CJMP Podcast

Single use plastic bans are popping up all over the Province of BC. Today we learn how this has been made possible. Also, on todays' 126th episode, we'll explore edible food waste. Tune in for great tips on preventing science projects in your fridge.

The road to Zero Waste is being paved, and in this episode, we look to cities like Victoria and Metro Vancouver for inspiration. We hear from Rory Took, a sustainability professional from Victoria about the many aspects of waste reduction and planning that are leading this city ever closer to its goal.

We also tune into a clip from a recent CBC radio interview by Grant Laurence with the Let's Talk Trash team and the qathet Regional District's manager of Strategic Initiatives and Assest Management, Mike Wall, featuring the up and coming Resource Recovery Centre project - located at the heart of the region and destined to bring the coastal community nearer to Zero Waste.

Hello Waste Warriors!  We have a new show for you this month.  7 large scale shoreline cleanups have taken place over the past 3 months in the qathet region that we're excited to report back on.  As well, we take a look at a large scale ocean plastic cleanup effort that is utilizing some innovative thinking to tackle this gigantic task.  And, we head to a landfill in Spain that is a hot spot for fossils!  As new dump cells are excavated a ton of neverbefore seen fossils are making their apperance.  All this and more mixed with some great tunes.  Check it out!

Move over microplastics, there's a new villain in town. What have you flushed down the drain lately? Pills, cleaning products, paint from brushes, or even bacteria, fungi and metals, maybe?  Do these contaminants of emerging concern need to be better regulated? We talk with a City Councilor and informed concerned citizen about their efforts to do just that. 

We tap into the Hold Onto your Butts campaign as well, to hear about the unexpected consequences of tossing cigarette butts and what some towns are doing to offer a safer alternative.

Rebroadcast: Weeds and invasive species. Are they friend or foe? We look at these sometimes maligned plants from a few angles in this episode. Aryuvedic practitioner, Todd Coldecott, chimes on their role in rebalancing both the planet and our wellness. Founder of No Spray Powell River, Lisa-Marie Bhattacharya, shares how pest management practices affect biodiversity, and finally Karen Skadesheim, talks about using so-called invasives as materials for basketry and other creative endeavors.

On our show this month, we dive into the ocean.  We take a global vitial signs check in with how our oceans are coping as well as speak to two divers who are exploring these depths while also cleaning up.  Tune in to glean more information about the wonders of the ocean while also getting inspired to make a difference through the seemingly mundane choices you're faced with on a daily basis.

Move over microplastics, there's a new villain in town. What have you flushed down the drain lately? Pills, cleaning products, paint from brushes, or even bacteria, fungi and metals, maybe?  Do these contaminants of emerging concern need to be better regulated? We talk with a City Councilor and informed concerned citizen about their efforts to do just that. 

We tap into the Hold Onto your Butts campaign as well, to hear about the unexpected consequences of tossing cigarette butts and what some towns are doing to offer a safer alternative.

Powell River is two ferries deep up the Sunshine Coast of BC. Perhaps that's why, amidst its diversity of locals, the thread of valuing resources weaves. From artists who mine incinerator ash piles for metal to make jewelry to food cooperatives who members share a cider press to Regional District staff that use natural assets like trees to mitigate storm water naturally - PowTown has a host of Waste Warriors. In this, Let's Talk Trash's, 119th episode, you'll meet 5 of them.

This 118th episode casts some rays of hope on the future of the planet. We share highlights from the annual National Zero Waste Conference held in November.  2020's virtual conference focused on how the circular economy is already transforming the ways we produce, use and circulate goods and services. May you be inspired by the change-makers designing out waste, keeping valuable materials in circulation and regenerating natural systems while creating new economic opportunities and opening the doors to a more inclusive prosperity.

Is the recycling system broken? We’ll dive into the recycling bin and see where the bulk of our recyclables end up and also what they get turned into.

We’ll also celebrate BC’s first marine debris depot arriving in Powell River by tuning into an interview that Let’s Talk Trash team member, Abby McLellan, had with with CBC host, Gregor Craigie.

Finally, we'll take the Grinch out of a giftless Christmas.

Making Peace with Invasives

Weeds and invasive species. Are they friend or foe? We look at these sometimes maligned plants from a few angles in this episode. Aryuvedic practitioner, Todd Coldecott, chimes on their role in rebalancing both the planet and our wellness. Founder of No Spray Powell River, Lisa-Marie Bhattacharya, shares how pest management practices affect biodiversity, and finally Karen Skadesheim, talks about using so-called invasives as materials for basketry and other creative endeavors.

If you have not seen the original Powell River production from the late 1990's titled, Love in the Dumps, check it out! (YouTube.com; "Love in the Dumps - a documentary?") Written and starred in by our very own CaroleAnn Leishman, it's 27 years old but the content can't be more relevant.  Let's Talk Trash team member Tai Uhlmann interviews CaroleAnn and the discussion that ensues is though provoking to say the least.

In this episode, Tai also provides an update to all that has happened and is happening at the Resource Recovery Centre.

The story of bottled water is nuanced. Backed by the reality that we need clean drinking water to survive, and then infused with marketing campaigns that played on fears of water born pathogens and the wonders of trace mineral content. 

What is the full story of bottled water? And with 1 in 7 people having no access to clean drinking water, can we thrive without it?

This episode follows the silver linings during COVID. Green gardening tips using materials from your recycling bin, tips on waste reduction through home composting ideas, and recipes for homemade shampoo and face masks (not the kind with elastic bands!).

Would you live in a house made from mushrooms? Would you wear a suit embroidered with fungal spores to help decompose your corpse? Fungus has always been among us and now we are more actively seeking a symbiotic relationship.  This episode explores the role of mushrooms in reducing the waste we produce, as well as cleaning up the waste we inevitably do create.

Cognitive Scientist & Mycologist, Theo Rosenfeld also shares how mushrooms can be key to physical and mental wellness during times of personal and even global crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic.