Category: Environment

There is renewed interest in the role of global population size and change for the sustainability of the planet. Taking actions that slow or eventually halt population growth,  with multiple other benefits to health and the well-being of women, offer cost-effective ways to address climate change and environmental degradation. Our guest this week is Kathleen Mogelgaard, President and CEO of the Population Institute, where she directs the organization’s advocacy and public education activities. Kathleen is passionate about promoting a deeper understanding of linkages among issues that are critical for sustainable development, including population dynamics, reproductive rights, gender, climate change, and food security. She is a steward of Mother Earth, and a guardian of women’s rights and reproductive protection. For more information visit populationinstitute.org Check out past shows on hudsonriverradio.com and malcolmpresents.com. Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple, Amazon and more. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness #BEEGREEN

What does it take to be ready to play ball? You need energy, stamina, proper sleep, good mental health, and most importantly proper nutrition. There are many sports diet gurus, and athletes look to them for guidance as to what they should eat, so that they can give their best performance, and also reduce injury. Courtney gives us insight into sports nutrition and training, especially for the HS and college athlete, and what their nutritional needs are, and how they can be met. Follow Courtney @clgwellness and tweet us @tmshadesofgreen.

According to the Bee Conservancy, Bees lie at the heart of our survival. They pollinate 1 in 3 bites of food we eat and are essential to the health and prosperity of countless ecosystems. However, bees are in peril. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, more than half of North America’s 4,000 native bee species are in decline, with 1 in 4 species at risk of extinction. There are more than 20,000 different bee species around the world. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) found a growing number of pollinator species around the world are on the brink of extinction. So what do we need to do to protect these valuable, keystone creatures, and stop destroying them with harmful chemicals? Our guest this week is Regina Blakeslee, a natural beekeeper, who gave us some important information about these hard working and essential pollinators. Regina is co-founder of Hudson Valley Natural Beekeepers and has taught beekeeping and planting for pollinator classes at Hilltop Hanover Farm.  She is presently the beekeeper and volunteer gardener/farmer at DIG Farm in North Salem… wanna give a shout out to Allison Turcan at DIG FARM! Regina is a healthcare professional, beekeeper, master gardener, horticultural therapist and permaculturist.  She believes that the health of the Earth, humans, animals and plants are inseparable.  #BEEGREEN #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness. Subscribe to TMSOG podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and more. Check out past shows on MalcolmPresents.com and HudsonRiverRadio.com. A shout out to The Green Divas!

“We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation.”–Theodore Roosevelt

Humans are causing climate to change. The use of fossil fuels which emit carbon into the air is a manmade problem, which we are all paying the price for in loss of land, pollution of the air, land, water, and health. It is also a problem of greed, money and power, as well as the problem that the majority of the citizens in Industrialized nations, who have higher needs to plug-in, do not seem to care about how we are treating Mother Nature, and she is angry. Our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will be paying the price, as the planet becomes hotter, and less inhabitable. I truly wish I had better news, but quite frankly, unless something is done, and fast, we are screwed.

Do you have any idea of what your kiddos really eat during their school day? Are they eating what you pack them, are they eating what is being served in the cafeteria? More than at most other meals, kids have a lot of control over what they eat for lunch at school, you can’t see them, so you don’t know what they are munching on.  A kid can choose to eat the green beans that came with the taco, or they can throw them out. A kid also can choose to eat an apple instead of an ice cream sandwich. Back in 2013 eleven year old Zachary Maxwell filmed an award-winning short film which was screened at the Manhattan Film Festival that year, to convince his parents that his school lunch wasn’t that healthy. It’s called “Yuck! — A 4th Grader’s Short Documentary About School Lunch. So what should we pack in our kids lunch to make it healthy and tasty? Courtney gives us some info on brown bagging it and helping your kids make better choices when buying lunch.  For more info go to courtneygravenese.com, @clgwellness on Instagram, follow COH on FaceBook. View more shows on malcolmpresents.com, tweet us @tmshadesofgreen.

We need pollinators to survive. Pollination is important for a strong, healthy ecosystem, but the use of chemicals to kill weeds and other unwanted bugs is causing massive declines in the pollinator population. One in three bites of food you eat depends on pollinators. Pollination is an essential part of plant reproduction. The main reason for the decline of bees and other pollinators is the over use of pesticides.  We know this is a problem, yet millions of tons of pesticides are sprayed daily on crops and lawns globally. What the heck are we thinking, and why are we still poisoning the land?  Our guest on this episode is Akayla Bracey, who is the Science and Regulatory Manager at Beyond Pesticides who has some answers to questions on pesticide use, and why we need to stop using the toxic sprays that are killing much more than the weeds, and what the non-toxic alternatives are. For more info go to beyondpesticides.org. For past shows go to hudsonriverradio.com, malcolmpresents.com and subscribe to TMSOG podcast on your favorite podcast app. #THINKGREEN #BEEGREEN!

When COVID19 began to ravage through the US and initially hit NY the hardest, contact tracing became a method to track the virus in hopes of slowing it down and reducing infections. Many states began to advertise for contact tracers, and thus began a chapter in the fight against the COVID pandemic which was a first step in getting help for those infected.  Those who became contact tracers had to be a special type of person who really wanted to help, and had the compassion and fortitude to work under a veil of fear which permeated everyone’s psyche.  According to the CDC, a successful notification of exposure allows for an exchange of information with the person (contact) exposed to COVID-19 and offers an opportunity to answer questions and provide referrals for testing, medical evaluation and other necessary support services. Our guests on this episode are Shane Dolch and Sarah Best who worked in the contract tracing program in the Hudson Valley, Westchester County. We discuss all facets of contact tracing, and how it helped control and reduce COVID19 infections. For more information go to coronavirus.health.ny.gov. For more shows go to hudsonriverradio.com, malcolmpresents.com, subscribe to TMSOG podcast on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music and more. Tweet us @tmshadesofgreen.

I fancy a bit of mint in my ice tea. Many people enjoy parsley, sage rosemary and thyme (thanks Mr. Simon and Mr. Garfunkel). Variety is the spice of life, and although spices and herbs have been used since ancient times, they are playing a new and important role in modern food preparation. They not only add unique flavors to our food, but contribute color and variety as well. Certain spices and herbs used alone, or in blends, can replace or reduce salt and sugar in foods. Growing herbs at home is a great way to get your hands dirty, save some money and enjoy the delicious flavors. Their fragrance will also attract bees and butterflies into your outdoor garden.  You don’t need too much space or a lot of soil, as there is plenty of time to grow herbs, indoors or out, which is ideal for a novice or young gardener.  It is a great hobby which makes cooking fun, healthy and tasty. Courtney gives us great tips, tricks and recipes for preserving, growing and using herbs.

To get more info, follow Courtney on her Facebook page Courtney on Health, on Instagram @clgwellnes and visit her website: courtneygravenese.com. For more shows go to malcolmpresents.com and themanyshadesofgreen.com. 

Courtney on Health: Smart, Sound Nutrition. Strong, Safe Fitness!

“In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.”  Doug Tallamy

In this episode friend of TMSOG, Victoria Alzapiedi, Co-founder of New Castle Healthy Yards talks about ways to turn your lawn/garden into a Home Grown National Park, and be an environmentalist.  A good place to start is to stop using toxic pesticides and create pollinator pathways, so that we can help reverse air and water pollution, and stop the decline in the bird and insect populations. We are all part of the climate crisis, but we can be the solution, we can all be environmentalists, and help revitalize and clean up this beautiful planet. Mother Nature needs us, and we need each other to fix the problems that have been created over time. It is up to YOU! For more info check out New Castle Healthy Yards Facebook page, Doug Tallamy (homegrownnationalpark.com), Pollinator Pathways: pollinatorpathways.org, National Wildlife Federation: nwf.org, healthyyards.org, malcolmpresents.com and hudsonriverradio.com. A shout out to thegreendivas.com !

Listen to “Victoria Alzapiedi, Co-Founder of New Castle Healty Yards” on Spreaker.

Extreme heat, raging fires, massive floods, Cat 5 hurricanes, rising sea levels, and pandemics are part of the “new” normal. The climate tipping point is already here. It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee, while there is still coffee to smell. There are solutions at hand, and scientists and environmentalists are working to put those solutions in place to avoid future catastrophic events. Are we too late? The answer is complicated, but there are organizations and many dedicated individuals working to avert the global climate crisis, by using research and techniques already available to reduce global warming. One such individual is Keith Voos, who the co-founder of Drawdown NYC . Keith gives us some solutions and actions that we can take to reduce the effects of climate change. His dedication to getting the message out about sustainability and environmental justice is exemplary, and he is truly a protector of Mother Earth.  For more info go to Drawdown.org. Be sure to check out Drawdown NYC’s Climate Week event in September: Together We Rise: The Power of Female Leadership to Help Solve the Climate Crisis. For past shows go to malcolmpresents.com, hudsonriverradio.com. Subscribe to TMSOG podcast, ask Alexa or Siri to play The Many Shades of Green podcast.

Listen to “Keith Voos, Co-Founder of Drawdown NYC” on Spreaker.

Do you have gluteal amnesia? Do you sit on your keester way too much? Well, our back ends are bearing the brunt of our sedentary lives. According to the Cleveland Clinic, if you have an office job where you sit hunched over a desk, clicking away at a computer most of the day, you need to take steps – literally – to reduce your sedentary habits. Our bodies are built to move, so sitting for hours at a time is bad news for your health (hello dead butt syndrome). This is becoming a problem, and as COVID is changing the workplace atmosphere, we really need to rethink how we sit while we work, whether it’s remote or at the office. We need to get off our butts, or as I like to say derriere, because it sounds nicer.  As stated in the Miriam Webster Dictionary: derriere is a euphemistic term for a person’s buttocks. Synonyms for derriere include the following: backside, behind, booty (also bootie), bottom, breech, bum, buns, caboose, can cheeks, duff, fanny, fundament, hams, rump, rear end, tail and tush.

There are even songs written about the booty: Bubba Sparxxx, “Ms. New Booty,  KC and the Sunshine Band, “Shake Your Booty” and Trace Adkins, “Honkey Tonk Badonkadonk.” In this episode Courtney gives us information on DBS, no it’s not a boy band, it means Dead Butt Syndrome. We all need to shake our booties a lot more and dance our way through the day . To get more info, follow Courtney on her Facebook page Courtney on Health, on Instagram @clgwellnes and visit her website: courtneygravenese.com. For more shows go to malcolmpresents.com and themanyshadesofgreen.com

Jacques Cousteau said “For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.” 

We need protectors of the Earth, and our guest on this episode, Kevin Carter, works to help keep this beautiful planet clean and green. Kevin has served as Teatown Lake Reservation’s Executive Director for the last 9 years. Teatown is a 1,000 acre preserve (the largest community supported preserve in Westchester County).  During his tenure at Teatown, Kevin led the Board and staff through a strategic planning process, from which the organization emerged with a new mission which is, “To inspire its community to life-long environmental stewardship.” Teatown has beautiful trails, has an education center and science programs, as well as a summer camp and many programs for children. For more information go to teatown.org. For more shows go to malcolmpresents.com and hudsonriverradio.com. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

Listen to “Kevin Carter, Executive Director of Teatown Lake Reservation” on Spreaker.