Green Economy Heroes Climate Podcast
Hope and inspiration in green Canadian business leaders
Looking for a great climate solutions podcast? You found it, right here on Dianne Saxe’s Green Economy Heroes climate podcast.
My name is Dianne Saxe. I’m an environmental lawyer focusing on the climate crisis. I was the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario 2015-2019, I am the city Councillor for beautiful University Rosedale and I am the President of SaxeFacts.com.
Since 2015, I’ve talked with hundreds of audiences across Canada about the climate crisis. A few years ago, most people were just learning that we have a crisis. Today, you probably already know that. Now you are more likely to be wondering, is it too late? Where can we find some hope?
I want you to meet some amazing Canadians who are making a living building the green economy. With their passion, creativity and skill, they are helping to reduce our climate pollution, to create green jobs and to get us ready for what’s coming.
Green Economy Heroes.
Each Green Economy Hero podcast features someone you’ll enjoy getting to know. We will explore who they are, what their business are doing, and how it is making a difference. We will hear about their challenges, their successes, and their dreams. And we’ll learn their advice on how you, too, can start and build a green business.
This climate podcast is produced, with thanks, by the excellent Toronto Mike, TMDS.
Given my duties as Councillor, I hope to post a new climate podcast the first Thursday of each month. Please listen, share, and rate at your favourite podcast distributors. Our exciting climate podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe in Google Podcasts, Apple / iTunes, TuneIn, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, or subscribe directly to the feed.
There is a taste of each climate interview in the table below; full episodes are available through your favourite podcast distributor. Sort the table by episode to show most recent episodes first.
Episode # | Guest | Company | Description | A taste of the interview | Green economy Keywords | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
93 | Bernard Bieberstein | BeReclaimed | Want to decorate your home with character while reducing your logging footprint? Find out about reclaimed wood furniture from BeReclaimed, a small business with a shopfront at the Evergreen Brickworks. | Reclaimed wood, furniture, small business | 08/09/24 | |
92 | Wave Weir | Wave Fibre Mill | What's wool got to do with climate change? Find out what's wrong with the move to synthetic clothing as a homegrown Ontario mill joins Dianne. | Natural fibre, weaving, textiles | 07/04/24 | |
91 | Douglas Hart & Sam van Berkel | Watershed Technologies | This month we feature a Toronto company that identifies water and heat-saving opportunities for older building stock through automation and pinpoint monitoring. | Heat-saving, water saving, building stock | 06/03/24 | |
90 | Miriam Tuerk | Clear Blue Technologies | Meet a Canadian clean tech company providing smart off-grid lighting from Bloor Street to urban Africa. | Urban lighting, off-grid, electrification | 05/02/24 | |
89 | Jim Payne | Dynacert | An electrolysis firm delivering fuel savings technologies to the global marketplace straight from west Toronto. | Electrolysis, clean fuel, hydrogen | 04/04/24 | |
88 | Rick Zytaruk | Tooktree Passive Homes | An Ontario firm is bringing high-quality, prefabricated homes to market with recycled materials and a reduced carbon footprint. | Prefab homes, modular homes, Ontario housing | 03/08/24 | |
87 | Ahmad Ghahreman | Cyclic Materials | Meet a local firm that is recycling rare earth minerals to achieve circularity in the new green economy and ramp up Canadian manufacturing. | Rare earth metals, metal recycling, circular economy | 02/01/24 | |
86 | Nicole Granath | Tangible Materials | Tracking, managing, and reducing embodied carbon throughout the construction process. | Embodied carbon, development, construction, building materials | 01/04/24 | |
85 | Eddie Obeliunas | Exactus Energy | A Toronto-based firm takes on the solar challenge: complete site survey, engineering and design solutions for solar projects of any scale. | Solar, PV, engineering, site survey | 12/07/23 | |
84 | Shane Harker | Rethink Resources | Food and beverage providers are eager to do their part in diverting waste but often don't know how. Find out how a Toronto organization is successfully helping film sets and restaurants divert up to 80%. | Rethink Resource | Waste diversion, recycling, food & beverage | 11/02/23 |
83 | Hanif Montazeri | Enersion | As the world heats we need more HVAC infrastructure thus accelerating global warming. Is it possible to break this vicious cycle? Hanif Montazeri has a plan for cooling and heating that is free of refrigerants and fossil fuels. | AC, HVAC, refrigerant, heating & cooling | 10/05/23 | |
82 | Phil de Luna | Deep Sky | Carbon removal developer, carbon removal credits, carbon offsets, sequestration, geological carbon storage, direct air capture, direct water capture, CCS, carbon capture and storage | Deep Sky | Carbon removal, direct air capture | 09/07/23 |
81 | Robin Richardson | Happy Fiets | Electric assist cargo-bike rental company | Happy Fiets | Bike, bicycle, E bike, micro mobility, transportation, mobility, rental, green economy | 10/06/22 |
80 | Alex Esseltine | Tin Whistle Brewery | Carbon neutral craft beer with local ingredients and minimal packaging waste | Tin Whistle Brewery | Craft beer, low carbon manufacturing, circular economy, zero waste, net zero beer | 09/22/22 |
79 | Danial Hadizadeh | Mitrex Solar | Most buildings can generate their own electricity if solar PV is integrated into the building cladding. Now cost competitive and appearing on buildings around the world | Mitrex | Renewable energy, solar, building integrated photovoltaics, PV, solar cladding, resilience, green buildings, electricity | 09/08/22 |
78 | Jason Robinson | Evoco | Low-toxic, low-carbon plant-based foams to replace petroleum, starting with sneaker insoles | Evoco | Plant-based materials, toxics, shoes, consumer goods, sneakers, shoe insoles, regenerative agriculture | 08/25/22 |
77 | Kayli Dale | Friendlier | Reusable, deposit-return packaging for takeout food | Friendlier | Circular economy, waste reduction, zero waste, packaging, food packaging, consumer goods | 08/11/22 |
76 | Marc Goldgrub | Green Economy Law | Green economy law firm that advises green business and nonprofit clients, and provides public education on climate law. Plus psychedelics | Green Economy Law | Green economy, green businesses, waste, renewables, climate law, carbon pricing, health law | 7/28/22 |
75 | Nikki Self | Saponetti | Pioneer of home and bodycare essentials in refillable, non-plastic, circular economy containers | Saponetti | Circular economy, reusable containers, refillable containers, zero waste consumer goods, home and body care | 06/30/22 |
74 | Eric Beckwitt | Freightera | A marketplace that stealthily grows greener, lower-emission freight while saving money for Canadian manufacturers | Freightera | Green freight, green economy, transportation, marketplace, IT, trucks, rail | 04/14/22 |
73 | Ravi Kampaiah | Zen E-bikes | Why E-bikes are often a better solution than electric cars. Made in Canada too! | Zen E-bikes | Micro mobility, electric mobility, transportation, bikes, fun | 03/31/22 |
72 | Sam Kashani | Too Good to Go | Turning trash into cash and good, cheap meals. The food waste elimination app that's growing explosively. A Time Top 100 company | Too Good to Go | food waste, food security, surplus food, IT, app, restaurant, grocery, surprise bag | 03/17/22 |
71 | Monique Chan | Bruized | Turning imperfect and discarded food waste into delicious treats | Bruized | food waste, circular economy, local sustainable food, farmers markets | 03/03/22 |
70 | Derek Lim Soo | Peak Power Energy | Saving money and cutting climate pollution by turning commercial buildings, batteries and electric vehicles into virtual power plants that reduce electricity use in peak demand hours | Peak Power Energy | Electricity, batteries, AI, peak electricity demand, vehicle to grid, smart grid, energy transition | 02/17/22 |
69 | Eric Kamphof | Curbside Cycle | Main Street bike store selling bikes intended as transportation | Curbside Cycle | Active transportation, bicycles, bikes, E bikes, Main Street, low-carbon transportation | 02/3/22 |
68 | Ran Goel | Fresh City Farms | Toronto's urban organic farm, online grocer and sustainable food business incubator | Fresh City Farms | Urban agriculture, sustainable food, business incubator, organic food, local food, low-carbon food, Regenerative agriculture | 01/20/22 |
67 | Emil Sylvester Ramos | Iris Rad | How AI-enabled dashcams help municipalities cut costs and emissions in maintaining their roads | Iris Rad | municipalities, maintenance, data, AI, asset management, smart cities, cleantech | 01/6/22 |
66 | Rob Lavoie | AirTerra | Biochar: real, long-term carbon sequestration plus soil regeneration | Airterra Biochar | regenerative agriculture, carbon sequestration, biochar, offset, rebuild soil | 12/16/21 |
65 | Jeremy Clarke | Simple Life Homes | Prefab panels for carbon-storing, high performance buildings that go up in record time | Simple Life Homes | plant-based buildings, efficiency, embodied carbon, passive house | 12/2/21 |
64 | Curtis VanWalleghem | Hydrostor | How air, rock and water store electricity from wind and solar and clean our electricity grid. | Hydrostor | renewable electricity, clean power, storage, electrification | 11/18/21 |
63 | Joshua Green | Mysa smart thermostats | After years of struggle, a Newfoundland startup becomes a star with smart thermostats for electric home heating | Mysa Thermostats | cleantech, home heating, efficiency, smart thermostats, demand management, electric baseboards | 11/04/21 |
62 | Phil Winters | Goodlot Farm and Farmstead Brewing | Making delicious, low-carbon, local craft beer with organic hops they grow themselves on their organic farm | Good Lot Farms | beer, craft beer, local food, sustainable food, organic, organic hops, low-carbon beer | 10/21/21 |
61 | Kevin McLaughlin | Zyggg, E-bike subscription service | Making it easy for lots of people to fall in love with zipping around on an electric bike | Zygg Electric Bikes | e-bike, e-mobility, e-bicycle, seniors, low-carbon mobility, transportation, urban | 10/07/21 |
60 | Chandra Ramadurai | Efficiency Capital | Performance-based financing of water and energy upgrades for older buildings, toilets paying for boilers | Efficiency Capital | Finance, upgrades, retrofits, performance-based financing, climate, green buildings, building retrofits, efficiency, energy efficiency, water | 09/23/21 |
59 | Sheena Sharp | CoolEarth Architecture | Designing buildings for the zero-carbon future | CoolEarth | Zero-carbon architecture, embodied carbon, geothermal, solar, mass timber, design | 09/09/21 |
58 | Arzeena Hamir | Organic farming and leadership at Amara Farm | How an immigrant and mother started an organic farm, and a Farmers Institute, and got elected, and got $200 million of federal money for climate-smart farming | Amara Farm | organic, agriculture, farming, land use, elected, municipal councillor, leadership, mentor, climate-smart farming | 08/26/21 |
57 | Remi Desa | Pantonium, On Demand Transit Software | Allowing small cities to both cut costs and improve transit service with existing buses | Pantonium | Municipalities, transportation, on-demand transit, better bus service, low carbon municipalities, saving cost and carbon | 08/12/21 |
56 | Francisca Quinn | Quinn & Partners, sustainability consultants | Fast growing pioneer in sustainable investing for investors, sustainable operations for companies | Quinn and Partners | Sustainable finance, green business, sustainability, management consulting, sustainability reporting, sustainability for CEOs | 07/29/21 |
55 | James Larsen | E Zinc, Storing electricity in zinc | Long-duration electricity storage through chemical transformations of zinc | E Zinc | Cleantech, batteries, renewable electricity, electricity storage, long duration storage, renewable energy, zinc | 07/15/21 |
54 | Chief Wilfred King and AJ Esquega | Giizis Energy at Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (Gull Bay First Nation) | Canada's first integrated solar microgrid displacing diesel in a remote community, environmental justice as part of reconciliation | Gull Bay First Nation | solar, renewable energy, diesel, indigenous, reconciliation, microgrid, batteries, green power | 06/30/21 |
53 | Jon Lomow | Fieldless Farms, Growing great local lettuce indoors | Solving our world record lettuce deficit while saving carbon, water and health | Fieldless Farms | Food, agriculture, food miles, food imports, indoor farming, food waste | 06/17/21 |
52 | Ajay Kochhar | Li-Cycle, Truly recycling lithium ion batteries | From a standing start to one of the world's top cleantech companies in less than 5 years | Li-Cycle | Circular economy, cleantech, lithium, batteries, recycling, materials, toxics, urban mining | 06/03/21 |
51 | Josh Lewis | Nerva Energy, Energy efficiency for buildings | Award-winning approach to cutting building operating costs with current technology | Narva Energy | Energy efficiency, multi-unit residential, building envelopes, building automation | 05/20/21 |
50 | David Isaac, WDuskGroup | Community renewable energy | Renewable energy, transformation, and reconciliation, especially for remote indigenous communities | WDusk | Renewable energy, solar, wind, reconciliation, modernization, self-sufficiency, Indigenous clean energy, renewable energy developer | 05/07/21 |
49 | Connie Stacey | Growing Greener Innovations, Lego-style low cost batteries | Slashing the cost of battery storage by simplifying and automating how they connect | Growing Greener Innovations | Renewable electricity, energy poverty, electricity storage, low-cost storage, green energy | 04/22/21 |
48 | Bill Redelmeier | Biodynamic wines from Southbrook Winery | Organic biodynamic wines- healthy soil, healthy staff, delicious wines | Southbrook Winery | Agriculture, organic, biodynamic, plant-based, local food, | 04/08/21 |
47 | Trevor Kloeck | Hemp Fibre Co, Amazing jobs for hemp | Fascinating jobs for hemp residues, including soil reclamation and creating stronger paper and non-plastic packaging | Hemp Fibre | Plant-based materials, reclamation, fibres, recycling, new materials | 03/25/21 |
46 | Gavin Pitchford, Clean50 Awards | Canada's Sustainability Heroes | Awards that celebrate sustainability heroes, to accelerate collaboration towards a job-rich, cleaner, healthier, innovation based low-carbon economy | Clean50 | Green economy, clean tech, green business, green business leaders, green awards, innovation, green business network | 03/11/21 |
45 | Paul Bottero | InMotive | How a better electric vehicle transmission, invented in Canada, makes electric cars lighter, faster, cheaper, and longer range | InMotive | Electric vehicles, range anxiety, Canadian invention, Green Tech, clean tech, e-mobility | 02/25/21 |
44 | Mike Keilhauer | Keilhauer | Designing, manufacturing and selling zero carbon, zero waste office chairs of pure, reusable materials | Keilhauer | embodied carbon, zero waste, sustainable design, circular economy | 02/11/2021 |
43 | Jim Fonger | Ameresco | Engineering and finance to slash the carbon footprint of existing buildings, such as schools | Ameresco | energy efficiency, energy performance contracts, | 01/28/2021 |
42 | Rebecca Black | Black Current Marketing | Marketing and strategic foresight for green economy companies | Black Current | green economy, green transition, green marketing, strategic foresight | 01/14/2021 |
41 | David Beauvais | Electrifier SG2B | Rapid, accurate energy and emissions data for community energy planning | Electrifier | energy, energy efficiency, energy planning, municipal energy plans, green button, energy data | 12/31/2020 |
40 | Brad Crapeau, Alex Hayman | FoodCycler | How to turn food waste to compost, at home, in hours | FoodCycler | food waste, circular economy, compost, waste reduction | 12/17/2020 |
39 | Marc Bedard | Lion Electric | All electric buses and trucks - now cost competitive for heavy use | Lion Electric | electric vehicles, clean transportation, air quality, electric buses | 12/10/2020 |
38 | Darren Jones & Daygan Fowler | MyHEAT | Being able to SEE where heat is escaping from your house motivates action when talk doesn't. When will our utility pay for the pictures? | MyHEAT | energy efficiency, buildings, utilities, climate action, reduce waste | 12/03/2020 |
37 | Sumi Shan | Dunya Habitats | Tiny, portable, energy efficient, beehive-shaped hydroponic units for growing vegetables anywhere | Sumi Shan teaser | agriculture, hydroponics, food deserts, equity | 11/26/20 |
36 | Andrew Peel | Peel Passive House | Building and retrofitting buildings for maximum comfort, minimum fossil fuels | Peel Passive House | green buildings, passive buildings, low-carbon buildings | 11/19/20 |
35 | Adam Corneil | Unbuilders | Carefully taking buildings apart for reuse, instead of smashing them | UnBuilders | demolition, construction waste, circular economy | 11/12/20 |
34 | Anie Rouleau | The Unscented Company | Local, unscented soap company, on the road to plastic-free | The Unscented Company | retail, consumer product, soap, single-use plastic | 11/05/20 |
33 | Peter Howard | Pond Technologies | How to make carbon sequestration pay for itself: turning industrial CO2 emissions into algae, superfoods and profits | Pond Technologies teaser | carbon capture, algae, anti-oxidants, sequestration | 10/29/20 |
32 | Amir Alam | Shoe Laundry | How did a DJ who loves shoes become a sustainability entrepreneur during Covid? | Shoe Laundry teaser | shoes, retail, cleaning, reducing waste | 10/22/20 |
31 | Audrey Mascarenhas | Questor Technologies | Methane destruction: reducing climate damage and air pollution for $2/ tonne. Why do Canada's regulations lag behind Mexico's? | Audrey Mascarenhas | methane capture, air pollution, renewable energy | 10/15/20 |
30 | Gildas Poissonier | Desjardins Financial | Where can I do my banking without supporting fossil fuels? | Desjardins Financial | financial, insurance, Paris targets | 10/08/20 |
29 | Steve Oldham | Carbon Engineering | Direct air capture of carbon dioxide - Is it a realistic solution? | Carbon Engineering | carbon capture, enhanced oil recovery | 10/01/20 |
28 | Matt Brown | Patagonia | How a clothing firm slashes its carbon footprint and works to preserve our home planet | Patagonia | retail, clothing | 09/24/20 |
27 | Greg Nuttall | Woodland Biofuels | Coming soon: the world's cheapest liquid transportation fuel, made from construction waste | Woodland Biofuels | biofuels, transportation fuel, construction waste reuse | 09/17/20 |
26 | Sarah Devika Sumnauth | Urban Minerals | Local-source vegan makeup startup with its first sustainability report - on hand-poured lipstick | Urban Minerals | micro business, makeup, sustainability report | 09/10/20 |
25 | Mike Brigham | Solarshare | How did Mike Brigham build a $60 million community-owned #solarpower cooperative, SolarShare? And why is he personally funding the used #electricvehicles incentive in Ontario? | Solarshare | Solarshare, solar bonds, solar energy cooperative | 09/03/20 |
24 | Shaun Loney | Aki Energy: Climate benefits and reconciliation | Green energy and efficiency social enterprise as a path to social healing and lower costs. Why is the green economy a good path forwards for people with barriers to employment? | Aki Energy | green energy, efficiency, renewable energy, indigenous reconciliation | 08/27/20 |
23 | Bruce Taylor | Efficiency: the best investment | Funding clean water in Africa by saving clients energy, water, resources and money here | Enviro-Stewards | energy efficiency, materials efficiency | 08/20/20 |
22 | Catherine Thorn | District energy scaling up | How a former municipal utility is becoming a giant in cleaner heating and cooling for many buildings | Catherine Thorn of Enwave | district heating and cooling, low carbon heating, thermal recycling | 08/13/20 |
21 | Mike Andrade | Innovative solar technology | How did Morgan Solar survive China's solar juggernaut, and stay Canadian? | Morgan Solar | solar energy | 08/06/20 |
20 | David Roberts | Canada's first net zero bus company | How Victoria Harbour used a 15-year contract to get a net-zero bus system for cruise passengers | Net zero bus company | net zero buses, clean transportation, electric vehicles | 07/30/20 |
19 | Jocelyn Molyneux | Worm farming, soil boosting | Collecting office food waste, and feeding it to 1,000,000 worms to make plant food | Jocelyn Molyneux | agriculture, organic waste | 07/23/20 |
18 | Yuill Herbert | Sustainability Solutions Group | Workers' cooperative consulting firm that helps create decarbonized, equitable, healthy cities for everyone | Sustainability Solutions Group | energy planning, co-operative, municipal energy plans | 07/16/20 |
17 | Sean Drygas | Bullfrog Power | Canada's green energy retailer, so I can heat and light my home without fossil fuels | Bullfrog Power | low carbon electricity and gas, retail | 07/09/20 |
16 | Cara Clairman | Plug’n’Drive | Plug'n'Drive stokes public passion for driving electric vehicles, often by letting people try one | Plug’n’Drive | electric vehicles | 07/02/20 |
15 | Trish Nixon | Renewable energy investment for everyone | CoPower's green bonds allow almost everyone to put the planet in their portfolio | Trish Nixon, CoPower | green bonds | 06/25/20 |
14 | Jennifer Wagner | Putting carbon into concrete | CarbonCure's amazing technology saves money by using CO2 to make concrete stronger | CarbonCure | low-carbon concrete, carbon sequestration | 06/18/20 |
13 | Tom Rand | Venture capitalism for clean tech | Early stage funding so that breakthrough technology companies can grow through Canada's notorious valley of death | Arctern Ventures | clean tech finance, venture capital | 06/11/20 |
12 | Brandon Moffat | Food waste to power | Brandon explains his passion for turning food waste into low-carbon fertilizer, electricity and natural gas | Brandon Moffat | food waste, clean power | 06/04/20 |
11 | Dan Balaban | Renewable power in Alberta | How Dan made Greengate Power Canada's biggest renewable energy developer | Dan Balaban, Greengate Power | solar power, wind energy, electricity, Alberta | 05/28/20 |
10 | Tim Nash | Sustainable investing | How Tim became a busy financial planner, helping people put their money where their heart is | Tim Nash | sustainable investing, clean finance, consumers, retail, RRSP | 05/21/20 |
9 | Michael Kalmanovich | Earth's General Store | Michael's labour of love for his award-winning, organic, low-waste general store | Earth's General Store | retail, general store | 05/14/20 |
8 | Alexandra Tavasoli | Solar catalyst chemistry | Alex's cleantech startup uses solar catalysts invented in Toronto to turn methane and CO2 into a fundamental building block of modern chemistry | Solistra | cleantech, chemistry, solar catalyst | 05/07/20 |
7 | Richard Sifton | Solar subdivision | Richard tells Dianne about his new London subdivision. It is medium-density, solar-powered, fossil-free and sells shoes in the pub | West5 Solar Subdivision | solar subdivision | 04/30/20 |
6 | Priyanka Lloyd | Growing tomorrow’s Green Economy Heroes | How can local business hubs grow tomorrow’s environmental champions? Priyanka chats about Green Economy Canada and the little businesses that could | Green Economy Canada | green businesses, business hub, B2B, energy efficiency | 04/23/20 |
5 | Akhil Sivanandan | Showing consumers their impact | Akhil tells Dianne how Green Story helps green brands grow through the right consumer information, at the right time | GreenStory | retail, transparency, environmental footprint | 04/16/20 |
4 | Stephanie McLarty | Second lives for telecom equipment | Stephanie tells Dianne how REfficient finds second lives for used and surplus equipment, allowing smaller telecom companies to compete | REfficient teaser | reuse, waste reduction, equity | 04/09/20 |
3 | Bryan Gilvesy | Cows that protect birds | Award-winning farmer, Bryan Gilvesy, tells us how planting native tall grass prairie has restored endangered birds and transformed his cattle ranch | YU Ranch excerpt | regenerative agriculture | 04/02/20 |
2 | Frances Edmonds | Changing how Canada buys technology | A billion business decisions are made in Canada every day, rarely with the climate crisis in mind. Can HP change that? | HP Sustainable Impact | procurement, cleantech, IT | 03/26/20 |
1 | Paul Dowsett | Plant-based homes | A conversation with architect Paul Dowsett, founder of Sustainable, on his passion for better living in plant-based, energy-efficient homes | Paul Dowsett | plant-based buildings, energy efficiency | 03/19/20 |