HAPPY PLANET
Can innovation, entrepreneurship and investment make the planet happier and healthier? Entrepreneur and investor Abigail Carroll thinks so. Through conversations with founders, investors, and thought leaders, in over a dozen countries and counting, Abigail shares this thought-provoking and hope-promoting world with her audience. And always with a little humour.
Episodes
Happy Planet Wednesday!
If you have ever wanted to lift the veil on New England's mysterious working waterfront, this is the podcast for you. Our guest today is Bill Gerencer, a veteran of 40+ years on the New England Working Waterfront.
Bill served as lobsterman commercial fisherman, fish buyer, salesperson, corporate trainer, fisheries management advisor, and in retirement, a part-time oyster farmer. I have know...
There's nothing we like more than a comeback kid.
While 98% of total farm seaweed in the world comes from Asia, over the past decade, entrepreneurs in the US, Europe and Africa have been trying to change that by producing locally-grown, high-quality seaweed for their domestic markets.
I've met a number of these entrepreneurs and it's not easy. Once you master aquaculture, you have to find a mark...
Every day we see more devastating news coming out of on the wars in Gaza and the Ukraine. We see photos of cities and towns turned into piles of rubble and people who have lost their loved ones, their homes and their livelihoods.
But there are other insidious ramifications of these wars that we seldom discuss. And those are the effects on the environment. To discuss this, ellie Kinney joins us this week from ...
Our guest today is Alison Cove, founder of USEFULL, a circular reuse solution that partners with college campuses to make student takeout meals a zero-waste and microplastic-free experience.
With a business focused on domestic health and circularity, Alison never thought she’d be so affected by global affairs. She has navigated her burgeoning business through disruptions caused by a global pandemic, the war in Ukraine...
Today's guest is Paul Holthus. Paul is a blue economy visionary. He is the founding president and CEO Emirati of the World Ocean Council, affectionately called the WOC. Founded in 2008, long before anyone was talking about the blue economy, WOC's aim is to unite ocean industries in order to support cooperative corporate ocean responsibility.
Paul discusses his path to founding the WOC, the organiz...
Happy planet Wednesday!
We are kicking off a new season, and today I'm just delighted to welcome Jason Dodier, a recognized global authority on the circular economy, biochar and decarbonization. His company, Grain Ecosystem, is an AI and data-driven solution that revolutionizes waste to energy products. They position biochar, which we'll be hearing a lot about today, as the cornerstone of carbon sequestration...
Happy Planet Wednesday! Today we travel to Rhode Island, the ocean state, where, fittingly, the blue economy is thriving.
Ian Estaphan Owen, Co-Founder of JAIA Robotics didn't grow up in Rhode Island but rather coastal Wales where he became passionate about the ocean. On his road to entrepreneurship, he even did a stint with the British Royal Navy.
Now a denizen of Bristol, Ian is co-founder of Jaia Robotics, a ...
I have been at this long enough by now - 61 episodes!- to see some great successes and some disappointing failures. This week's guest tells a story that's a bit of both, but he is not letting failure get in his way.
Today we are heading back to Norway to meet again with Tore Enger, Founder of TECO 2030, a company that was looking to build fuel cells for the maritime industry.
Tore came on the podcast two year...
Today we are traveling to Chile, the birthplace of Positive Polar, a travel startup aiming to combine luxury cruises with academic research and environmental action. Positive Polar’s sustainable expedition cruises will aim to restore the whale population, amplify oceanic food production and implement high-potential climate mitigation strategies.
I had the incredible privilege of speaking to both co-founders last week. ...
Proscovia is a Kenyan entrepreneur who wears many hats. She is founder of Samaky Hub, an organization that empowers women and youth in Africa's aquaculture sector by offering strategic planning, operational guidance, and marketing support to their ventures. Proscovia is also an African Food Fellow, the Kenyan Program Manager for the Irish aquaculture venture hub, Hatch BLUE, and a writer for the US industry rag, ...
Happy new year to all and welcome back to our first episode of 2025!
Our guest this week is an entrepreneur who excels at building market strategies. Heather Myers of Spark Number 9 has created her own methodology for getting the market segment answers entrepreneurs so desperately need. An important distinction is that her method relies on observable behavior, not on surveys.
Heather's own business has flourishe...
Happy Planet Wednesday!
This will be our last podcast until 2025 and I want to thank you for tuning in this year! It's been an exceptionally interesting journey for me and I hope you've been enjoying the podcasts. If you have feedback, please do not hesitate to share it.
This week we head to New Jersey to speak to Philipp Stratmann, CEO of Ocean Power Technologies. Followers of penny stoc...
Happy Planet Wednesday! And to American followers, Happy Thanksgiving!
During the US presidential debates, we heard a lot about the nearly five million unit housing shortage in the US. While this needs to be addressed urgently, it won't be good for the climate. Traditional building activity accounts for up to 40% of the world's carbon emissions.
Our guest Nick Farmer is president of Opal Build, a Ma...
Happy Planet Wednesday!
This week we are hopping across the Atlantic to speak to serial Dutch innovator Wietse van der Werf.
Wietse's current venture, Sea Rangers, is a social enterprise that trains youth from underprivileged backgrounds in the maritime trades. Aspiring sea rangers learn while working on ocean conservation missions that are performed from carbon-footprint free sailing research vessels. ...
Happy Planet Wednesday!
I was tempted to call this week’s episode “Unhappy Planet” because in it we grapple with what happens when your startup doesn’t go as planned.
When I learned that Courtney Boyd Rey shuttered her seaweed startup AKUA, I reached out to see if she would come on the podcast. Given that over 90% of startups fail, and even 75% of those backed by venture capital do as well, I wante...
In this episode of the Happy Planet Podcast, host Abigail Carroll interviews Slater McLean, co-founder of Oliver Charles, a sustainable sweater company. Slater discusses the significant environmental impact of the fashion industry and how Oliver Charles is addressing these issues using natural materials like yak wool and seaweed-based fibers. The company employs an innovative 3D knitting process to eliminate waste. Ol...
In this podcast episode, I welcome Damien Demoor, a French engineer and ocean innovator based in France, who introduces his company, Greenov, and its groundbreaking product, the Subsea Quieter.
Demoor discusses the significant threat of underwater noise pollution caused by maritime activities, detailing its detrimental effects on marine life, including mammals, fish, and ecosystems.
He explains how their solution, dev...
Innovative Fish Feeds: Reducing Aquaculture's Environmental Footprint
In this episode of the Happy Planet podcast, I speak to Alessandra Romano, the entrepreneur behind Ittinsect.
Allessandro discusses his novel aquaculture feed supplements derived from insect proteins, which aim to accelerate fish growth with lower environmental impacts.
The conversation explores the inefficiencies in traditional fish feeds, the e...
In this podcast episode, Abigail interviews Benjamin, founder of Azul Bio and participant in the Ocean Pitch Contest by the Sustainable Ocean Alliance.
The discussion focuses on Benjamin's startup, which aims to save coral reefs from extinction caused by ocean warming. Benjamin explains the importance of coral reefs for ocean life and human livelihoods and describes Azul Bio's innovative solution: coral micr...
Welcome to Happy Planet!
Our guest this week is William Calvert, co-Founder and CEO of the NYC based startup, Return to Vendor. William is a fashion designer and entrepreneur who has lived in Paris, and Italy and designed for the likes of Balenciaga before getting the fashion-tech bug about 10 years ago.
His first foray into the field led him to create fabric out of down for an Italian company and ...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.