Hometown: Earth

This month our focus will be on adopting the habit of creating an eco-friendly home. Our environment is linked to our health.  If you're not taking care of it, it will eventually suffer. The same thing applies to your home! When we create a sustainable space that minimizes its impact on our environment, we're also creating an eco-friendly home that improves your quality of life and helps protect the planet for future generations. 

In this episode, we go over the importance of creating an eco-friendly home and some tips on how you can start living sustainably (wherever you call home) today!

Episode Show notes: https://lenasamford.com/creating-an-eco-friendly-home/

Related Episodes:
SUSTAINABLE SPRING CLEANING FOR HEALTHY LIVING
5 Easy Plastic-Free Bathroom Swaps!
EASY, ECO-FRIENDLY KITCHEN SWAPS
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT!

In this episode, we will take a quick trip around the world’s top cities for sustainable travel! These cities make it easier to work, travel and live more sustainably. Supporting their residents to reduce their footprint, keep up eco-friendly habits, build community and safety, allowing travelers to tour without making a significant impact. 

Episode Show notes: https://lenasamford.com/the-worlds-top-cities-for-eco-friendly-travel/

The truth is, sustainable travel isn’t just for tree-hugging hippies and extreme environmentalists; it’s for anyone who wants to get around mindfully. So before you tune out sustainable travel, let’s bust some myths you might’ve heard so that you feel confident in traveling sustainably! 

Episode Shownotes: https://lenasamford.com/myth-busting-sustainable-travel/

The more time I spend on this planet, the more I realize how important it is to be a sustainable traveler - to tread lightly and support the places I travel to in the best way possible. Not only can it help preserve natural resources and improve human health, but it can also make your travel experiences more enjoyable! 

In this episode, I share the impacts of tourism and how you can become a mindful, sustainable traveler!

Episode Shownotes: https://lenasamford.com/how-to-become-a-mindful-sustainable-traveler/

It’s no secret that traveling, whether it's to run an errand or to make our way to another country, has a significant impact on the planet. The truth is - it’s necessary for modern society. However, we can travel in a more eco-friendly way that reduces our impacts on the environment and encourages companies to innovate so that it is easy for everyone to make more thoughtful green choices and do the things they need and want. 

In this episode, we look at a few impacts of travel on our environment so we can start to build a picture of why it is so important.

Episode Shownotes: https://lenasamford.com/eco-friendly-travel-in-a-modern-world/

Today we are going to switch things up and put our words into practice by doing a walking nature meditation to deepen your connection with nature. Whether you’re just joining in, or have listened along the entire month as we have practiced adopting the habit of spending more time with nature, this is the perfect meditation to incorporate while you’re out in nature every week. 

Episode Shownotes: https://lenasamford.com/walking-nature-meditation-for-deeper-connection/

The Nature Connection aims to improve the well-being of individuals and communities through the therapeutic use of nature by bringing the outside - inside, through plants, animals, and natural materials to people in its service area of Middlesex County, MA, and beyond! 

You'll hear from The Nature Connection’s program director Taylor Eagan in this episode. We chat about how The Nature Connection makes the healing power of nature accessible to people of all abilities and backgrounds and how you can do the same. 

Sign up for The Nature Connection Newsletter: https://www.nature-connection.org/

Episode Show Notes: https://lenasamford.com/the-nature-connection-the-healing-power-of-accessible-nature-with-taylor-eagan/

The habit of spending more time with nature is pretty broad, as there are so many ways we can spend time with nature. So what do I really mean by connecting with nature, and what can we learn from it to lead us to more enriched lives and more sustainability on this planet? In this episode, I share the levels of human-nature connection and 5 lessons you can learn from nature! 

Listen to the Resiliency of Nature Episode: https://lenasamford.com/the-resiliency-of-nature/

Episode Shownotes: https://lenasamford.com/5-lessons-from-nature/

Throughout time, we have reveled in the beauty of our natural world and created beautiful things that make us happy. Seeing the beauty in something helps us form connections and relationships with our environment. But we have begun to shift our perceptions about beauty so that we value the beauty of nature less. 

Today I want to read you an essay in a series by Michael Popejoy, a Fellow in the Harvard Philosophy Department, who explored Ralph Waldo Emerson’s work on the existence of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in nature, and how these claims might inform our current approach to the environment. 

Read the full essays here: https://green.harvard.edu/series/emerson-and-environment

Episode Shownotes: https://lenasamford.com/the-beauty-in-nature/

With the technology, streaming, uploading/downloading, emailing, and social media - many people are tuning out nature even while they're in it. This month we will focus on adopting the habit of spending more time with nature.

In this episode, I share 5 tips that have led me to spend more time with nature and bond with biodiversity so that it might help you create the habit of spending more time with nature as well! 

Listen to episode 46 ‘Connecting with Nature for a Happier, Sustainable Life”- https://lenasamford.com/hometown-earth/connecting-with-nature-for-a-happier-sustainable-life/

Episode Shownotes: https://lenasamford.com/5-tips-to-bond-with-biodiversity/

Mushrooms are considered one of the most sustainably produced agriculture products in the nation, and they are incredibly beneficial to our health. 

In today’s episode, Eric Davis of The Mushroom Council gives us insight into the health and sustainability benefits of mushrooms, their Blend campaign, and some really neat ways to start eating more mushrooms today!

Learn more about all things fresh mushrooms here: www.MushroomCouncil.com

Home cooks and professional chefs around encourage to create and enter a mushroom-blended burger recipe for a chance to win $10,000. Details on the Blended Burger Competition can be found here: https://www.mushroomcouncil.com/blended-burger-contest-2022/

Happy Earth Day 2022! Whether you’re listening on Earth Day or any other day - this meditation will help you find a connection with your extended body - the earth.

Ideally, listen to this podcast when you are able to sit outside and have your phone playing where you can still hear the sounds around you. 

When you think of the word print, it usually means the impression left behind, or the area affected by something else. In ecology, it means the impact of human activity on the rest of the world. So what about our Foodprint? What effects do our food choices have on the rest of the world? 

Today, we get to hear from Jerusha Kemplerer, Director of Foodprint - an online non-profit organization dedicated to educating people on the topic of our food production processes. In this episode, we chat about Foodprint, our food systems, and what you can do to start learning about eating sustainably today!  

Reduce your Foodprint Challenge: https://foodprint.org/blog/reduce-your-foodprint-challenge/

Learn More About FoodPrint: https://foodprint.org/

Episode Shownotes: https://lenasamford.com/whats-your-foodprint-with-jerusha-klemperer/

That I was crazy, right? Here’s the hard truth - most American households waste nearly 32% of their food. This means you might not have left it in the parking lot - but maybe you took it home, let it occupy your fridge for a while, forgot about it, and then threw it in the trash. It’s not as blatant as leaving the food you just bought in the parking lot - but it is the same idea.

In this episode, we talk about 10 Food Waste Solutions that start with you!

It’s no secret that our food has a significant impact on Earth - humans and the environment. This month, we explore the effects of our food on our world and how we can adopt healthier sustainable food habits.

This episode talks about incorporating plant-forward meals into our lifestyle and their benefits to our health and the planet!

We think of the fashion industry as beautiful and desirable, but it can be really ugly. In this episode, we talk about the labor behind the label and what we can do to support ethical fashion. 

Love the show? Give us a 5-star review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hometown-earth/id1538626086

Follow Hometown: Earth on Social Media https://instagram.com/hometownearth/

When you put on a pair of sunglasses - it instantly makes you feel cool, right? Well, you’re about to meet a sunglasses company that will not only make you look and feel cool - but to see the world better! 

Pala Eyewear creates designer sustainable and ethical sunglasses, and today you get to hear from the founder - John Prichard. John tells us about the story behind Pala Eyewear, a B Corp sunglasses brand that put people and the planet first. From their cases to the lenses and beyond, Pala is helping to empower communities and reduce plastic waste in the environment through vision. 

Learn more about Pala Eyewear and shop the collection - https://palaeyewear.com/

Episode Show notes - https://lenasamford.com/pala-eyewear-see-the-world-better-with-john-prichard/

It can be overwhelming to shop second-hand sometimes since it isn’t as cut and dry as retail fashion. And how do you responsibly shop secondhand - meaning you find pieces that you will genuinely love, wear, and take care of? In this episode, we will go over how to master secondhand shopping (with tips from an expert!), including how to make the most out of your shopping experience and how to find pieces that are smart buys for you, and the planet. 

Expert and contributor for this episode is Sabrina Garcia-Rubio of Maude Vintage in Columbia, MO. Check out their styles at MaudeVintage.com. 

Last week I may have shocked you with some statistics about the fashion industry and its waste. A big part of making a habit of choosing sustainable, ethical clothing is supporting brands that choose to create pieces made from sustainable fabrics.

So how do you know what to look for? Does 100% of natural materials always mean it’s good and synthetic materials always mean it’s terrible? What should we consider when buying secondhand items made with unsustainable materials? Does sustainable fashion mean you can’t be fashionable? We’ll explain it all here! 

In this episode, we talk about sustainable natural and synthetic fabrics.

Episode Shownotes: https://lenasamford.com/sustainable-fabrics-101/

The fashion industry has been called one of the most environmentally damaging industries, and after this episode, you’ll have an idea why. In the next few episodes, we will talk about adopting the habit of choosing sustainable, ethical clothing.

In this episode, we talk about why you should choose sustainable, ethical clothing.

Listen to the podcast episode ‘5 things to Ask Yourself Before Buying Anything.’

Hometown: Earth Instagram - Instagram.com/HometownEarth

Episode Shownotes: https://lenasamford.com/choosing-sustainable-ethical-fashion-matters/