17: PFAS: The 5,000 Chemicals Threatening our Bodies You&#x27;ve Never Heard of with Mike Schade

Recent Episodes from The Mercast | Plastic Free Mermaid talks Change Making

48: The Truth Behind Shark Culling with Andre Borrell

In the 1930s, Australia’s Government Shark Control Program planted baited drum lines and shark nets around its beaches to protect swimmers and surfers. But what if the true killer isn’t sharks but the very same program that claims to protect us?

In this episode, I’m joined by Andre Borrell, director of Envoy: Shark Cull; a documentary that exposes the ugly truth behind Australia’s shark control program. Partnered with experts, it debunks the program’s effectiveness and highlights sharks’ undeserved reputation of being dangerous killers and their important role in sustaining the marine ecosystem.

This documentary calls us to be the voice for sharks and all other marine life to defend them and their homes. Together, we can facilitate change from our government and help stop the cull.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

Shark culling in Australia
Society’s irrational fear of sharks
Shark fatality statistics
Why sharks are essential to the ecosystem
The political climate around shark culling
How we can put pressure on our politicians
Scientific findings behind shark control program
Alternatives to shark nets
Ways we can contribute to the cause
How Andre manages to stay inspired

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enNovember 17, 2021

47: Our Soil Situation with Ryland Engelhart, producer of Netflix’s Kiss the Ground

When we begin our move into a more sustainable life, we can be so quickly reeled into the idea that consuming animal products and byproducts are bad; that we should be into much more plant-based food, but what if that isn’t the big picture?

In this episode, I have Ryland Engelhart, producer of Netflix’s Kiss the Ground, which is a documentary that focuses on our soil health situation. He shares with us what we need to do to keep our soils diverse, and how we can contribute as soil advocates.

Being earth-conscious is more than just consuming plant-based choices, it’s contributing and supporting industries and farmers that work in the most sustainable and natural ways to keep our soil healthy and rich.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

The Process of Photosynthesis
The Soil Sphere and the Carbon Cycle
Why our Soil is Sick
Soil versus Dirt
Veganism, and true sustainability
Become a Soil Advocate

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enNovember 10, 2021

46: Claiming Your Aboriginality and Paying Homage to Your Ancestry with Ella Noah Bancroft

As a mixed fair-skinned Bundjalung native born in Australia, Ella Noah Bancroft always felt like she was challenged about just how pure she was as an indigenous person. With growing up to words and notions like that, Ella knew she needed to pay homage to her lineage and respect to the stolen generation by continuing their culture and bringing it to the modern era.

Ella is now the founder and pioneer of The Decolonisation Movement, and had dedicated her life to the rise of female energy as the way for us to reconnect and release ourselves from the bounds of personal, social, and ecological constraints.

In this episode we talk about the impact of colonisation and how we can respect the fine line between cultural appropriation and appreciation. I definitely recommend that you hear her out on the impact we have on our earth and shared future!

In This Episode, We Discuss:

Claiming your aboriginality
Ella’s mission to pay homage to her lineage
The stigma around being mixed-race and the Stolen Generation
Colonisation and its impact on natives
The fine line between cultural appropriation and appreciation
Navigating sustainability these days
How we can contribute to change these days
The connection between indigenous cultures and environmentalism
Ella’s work with young women and storytelling
Ella’s last words for us to reconnect with the earth

Follow Ella Noah Bancroft here:

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enMarch 24, 2021

45: Fighting Plastic and Light Pollution for our Turtles with Ranger Lauren Engledow

Plastic pollution is a problem that affects so many animals, habitats, and people. Turtles have come into the spotlight in recent years though, thanks to the rise in social media awareness for their protection and preservation; with a big factor to that being the viral video of the straw stuck up in a poor turtle's nose.

This video hit the world hard, but we cannot stop at feeling bad for what is happening when we can make conscious efforts now to save more than just the turtles.

Today I’m joined by Lauren Engledow, a turtle ranger dedicated to protecting what is left of the species and rebuilding its future here on the beaches of Mon Repos. You’ll hear us talk about this modern-day threat called light pollution and how its strayed hatchlings from where they rightfully belong.

Be informed, be aware, and make conscious efforts against plastic waste for our shared future.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

Types of turtles left in the world
How plastic pollution affects turtles and surrounding marine life
Light pollution and how it stray turtles almost as soon as they’re born
Other threats to turtles
The imbalance in male and female turtles
What we can do to help

Follow Lauren and the Mon Repos Turtles here:

Southern Great Barrier Reef (bundabergregion.org)

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enMarch 17, 2021

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44: Indigenous Solutions to Modern Period Problems with Michele Wilson

Periods, something so natural for our bodies as females are oftentimes considered taboo to talk about.

In this episode, we have Michele Wilson, co-founder of a sustainable and carbon-offset brand of period-proof underwear named Awwa. She's here with us to talk about her Maori roots and how she’s taken inspiration from their innovation and made it widely available to the world.

Periods don’t have to and shouldn’t contribute to pollution and plastic waste, especially not when it's an integral part of ourselves. Instead of using throw-aways and plastic inside you, please make the switch and contribute to our shared future now.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

Michele’s inspiration for creating Awwa
Using old technology in modern times
Carbon offsetting and sustainable sourcing for Awwa
Awwa’s impact on indigenous communities in New Zealand
How their panties work against our periods
The choices available for zero-waste periods
New inclusive lines coming up for the trans community and more

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enJanuary 27, 2021

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43: A New Narrative of Progress with Helena Norberg-Hodge Part 5 of 5

To conclude my five-part series with the amazing Helena Norberg Hodge, we discuss reclaiming our power of choice by making the switch to using local products and reducing our emissions. We bring to light the faults of industries, proposing a new way to tackle our overall impact on the planet.

For the youth listening in-- Helena has a special message for you, addressing the quality of life corporations have placed on you and how we want to support you all through your journeys.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

An epidemic of anxiety and depression amongst the youth
Join the local food movement
Taking a step back and asking ourselves how we can ultimately help
It's not one solution for the planet-- it's many solutions
Staying connected with our local community
We have the power of choice

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enJanuary 20, 2021

42: A New Narrative of Progress with Helena Norberg-Hodge Part 4 of 5

Corporations and businesses ferry across the world goods just for one part of their value chains-- much like being shipped from England, processed in China, then packaged in Thailand.

We must ask; do we really need to move food and goods around so much? In this episode, Helena and I go in-depth about the importance of making sustainable choices to uplift our local farmers' markets and support the community economy.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

The flow of goods in this globalised world
The problems in importing and exporting goods
Building the local economy with farmers markets

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enJanuary 13, 2021

41: A New Narrative of Progress with Helena Norberg-Hodge Part 3 of 5

In our global society today, multinational corporations remain faceless and nameless to us as consumers to the point where it affects our mental health greatly. We strive for fame, for being known, and in this increasing globalization of the world, our likelihood to rise slim down immensely.

In this episode, Helena talks about what we can do, from our conscious choices to how we treat the world at our fingertips we call our cellphones, all to cure this world's deep loneliness.

In this Episode, We Discuss:

The consequences of a government focused on global growth
Economics of Happiness: Localising instead of Globalising
Changing how we see fame
Decentralizing a global society
Choosing local and developing relationships

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enJanuary 06, 2021

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40: A New Narrative of Progress with Helena Norberg-Hodge Part 2 of 5

Climate change has been in people's minds since Al Gore’s efforts to expose the truth with his documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” from a little over a decade ago.

But what a lot of us don't know is that there are larger forces with far greater impact than us individuals. Corporations produce so much waste that even the great former U.S vice president had failed to address or even acknowledge it.

Listen in this second part of a five-episode special with Helena Hodge as we uncover these larger forces and how the lack of acknowledgment and even awareness has bred the dominant narrative that it is us or human nature to blame for our world’s deteriorating state.

In this Episode, We Discuss:

The root causes of Climate Change
The things that are looked over in a normal Climate Debate
The impact of industry and its advancements to Climate Change
How economies have been dependent on big business to the extent that big corporations have the power to influence a nation's trade policies
How we can move on from self blame for this global crisis
The bigger things we can do other than planting trees to save our planet

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enDecember 30, 2020

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39: A New Narrative of Progress with Helena Norberg-Hodge Part 1 of 5

With the world moving at such a pace, it's easy to make the decision to choose convenience over consciousness. These seemingly small individual decisions only rear its ugly head when we look at the much bigger picture-- one we call pollution.

To share with us today her 45-year journey in the making, is Helena Norberg-Hodge, a woman with a mission to revitalise cultural and biological diversity. We bring up issues from big business that contribute the most to plastic waste, all the way down to social and cultural issues our society faces today.

Join us today so we all can make better, more informed decisions for our shared future.

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