ECO SPEAKS CLE

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Upcycle Parts Shop is a creative reuse center in Cleveland’s St. Clair Superior neighborhood. In this episode, we speak with Nicole McGee, the center's scrappy founder and executive director. Since 2014, the shop has diverted over 47 tons of material from landfills while providing the materials for creative inspiration to local artists and makers. Located in the historic National Slovenian Home on St Clair Avenue, Upcycle Parts Shop is one of several social enterprises in the neighborhood working to do good for people the planet, and the economy. Join us as we take a trip through this eclectic neighborhood and hear Nicole speak about how she became a reuse artist and entrepreneur and how her shop is provoking creativity and promoting community through reuse, resourcefulness, and relationships. She is someone you want to know.
Guest:
Nicole McGee, Founder and Executive Director of Upcycle Parts Shop
Resources:
Visit Upcycle Parts Shop
Material Donations
Resources for students and teachers
Other cool places in the St Clair Neighborhood - Kafela, Lucky's Charms, Diner on 55th, Goldhorn Brewery, Rebuilder's Exchange

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In this episode, Sunny Simon, President of The Cleveland Vegan Society, joins us to talk about veganism and VegFest 2024, coming to Cleveland's Huntington Convention Center on Saturday, June 22. It's the largest Vegan festival in the Midwest, and it will be delicious, fun, and informative for vegans and non-vegans alike. The Cleveland Vegan Society created VegFest over 12 years ago to celebrate veganism and to encourage more plant-based eating. This year's festival features an impressive lineup of activities, speakers, cooking demos, a cruelty-free marketplace, a kids' activity area, yoga, and more.
Join us as Sunny shares about becoming a vegetarian and then a vegan thirty years ago and the environmental and humane reasons she advocates for the vegan lifestyle. She also clears up some misconceptions about vegans and offers tips for transitioning to a more plant-based diet. Everyone is welcome at VegFest, where over 13,000 people will gather to eat, have fun, and learn from speakers, including Sarina Farb, Christopher "Soul" Eubanks, Will Brooks, Dr. Keary O'Connor, and Gwenna Hunter. Cooking demos include chefs Chad Goodwin, Sonia Steele, and Anna Marie Harouvis. Whatever your dietary preferences, there will be something to satisfy everyone's tastes.
Guest :
Sunny Simon, President of the Cleveland Vegan Society and Cuyahoga County Council member

Resources:
Film - Peaceable Kingdom
The Cleveland Vegan Society
VegFest 2024
Top Vegan TV show
Bitchy Vegan Homo (vegan recipes)

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Whitnye Long Jones is a nature enthusiast, community engagement specialist, and environmental justice advocate. She channels these passions and skills into the non-profit she founded in 2017 called Organic Connects. Whitnye runs Organic Connects with her husband, Jefferson Jones, a lifelong outdoor educator, and outdoorsman. Together, they provide environmental education, outdoor recreation, and nature-based opportunities primarily for urban youth and families with limited access to nature.
In this episode, we speak with Whitnye and Jefferson in Jimmy's Treehouse, the outdoor learning classroom at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes. We talk about the power of nature to teach, restore, transform, heal, inspire, connect, and prepare our future environmental leaders. Whether it be kayaking, camping in Allegheny National Forest, or building a campfire, the practical skills one acquires outdoors benefit each of us throughout our lives, and as Jefferson puts it, "everybody, whether they're white or black or brown, needs more of the outdoors." Join us to hear how these two black environmental leaders provide these experiences and connect people organically to the outdoors, each other, and the community. It's a reminder of how these organic connections can create ripple effects, fostering an environment where everyone, regardless of their background, can connect with nature in a meaningful way.
Guests:
Whitnye Long-Jones, Founder and Executive Director, Organic Connects
email: [email protected]
Jefferson Jones, Senior Director of Operations, Organic Connects
email: [email protected]
Resources:
Environmental education and outdoor recreation programs Organic Connects Events
Partners and Funders
Cleveland Metroparks Youth Outdoors
Conveniently Vegan restaurant
Camp Journey

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How does nature move liquids? How does nature manage structural forces? How does nature sense motion and temperature? These are some of the questions that the practice of Biomimicry asks when faced with a design challenge. Our guests, Trisha Brown and Carol Thaler are two Biomimicry practitioners that are helping accelerate innovation based on solutions already tried and tested through nature. They are the Co-Directors of Great Lakes Biomimicry. Since 2010, this organization has worked alongside academia, corporations, and business leaders to solve complex design and engineering challenges by asking "how would nature design it"? As Biomimicry 3.8 certified specialists, Thaler and Brown help us understand that in nature, there are 3.8 billion years of R&D and 30 million species to learn from. Recently, Great Lakes Biomimicry became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ohio Aerospace Institute and is working to make the great lakes region a leader in biomimicry innovation in aerospace and beyond. Join us as speak about how nature can inspire and guide all of us as we work to live more gently on this planet.
Guests:
Trisha Brown Co-Director, Great Lakes Biomimicry
Carol Thaler Co-Director, Great Lakes Biomimicry
Resources:
About Great Lakes Biomimicry
What is Biomimicry?
Janine Benyus TED Talk
The Biomimicry Institute
University of Akron Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center
ECO MEET CLE event on September 20, 2022

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Meet Erin Huber Rosen, the Founder and Executive Director of Drink Local. Drink Tap., Inc.TM Since 2010, Erin has been inspiring people to "Be the Drop" to recognize and solve our local and global water issues. What started as a campaign to encourage people to ditch bottled water and conduct beach cleanups to protect Lake Erie, grew into a global campaign to increase access to clean water and sanitation in rural Uganda. Imagine being a kid and walking 4 miles every day just to get water. Erin is changing that by digging wells in remote villages. She just returned to Cleveland after completing her 100th Drink Local. Drink Tap project and joined Eco Speaks CLE to talk about her work as a filmmaker, writer, educator, organizer, fundraiser, hydrologist, and above all, humanitarian. You will never take water for granted after hearing her speak. Erin inspired Greg and me to create the Eco Speaks CLE team to raise money for Drink Local. Drink Tap through its annual fundraiser - 4 miles 4 water. The event will be in Cleveland on June 11th. We invite all Eco Speaks listeners to participate on our team. Our goal is to raise $6,000. That is enough to fund the drilling of one well in Uganda. Find a link below.
Guest:
Erin Huber Rosen, Founder and Executive Director of Drink Local. Drink Tap
Resources:
About ErinJoin the Eco Speaks CLE team at the 4 Miles 4 Water fundraiser on June 11.
Learn about World Water Day - March 22
DLDT Wavemaker Curriculum
Buy the book Make Waves 4 Change

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