently.

But this organization in particular is focused in Central Ohio and wanted to highlight their initiatives around driving sustainability and promoting their event, but also the ways they do activities with greenways and trails and air quality measures and their 2050 sustainability plan. Hopefully kind of pulling the curtain back on how that works for a region.

Who makes those decisions? How do those initiatives move along? And we didn't even scratch the surface. Christy and I had to figure out which topics we could really dive into. So I'm really grateful for the things we got to talk about, but we didn't even get to all of the amazing things that MORPC does.

[00:02:20] Christy: We did not, but it was so much fun digging deeper into more conversations. 

[00:02:24] Dominique: What'd you enjoy the most? 

[00:02:25] Christy: Yeah. I think I took something from the conversation that we had with JR, and you've gotta listen to the episode.

It's about air quality, which is amazing. If you breathe, and we all do, you should watch it. He was just so inquisitive in how he thinks about and respects and talks about people who have influenced him in his life, has been really interesting to me, and he also has so many skills, hobbies. He's so interested in things. And so I really got inspired to make sure I'm trying new things and making sure that I'm not just existing. I want to experience. So I was really inspired by that.

[00:02:56] Dominique: I love that. Yeah, JR was really awesome, as were all of our guests. Yes. 

 I think for me, what stood out was also just the way we collaborated with Brandi. Brandi Whetstone is the first speaker of the series, and she really helped us introduce the partnership, but she also was part of us crafting it.

And I wanted to just make a note of that because, one, Green Champions loves to partner with conferences like this and events. If you know any other organizations out there that have events that we could plug in with and help to storytell alongside, that is what we are, like, really excited about doing more of.

And Brandi was really collaborative and fun in terms of helping us figure out how to take the Green Champions style of storytelling and pair it well with their upcoming event and their initiatives. It was just super fun, and kudos to Brandi for being so great to work with.

[00:03:42] Christy: Yeah, it was a great collaboration, and I think that it made it a stronger series with that collaboration. So I think it was a lot of fun. I'm glad we did it. 

[00:03:50] Dominique: Okay, now we're heading in season seven. So that's the purpose of us chatting today is what comes next, Christy? Are we gonna enter another partnership season? What's coming next?

[00:03:59] Christy: What's coming next, we're actually gonna go back to our standard Green Champions format, so our regular formatting, one guest, two episodes. 

[00:04:07] Dominique: Yeah, so for those who are potentially new here, maybe the MORPC Summit brought you to the Green Champions podcast, that would be super cool. At Green Champions, we wanna hear the background of the person we talk to and their champion story. So every guest has done something awesome in the world of sustainability, and we wanna make sure that we talk about the human component of who they are in tandem with that how did you do this great thing aspect of their champion story.

[00:04:30] Christy: Exactly. And episodes will release every Tuesday just like normal. So we want you to check that out. 

[00:04:37] Dominique: Well, Christy, I think we did our job here. We talked about season seven coming. 

Maybe we could just both take some time even just to share some things that we're working on, doing, or wanna learn more about. So you go first. 

[00:04:47] Christy: Well, I am gonna just share that I've been fascinated by soil for whatever reason my whole life, probably growing up on a farm. I remember even asking for Christmas an out-of-print book that was called Soil and Civilization. 

[00:05:01] Dominique: How old were you when you wanted this book? 

[00:05:03] Christy: Well I was an adult. I wish I was a cool kid, but 

[00:05:06] Dominique: Like hoping you were like six. 

[00:05:09] Christy: That would've been awesome. 

But no.

[00:05:12] Dominique: Okay, okay. Sorry. 

[00:05:15] Christy: That's funny. I love it. But I just am fascinated by soil, so I always have been, and how taking care of it matters. And the impact on communities, people, health, everything. And it's just top of mind right now because there's some construction in my neighborhood, and I'm seeing the negative impacts of their poor construction practices and how it's impacting water quality and erosion right next to me, and I see it every day.

[00:05:41] Dominique: You've had a lot of these conversations come very close to home for you.

[00:05:45] Christy: Yeah. 

It's so true. But I mean, if we just think about it, we all have all these connections of things for sure. So those are some things I'm thinking about. 

[00:05:52] Dominique: Maybe we'll find some episodes and people to talk to about that. Maybe I'll put a plug out there if anyone knows anyone talking about soil erosion and water and maybe eventhe role that we play as residents I imagine there's an element of this where it's like someone should flag things before they're a problem, but there probably is an element of who is out there, kinda like talking to JR with air quality of like, there's some specialist out there trying to have eyes on the ground in the way that he had sensors around the community.

[00:06:17] Christy: You know what? That's a great example, and maybe I'll share this with everybody because we are the sensors.

Everyone that's listening to this, we are the individual sensors in a community. And so it's really important to understand who are your support mechanisms. You can often, if you do see any issues around soil and water and erosion, you can check your local county. They often have resources, and literally rely on us to be those sensors to let them know when something's happening, so they can then monitor it and do any reparations that need to happen.

And I will say I'm, usually a little bit on the fence about pros and cons of social media and our interconnected world. But that is one thing I do love about how pervasive the internet is, is that we can flag issues so fast. I recently saw a video from New York that was, like, some upset New Yorker commenting about the potholes in his street. Oh. I don't know if you've seen this video. You did? Okay, yeah.

And he's complaining that the mayor should be filling them in. And then, of course Mamdani somehow sees the video, patches the hole. It's a good reminder thatif we use these tools to communicate real problems with actionable solutions, then it's actually super cool when they get resolved. And when we can hear each other out.

Yeah. You're right. And I love that you shared that. That's a great example. 

What's something that you want to learn more about, maybe topics on future podcasts?

[00:07:30] Dominique: Okay, I think I want us to get a little more topical And I think that we juggle the fact that the champion comes first sometimes and sometimes the story comes first.

But one in particular is that I had a friend recommend that I watch The Plastic Detox documentary on Netflix, I wasn't optimistic I would learn a lot. And I really did. And it talks a lot about microplastics in our bodies, and not only are they there, but what is the impact on our fertility rates in particular. And it was crazy. I was really taken aback by the fact that they found microplastics in women's placentas after birth. And just thinking about the fact that we're not only, polluting our own bodies but we are actually polluting the next generation, and that just really stuck with me.

And I just would love to have some speakers come on and talk about the intersection of microplastics and the science with our health, and really understand what we can do. Because it makes you feel big and a little bit helpless, I think, sometimes when the world is riddled with plastic. My brother, I was talking to him about it after watching the documentary, and he's someone who just hadn't realized how pervasive plastic was. Like, he hadn't been seeing it. And then he walked into the grocery store a couple of days after we spoke, and he texted me and he said, "Oh my gosh. Everything is covered in plastic."

And I remember my first time seeing it but that movie really helped me see it. And if we can have some episodes that would help listeners, like see it, I would love them to appreciate that. And I think one thing that I've been doing since is just being more appreciative of when I can get my produce and my food unpackaged. 

[00:08:56] Christy: Yes. Okay, I totally get it. Sometimes, though, packaging produce does extend the life of the produce too. But that's what's so complicated about plastics. 

[00:09:05] Dominique: I never want our podcast to be one point of view. So I guess a really good point of view, like and there's a conversation of are we prioritizing the food's longevity or our health? And are those in competition?

[00:09:14] Christy: Yeah. Those are the conversations we wanna have.

[00:09:16] Dominique: Who wants to come on the podcast and talk about that? Yeah. I would just love to, I think, talk more about those real things that feel big, and I would love some expert opinions. Yeah. And some great conversations, I don't have answers, but I have questions. I think we're all learning too. 

[00:09:31] Christy: Yeah. 

[00:09:32] Dominique: Okay. What's something fun coming up for you, Christy?

[00:09:34] Christy: Something fun for me is by the time this releases, I will actually be in Italy. And so I'm really looking forward to that.

What part of italy?

The Amalfi Coast. 

[00:09:43] Dominique: Oh my gosh.

 Can I also be in Italy during this? 

[00:09:45] Christy: Sure. I am looking forward to lemon 

[00:09:51] Dominique: groves. 

I'm really good at carrying bags. 

[00:09:53] Christy: Oh. You're coming. You're coming. 

[00:09:55] Dominique: Okay, lemon groves.

[00:09:56] Christy: Yeah, lemon groves. We're gonna cook with the nonnas. I'm excited about that. And so I'm just excited about the food and the culture, always. Those are always the things I'm excited about when I go somewhere. 

[00:10:06] Dominique: Beautiful. I'm excited for you. You deserve it.

[00:10:08] Christy: Yeah. It'll be fun. What are you doing?

[00:10:10] Dominique: Well, I shouldn't have gone second 'cause I feel like yours is way better.

Something that actually ties into our previous season that I'm excited about is I've been getting more into biking. Yes. That's just fun, fun new hobby of mine. I'm enjoying the, activity that it is in general, but also, learning a lot about bikes. And we just learned in our MORPC season about how Central Ohio is navigating greenways and trail towns and all this cool stuff that I've been really enjoying. 

But also Ohio is actually really special when it comes to biking, and I just learned this because a close friend of mine just biked from California to New York, and I got to join him for part of his journey, and that was super, super fun. But also gave me a little bit of a bug.

I'm like, " Ooh, I gotta do more of this." Yeah. But I got to appreciate how different bike trails are around the country. And Ohio is special. We have 3,000 miles of combined on and off-road bicycle facilities and designated routes, something like that. I'm just so appreciative that I have these safe bike spaces to bike 'cause I don't like biking on the roads as much. And I hope by the time this releases I'm trying to do a century ride. 

I'm doing 100 miles. And then we'll see where I go from there. 

[00:11:14] Christy: That'll be amazing. And the trails here in Columbus and Ohio, the surrounding area, they are amazing. You can go anywhere. I love the Yellow Springs Trail. That one's so much fun. There's so many fun trails. 

 You can check the trails and see which trails are here, which ones are paved, which one are rock. And you can also see where future ones will be developed. So you can actually see how the trails will be connecting. 

It's on the MORPC site. But super great. That's so much fun, a century ride. 

[00:11:39] Dominique: Yeah, it'll be fun.

[00:11:40] Christy: Well, I've always wanted to go on a bike ride and also do kind of a bike camping experience. So maybe that's what I'll do through my inspiration from JR. Maybe I will just stop thinking that I really wanna do it, and I'll actually do it.

[00:11:53] Dominique: Don't worry, I'll show you pictures of my bike after this. Bike packing, yeah. I'm very into backpacking. I had friends who were like, "I think when you start biking, you're gonna like, get really into it." I love gear and stuff. I get into that.

Anyway, super fun. Thanks, Christy. For chatting. I'm excited for all the fun things to come for us. I'm excited to hear about Italy when you get back. And then we're gonna roll into season seven.

This season will wrap up your first year of the podcast.

[00:12:15] Christy: That's pretty awesome. So thank you for the opportunity to be your co-host, and us to have all these fun conversations. 

[00:12:23] Dominique: Thanks for enjoying it and adding your flair to it Yeah. I've been learning a lot from you so it's great.

[00:12:28] Christy: Same. It's great. I love it. I've had so much fun. 

[00:12:30] Dominique: All right. Each guest brings a different approach to sustainability, and we're here to highlight people doing the work and to remind you that climate action takes many forms.

[00:12:37] Christy: You can find all of our episodes and support the show at thegreenchampions.com.

If you've enjoyed this episode, please follow, subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Stay connected with us on LinkedIn and Instagram, @greenchampionspod. Our music is by Zayn Dweik. Thanks for listening to Green Champions, and we'll be back next time for our next season with another sustainability success story.