Episodes

Friday May 17, 2019
37 · KATE & MICHELLE · LET’S GO ON SAFARI…AND SAVE AFRICA’S WILDLIFE!
Friday May 17, 2019
Friday May 17, 2019
Kate Gilman-Williams:
“Kate Gilman Williams wrote [Let’s Go On Safari] when she was 8 years old. A trip she took to South Africa – and the friendship that developed with her safari guide, Michelle Campbell - inspired her to write Let’s Go On Safari! Upon learning about the threats facing wildlife, Kate came home determined to do something to help the animals who were being harmed by humans - and she knew her generation could help.Kate is now 9 years old and in third grade at Trinity Episcopal School in Austin, Texas.
Michelle Campbell:
Michelle Campbell was born in South Africa and lived in five different countries growing up. She fell in love with the bush at age seven when her family took her on safari. She never forgot that experience and years later, whilst working as an economist, she decided to follow her dream to become a safari guide.
We were so lucky to talk to these two ladies while they were on their book tour together around the US. We talk about the importance of wildlife advocacy, what readers of ‘Let’s Go on Safari’ can expect from the book and Michelle’s other important project “Wild Wonderful World”, which focuses on connecting people from around the world to conservation projects in Africa, a model that developed after Michelle and her partner spend well over a year exploring the continent and learning about conservation issues.
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Thursday Apr 25, 2019
36 · BEN YOUNG · TACKLING BIG PROBLEMS THROUGH BEAUTIFUL REUSABLES @ FRANK GREEN
Thursday Apr 25, 2019
Thursday Apr 25, 2019
Ben Young is a caffeine enthusiast and passionate environmental advocate. He is also the founder of Frank Green, a company specializing in solving the single use plastic problem through beautiful, practical reusable products. They are most well-known for their stylish, curvy coffee cups and water bottles. Since their inception in 2013, Frank Green has grown into one of Australia’s most loved reusable cups and bottles brands and is rapidly expanding around the world.
We caught up with Ben at the Frank Green headquarters in Port Melbourne, Australia and we couldn’t help but be inspired by his enthusiasm and energy, he was literally shaking with excitement as he spoke about the company’s vision, their iterative approach, how they’ve built sustainability into their value chain, advice for purpose-driven start ups and Frank Green’s big plans for the future.
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Thursday Apr 04, 2019
35 · OLIVIA KENNAWAY · NEXT LEVEL SUSTAINABLE FASHION AT ASHA:ELEVEN, CAPE TOWN
Thursday Apr 04, 2019
Thursday Apr 04, 2019
Olivia Kennaway is the founder of sustainable, ethical fashion label Lalesso and more recently, Asha:Eleven. Olivia helped drive the ethical fashion movement in Africa with early involvement in the Ethical Fashion Forum. She was also the instigator of what is today, Soko Kenya, which was then set up by Joanna Maiden in the Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary (and now manufactures ethical fashion for big brands like Asos Africa). She is passionate about building an inspirational label that considers both planet and people by taking sustainability to the next level.
We caught up with Olivia in Betty’s Bay, a small coastal town just outside of Cape Town on a moody and stormy day (so please enjoy a little wind whistling as background ambiance).We covered Olivia’s particularly inspiring journey in ethical and sustainable fashion, her impact on communities and individuals and the brand values that she has built into Asha:Eleven to take it to the next level of sustainability.
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Thursday Mar 14, 2019
34 · JUSTINE BRABY · KEEPING YOUR CUP FULL & AFRICA'S WELLBEING ECONOMY
Thursday Mar 14, 2019
Thursday Mar 14, 2019
“Justine is the Director of Progress Namibia Technical and Advisory Services. Her academic qualifications include natural science, law, and education. She has most recently been working on the broad framework of sustainable development, including system thinking and economic transformation. Justine has extensive experience working on themes that are interconnected, such as climate change, sustainable land management, poverty eradication, among others. She has a large portfolio of work supporting African governments in their sustainable development planning, and has recently been working closely with the Sustainable Development Goals. Justine leads the Secretarial work of the WE-Africa (Wellbeing Economy Africa Research and Action Network), and is a member of the core research group of the WE-All (Wellbeing Economy Alliance). Justine has published widely on themes from economic transformation, alternative measures of economic wellbeing, as well as climate change, global transformation, and ecology. She has also had extensive experience in developing, implementing and evaluating different projects and strategies all over Africa, including for various UN and bilateral agencies, governments, and business. Justine's biggest passion is the redefining of value systems towards a more equitable world.”
We cover all sorts of ground including growing up as a conservation kid, how looking after yourself and re-evaluating what is most important is vital for doing good in the world, how working in sustainability can be a lonely place, how she and her team are driving the wellness economy in Africa away from old-school metrics like GDP growth and finally, Progress Namibia’s very impressive work.
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Thursday Feb 21, 2019
33 · ANGIE GULLAN · FOR THE LOVE OF DOLPHINS, MOZAMBIQUE
Thursday Feb 21, 2019
Thursday Feb 21, 2019
“South African Angie Gullan developed Africa’s first structured wild dolphin swim program in 1996 after a two year pilot study in Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique. Under the supervision of Dr Vic Cockroft (The Centre of Dolphin Studies SA), Dr Almeida Guissamulo (The Natural History Museum of University Eduardo Mondlane) & Dr Vic Peddemors (Natal Sharks Board) a set of standard operating procedures were developed that included the implementation of a dolphincare code of conduct with data collection. Angie has worked closely with various governmental institutions in Mozambique to shed light on the importance of ethical marine mammal tourism and the implications of such activities in the area.”
We visited Mozambique’s small coastal town and beach-side paradise, Ponta do Ouro – a spectacularly pristine and beautiful place well known for the incredible diversity of ocean life. We so enjoyed the wildlife, both on land – hello Samango monkeys – and in the water (we saw wild dolphins, incredibly beautiful fish and corals and we spent our evenings watching humpbacks migrate up the coast). At the end of our dreamy week there, after a dolphin encountour, we caught up with Angie and discussed swimming with wild dolphins (in the most ethical and sustainable way possible), the importance of marine reserves and why dolphins are such remarkable mammals.
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Thursday Jan 31, 2019
32 · SPATIAL COLLECTIVE · MAPPING AFRICA FROM THE SILICON SAVANNA, NAIROBI, KENYA
Thursday Jan 31, 2019
Thursday Jan 31, 2019
“Born and raised in Slovenia, Primož Kovačič is an entrepreneur and geodetic engineer who lives in Nairobi, Kenya. Primoz is a co-founder and director of Spatial Collective, a social enterprise that supports communities and organizations in adopting available technologies to collect, manage, own and use data that is important to them.”
Michelle Gathigi is a Nairobi local and the Spatial Collective Operations Manager. She is an International Relations Graduate from the University of Birmingham and is “passionate about community development and particularly see the benefits of empowering community members to be innovative, creative and proactive in improving their lives.”
We hung out with Primož and Michelle in the Spatial Collective office in the busy, lively “silicon savanna” of Nairobi. We discussed how knowledge and data can give power back to the people and make real, meaningful change.
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Thursday Jan 10, 2019
31 · OROPOPO EXPERIENCE · MINDFULNESS & DEEP TRAVEL IN COSTA RICA
Thursday Jan 10, 2019
Thursday Jan 10, 2019
Tomás and Marcelo are two Costa Rican biologists who founded deep travel, ecotourism company, the Oropopo Experience, based in San José, Costa Rica. They have a “strong passion for the understanding and protection of tropical environments, as well as sharing the scientific information with people”. Their mission is to “provide authentic experiences around ecosystems and communities of Costa Rica, highly focused in biology, human quality and operational sustainability”.
We spent two weeks hanging out with these two passionate biologists in San Jose as well as the jungles and towns of rural Costa Rica. It was quite the epic adventure and at the end we sat down with Tomás and Celo to chat out what floats their boat, mindfulness in nature, their favourite moments in wild places, why Costa Rica is winning at conservation and renewable energy and thoughts on becoming a more sustainable person. We recorded this episode on the banks of the Tortugeuro river so you will hear the sounds of birds, boats and locals going about their business. Enjoy!
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Wednesday Dec 12, 2018
30 · MISHA TEASDALE · PLANTING TREES & CHANGING COMMUNITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
Wednesday Dec 12, 2018
Wednesday Dec 12, 2018
Misha Teasdale is the Tree-E-O of Greenpop South Africa, a tree planting eco-education organization, popularizing the green movement and coordinating climate-action events and festivals in Southern Africa. Misha has a B-Tech in Sustainable Industrial Design, and before he started Greenpop, had a colourful career, including a journey from Cape Town to London, where he profiled NGO's and CBO's across the continent to attract CSI funding and encourage knowledge sharing and grassroots volunteering. He also drinks coffee, bikes, runs mountains, and practices low-impact living!
We visited Greenpop’s Eden Festival of Action, held in Knysna, South Africa, a small town hit by devastating forest fires and in desperate need of re-greening. We interviewed Misha in the middle of a very high energy tree planting day, in a forest, right next to the ocean so you can hear the waves, the birds and the delighted shrieks of high-school students throughout the episode. We discuss many things but most importantly, we cover how the very special Greenpop events make exceptionally positive change on more than just the environmental front. We were blown away by the energy, love and care that defined the Eden Festival of Action for us so as you listen to this episode, we would encourage you to think of someone who may be interested in attending one of these life-changing festivals and share this episode with them… or perhaps you might like to head over to South Africa and participate yourself?
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Tuesday Nov 20, 2018
29 · RAFAEL ROBLES · RURAL VILLAGE SUSTAINABILITY IN TORTUGUERO, COSTA RICA
Tuesday Nov 20, 2018
Tuesday Nov 20, 2018
Rafael Robles is a biologist, researcher and an esteemed leader in the rural town of Tortuguero, Costa Rica. Rafa has also lived and worked in Mexico and has contributed to conservation projects all over the world. He is passionate about his country and their significant efforts to protect their wild places. Rafa has spent a lifetime protecting and improving both human and “wild” life in Tortuguero, Costa Rica and has made extraordinary contributions to making this a model sustainable, rural town
We visited the small village of Tortuguero Costa Rica with our friends from the Oropopo Experience and were really impressed by the village’s intense focus on sustainability and protecting their wild. We were fortunate to get time with local leader, Rafa and enjoyed sitting down in his very ‘alive’ garden (we had a sloth hanging about overhead!) on the edge of the Tortuguero National Park to discuss small town sustainability, surviving a pit viper snake bite and Costa Rica’s success in prioritizing conservation and sustainability.
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Tuesday Oct 30, 2018
Tuesday Oct 30, 2018
Ian Dommisse is an Architect from Cape Town, South Africa. After learning about eco bricks, an innovative “invention” that uses unrecyclable plastic waste to make building materials, he founded the Ecobrick Exchange, “an environment awareness enterprise that facilitates the construction of preschools in underprivileged communities using unrecyclable plastic waste”. Their programmes “empower individuals to address the shortage of quality education facilities, implement sustainable waste management systems and raise environmental awareness.”
We managed to catch Ian while the Ecobrick Exchange was on their big Winter Tour, a series of educational events held in Winter throughout South Africa. Specifically, we managed to gatecrash an epic Eco Festival called the Festival of Action, run by Greenpop (a tree planting eco-education organization, popularizing the green movement in South Africa) and boy are we glad we did, it was outrageously inspiring to see the work these folks do in action – Ian and the Ecobrick Exchange team included! We managed to find a semi-quiet spot, nestled on the outskirts of the Knysna Forest to sit down with Ian and chat about the wonder of ecobricks and how they can be (and are being) used as a powerful tool to tackle our huge plastic pollution problem.
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