Grounded in Maine

This conversation with Ali Waks Adams was soul feeding for me- I love talking to people who are passionate about helping to solve food insecurity, and Ali is on the board of Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program (MPHCC) in my hometown of Brunswick, Maine, and she's sharing some of the things that they're doing that have been working to feed the people of Maine. (I said Maine, not just Brunswick - Ali says they feed people f...

Keith Bearden is the CEO of Alter Eco, a sustainable chocolate company. Under his direction, Alter Eco isn't just delivering delicious chocolate and granola; it's doing so with a mission that aligns perfectly with people who are looking for better options. Keith's initiatives in regenerative farming and sustainable packaging are reaching a broad audience. Alter Eco does more than purchase from growers, they provide t...

Y'all, I hope you love this conversation with Joshua Harrison as much as I did - I was glued to what he was saying! As we talked in the middle of a hot hot summer afternoon, his plan is to cool our paved, blazing hot cities, in the simplest of ways.  He has decades of research and experience to prove it works. Joshua started asking about solar energy in the 70s (incredible story!), and never stopped! He has a center for educat...

I got to meet Patrick Kelly this past January at Podfest, and we talked about doing this episode then - timing was just weird, but I think maybe it was just meant to happen now... Pat is the host of The Produce Industry Podcast and also runs The Produce Industry Network, on the side of his actual produce business and family life... I've said so many times that we should know where our food comes from, and I've talked abou...

MaryEllen Lundy has thought of everything, it seems, with An Eco-Organized Approach downsizing! It's inspiring to hear her talk about how circular her system is, from cleaning out to rehoming belongings, and everything in between. She shares a few stories that show just how much thought and care goes into her projects, which makes sense, considering she is entering someone's home and personal space, and helping them let g...

Maxx Cumby McGee has been planning the Gott Street Blues clothing brand since the 90s when she was one of a very few women in the construction world - life just delayed it. Maxx's story is both hillarious and eye opening; how she started in modeling at 19, and got into construction by making friends with the CEO of Anheuser-Busch, and showing up on her first day with a pink toolbox and men's work clothes that nearly got h...

I had a great time talking with Bridget Shirvell about her new book Parenting in a Climate Crisis; A Handbook for Turning Fear into Action - I may have gotten a little excited when she was talking about the contents of the book, knowing there was a chapter about activism... 

Bridget is a freelance writer, and has done pieces for Martha Stewart and PBS, Conde Nast and New York Times, and others about food, travel and the environment....

You may be thinking "what makes Kurt Avery have a heart of gold?" You'll have to listen to this conversation, because it's hard to put into words how quietly wonderful Kurt is. And if you're not wondering that, then let's get to the quiet part-

Kurt is the CEO of Sawyer Products, and if you do any outdoor activities, you're familiar with the brand; they make water filters for your water bottles, su...

I was thrilled to get to talk to Jeremiah Jancik, because I've ALWAYS got questions about energy. Maybe too many? 

Jeremiah is an Energy Consultant, and we're talking about installing solar panels, heat pumps, insulation and doing energy audits - all things home efficiency - which he has decades of experience in. In his 12 year career he's performed over 4000 energy assessments! Now he's focusing on training new ...

Have you ever felt confused or conflicted about organic food labels? I know I've said something like if I have to choose between organic from far away and in plastic, or local, I'd choose local; and I'm sure I've had dirty looks. It's just gotten confusing. And it costs almost half as much as regular foods, so I've wondered if its really better... So this week I'm talking to Linley Dixon of The Re...

I'm sneaking in an extra episode because it's summer, and this is about sunscreen, so hopefully it's not publishing too late for you--

Arielle Moody is the CEO/Founder of Mama Sol Sunscreen, and she said within 2 weeks of the launch, she was featured on Access Hollywood, which catapulted Mama Sol's sales. She has several awards and honors for best product! She says a tagline is "if sunscreen and a spa day ha...

Lauren Connolly is a person I relate to so much. She had me as a guest on her podcast Wildly Unplug, because we found out that we both recharge by being outside. Lauren has a very personal story about burnout, and how turning to nature brought her the fulfillment she was needing. She is an artist; she paints and is a photographer, a podcaster, and now she's added Author to the list of accomplishments! Her book is called Wildly...

Be Your Own Shaman is the title of Jane Barlow Christensen's book she co-authored with her son, teaching people how to identify, harvest and use the medicinal plants found all around us. It is beautiful, hard cover book, full of pictures to make identifying as easy as possible.

Jane talks about how her own father taught her and her siblings to recognize and appreciate the plants that are often already available in our yards to ...

Friend of the podcast and host of A Tiny Homestead podcast Mary Lewis is back! Mary approached me as things started to feel out of hand for a lot of people, and  wanted to offer some tips to make things stretch farther and feel less scary that she's learned since starting her homestead journey. 

We're talking about some easy stuff, but if we focus on it, will make life feel more smooth, and gives (us at least)  a feeling o...

I told Josh Dorfman when we started talking that I felt a little intimidated talking with him, because he is so accomplished in the sustainability field, but he has THE best stories from his life, getting him to where he is today - you're going to love this, I'm sure of it!

Josh's story goes back to working for a bike company in China several years ago, but I'm not going to tell you his story, because he does it ...

"Sustainable living is a celebration of creativity, kindness, and the natural world in every day life" 

A quote from Lisa Allen of The Good Spark Shop in California, and (since we recorded this) is now rebranded as EverFar, focusing on sustainable travel essentials. She is just so inspiring when she talks about all things eco-friendly! First The Good Spark Shop, where she curated the best products around; checking ingredie...

Elizabeth has a gift for Grounded in Maine listeners - she's offering a free habit tracker here: http://createwellnessproject.com/gift/

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I had so much fun, and learned a ton from this conversation with Greg Peterson of the Great American Seed Up and the Urban Farm Podcast! If you've been listening for a while, you know that podcasters are great conversationalists, and can be very entertaining - Greg is no exception! Greg's podcast has about 900 (nine hundred!) episodes since the end of 2015!

Greg has been on a mission since he was 15 years old to figure out...

When Sam Baker approached me about talking about the product he represents, worm casting tea, and also mentioned that WiggleBrew has tested and discovered that earthworms can actually "EAT PLASTIC," it was a no-brainer- I couldn't wait to hear more about that! As a big fan of worm compost (vermicompost), I was very excited to promote the crap (pun intended) out of WiggleBrew, and Sam didn't disappoint. He was ta...