This Week in Sustainability Podcast
by Felicia Etzkorn
On TWIST, This Week in Sustainability, we discuss the green pros and cons of the entire range of consumer products and everything in them, to help you choose the right stuff to buy and recycle. We’ll discuss: Appliances, Batteries, Buildings, Carpet, Cleaning Products, Clothing, Computers, Disinfectants, Food, Flame Retardants, Fuels, Medicine, Packaging, Paint, Pesticides, Plastic, Personal Care products, Phones, Photovoltaics, and maybe even tilt at Windmills. We'd love to have your suggestions for topics or guests: [email protected]! Hosted by Felicia Etzkorn, Professor of Chemistry at Virginia Tech (https://chem.vt.edu/people/faculty/teaching-and-research/fetzkorn.html) and author of Green Chemistry: Principles and Case Studies, with co-host Jamie Ferguson, Professor of Chemistry at Emory & Henry College (https://www.ehc.edu/live/profiles/341-jamie-ferguson). Music was created and performed by Wendy Godley.
Episodes
-
21 Big Plastic
In which Beth Gardiner and Felicia have a conversation about Beth’s recent book, Plastic Inc. In particular, we discussed health effects of microplastics and endocrine disrupters, the burgeoning of single-use plastics driven by the plastic industry, and the industry’s shocking campaign to put the...
-
20 Fight Sulfites
In which Felicia explains the many sources, the chemistry, and the toxicity of sulfites and sulfates. Sulfites are widespread in food, both processed and natural. They have been strongly linked to inflammatory bowel diseases by gut bacteria that use sulfate as an energy source. Sulfates are found...
-
19 Ain’t No Paint Like Linseed
In which Felicia interviews Michiel Brouns of Brouns & Co., who got his start in restoring historical buildings. We talk all about the sustainability of all-natural boiled linseed oil paint: how it polymerizes, that it is derived from flax seeds, and how it is biodegradable in the environment, so...
-
18 Toothy Truth
In which Felicia explains the sustainability of some toothpaste ingredients. This is a partial list of ingredients, based mainly on two tubes of toothpaste in her bathroom, Sensodyne Pronamel Multi-Action and Burt's Bees Complete Multi-Care. The ingredients are classified by the function they…
more -
17: Remodeling Materials
In which Felicia describes the materials choices for her kitchen remodel, and her guest, Helene Renard, Professor of Interior Design in the School of Architecture + Design at Virginia Tech, describes the “Healthier Materials and Sustainable Building” course she took with the Healthy Materials Lab...
-
16: PFAS Sass
In which we discuss per- and poly-fluoroalkylsubstances (PFAS) with Carol Kwiatkowski of the Green Science Policy Institute (https://greensciencepolicy.org), their properties, function, consumer products, toxicity, persistence, chemical analysis, and regulation both in the US and EU. Some...
-
15: News Roundup: Blues, Catalytic Converters, and Fracking
In which we discuss the recent development of a series of new blue pigments, the theft of catalytic converters for the rhodium, and the health effects of fracking chemicals. Hosted by Felicia Etzkorn of Virginia Tech, co-host Jamie Ferguson of Emory & Henry College, and music by Wendy Godley of…
more -
14: Chemical Alt-Rock
In which we discuss the opportunities for substituting safer chemical alternatives for consumer products in current use with our guest, Joel Tickner of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. We don’t need to wait for green chemistry to come up with great alternatives, many have already been...
-
13: Next Seven Generations
In which we discuss sustainable, plant-based cleaning products, oxygen-bleached paper products, recyclable and recycled packaging, transparent labeling, and consumer education with Martin Wolf, Director of Sustainability & Authenticity at Seventh Generation. Host–Felicia Etzkorn of Virginia Tech,...
-
12: With the Weight of Lead
In which we discuss the uses of lead in gasoline (and the temporally and geographically associated violence), avgas, pipes, and car paint primer, and the greener replacements for these products—ethanol as replacement for tetraethyl lead as an anti-knock additive in gasoline, potential plastic...
-
11 Farming is Elemental
In which we interview Anthony Flaccavento, organic farmer, author, activist, and local politician, about his sustainable practices to incorporate carbon, nitrogen, and other essential elements back into the depleted soil of his former tobacco farm in southwest Virginia. No-till agriculture not…
more -
10: Fertilizer Out of Thin Air
In which we discuss the effect of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer on feeding the world, and the synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen in the air and hydrogen generated from methane, first by the Haber-Bosch process and then by electrochemical processes with our guest, Dr. Michael Stoukides from the...
-
9: Bury, Recycle, or Compost?
In which we discuss the relative merits of burying, recycling, or composting plastic waste, in particular, packaging. We distinguish biodegradable from compostable. Jamie describes Eastman Chemical Co.’s new process to take any plastic and break them down into their small molecule components and...
-
8: Firing Flame Retardants
In which, with our guest, Dr. Arlene Blum (www.arleneblum.com) of the Green Science Policy Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, we discuss the toxicity of flame retardants in children’s products, furniture, and her success in changing the standards for these products so that flame...
-
7: Charging Ahead with Batteries
In which we discuss safer, more efficient, and better rechargeability batteries with two experts, Professors Feng Lin and Lou Madsen of Virginia Tech. We discuss the basics of how electricity and batteries work, the components of a battery, the problems of conventional nickel-cadmium and…
more -
6: Chill with Refrigerants
In which we discuss refrigeration, how it works (more or less), and the history of refrigerants, with their various advantages and disadvantages for the environment. Ammonia is toxic. Propane is flammable. Freons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) destroy the ozone layer and contribute to…
more -
5: Sunny Vitamin D3
In which we discuss vitamins to sustain ourselves, fat-soluble and water-soluble, and the foods rich in certain vitamins. Then we take a deep-dive into Vitamin D3––the 7-dehydrocholesterol precursor, the UVB light required to synthesize it in our skin, dosage recommendations from the Institute of...
-
4: Shoe News - New Shoes
In which I very briefly describe the sustainable features of a new brand of shoes from Brazil called Cariuma. Solo effort by Felicia Etzkorn. https://cariuma.com/pages/about-us-sustainability
-
3: Hot Windows & Cool Roofs
In which we discuss transparent wood windows that are 90% as clear, much stronger, and insulate 6 times as well as glass with Prof. Liangbing Hu of the University of Maryland and Invent Wood. Then we discuss radiative cooling thin films that can be used to reflect heat back into outer space in…
more -
2: Disinfectants-Keeping it Clean and Green!
In which we discuss different methods of disinfecting surfaces: UV light, quaternary ammonium salts, alcohols, chlorine bleaches, hydrogen peroxide and oxygen with an iron catalyst, ozone, and grapefruit seed extract. Far UV light for disinfection: https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-666/ Quaternary...
-
1: Sustainable Clothing
In which we discuss the merits and demerits of various materials that go into making our clothes, from renewable resources to biodegradability. Coca Cola's 100% Plant-based Bottle: https://www.packaging-gateway.com/projects/-coca-cola-plant-based-bottle/ Waste by Katie O'Neill:...
About this show
On TWIST, This Week in Sustainability, we discuss the green pros and cons of the entire range of consumer products and everything in them, to help you choose the right stuff to buy and recycle. We’ll discuss: Appliances, Batteries, Buildings, Carpet, Cleaning Products, Clothing, Computers, Disinfectants, Food, Flame Retardants, Fuels, Medicine, Packaging, Paint, Pesticides, Plastic, Personal Care products, Phones, Photovoltaics, and maybe even tilt at Windmills. We'd love to have your suggestions for topics or guests: [email protected]! Hosted by Felicia Etzkorn, Professor of Chemistry at Virginia Tech (https://chem.vt.edu/people/faculty/teaching-and-research/fetzkorn.html) and author of Green Chemistry: Principles and Case Studies, with co-host Jamie Ferguson, Professor of Chemistry at Emory & Henry College (https://www.ehc.edu/live/profiles/341-jamie-ferguson). Music was created and performed by Wendy Godley.
Hosted by
Felicia Etzkorn
Categories