August 22, 2023 • 43 mins
Did you know that by prioritizing sustainability, companies can increase their positive impact on society?
Meet our guest August Vega, a clean tech proponent, creator and former CEO of MALK Organics.
Her enlightening journey, which spans from sustainability to the consumer packaged goods (CPG) scene and further, is nothing short of inspiring.
August's journey began with her work in water and energy efficiency and grid management. From there, she transitioned into the consumer packaged goods industry, where she founded Malk Organics.
She shares her experiences and challenges, and we specifically shed light on the difficulties associated with creating sustainable packaging for any emerging brand.
It's an all encompassing conversation that underscores how prioritizing sustainability and making eco-conscious choices can collectively drive change- for businesses, people and the planet.
Focus areas from this chat:
- Brand building and need for eco friendly ethos
- Sustainable initiatives in the CPG space
- Increasing a Company's Positive Impact on Society
- Education and Solutions for Climate Crisis
- Creating affordable, sustainable lifestyle and collective action thereof( from brands, retailers, consumers)
- Power Dynamics and Women in Leadership
- Taking on capital and implications, challenges
As we dive deeper, August offers valuable insights on how consumer action and simple, yet impactful, initiatives can revolutionize the industry for the better.
We discuss solutions like clean eating as an act of contributing to the well-being of our planet. Our guest passionately advocates for reducing our reliance on factory-formed animal products, plastic, and offers other major takeaways.
Listen in for an undoubtedly worthwhile conversation on the intersection of sustainability, business, and personal choices. Make this your go-to podcast for matters of real world significance.
Enjoy PIOR Living products at a 20% discount and free shipping on orders over $75 Code FLF20
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
August Vega (00:09):
Welcome to Freshleaf Forever, a podcast
that gives you fascinatinginsights week after week.
Here's your host, Vaikumar.
Vai Kumar (00:21):
Hey folks, Welcome to another episode on podcast
Freshleaf Forever.
Today I have here with usAugust Vega.
She's a C-level strategyadvisor, clean tech proponent,
creator and former CEO of MalkOrganics.
She believes in applyingstrategic thinking to creating
solutions and is a hugeproponent of sustainability.
(00:45):
And we are here today to talkabout all things sustainability,
and she's very passionate aboutthat and is a huge proponent of
pledging to work and feels forbetterment of planet Earth.
I should say hey, August,Welcome to the podcast.
How are you today?
Thank you so much.
August Vega (01:02):
I'm doing very well .
It's a pleasure to speak withyou.
Thank you for having me.
Vai Kumar (01:06):
Likewise, and like I said, you were the creator and
former CEO of Malk Organics, soyour role in CPG that's like
quite pronounced.
So why don't we get startedthere with your role in CPG and
how you have establishedyourself in brand building?
August Vega (01:24):
Sure, well, kind of going back to before my role in
CPG, I always worked insustainability for the most part
of my career, in water andenergy efficiency and grid
management.
I learned about carbon offsetsback in the early 2000s when
really no one even knew whatthat meant, and so really that
(01:47):
was the foundation of my career.
I made a switch in late 2013 toCPG number one, because I've
always just been a brand'sperson.
Vai Kumar (01:58):
I pay a lot of attention to what's on shelf or
what's on racks and what I'mputting in my body or on my body
.
August Vega (02:05):
It's always just been of interest, almost a hobby
, and we had a family need.
I was born with a dairy allergy.
My son was born with a dairyallergy.
It's kind of a story everyone'sheard if they know of the brand
at all.
But so.
I married the business acumenthat I developed in
sustainability and efficiencywith kind of a hobby and
(02:27):
something that we needed as afamily to create Malk and enter
the CPG landscape.
Vai Kumar (02:33):
Okay, perfect.
The need for becoming moreenvironmentally sustainable
across the industry.
I mean, I know Malk as aproduct cannot be like a
standalone thing that can bringabout a change to planet Earth,
correct?
So, as far as the need forbecoming more environmentally
sustainable across the industry,how do you think that shift can
(02:56):
happen?
I mean your product, the onethat you created?
That's a great story, of course, combining this personal need
and the passion forsustainability, or the
experience as well, insustainability.
August Vega (03:08):
Yeah, I mean for Malk, and I'm no longer involved
with the company, but with thecompany.
It was more about good for youversus good for Earth, and many
times what's good for us and inour bodies is also good for
planet Earth, right?
So there's a parallel there.
Obviously, shifting from cow'smilk to dairy milk, there's an
(03:29):
environmental impact.
There's so many differentvariables when you're
calculating you know,sustainability factor.
It's not just one for one.
You have to obviously look atthe water usage and then you
look at water usage to raisecattle and, like you have to
calculate so many differentthings to get to a proper LCA or
an assessment of your rankingin terms of environmental impact
(03:55):
.
So with Malk, the idea wasreally more about like healthy
body equals healthy Earth.
Obviously, the packaging wasnot sustainable and I really
worked while I was there to tryto get it up to a good standard.
But as a young brand and Ithink this is something that
lots of entrepreneurs arechallenged with in the food
(04:18):
industry in particular it's veryhard to make money.
There's just a lot of differentthings that you have to pay for
in order to just gain shelfspace, and so oftentimes being
in sustainable packaging is somuch more expensive than the
other alternatives, and it'sjust not something that young
(04:40):
companies can really focus on,and the ones that do, they're at
a much higher price point andconsumers don't really
understand why is this butter orice cream or cheese?
Vai Kumar (04:51):
or whatever it is $3 more than this.
August Vega (04:54):
Well, it's because you know, when you try to do the
right things, it comes at acost, and so hopefully we can
bring that down and we can talkabout that in a little bit.
But in terms of sustainability,I think it's across a lot of
different views and a lot ofdifferent categories and there's
so much.
There's so many simple thingsthat we can do as human beings,
(05:15):
that where we can start, andthen it goes from there to.
I'm working with the companyI'm an advisor for who they're
capping old oil wells to preventmethane from leaking into the
atmosphere.
Like there's things across theboard that we do.
I think as a consumer first ofall, as an entrepreneur, you
have to really understand allthe components going in.
(05:35):
As a consumer, you can startanywhere from Stopping the use
of plastic bags.
I had an intern one time whowent on to work for Greenpeace
and they were trying to shutdown a Canal in Houston from
allowing oil tankers to comethrough and I was like thinking
to myself that's so awesome andso admirable they actually got
(05:57):
into a lot of trouble for it.
But why don't we start with,like let's eliminate all the
plastic bags in the UnitedStates?
Like let's, let's do it Tangelo, focus on one thing, get that
accomplished, then go to thenext and then Tackle the big
stuff.
But there's so many littlelow-hanging fruit things that
need to be done that I thinkthey're almost overlooked by
(06:19):
this Mountain.
That needs to be achieved ifthat makes sense.
Vai Kumar (06:23):
Certainly, I think you know very well said, like
even the plastic bag usage.
If grocery stores can focus onthat, if as a Nation we can
focus on that, and you and me asindividuals, if every time we
can bring our own, be verydisciplined.
I should say about bringing ourown shopping bags every time we
walk into, say, the localgrocery store or to a Whole
(06:44):
Foods, whatever that may beright.
Yes, that's definitely like youpointed out, tangible goals.
But as far as the cost that'sinvolved in sustainable
packaging and things like thatwith the food industry, do you
think brands agree and see thisas a priority right now?
How better can they handlethemselves?
I mean, there's deforestation,there's packaging, there's
(07:07):
climate, smart farming practicesall of these sustainable
sourcing.
There's several facets to thiswhole complex term, or puzzle,
or piece of the puzzle forsustainability right.
August Vega (07:19):
I think that it has to come in the the ethos of the
brand.
Whether you can achieve itinitially or not is a separate
thing, but having that in thecore of the aspiration is that
we source 50% of our ingredientsfrom a regenerative Farm or we
(07:39):
use upcycled ingredients.
Or if you start to look ateverything that goes into, let's
say you're making an ice creamand I've worked with Straight
out of milk.
I consulted with and then wentto work for a company that's
actually in food tech, all basedaround sustainability, which
was very different from the milkethos but very much aligned
(08:00):
with my personal ethos and whatI had done previously
Professionally.
From that perspective,everything was looked at because
the core ingredient wasSustainable and more sustainable
, and that was the key fiber ofwhy it existed.
Everything in terms of likepackaging, ingredients.
It's what we're evaluatedbefore you know, moving forward
(08:21):
with something that's veryunique.
I don't think that that'sreally possible for most small
you know CPG brands.
It requires an intense amountof funding.
I consult with and work with anice cream brand, sacred serve.
Who she?
The woman's name is Kaylee.
She's amazing and from theingredients that she puts in her
(08:42):
product it's upcycledingredients to the packaging,
which is compostable.
She has thought of every singlepiece along the line.
She's had a really hard go,though.
It's been really, reallychallenging.
You know it's been a moreexpensive product.
It's, it's amazing the paradigmand I think there has to be a
shift, and I believe we're onthe cusp of it, where consumers
(09:05):
not just and I use this wordloosely because it's probably
not the right word to use, butnot just elite or Consumers that
prioritize certain things andspend a lot of money.
But when a mom of four that'sgoing to the grocery store
that's on a budget, starts toprioritize and think about earth
when she's making decisions,that's when things will start to
(09:26):
shift, because more brands willInvest, and then the packaging
costs come down and everythingstarts to normalize and that's
becomes, you know, the new norm.
We're just not there yet, andso right now we need hero brands
and hero people to tell thestory, to explain to Consumers
why this is important.
(09:46):
Like that, these small acts,choosing one ice cream over
another, choosing one butterover another Actually can make a
huge impact to the planet.
Vai Kumar (09:56):
So I see this mainly as an education issue, right?
So once you are able to betterinform the consumers about the
why and how of Everything that'shappening and why the cost is
high and things like that, right, and it's all right, I feel
it's all tied together, it's allinterlinked as well.
Saying, in lieu of a Plasticjug for, say, like a milk, you
(10:21):
know, you put it in like a moresustainable packaging.
You also are able to stay awayfrom any hormonal disturbances
or what not coming from the useof plastic, right?
So does it then call forcertain processes to be
implemented at the grassrootslevel, august, or is it a matter
(10:42):
of increased Environmentalsocial governance?
Reporting?
What systems do you think?
I know you're a huge proponentof systems and clean tech, and
so how then do we go about it?
August Vega (10:54):
I think that there needs to be a really good
accountability system that's notpushed almost like an
organization, it's a nonprofitthat really starts to help and
becomes a seal that says andthere are some that exist, but
maybe not as comprehensive aswhat we're talking about, but
(11:15):
really start to raise fundsaround educating and Look for
this that it equals X, right,like by this, this seal equals
this in a very Concise and cleanand just straightforward way.
I think that oftentimesExplanations of how some of
these things work or you know,we get into too many details,
(11:39):
that gets it can confuse anddistract people.
There's like, ah, whatever.
So I think that cleaner andmore concise that we can make
this and understanding theteaching of like it's this
simple you make this choice overthis choice and it equates to
this, I think is reallyimportant, and so there needs to
be some kind of an organizationEstablished that's really just
(12:03):
100% focused on educating, Ithink yeah, that seems like the
need of the hour.
Vai Kumar (12:08):
and Increasing a company's positive impact on
society, say, even if they trulyyou know their intentions are
good, they come from a goodplace, the how and why of it
again, is that revolving aroundthis education aspect, or do you
see something more to it thanjust educating?
August Vega (12:27):
from your own experience With whatever you
were able to do with mall can,being on the advisory of a
couple of other big brands-again, it has to be part of the
ethos and part of what's drivingthe business and so, early on,
establishing kind of making it agoal.
That doesn't mean you have toachieve you know Every single
(12:49):
box from day one.
But making it a goal and apriority to do better and
provide something better.
It becomes easier than it seemsif it's not a goal and it's
just something out there thatcould be a nice to have.
You can't prioritize it becausein this space in particular and
consumer packaged goods it isreally a slog every day.
(13:11):
It's a very challengingenvironment and so you have to
prioritize it or your otherpriorities will jump up.
Vai Kumar (13:18):
Right there, you pointed out challenges and even
as a primary challenge, cost.
That's a huge underlying aspect, right?
What other challenges do yousee for brands to be able to
keep these priorities at the topof their list?
August Vega (13:35):
In this space, it's well known that funding is
critical and key right.
You can't create a product inthe consumer space without ample
funding.
That was really probably thebiggest lesson I learned was
around funding and how much ittakes, and there's so many
(13:55):
lessons there we won't godigress into that, but the
people that you bring on board.
I think having these goals aspart of a non-negotiable right,
no matter what these areimportant to the brand.
This is important to theconsumer.
The education piece isimportant, and really
establishing that from theoutset of even taking on
(14:17):
investors, part of the pitchdeck should have you know that
this is the ethos of the brand.
This is something that we can'tbudge on, and the more that
brands start to make it anon-negotiable again, it all
impacts.
Another thing is that the morebrands that invest in
sustainability and packaging andingredients, the cost comes
(14:38):
down right, and so, until thatstarts to happen, it's just this
weird conundrum.
Vai Kumar (14:45):
Yeah, when a bunch of people you know birds are the
same for the flock together,they say so.
It's almost like when severalpeople start to do it, then it
almost becomes like a norm andobviously it drives down the
cost and that really helps.
Of course, the impact from theconsumer side being ready to pay
premium for sustainability isthat like a mental shift that
(15:11):
needs to happen?
Or, again, is that like aneducation issue, again just like
we focused on earlier?
August Vega (15:19):
The education piece has to come first, and I think
that's happening.
I think another thing that'sbeen really interesting that
I've noticed is that retailersare tasked with sustainable
objectives, and so, from thatperspective, when you have goals
at a retail level that trickledown to the brands, you're
(15:39):
starting to see it allthroughout the complete
ecosystem.
That can be really helpful,because once you have retail
partners that are on board withsustainability, whatever it is
you're doing, and they help youtell the story to the consumer,
that helps with education, and Ithink we're on the cusp of some
really interesting thingshappening.
It's just we're not quite thereyet.
(15:59):
You know, like we're right,we're close.
Vai Kumar (16:01):
Like we talked about, so, with several brands and
several retailers, having thisalmost, like you know, happen
like a paradigm shift is when wecan possibly even decrease the
whole cost of this packaging andeverything the cost of
sustainable living, right, andso that's when probably it's
easier to get more consumers onboard as well, don't you think?
August Vega (16:24):
I think so yeah, so it all kind of feeds the cycle.
Vai Kumar (16:29):
And the recent IPCC report came out right.
So how can we clean up andprotect our planet?
It still looks like theiremissions curve is not bending
yet, and so how better can weclean up and protect our planet,
and what could be the differentsolutions and approaches that
one can adopt?
August Vega (16:50):
Again, it comes down to really clear goals and
it can be really confusing.
You know, if you just even goon LinkedIn and read arguments
between different sides ofdifferent positions of things
and stuff, it can become veryconfusing.
And so that's what reallyfrustrates me is that the IPCC
(17:10):
is really outlined exactlywhat's happening and what's
going to happen and then youhave people arguing over the
best way to get there.
But there's some really commonsense things that make a lot of
sense right.
We know for sure that factoryfarmed cows emit methane.
It is what it is.
There's absolutely no argumentto that.
(17:32):
So is the goal to completelyconvert every single person to
becoming a vegetarian or vegan?
That's probably unrealistic.
Could we establish some kind ofguideline that says if you
eliminate eating red meat fourdays out of the seven days a
week?
We need to break down the goalsfor people so that they can
(17:53):
understand what to do.
I believe in my heart thateveryone on this planet wants to
be able to do something to help.
I think that there's less of anargument whether there's a
problem or not, especially inthis country anymore.
There used to be a big argument.
I think everyone can identifythat there's a problem.
I think that the frustrationcomes from the lack of
(18:14):
understanding of what to do Like.
What do we do?
Like how can I make adifference?
And so that's when I wastalking about.
You know, let's stop usingplastic bags.
Let's eliminate meat at leastfour days a week.
The company I'm working withthat caps the wells and prevents
methane from leaking into theatmosphere.
There's so many companies likethat that you can support that.
(18:35):
It just takes a little bit ofresearch If we know for sure,
like you could have a goal, apersonal goal.
I want to help mitigate Xamount of methane this year
because I know that the goal forglobally is XYZ.
Whatever right you can findways to contribute.
You just have to kind of lookand try not to get overwhelmed
(18:56):
Like make one goal an achievablegoal, get that accomplished and
then move on to the next goal.
I would say it is an extremelyoverwhelming problem, even for
experts.
Right, it's not a simpleproblem, but it also doesn't
have to be that complex.
I think focusing on achievablegoals and accomplishing them
(19:18):
would really give us all a lotof momentum.
Vai Kumar (19:20):
Again, it's an education issue.
If you make them realize thateveryone needs to contribute, no
one is going to walk away.
But it almost seems like peopleare just shying from that
ownership aspect right now.
So it's like, right from thatplastic bag, right, it's okay if
I just bring it back in plasticone more time, just one more
day, right, but the one morekeeps adding up and we just seem
(19:43):
to fill our oceans still withplastic and everything is just
contaminated.
I guess the methane emissionsthat you talked about, the food,
water efficiency and, more andmost importantly, eliminate food
waste, right, we all don'trealize how much food we are
wasting.
How is all of this contributing?
I know you already touched uponvegetarian or veganism is
(20:07):
perhaps not highly realistic,although cutting back, scaling
back on the number of days thatone needs meat is very much an
achievable goal, and that'swhere goal setting is important,
right?
How then, can we at least takelike a first step in terms of
the methane emissions, the foodwaste and also achieving more
water efficiency?
August?
August Vega (20:27):
It's extremely overwhelming, I would say,
because I have a level ofeducation in a lot of these
things.
It's really frustrating and itcan be really, really
disappointing and likedepressing in terms of seeing
water systems watering people'sflowers in your garden when it's
raining outside.
It's just like this is socommon sense and easy.
(20:49):
I just can't handle it.
I literally can't take it, butit's so hard to tackle all of
these things.
I think that it definitely whateverything points back to is
education, because when you lookat food waste, we have food
waste and then we have fooddeserts, right, and food
insecurity.
That's not an equation thatfits like it doesn't make sense
(21:10):
whatsoever.
Who is the body that figures outhow to solve these things?
And I don't think it's one body.
I think it comes from all of usbeing conscious of the issues
that exist and what our part canbe.
So I would say, from a waterefficiency perspective, I've
also seen a lot of this, likeonline, and it's really
(21:30):
frustrating.
It's like well, it's not thealmond milk that's the problem.
It's the cows and it's notwatering your lawn, it's a
problem.
It's factory farms, it's notthis and it's not that.
And it's like yeah, yeah, yeah,okay, but what can you control?
What can you control today?
I can control that I won't buymeat.
I don't eat meat.
I won't buy meat.
Okay, I can control that.
(21:51):
I'm not going to do that.
I can control that I don't watermy lawn and I have more than
zero scape lawn.
That's something I can do Ifyou must have green grass, if
that's something that you can'tcompromise on don't water your
lawn when it's raining outside.
It's like these little commonsense things where so much waste
(22:11):
happens from neglect and sillybehaviors.
It's special.
Vai Kumar (22:21):
Back in a moment with our guest on Fresh Leaf Forever
.
When we focus on amount of foodthat is wasted, do people even
realize that when they wastefood, what happens down the road
?
And do you think there is thatawareness even in the first
(22:43):
place that they are contributingto deterioration of planet
earth?
August Vega (22:47):
There's a complete lack of education, and I don't
know how you would receive thiseducation, but even from taking
food and placing it in like adisposal in your sink and
processing it there and sendingit through the water system,
that's degrading planet earth,right?
Throwing your food waste in agarbage bin creates gases, you
(23:09):
know, that emit into earth.
There are so many things thatneed to be changed, educated and
changed at a core level, wherethrowing things in a plastic bag
and tossing it to the side andexpecting that nothing happens
from that is completely wrong,right?
Like if you go to a landfill,there's a layer of gas
(23:30):
underneath all of that garbagethat sometimes it's converted to
energy, so that I guess that'sinteresting, but not the best if
it weren't.
That emits into air.
You know, everything we do hasan impact, and so until we start
to look at it that way and try,not to get overwhelmed, but
understand that each action thatwe take, that maybe there's a
(23:52):
smaller action, a tiny bitharder, but really not that
unachievable that we could do tomake it better.
I think it's a mindset shiftthat we have to get to pretty
quick.
Vai Kumar (24:03):
Definitely seems like every home can adopt at least
minimally retangible goals tobegin with, right, even from a
personal home level standpoint,or from an individual level
standpoint.
You have pointed out severalsolution areas, so to speak.
Say, the plastic bag notwasting food, just consume or
(24:24):
buy only what's necessary andconsume all or most of what you
can.
And then other things likethrowing food in the garbage bin
, not throwing food in thedisposal, you know, watering the
lawn only as much as you can.
Even from these one can on apersonal level, at the
grassroots level, can pick atleast like a couple of things to
start with, because takeawaysfrom this podcast, right, and
(24:46):
when we finally you know, put itout to the world.
People can do that, but do youthink people know what other
sources form methane emissions,where from it's coming?
Is it just the animal products?
Where else is this allemanating from, and do people
realize that?
August Vega (25:03):
I don't think so I mean I don't think that an
average consumer or someone in adifferent field is focused on
understanding, and so that'sagain.
It all points back to this onecentralized issue, which is the
education piece, and so who'sgoing to do the educating Like
who's actually?
It's very challenging for abrand of any kind, whether
(25:25):
that's a consumer packaged goodor you know my friends who are
packing wells and they're goingto be selling tokens.
Anyone can buy a token to retirea well, like really interesting
stuff.
That's going on.
It's a heavy lift for theseindividual companies to educate
everyone, right?
So you have to kind of belooking for it.
(25:46):
You have to.
Number one want to learn.
Number two we do need to havebetter resources to teach.
Very simply, teach people thisequals this, equals this, like
it's that simple.
If you do this, it turns tothis, which turns to this.
It's almost like an infographicwould be helpful for people,
because when you're listening tothe reports or the governmental
(26:08):
agency speaking about it, itjust starts to become very
nuanced and challenging tofollow sometimes.
So I think understanding maybethe three basic components of
what the problems are and thenhow you're contributing is
critical, and that I don't knowhow we reach everyone with that.
Vai Kumar (26:27):
I think maybe start with elementary schools and you
know, do town halls atworkplaces, things like that,
right?
It's critical.
August Vega (26:38):
Even cars.
You know, like my family, wehave one gas powered car and one
electric car, and when I wasgoing to purchase a new car,
I've always been a vehicleperson.
I like vehicles.
I used to race cars when I wasyounger.
I just have this weird affinityfor vehicles and I just made a
conscious decision I will notbuy another gas powered vehicle
(26:59):
period.
And so when you put theparameters around yourself, you
go like this all of this is nottangible to me anymore, because
I've made this my goal.
Then you just have this pool tochoose from, and if everyone did
that imagine if every singlefamily that was about to
purchase a new car, instead ofpurchasing a gas powered car,
(27:19):
purchased an electric car.
Maybe they still have a pickuptrack or a suburban or whatever.
But that other vehicle istaking it.
You know it's preventingemissions.
That's another way.
Like there are, you can makechanges that aren't so
overwhelming that you feel likeI mean we shouldn't all be
changing our lives 100%.
But if you can't do that, thereare little nuance changes that
(27:41):
do add up to big impacts.
Vai Kumar (27:43):
Through offline.
Before we started this, you andI were talking about, you know,
the weather at your place todayand the weather at my place
today and turns out, you know,we both live in the southern
region of the United States anddoesn't seem like we are getting
anywhere because there's somuch change in or the shift in
weather pattern than what issupposedly experienceable at
(28:04):
this time of the year.
Right, I definitely want tofocus on your advocacy, but
before that, if we could focus,you already started about the
blockchain technology and thisone organization that you are
involved with, carbon Path,right.
So then, prematurely shuttingdown oil and gas wells, helping
(28:25):
in that and offering tokens?
So, in terms of utilizingtechnology to solve climate
crisis, where are we at?
What else can we do and how isall that going to pan out in the
future?
August Vega (28:40):
Yeah, I mean I think, speaking from my
experience with Carbon Path, youknow when I got involved.
They're an amazing group ofguys and gals, and so they
prematurely shut down wells thatare underperforming.
And then they also go and use amitigation process for
(29:04):
abandoned wells.
So I think what most definitelymost average consumer unless
you're in the oil and gasindustry, you would know this.
But oftentimes when a well runsdry or when it's not producing
anymore, the oil companies willpick up and take off and they
don't cap the wells in a waythat's sustainable, and so they
(29:27):
continue to emit methane formany, many, many years to come.
And now one oil well emittingmethane is probably not going to
impact climate change too muchbut imagine how many oil?
Well, there's millions, rightLike millions, and they're all
emitting, and so this onecompany alone has found a way
number one.
(29:48):
they have a drone technologythat can detect and measure
methane.
They have a way of caping,sustainably capping these wells,
and then they're using ablockchain and Web 3 to mint
tokens so that an averageconsumer first of corporate
(30:08):
sustainability as a person cango and offset whatever they want
to offset.
It's a very tangible solution.
Like I said before, I gotstarted in carbon offsets back
in 2006 is when I first startedin that field, where it was
really just plant a tree andhope that it grows.
Nothing happens to it.
And so this is an extremelytangible, measurable and
(30:32):
verifiable way to understandlike I paid for this and here is
what it did for Earth.
Right, and so they have a bigeducation piece ahead of them
and, first of all, explaining toaverage consumers that this is
a problem and then there is asolution, and how you can use
(30:55):
blockchain to acquire thesetokens that you can either
retire or you can hold on tothem.
They increase in value, allthat good stuff To me when I
think about it from a consumerbranding perspective when I look
at their model and talk withthem about it and advise with
them.
If you know there's an abandonedwell or a low producing well
(31:15):
near a school, why not get theparents of that school to pitch
in and buy tokens and shut thatdown and prevent methane?
You know there's so manycommunity based.
As long as you can get theeducation out there, I think
there's so many ways to getcommunities around.
Some of these solutions thatwould make people feel empowered
and once you feel empowered,you have momentum to keep going
(31:38):
and searching for other ways tofeel good.
Because it does.
It should make you feel good ifyou're doing something you know
, so it's an interesting way.
I think that people are a bitconfused by the Web 3 blockchain
piece of it when it comes tothis one business, but it's
really just a vehicle to giveyou something tangible that says
(31:59):
you actually shut down a wellright, like that's the only
thing that that is.
It's more about preventingmethane from leaking into the
atmosphere.
Vai Kumar (32:09):
And what other ways you think technology can help
solve this whole climate crisis?
August Vega (32:15):
Probably so many right, there's just from a
detection and understandingperspective.
I think technology has reallybrought us leaps and bounds from
where we were 20 years ago, soI think that the possibilities
are limitless.
I believe that there are slewsand slews of people that are
(32:37):
completely focused on trying todo better and trying to change
the trajectory that we're onright, and so that's a
combination of human activitycombined with technology,
combined with all sorts of stuff, right, I think that we can't
wait for policy to make thechange.
That's what I know, and so themore companies that are out
(33:02):
there whether that's a consumerpackage, good whether it's a
company like Carbon Path who'sactually really tangibly doing
something pretty major that'swhat it's really going to take
to make the shift.
Vai Kumar (33:12):
And, in terms of CPG brand success and your advisory
role, how a woman founder's lensis making a difference.
Why don't you just take usthrough that side of August Vega
?
August Vega (33:25):
Yeah, I mean that's a whole topic in itself, but I
think women are experiencingit's a really interesting time
to be a woman in business, andespecially depending on whether
you're just now entering yourbusiness trajectory or you are a
bit more seasoned and have someexperience.
(33:47):
I happen to think and thismight be frowned upon, but I
don't think that anyoneintentionally sets out to
discriminate.
Let's just say, as a woman, Ican get angry about something or
say, oh, that guy talked to methis way, he shouldn't have done
that.
Or this person or any minorityor person that isn't a minority
(34:08):
group.
I think that there are a lot ofdynamics that come into play
when you start looking at powershifts, or having a woman
founder's lens, or havingthere's so many dynamics and you
have to kind of dissect all ofthem and none of us are perfect.
We all make mistakes and howit's handled.
I think the difference betweenhow mistakes or issues are
(34:32):
handled.
When it comes to women inleadership versus men in
leadership, there is kind of agap, and that's where we need to
be a bit more conscious andunderstand that that's an area
of focus.
It's not that women don't haveopportunities these days they do
and it's not that you can'tmake it happen, because you can.
(34:52):
I think it's when issues arisethere is a different lens that's
placed upon a woman or I'lljust speak for women because I
am a woman that it's potentiallya bit more harsh than when it
comes to a man making the samekind of mistakes.
(35:13):
So, that's the lens that I tryto bring, not to any specific
situation, to every situation.
Is that like, hold on a minutelike I think we've all been in
situations where we've mademistakes?
The other piece to it is andI'll speak more to my own
situation with Malk is there'sjust a lot of dynamics when it
(35:34):
comes to the food industry andit's an interesting space
because the barrier to entry isreally low, like you don't
really have to have experience,you don't if you have a good
idea and you know how to hustle,you can really make it happen.
But the flexities of the foodindustry and the ways in which
(35:57):
the amount of capital that ittakes and the ways in which
things can go wrong on an hourto hour basis are so complex
more so than any other businessI've ever been involved in that
it's kind of a weird dynamic inthat you have a great idea.
You don't really know whatyou're doing.
You're hustling, you bring itto market.
You think you're doing reallywell.
(36:17):
You're going to get hit with somany challenges on a day-to-day
basis that I'm thinking.
What I'm feeling is that theshifting that's happening in the
market right now, I think thebarrier to entry is going to get
a bit harder, and it probablyshould, because it's a very,
very challenging industry.
Vai Kumar (36:37):
I'll just say so you're trying to say, if the
barrier is harder, rather thansomeone finding the entry point
to be very easy but then notbeing able to cope up with the
challenges, it's rather easierto handle the initial tough
entry, but then that way you'rewell positioned, so to speak, in
terms of when challenges cropup, right?
(36:57):
So yeah, I think that's that'syes, and taking on capital.
August Vega (37:03):
There needs to be a whole masterclass in what that
means and how to do, thedynamics that, the shift that
happens and what you need to beprepared for and how to manage
through it.
I've been contacted by so manywomen that have really had a lot
of challenges recently and.
I think that it's a hard market,things are uncertain, people
(37:25):
are scared and that people startto react in that situation.
But we really need to educatepeople, no matter who it is I'm
focusing on women but tounderstand that taking on
capital, first of all, shouldn'tbe a celebrated like you're
such a success.
You raised money.
Like well, okay, that's justone part of it.
And what does that actuallymean?
(37:47):
Like how do you what's requiredof you after that?
Right, I think people reallyneed to be educated on that a
lot more than they are.
Vai Kumar (37:55):
Okay, fantastic.
And in terms of your personaljourney, you said, yeah, you had
to wrestle with terrier allergyand then you later found out
your son had one and that allthat led to creating this
wonderful product.
Malk and I personally have hadhealth issues and I know what is
involved in finding ways to eatclean.
(38:16):
I guess when we eat clean wealso contribute to the
environment.
But overall, in terms ofadvocacy efforts and in terms of
the betterment of our planet,what would you say from the
sheer lens of food that somebodyputs on their plate?
August Vega (38:30):
Like what would be best In terms of eating
practices.
yes, yes, I mean, it goeswithout saying that avoiding
factory-formed animal productsis critical.
That's very critical.
You know, I have people in mylife that I never thought would
become vegan, that have.
I don't know that.
Like we said, I don't know thatthat's a realistic goal today,
(38:53):
but trying to fill the primarylike your plate being primarily
vegetables and grains and if youare a person who is going to
insist upon eating meat, don'tbuy factory-formed meat and try
to limit it.
That's a very easy, simple wayto make a big difference.
Vai Kumar (39:13):
And also from an animal welfare standpoint as
well.
Right, so right there.
You're targeting your personalhealth, you're targeting animal
welfare and you're targetingbetterment of planet in terms of
all the methane emissions andwhatnot, and in terms of
takeaways for a more sustainablefuture.
If you were to pick outwhatever we talked and anything
(39:34):
more and in terms of advocacyefforts, what would you say
August?
And what would you say, hey,why do this at the Paris minimum
tomorrow and have listeners dosomething as their next step?
What would that be?
August Vega (39:49):
Well, I think it depends on where you are in your
journey, right, but I would sayat a bare minimum.
I'll go back to where I started, which is stop using plastic to
the extent that you can.
Instead of using, take yourbags to the grocery store every
single time.
Keep them in your car.
Don't ever use plastic bags.
Take Ziploc bags.
(40:10):
Do away with them.
Start using lunchkins.
There's so many different waysyou can store food without using
plastic.
Just stop the plastic.
It's hideous.
It's when you see what it'sdoing to the ocean and maybe not
everyone has seen it, but whenyou see the critical mass of
plastic in our ocean, it'sreally traumatizing.
Vai Kumar (40:30):
So that would be one.
August Vega (40:31):
Number two would be definitely limiting me.
Those are two very if you'rejust conscious of it and you go
okay, I have two goals.
What are they going to be?
Those are the two goals that Ithink can make the biggest
impact.
And once you accomplish thosetwo goals, you're incentivized
to keep moving.
Vai Kumar (40:50):
Perfect and in terms of someone not realizing hey,
how can I volunteer, how can Icontribute?
What would be their startingpoint?
August Vega (40:58):
I think, just starting to educate yourself,
because there's not a greateducation system.
You can start to read.
There's plenty of materialsaccessible to all of us these
days.
All you have to do is get it onyour phone.
You can read from any place,any time, anywhere.
So start by understanding thecritical points, like what is it
that's the most making the mostimpact?
(41:21):
So let's start with methane.
What is your contribution?
What is your personalcontribution to methane?
How can you personally start toreduce your personal
contribution to methane?
Like just educate yourself onyour family and what you can do.
Try not to worry about everyone.
You can't impact everyone.
But once you start makingchanges and you're educated and
(41:43):
you talk to your neighbor oryour brother or your sister or
your family, whatever, it kindof starts to spread.
But if we become overwhelmed tothe point of stagnation and do
nothing, we're in big trouble.
Vai Kumar (41:54):
Very well said, and thank you so much for taking the
time to talk to us today and,if there is anything else that
you would like to add in termsof putting out your efforts,
your contacting for any suchThank you.
August Vega (42:09):
Yeah, I mean I'm accessible online.
I'm on all the social channelsand the companies that I support
are very much visible.
On all of those I'm alwayswelcome.
I welcome anyone to reach outif someone has a question or
whatever.
I can be reached at August@August Vega.
com, and I appreciate theconversation.
(42:32):
We need to all be having theseconversations.
It's really important.
Vai Kumar (42:35):
Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk
to us today.
We thoroughly enjoyed it andlook forward to connecting back
with you again in the future.
August Vega (42:44):
Thank you so much.
Have a wonderful rest of yourweek.
Vai Kumar (42:47):
Thank you to listeners as always.
Follow the podcast, rate thepodcast and leave a review from
your podcast app of choice, andfollow me on Instagram
@vaipkumar.
Until next time with yetanother interesting guest and
yet another interesting topic.
It's me Vai saying so long.
Welcome to Freshleaf Forever, a podcast
that gives you fascinatinginsights week after week.
Here's your host, Vaikumar.
Vai Kumar (00:21):
Hey folks, Welcome to another episode on podcast
Freshleaf Forever.
Today I have here with usAugust Vega.
She's a C-level strategyadvisor, clean tech proponent,
creator and former CEO of MalkOrganics.
She believes in applyingstrategic thinking to creating
solutions and is a hugeproponent of sustainability.
(00:45):
And we are here today to talkabout all things sustainability,
and she's very passionate aboutthat and is a huge proponent of
pledging to work and feels forbetterment of planet Earth.
I should say hey, August,Welcome to the podcast.
How are you today?
Thank you so much.
August Vega (01:02):
I'm doing very well .
It's a pleasure to speak withyou.
Thank you for having me.
Vai Kumar (01:06):
Likewise, and like I said, you were the creator and
former CEO of Malk Organics, soyour role in CPG that's like
quite pronounced.
So why don't we get startedthere with your role in CPG and
how you have establishedyourself in brand building?
August Vega (01:24):
Sure, well, kind of going back to before my role in
CPG, I always worked insustainability for the most part
of my career, in water andenergy efficiency and grid
management.
I learned about carbon offsetsback in the early 2000s when
really no one even knew whatthat meant, and so really that
(01:47):
was the foundation of my career.
I made a switch in late 2013 toCPG number one, because I've
always just been a brand'sperson.
Vai Kumar (01:58):
I pay a lot of attention to what's on shelf or
what's on racks and what I'mputting in my body or on my body
.
August Vega (02:05):
It's always just been of interest, almost a hobby
, and we had a family need.
I was born with a dairy allergy.
My son was born with a dairyallergy.
It's kind of a story everyone'sheard if they know of the brand
at all.
But so.
I married the business acumenthat I developed in
sustainability and efficiencywith kind of a hobby and
(02:27):
something that we needed as afamily to create Malk and enter
the CPG landscape.
Vai Kumar (02:33):
Okay, perfect.
The need for becoming moreenvironmentally sustainable
across the industry.
I mean, I know Malk as aproduct cannot be like a
standalone thing that can bringabout a change to planet Earth,
correct?
So, as far as the need forbecoming more environmentally
sustainable across the industry,how do you think that shift can
(02:56):
happen?
I mean your product, the onethat you created?
That's a great story, of course, combining this personal need
and the passion forsustainability, or the
experience as well, insustainability.
August Vega (03:08):
Yeah, I mean for Malk, and I'm no longer involved
with the company, but with thecompany.
It was more about good for youversus good for Earth, and many
times what's good for us and inour bodies is also good for
planet Earth, right?
So there's a parallel there.
Obviously, shifting from cow'smilk to dairy milk, there's an
(03:29):
environmental impact.
There's so many differentvariables when you're
calculating you know,sustainability factor.
It's not just one for one.
You have to obviously look atthe water usage and then you
look at water usage to raisecattle and, like you have to
calculate so many differentthings to get to a proper LCA or
an assessment of your rankingin terms of environmental impact
(03:55):
.
So with Malk, the idea wasreally more about like healthy
body equals healthy Earth.
Obviously, the packaging wasnot sustainable and I really
worked while I was there to tryto get it up to a good standard.
But as a young brand and Ithink this is something that
lots of entrepreneurs arechallenged with in the food
(04:18):
industry in particular it's veryhard to make money.
There's just a lot of differentthings that you have to pay for
in order to just gain shelfspace, and so oftentimes being
in sustainable packaging is somuch more expensive than the
other alternatives, and it'sjust not something that young
(04:40):
companies can really focus on,and the ones that do, they're at
a much higher price point andconsumers don't really
understand why is this butter orice cream or cheese?
Vai Kumar (04:51):
or whatever it is $3 more than this.
August Vega (04:54):
Well, it's because you know, when you try to do the
right things, it comes at acost, and so hopefully we can
bring that down and we can talkabout that in a little bit.
But in terms of sustainability,I think it's across a lot of
different views and a lot ofdifferent categories and there's
so much.
There's so many simple thingsthat we can do as human beings,
(05:15):
that where we can start, andthen it goes from there to.
I'm working with the companyI'm an advisor for who they're
capping old oil wells to preventmethane from leaking into the
atmosphere.
Like there's things across theboard that we do.
I think as a consumer first ofall, as an entrepreneur, you
have to really understand allthe components going in.
(05:35):
As a consumer, you can startanywhere from Stopping the use
of plastic bags.
I had an intern one time whowent on to work for Greenpeace
and they were trying to shutdown a Canal in Houston from
allowing oil tankers to comethrough and I was like thinking
to myself that's so awesome andso admirable they actually got
(05:57):
into a lot of trouble for it.
But why don't we start with,like let's eliminate all the
plastic bags in the UnitedStates?
Like let's, let's do it Tangelo, focus on one thing, get that
accomplished, then go to thenext and then Tackle the big
stuff.
But there's so many littlelow-hanging fruit things that
need to be done that I thinkthey're almost overlooked by
(06:19):
this Mountain.
That needs to be achieved ifthat makes sense.
Vai Kumar (06:23):
Certainly, I think you know very well said, like
even the plastic bag usage.
If grocery stores can focus onthat, if as a Nation we can
focus on that, and you and me asindividuals, if every time we
can bring our own, be verydisciplined.
I should say about bringing ourown shopping bags every time we
walk into, say, the localgrocery store or to a Whole
(06:44):
Foods, whatever that may beright.
Yes, that's definitely like youpointed out, tangible goals.
But as far as the cost that'sinvolved in sustainable
packaging and things like thatwith the food industry, do you
think brands agree and see thisas a priority right now?
How better can they handlethemselves?
I mean, there's deforestation,there's packaging, there's
(07:07):
climate, smart farming practicesall of these sustainable
sourcing.
There's several facets to thiswhole complex term, or puzzle,
or piece of the puzzle forsustainability right.
August Vega (07:19):
I think that it has to come in the the ethos of the
brand.
Whether you can achieve itinitially or not is a separate
thing, but having that in thecore of the aspiration is that
we source 50% of our ingredientsfrom a regenerative Farm or we
(07:39):
use upcycled ingredients.
Or if you start to look ateverything that goes into, let's
say you're making an ice creamand I've worked with Straight
out of milk.
I consulted with and then wentto work for a company that's
actually in food tech, all basedaround sustainability, which
was very different from the milkethos but very much aligned
(08:00):
with my personal ethos and whatI had done previously
Professionally.
From that perspective,everything was looked at because
the core ingredient wasSustainable and more sustainable
, and that was the key fiber ofwhy it existed.
Everything in terms of likepackaging, ingredients.
It's what we're evaluatedbefore you know, moving forward
(08:21):
with something that's veryunique.
I don't think that that'sreally possible for most small
you know CPG brands.
It requires an intense amountof funding.
I consult with and work with anice cream brand, sacred serve.
Who she?
The woman's name is Kaylee.
She's amazing and from theingredients that she puts in her
(08:42):
product it's upcycledingredients to the packaging,
which is compostable.
She has thought of every singlepiece along the line.
She's had a really hard go,though.
It's been really, reallychallenging.
You know it's been a moreexpensive product.
It's, it's amazing the paradigmand I think there has to be a
shift, and I believe we're onthe cusp of it, where consumers
(09:05):
not just and I use this wordloosely because it's probably
not the right word to use, butnot just elite or Consumers that
prioritize certain things andspend a lot of money.
But when a mom of four that'sgoing to the grocery store
that's on a budget, starts toprioritize and think about earth
when she's making decisions,that's when things will start to
(09:26):
shift, because more brands willInvest, and then the packaging
costs come down and everythingstarts to normalize and that's
becomes, you know, the new norm.
We're just not there yet, andso right now we need hero brands
and hero people to tell thestory, to explain to Consumers
why this is important.
(09:46):
Like that, these small acts,choosing one ice cream over
another, choosing one butterover another Actually can make a
huge impact to the planet.
Vai Kumar (09:56):
So I see this mainly as an education issue, right?
So once you are able to betterinform the consumers about the
why and how of Everything that'shappening and why the cost is
high and things like that, right, and it's all right, I feel
it's all tied together, it's allinterlinked as well.
Saying, in lieu of a Plasticjug for, say, like a milk, you
(10:21):
know, you put it in like a moresustainable packaging.
You also are able to stay awayfrom any hormonal disturbances
or what not coming from the useof plastic, right?
So does it then call forcertain processes to be
implemented at the grassrootslevel, august, or is it a matter
(10:42):
of increased Environmentalsocial governance?
Reporting?
What systems do you think?
I know you're a huge proponentof systems and clean tech, and
so how then do we go about it?
August Vega (10:54):
I think that there needs to be a really good
accountability system that's notpushed almost like an
organization, it's a nonprofitthat really starts to help and
becomes a seal that says andthere are some that exist, but
maybe not as comprehensive aswhat we're talking about, but
(11:15):
really start to raise fundsaround educating and Look for
this that it equals X, right,like by this, this seal equals
this in a very Concise and cleanand just straightforward way.
I think that oftentimesExplanations of how some of
these things work or you know,we get into too many details,
(11:39):
that gets it can confuse anddistract people.
There's like, ah, whatever.
So I think that cleaner andmore concise that we can make
this and understanding theteaching of like it's this
simple you make this choice overthis choice and it equates to
this, I think is reallyimportant, and so there needs to
be some kind of an organizationEstablished that's really just
(12:03):
100% focused on educating, Ithink yeah, that seems like the
need of the hour.
Vai Kumar (12:08):
and Increasing a company's positive impact on
society, say, even if they trulyyou know their intentions are
good, they come from a goodplace, the how and why of it
again, is that revolving aroundthis education aspect, or do you
see something more to it thanjust educating?
August Vega (12:27):
from your own experience With whatever you
were able to do with mall can,being on the advisory of a
couple of other big brands-again, it has to be part of the
ethos and part of what's drivingthe business and so, early on,
establishing kind of making it agoal.
That doesn't mean you have toachieve you know Every single
(12:49):
box from day one.
But making it a goal and apriority to do better and
provide something better.
It becomes easier than it seemsif it's not a goal and it's
just something out there thatcould be a nice to have.
You can't prioritize it becausein this space in particular and
consumer packaged goods it isreally a slog every day.
(13:11):
It's a very challengingenvironment and so you have to
prioritize it or your otherpriorities will jump up.
Vai Kumar (13:18):
Right there, you pointed out challenges and even
as a primary challenge, cost.
That's a huge underlying aspect, right?
What other challenges do yousee for brands to be able to
keep these priorities at the topof their list?
August Vega (13:35):
In this space, it's well known that funding is
critical and key right.
You can't create a product inthe consumer space without ample
funding.
That was really probably thebiggest lesson I learned was
around funding and how much ittakes, and there's so many
(13:55):
lessons there we won't godigress into that, but the
people that you bring on board.
I think having these goals aspart of a non-negotiable right,
no matter what these areimportant to the brand.
This is important to theconsumer.
The education piece isimportant, and really
establishing that from theoutset of even taking on
(14:17):
investors, part of the pitchdeck should have you know that
this is the ethos of the brand.
This is something that we can'tbudge on, and the more that
brands start to make it anon-negotiable again, it all
impacts.
Another thing is that the morebrands that invest in
sustainability and packaging andingredients, the cost comes
(14:38):
down right, and so, until thatstarts to happen, it's just this
weird conundrum.
Vai Kumar (14:45):
Yeah, when a bunch of people you know birds are the
same for the flock together,they say so.
It's almost like when severalpeople start to do it, then it
almost becomes like a norm andobviously it drives down the
cost and that really helps.
Of course, the impact from theconsumer side being ready to pay
premium for sustainability isthat like a mental shift that
(15:11):
needs to happen?
Or, again, is that like aneducation issue, again just like
we focused on earlier?
August Vega (15:19):
The education piece has to come first, and I think
that's happening.
I think another thing that'sbeen really interesting that
I've noticed is that retailersare tasked with sustainable
objectives, and so, from thatperspective, when you have goals
at a retail level that trickledown to the brands, you're
(15:39):
starting to see it allthroughout the complete
ecosystem.
That can be really helpful,because once you have retail
partners that are on board withsustainability, whatever it is
you're doing, and they help youtell the story to the consumer,
that helps with education, and Ithink we're on the cusp of some
really interesting thingshappening.
It's just we're not quite thereyet.
(15:59):
You know, like we're right,we're close.
Vai Kumar (16:01):
Like we talked about, so, with several brands and
several retailers, having thisalmost, like you know, happen
like a paradigm shift is when wecan possibly even decrease the
whole cost of this packaging andeverything the cost of
sustainable living, right, andso that's when probably it's
easier to get more consumers onboard as well, don't you think?
August Vega (16:24):
I think so yeah, so it all kind of feeds the cycle.
Vai Kumar (16:29):
And the recent IPCC report came out right.
So how can we clean up andprotect our planet?
It still looks like theiremissions curve is not bending
yet, and so how better can weclean up and protect our planet,
and what could be the differentsolutions and approaches that
one can adopt?
August Vega (16:50):
Again, it comes down to really clear goals and
it can be really confusing.
You know, if you just even goon LinkedIn and read arguments
between different sides ofdifferent positions of things
and stuff, it can become veryconfusing.
And so that's what reallyfrustrates me is that the IPCC
(17:10):
is really outlined exactlywhat's happening and what's
going to happen and then youhave people arguing over the
best way to get there.
But there's some really commonsense things that make a lot of
sense right.
We know for sure that factoryfarmed cows emit methane.
It is what it is.
There's absolutely no argumentto that.
(17:32):
So is the goal to completelyconvert every single person to
becoming a vegetarian or vegan?
That's probably unrealistic.
Could we establish some kind ofguideline that says if you
eliminate eating red meat fourdays out of the seven days a
week?
We need to break down the goalsfor people so that they can
(17:53):
understand what to do.
I believe in my heart thateveryone on this planet wants to
be able to do something to help.
I think that there's less of anargument whether there's a
problem or not, especially inthis country anymore.
There used to be a big argument.
I think everyone can identifythat there's a problem.
I think that the frustrationcomes from the lack of
(18:14):
understanding of what to do Like.
What do we do?
Like how can I make adifference?
And so that's when I wastalking about.
You know, let's stop usingplastic bags.
Let's eliminate meat at leastfour days a week.
The company I'm working withthat caps the wells and prevents
methane from leaking into theatmosphere.
There's so many companies likethat that you can support that.
(18:35):
It just takes a little bit ofresearch If we know for sure,
like you could have a goal, apersonal goal.
I want to help mitigate Xamount of methane this year
because I know that the goal forglobally is XYZ.
Whatever right you can findways to contribute.
You just have to kind of lookand try not to get overwhelmed
(18:56):
Like make one goal an achievablegoal, get that accomplished and
then move on to the next goal.
I would say it is an extremelyoverwhelming problem, even for
experts.
Right, it's not a simpleproblem, but it also doesn't
have to be that complex.
I think focusing on achievablegoals and accomplishing them
(19:18):
would really give us all a lotof momentum.
Vai Kumar (19:20):
Again, it's an education issue.
If you make them realize thateveryone needs to contribute, no
one is going to walk away.
But it almost seems like peopleare just shying from that
ownership aspect right now.
So it's like, right from thatplastic bag, right, it's okay if
I just bring it back in plasticone more time, just one more
day, right, but the one morekeeps adding up and we just seem
(19:43):
to fill our oceans still withplastic and everything is just
contaminated.
I guess the methane emissionsthat you talked about, the food,
water efficiency and, more andmost importantly, eliminate food
waste, right, we all don'trealize how much food we are
wasting.
How is all of this contributing?
I know you already touched uponvegetarian or veganism is
(20:07):
perhaps not highly realistic,although cutting back, scaling
back on the number of days thatone needs meat is very much an
achievable goal, and that'swhere goal setting is important,
right?
How then, can we at least takelike a first step in terms of
the methane emissions, the foodwaste and also achieving more
water efficiency?
August?
August Vega (20:27):
It's extremely overwhelming, I would say,
because I have a level ofeducation in a lot of these
things.
It's really frustrating and itcan be really, really
disappointing and likedepressing in terms of seeing
water systems watering people'sflowers in your garden when it's
raining outside.
It's just like this is socommon sense and easy.
(20:49):
I just can't handle it.
I literally can't take it, butit's so hard to tackle all of
these things.
I think that it definitely whateverything points back to is
education, because when you lookat food waste, we have food
waste and then we have fooddeserts, right, and food
insecurity.
That's not an equation thatfits like it doesn't make sense
(21:10):
whatsoever.
Who is the body that figures outhow to solve these things?
And I don't think it's one body.
I think it comes from all of usbeing conscious of the issues
that exist and what our part canbe.
So I would say, from a waterefficiency perspective, I've
also seen a lot of this, likeonline, and it's really
(21:30):
frustrating.
It's like well, it's not thealmond milk that's the problem.
It's the cows and it's notwatering your lawn, it's a
problem.
It's factory farms, it's notthis and it's not that.
And it's like yeah, yeah, yeah,okay, but what can you control?
What can you control today?
I can control that I won't buymeat.
I don't eat meat.
I won't buy meat.
Okay, I can control that.
(21:51):
I'm not going to do that.
I can control that I don't watermy lawn and I have more than
zero scape lawn.
That's something I can do Ifyou must have green grass, if
that's something that you can'tcompromise on don't water your
lawn when it's raining outside.
It's like these little commonsense things where so much waste
(22:11):
happens from neglect and sillybehaviors.
It's special.
Vai Kumar (22:21):
Back in a moment with our guest on Fresh Leaf Forever
.
When we focus on amount of foodthat is wasted, do people even
realize that when they wastefood, what happens down the road
?
And do you think there is thatawareness even in the first
(22:43):
place that they are contributingto deterioration of planet
earth?
August Vega (22:47):
There's a complete lack of education, and I don't
know how you would receive thiseducation, but even from taking
food and placing it in like adisposal in your sink and
processing it there and sendingit through the water system,
that's degrading planet earth,right?
Throwing your food waste in agarbage bin creates gases, you
(23:09):
know, that emit into earth.
There are so many things thatneed to be changed, educated and
changed at a core level, wherethrowing things in a plastic bag
and tossing it to the side andexpecting that nothing happens
from that is completely wrong,right?
Like if you go to a landfill,there's a layer of gas
(23:30):
underneath all of that garbagethat sometimes it's converted to
energy, so that I guess that'sinteresting, but not the best if
it weren't.
That emits into air.
You know, everything we do hasan impact, and so until we start
to look at it that way and try,not to get overwhelmed, but
understand that each action thatwe take, that maybe there's a
(23:52):
smaller action, a tiny bitharder, but really not that
unachievable that we could do tomake it better.
I think it's a mindset shiftthat we have to get to pretty
quick.
Vai Kumar (24:03):
Definitely seems like every home can adopt at least
minimally retangible goals tobegin with, right, even from a
personal home level standpoint,or from an individual level
standpoint.
You have pointed out severalsolution areas, so to speak.
Say, the plastic bag notwasting food, just consume or
(24:24):
buy only what's necessary andconsume all or most of what you
can.
And then other things likethrowing food in the garbage bin
, not throwing food in thedisposal, you know, watering the
lawn only as much as you can.
Even from these one can on apersonal level, at the
grassroots level, can pick atleast like a couple of things to
start with, because takeawaysfrom this podcast, right, and
(24:46):
when we finally you know, put itout to the world.
People can do that, but do youthink people know what other
sources form methane emissions,where from it's coming?
Is it just the animal products?
Where else is this allemanating from, and do people
realize that?
August Vega (25:03):
I don't think so I mean I don't think that an
average consumer or someone in adifferent field is focused on
understanding, and so that'sagain.
It all points back to this onecentralized issue, which is the
education piece, and so who'sgoing to do the educating Like
who's actually?
It's very challenging for abrand of any kind, whether
(25:25):
that's a consumer packaged goodor you know my friends who are
packing wells and they're goingto be selling tokens.
Anyone can buy a token to retirea well, like really interesting
stuff.
That's going on.
It's a heavy lift for theseindividual companies to educate
everyone, right?
So you have to kind of belooking for it.
(25:46):
You have to.
Number one want to learn.
Number two we do need to havebetter resources to teach.
Very simply, teach people thisequals this, equals this, like
it's that simple.
If you do this, it turns tothis, which turns to this.
It's almost like an infographicwould be helpful for people,
because when you're listening tothe reports or the governmental
(26:08):
agency speaking about it, itjust starts to become very
nuanced and challenging tofollow sometimes.
So I think understanding maybethe three basic components of
what the problems are and thenhow you're contributing is
critical, and that I don't knowhow we reach everyone with that.
Vai Kumar (26:27):
I think maybe start with elementary schools and you
know, do town halls atworkplaces, things like that,
right?
It's critical.
August Vega (26:38):
Even cars.
You know, like my family, wehave one gas powered car and one
electric car, and when I wasgoing to purchase a new car,
I've always been a vehicleperson.
I like vehicles.
I used to race cars when I wasyounger.
I just have this weird affinityfor vehicles and I just made a
conscious decision I will notbuy another gas powered vehicle
(26:59):
period.
And so when you put theparameters around yourself, you
go like this all of this is nottangible to me anymore, because
I've made this my goal.
Then you just have this pool tochoose from, and if everyone did
that imagine if every singlefamily that was about to
purchase a new car, instead ofpurchasing a gas powered car,
(27:19):
purchased an electric car.
Maybe they still have a pickuptrack or a suburban or whatever.
But that other vehicle istaking it.
You know it's preventingemissions.
That's another way.
Like there are, you can makechanges that aren't so
overwhelming that you feel likeI mean we shouldn't all be
changing our lives 100%.
But if you can't do that, thereare little nuance changes that
(27:41):
do add up to big impacts.
Vai Kumar (27:43):
Through offline.
Before we started this, you andI were talking about, you know,
the weather at your place todayand the weather at my place
today and turns out, you know,we both live in the southern
region of the United States anddoesn't seem like we are getting
anywhere because there's somuch change in or the shift in
weather pattern than what issupposedly experienceable at
(28:04):
this time of the year.
Right, I definitely want tofocus on your advocacy, but
before that, if we could focus,you already started about the
blockchain technology and thisone organization that you are
involved with, carbon Path,right.
So then, prematurely shuttingdown oil and gas wells, helping
(28:25):
in that and offering tokens?
So, in terms of utilizingtechnology to solve climate
crisis, where are we at?
What else can we do and how isall that going to pan out in the
future?
August Vega (28:40):
Yeah, I mean I think, speaking from my
experience with Carbon Path, youknow when I got involved.
They're an amazing group ofguys and gals, and so they
prematurely shut down wells thatare underperforming.
And then they also go and use amitigation process for
(29:04):
abandoned wells.
So I think what most definitelymost average consumer unless
you're in the oil and gasindustry, you would know this.
But oftentimes when a well runsdry or when it's not producing
anymore, the oil companies willpick up and take off and they
don't cap the wells in a waythat's sustainable, and so they
(29:27):
continue to emit methane formany, many, many years to come.
And now one oil well emittingmethane is probably not going to
impact climate change too muchbut imagine how many oil?
Well, there's millions, rightLike millions, and they're all
emitting, and so this onecompany alone has found a way
number one.
(29:48):
they have a drone technologythat can detect and measure
methane.
They have a way of caping,sustainably capping these wells,
and then they're using ablockchain and Web 3 to mint
tokens so that an averageconsumer first of corporate
(30:08):
sustainability as a person cango and offset whatever they want
to offset.
It's a very tangible solution.
Like I said before, I gotstarted in carbon offsets back
in 2006 is when I first startedin that field, where it was
really just plant a tree andhope that it grows.
Nothing happens to it.
And so this is an extremelytangible, measurable and
(30:32):
verifiable way to understandlike I paid for this and here is
what it did for Earth.
Right, and so they have a bigeducation piece ahead of them
and, first of all, explaining toaverage consumers that this is
a problem and then there is asolution, and how you can use
(30:55):
blockchain to acquire thesetokens that you can either
retire or you can hold on tothem.
They increase in value, allthat good stuff To me when I
think about it from a consumerbranding perspective when I look
at their model and talk withthem about it and advise with
them.
If you know there's an abandonedwell or a low producing well
(31:15):
near a school, why not get theparents of that school to pitch
in and buy tokens and shut thatdown and prevent methane?
You know there's so manycommunity based.
As long as you can get theeducation out there, I think
there's so many ways to getcommunities around.
Some of these solutions thatwould make people feel empowered
and once you feel empowered,you have momentum to keep going
(31:38):
and searching for other ways tofeel good.
Because it does.
It should make you feel good ifyou're doing something you know
, so it's an interesting way.
I think that people are a bitconfused by the Web 3 blockchain
piece of it when it comes tothis one business, but it's
really just a vehicle to giveyou something tangible that says
(31:59):
you actually shut down a wellright, like that's the only
thing that that is.
It's more about preventingmethane from leaking into the
atmosphere.
Vai Kumar (32:09):
And what other ways you think technology can help
solve this whole climate crisis?
August Vega (32:15):
Probably so many right, there's just from a
detection and understandingperspective.
I think technology has reallybrought us leaps and bounds from
where we were 20 years ago, soI think that the possibilities
are limitless.
I believe that there are slewsand slews of people that are
(32:37):
completely focused on trying todo better and trying to change
the trajectory that we're onright, and so that's a
combination of human activitycombined with technology,
combined with all sorts of stuff, right, I think that we can't
wait for policy to make thechange.
That's what I know, and so themore companies that are out
(33:02):
there whether that's a consumerpackage, good whether it's a
company like Carbon Path who'sactually really tangibly doing
something pretty major that'swhat it's really going to take
to make the shift.
Vai Kumar (33:12):
And, in terms of CPG brand success and your advisory
role, how a woman founder's lensis making a difference.
Why don't you just take usthrough that side of August Vega
?
August Vega (33:25):
Yeah, I mean that's a whole topic in itself, but I
think women are experiencingit's a really interesting time
to be a woman in business, andespecially depending on whether
you're just now entering yourbusiness trajectory or you are a
bit more seasoned and have someexperience.
(33:47):
I happen to think and thismight be frowned upon, but I
don't think that anyoneintentionally sets out to
discriminate.
Let's just say, as a woman, Ican get angry about something or
say, oh, that guy talked to methis way, he shouldn't have done
that.
Or this person or any minorityor person that isn't a minority
(34:08):
group.
I think that there are a lot ofdynamics that come into play
when you start looking at powershifts, or having a woman
founder's lens, or havingthere's so many dynamics and you
have to kind of dissect all ofthem and none of us are perfect.
We all make mistakes and howit's handled.
I think the difference betweenhow mistakes or issues are
(34:32):
handled.
When it comes to women inleadership versus men in
leadership, there is kind of agap, and that's where we need to
be a bit more conscious andunderstand that that's an area
of focus.
It's not that women don't haveopportunities these days they do
and it's not that you can'tmake it happen, because you can.
(34:52):
I think it's when issues arisethere is a different lens that's
placed upon a woman or I'lljust speak for women because I
am a woman that it's potentiallya bit more harsh than when it
comes to a man making the samekind of mistakes.
(35:13):
So, that's the lens that I tryto bring, not to any specific
situation, to every situation.
Is that like, hold on a minutelike I think we've all been in
situations where we've mademistakes?
The other piece to it is andI'll speak more to my own
situation with Malk is there'sjust a lot of dynamics when it
(35:34):
comes to the food industry andit's an interesting space
because the barrier to entry isreally low, like you don't
really have to have experience,you don't if you have a good
idea and you know how to hustle,you can really make it happen.
But the flexities of the foodindustry and the ways in which
(35:57):
the amount of capital that ittakes and the ways in which
things can go wrong on an hourto hour basis are so complex
more so than any other businessI've ever been involved in that
it's kind of a weird dynamic inthat you have a great idea.
You don't really know whatyou're doing.
You're hustling, you bring itto market.
You think you're doing reallywell.
(36:17):
You're going to get hit with somany challenges on a day-to-day
basis that I'm thinking.
What I'm feeling is that theshifting that's happening in the
market right now, I think thebarrier to entry is going to get
a bit harder, and it probablyshould, because it's a very,
very challenging industry.
Vai Kumar (36:37):
I'll just say so you're trying to say, if the
barrier is harder, rather thansomeone finding the entry point
to be very easy but then notbeing able to cope up with the
challenges, it's rather easierto handle the initial tough
entry, but then that way you'rewell positioned, so to speak, in
terms of when challenges cropup, right?
(36:57):
So yeah, I think that's that'syes, and taking on capital.
August Vega (37:03):
There needs to be a whole masterclass in what that
means and how to do, thedynamics that, the shift that
happens and what you need to beprepared for and how to manage
through it.
I've been contacted by so manywomen that have really had a lot
of challenges recently and.
I think that it's a hard market,things are uncertain, people
(37:25):
are scared and that people startto react in that situation.
But we really need to educatepeople, no matter who it is I'm
focusing on women but tounderstand that taking on
capital, first of all, shouldn'tbe a celebrated like you're
such a success.
You raised money.
Like well, okay, that's justone part of it.
And what does that actuallymean?
(37:47):
Like how do you what's requiredof you after that?
Right, I think people reallyneed to be educated on that a
lot more than they are.
Vai Kumar (37:55):
Okay, fantastic.
And in terms of your personaljourney, you said, yeah, you had
to wrestle with terrier allergyand then you later found out
your son had one and that allthat led to creating this
wonderful product.
Malk and I personally have hadhealth issues and I know what is
involved in finding ways to eatclean.
(38:16):
I guess when we eat clean wealso contribute to the
environment.
But overall, in terms ofadvocacy efforts and in terms of
the betterment of our planet,what would you say from the
sheer lens of food that somebodyputs on their plate?
August Vega (38:30):
Like what would be best In terms of eating
practices.
yes, yes, I mean, it goeswithout saying that avoiding
factory-formed animal productsis critical.
That's very critical.
You know, I have people in mylife that I never thought would
become vegan, that have.
I don't know that.
Like we said, I don't know thatthat's a realistic goal today,
(38:53):
but trying to fill the primarylike your plate being primarily
vegetables and grains and if youare a person who is going to
insist upon eating meat, don'tbuy factory-formed meat and try
to limit it.
That's a very easy, simple wayto make a big difference.
Vai Kumar (39:13):
And also from an animal welfare standpoint as
well.
Right, so right there.
You're targeting your personalhealth, you're targeting animal
welfare and you're targetingbetterment of planet in terms of
all the methane emissions andwhatnot, and in terms of
takeaways for a more sustainablefuture.
If you were to pick outwhatever we talked and anything
(39:34):
more and in terms of advocacyefforts, what would you say
August?
And what would you say, hey,why do this at the Paris minimum
tomorrow and have listeners dosomething as their next step?
What would that be?
August Vega (39:49):
Well, I think it depends on where you are in your
journey, right, but I would sayat a bare minimum.
I'll go back to where I started, which is stop using plastic to
the extent that you can.
Instead of using, take yourbags to the grocery store every
single time.
Keep them in your car.
Don't ever use plastic bags.
Take Ziploc bags.
(40:10):
Do away with them.
Start using lunchkins.
There's so many different waysyou can store food without using
plastic.
Just stop the plastic.
It's hideous.
It's when you see what it'sdoing to the ocean and maybe not
everyone has seen it, but whenyou see the critical mass of
plastic in our ocean, it'sreally traumatizing.
Vai Kumar (40:30):
So that would be one.
August Vega (40:31):
Number two would be definitely limiting me.
Those are two very if you'rejust conscious of it and you go
okay, I have two goals.
What are they going to be?
Those are the two goals that Ithink can make the biggest
impact.
And once you accomplish thosetwo goals, you're incentivized
to keep moving.
Vai Kumar (40:50):
Perfect and in terms of someone not realizing hey,
how can I volunteer, how can Icontribute?
What would be their startingpoint?
August Vega (40:58):
I think, just starting to educate yourself,
because there's not a greateducation system.
You can start to read.
There's plenty of materialsaccessible to all of us these
days.
All you have to do is get it onyour phone.
You can read from any place,any time, anywhere.
So start by understanding thecritical points, like what is it
that's the most making the mostimpact?
(41:21):
So let's start with methane.
What is your contribution?
What is your personalcontribution to methane?
How can you personally start toreduce your personal
contribution to methane?
Like just educate yourself onyour family and what you can do.
Try not to worry about everyone.
You can't impact everyone.
But once you start makingchanges and you're educated and
(41:43):
you talk to your neighbor oryour brother or your sister or
your family, whatever, it kindof starts to spread.
But if we become overwhelmed tothe point of stagnation and do
nothing, we're in big trouble.
Vai Kumar (41:54):
Very well said, and thank you so much for taking the
time to talk to us today and,if there is anything else that
you would like to add in termsof putting out your efforts,
your contacting for any suchThank you.
August Vega (42:09):
Yeah, I mean I'm accessible online.
I'm on all the social channelsand the companies that I support
are very much visible.
On all of those I'm alwayswelcome.
I welcome anyone to reach outif someone has a question or
whatever.
I can be reached at August@August Vega.
com, and I appreciate theconversation.
(42:32):
We need to all be having theseconversations.
It's really important.
Vai Kumar (42:35):
Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk
to us today.
We thoroughly enjoyed it andlook forward to connecting back
with you again in the future.
August Vega (42:44):
Thank you so much.
Have a wonderful rest of yourweek.
Vai Kumar (42:47):
Thank you to listeners as always.
Follow the podcast, rate thepodcast and leave a review from
your podcast app of choice, andfollow me on Instagram
@vaipkumar.
Until next time with yetanother interesting guest and
yet another interesting topic.
It's me Vai saying so long.
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