We’re eating way too much meat. An unsustainable, unhealthy amount of meat. If you’re looking for one way to drastically improve your health and carbon footprint — plant-based eating is it. But even if you’re not going fully plant-based, reducing your meat intake is a huge step in the right direction.

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In this episode, we hear how our community has noticed a difference in their health since eating more plant-based, how much of an emissions impact we can make by eating fewer hamburgers, and we’re talking to Professor and Nutrition Scientist Christopher Gardner about exactly how meat impacts our bodies.

🌎 For photos of our contributors and further reading, check the full show notes.

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📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

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Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Diana Holguin, Drew Crabtree, Elisabeth, Miriam Jornet, Will, Willa Stoutenbeek, Brian Stancheski
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0

When we need or want something, our first thought is often, "Where can I buy it?" But what if our first thought was: "I wonder if my neighbors have it?" Buy Nothing groups and free groups are community-rooted solutions for overconsumption and how much overconsumption costs us and the planet.

Whether you're looking for empty plastic containers for a craft or you want to give away an old Kindle you don't use, these groups are a great way to realize the resources and generosity of our neighbors.

On this Community Voices episode of Second Nature, we're diving into the generous, thrifty, free world of free groups and Buy Nothing groups to discover new opportunities to connect with community and find new value in our stuff.

🌎 For photos of our contributors and further reading, check the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Submit to the show.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

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Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Taylor Barkley, Morgan Gallagher, Diana Holguin, Madeline Streilein, Nick Blocha
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0

Government seems to move slower than the pace of climate change, so do our votes for climate candidates and policies actually make a difference?

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In this episode, we're connecting the dots between climate and policy and hearing from people around the world about how their governments’ policies are affecting their lives and their regions. We're also catching up with HEATED editor-in-chief Emily Atkin to hear how climate reporting has changed over the past couple of presidential terms and how she keeps her head above water after a decade of reporting on climate. We'll also talk to Commons founder Sanchali Seth Pal about climate policies around the world that have actually worked.

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If you're looking for resources to help you vote for the planet in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, or any upcoming U.S. election, here are some resources that could help: Vote Climate U.S. PAC's Voter Guide, Climate Cabinet's Climate Scorecard, League of Conservation Voter Scorecard.

🌎 For photos of our contributors and further reading, check the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Submit to the show.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Anandi Yadav, Clara, Danielle Bird, Lindsay Kerns, Michael Chase, Nick Blocha, Shai
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0
• (06:12) - space
• (07:04) - Marker 2
• (09:03) - Marker 3
• (14:31) - Marker 4

Plant-based cheese is better than ever, but can we expand our expectations of cheese to ease our reliance on Big Dairy?

Cheese is delicious. Even aspiring vegans find cheese hard to quit. But making dairy cheese is not only rough on the planet — the dairy cows’ lives aren’t great either. In this episode, we’re getting the full picture of the impact of dairy cheese, including the United States’ decades-long surplus cycle with the cheese industry and how it’s connected to Pizza Hut’s Summer of Cheese.

We’re chatting with famed vegan chef and cheese icon, Miyoko Schinner about how far plant-based cheese has come and her favorite plant-based cheese bases. We’re learning practical tips to learn to love plant-based cheese, and having our very own cheese taste test.

🌎 For photos of our contributors and further reading, check the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Submit to the show.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Amea Wadsworth, Diana Holguin, Drew Crabtree, Kenzie Rattray, Melissa Athina, Miriam Jornet
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0

Gifting isn't easy for everyone, and it certainly isn't cheap. On top of that, unwanted gifts can be wasteful and lead to piles of returns or trash. But becoming a more sustainable, low-waste gifter will make you a better gifter and save you money!

In this episode, we give you dozens of great gift ideas from our community, and all of them are backed by the research of leading Dr. Julian Givi. We'll also talk about the carbon (and waste impact) of big holidays like Christmas.

If you want more gift ideas, we've got you covered! The Commons team curated gift guides for everyone on your list with over 300 unique, memorable gift ideas, including vintage items, experiences, and DIYs.

🌎 For photos of our contributors and further reading, check the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Submit to the show.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Read the episode Click here to view the episode transcript.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Adyasha, Alyssa Barber, Amea Wadsworth, Anandi Yadav, Cara Haberman, Deb Hansen, Ezra Chaviv, Kelly Kandra Hughes, PhD, Morgan Gallagher, Rachel Orenstein, Timmin Vooijs
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0
• (00:00) - Marker 1

Whether it's from a catastrophic storm, a brutal heat wave, or dying coral reefs, we're all dealing with the effects of climate change. All that stress and sadness can lead to climate anxiety (aka eco-anxiety).

If you've felt anxious about the state of our climate, you're not alone. In our first-ever Community Voices episode of Second Nature, we're focusing all on you, our listeners, to hear various ways to cope with climate anxiety through nature, community, and gratitude.

If you're looking for more resources to help with climate anxiety, we highly recommend this list from the team at All We Can Save.

🌎 For photos of our contributors and further reading, check the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Submit to the show.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Adyasha, Artie Sadahiro, Camille, Liv, Natalie Pullen, Nick Blocha, Savannah Vize
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0
• (00:00) - Marker 1

Can you convince others to take climate action without being a nag? When you do what you can live sustainably, there inevitably comes a time when you want to spread the gospel and share your practice with others. It's a fantastic way to expand your low-carbon impact, but how do you communicate with people in a way that they'll actually be receptive to?

On this episode, you’ll hear:

• Unique ways that our listeners are sharing their climate practices with people in their lives.
• A way to invoke action for anyone who cares about climate.
• Alyssa Barber shares techniques and tips she's used to build a community of hundreds of thousands of people who care about climate.
• How solar panel installation is a lesson in community climate action.

🌎 For resources, photos of our contributors, citations, and further reading, check the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Submit to the show.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Nicole Collins, Natalie Pullen, Laura Oldanie, Artie Sadahiro, Kellie Rana
• Featuring: Alyssa Barber and Sanchali Seth Pal‍
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham
• With footage from Democracy Now! Monday, March 3, 2014 and Montgomery Bus Boycott revised by gdortchjr via the Internet Archive.

• (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0

There are a lot of factors that go into the decision to have kids. Creeping up on that list is climate change. In the first episode of season 2, we’re diving into this tough topic with the help of community stories, data, and professional research from Dr. Jade Sasser.

On this episode, you’ll hear:

• How the climate crisis has impacted our community’s choice to have (or not have) kids.
• How population growth affects the climate crisis.
• The emissions of babies.
• How to talk to your family about how the climate crisis is affecting your decision.
• Dr. Jade Sasser’s research perspective on how people have answered the kid question over time.
• The overpopulation debunked.
• Resources to navigate the decision to have kids in a climate crisis.

🌎 For resources, photos of our contributors, citations, and further reading, check the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Submit to the show.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Amea Wadsworth, Elisabeth, Federica, Liv, Roxana Martínez Arrambide, Sare, Tiffany
• Featuring: Dr. Jade Sasser and Sanchali Seth Pal‍
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0