Microplastics are seemingly everywhere, even our clothes. From production through wash days, synthetic fabrics are shedding microplastics into the air and water. It's a big issue that's going to take shifts from manufacturing to our own homes, and we wanted to start tackling this big discussion with the help of our friends at the podcast, Conscious Chatter.

Earlier this year, host Kestrel Jenkins spoke with Dana Zhaxylykova. Dana is an environmental scientist and microplastics researcher, who's originally from Kazakhstan and currently based in Germany. She uses Instagram to share practical and actionable tips about microplastics through a scientific lens.

👖 Hear more from Kestrel and Conscious Chatter here.
📷 Follow Conscious Chatter on Instagram.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

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• (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0

The climate crisis has a way of making hard things even harder — and that includes gender disparities. From their professional lives to their personal lives, climate change has left many women vastly under-resourced and at risk, all while taking on the heavy toll of caring for their families and communities through climate mitigation and resilience.

In this episode, we hear how the climate gender gap is affecting our community, talk to WOCAN founder Jeannette Gurung about how women continue to work through vast climate inequities around the world, and we hear from Commons' founder and CEO Sanchali Seth Pal about how health disparities women face as a result of climate disaster.

🌎 See photos of our contributors and find further reading in the full show notes.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Aliya Hirji, Lin Diaz Maceo, Nicole Collins, Sobia Zaidi
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:57) - How gender perceptions affect sustainable behavior
• (04:50) - How our community experiences the climate gender gap
• (10:50) - Interview with WOCAN founder, Jeannette Gurung
• (25:21) - How climate change is disproportionately affecting women's health
• (31:52) - Outro

Planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence have us in a disposable consumption cycle. But it hasn't always been this way. When and why did we stop thinking things were worth fixing?

In this episode, we get a history lesson in planned obsolescence, visit Adrienne Ferre, who is helping run a Makers Hub in LA, complete with a tool library and repair cafes. And we catch up on Right to Repair legislation with Commons' founder and CEO Sanchali Seth Pal.

🌎 See photos of our contributors and find further reading in the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Season 3 submissions coming soon!

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Holly Kane, Katrina Rodabaugh, Maya Roman, Sare, Taylor Barkley, Verity
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0

This episode originally aired on June 12, 2024.

Becoming more conscious consumers is a pivotal step in building a more sustainable economy, but how do we deconsume in a consumerist world? When we buy less, we save money, cut down on clutter, and lower our emissions. This collective shift has another big impact — helping us to steer the economy away from disposable products, unsustainable resource use, and dangerous supply chains.

On this episode of Second Nature, we hear listeners' take on overconsumption and their tips for deconsumption. We also chat with climate activist and educator Lauren Bash about Buy Nothing groups, Repair Cafes, and her own deconsumption journey. Plus, we find out who's doing all this overconsuming and the impact it's having on the rest of the world.

🌎 To see photos of our contributors as well as citations, and further reading, check the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Submit to the show.

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

A great way to cut down on overconsumption is to get a handle on what you’re consuming. If you want a sustainable spending buddy to help you track the emissions of every purchase and gives you personalized tips, try the Commons app.

Episode credits

• Listener contributions: Alyssa Barber, Amea Wadsworth, Andrea Reno, Caitlyn Luitjens, Daria Panova, Jonas Schäfer, Mac Hansen, Madeline Streilein, Nicole Collins, Rachel Orenstein, Timmin Vooijs, Willa Stoutenbeek‍
• Featuring: Lauren Bash and Sanchali Seth Pal‍
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningha

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (04:06) - Overconsumption is everywhere
• (06:47) - Why does stuff make us so happy? We ask our community
• (10:05) - How do we overcome overconsumption? We ask Lauren Bash.
• (22:33) - What is the big-picture impact of all this stuff we’re buying? And what are we doing with it?
• (28:16) - Outro

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Often on urban lots, behind chain link fences, adorned with hand-painted signs, plots burgeoning with fruits, vegetables, and flowers, flanked by compost piles — the humble community garden feels like a salve for so much that ails us.

On this Community Voices episode, we're going from Los Angeles to Brazil to hear how community gardens have brought people much more than fresh fruits and vegetables. With food prices on the rise and so many of us losing touch with the abundance of our communities, we thought it’d be nice to hear how community gardens have helped you, our community.

🌎 See photos of our contributors and find further reading in the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Season 3 submissions coming soon!

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Dr. Sheridan Ross, Alexa Rivera, Clara, Nick Blocha, Camille
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Introduction and the origin of community gardens
• (03:49) - Dr. Sheridan Ross in Compton Community Garden
• (06:54) - Nick in Illinois
• (09:05) - Camille in San Diego, California
• (10:29) - Alexa in Los Angeles, California
• (13:10) - Clara in Floripa, Brazil

The secondhand clothing market isn't equipped for textile recycling. So when your donated clothes don't sell, where do they end up?

With the rise of overconsumption and fast fashion, clothes have piled up in thrift stores, landfills, and incinerators around the world. Countries like Ghana and Chile are dealing with fashion waste from countries like the U.S., UK, and China, and the impacts are vast.

Mountains of clothes lead to fires, polluted waterways, dying ocean life, and lost livelihoods. So how do we stop the cycle? How can we donate with purpose and dignity, and get fashion brands to actually take accountability for the full lifecycle of their clothes?

Listen to hear what our community does with their used clothes, how a new law could force companies to clean up their act, and how Los Angeles's Suay Sew Shop is dealing with the untenable amount of clothing donations from wildfire relief.

➡️ If you want to support Suay Sew Shop, you can browse their site here and contribute to their Textiles Aren't Trash fire relief campaign. By the way, you can earn rewards for Suay purchases and donations in the Commons app!

🌎 See photos of our contributors and find further reading in the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Season 3 submissions coming soon!

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Holly Kane, Maya Roman, Nate Rauh-Bieri, Nick
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:01) - Introduction
• (02:45) - Mirrored catastrophes in Ghana and California amplify the clothing crisis
• (06:43) - Community voices: What do you do with clothes you don't want anymore?
• (10:00) - Direct vs indirect donations
• (12:00) - An interview with Sumaq Alvarado del Aguila, one of the leaders at SUAY Sew Shop — an LA-based vertical sewing and production shop that's recycling millions of pieces of clothing
• (30:17) - Sanchali shares progress for clothing company regulation and responsibility
• (35:12) - Last looks and points to remember

In a capitalist society, value is measured in dollars and cents. But the resources we take from planet Earth can't be repaid in any kind of financial currency, and we're already paying the price for the debt we owe.

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So the question on many people's minds is "Can we even have ethical consumption under capitalism?" In this episode, we find out that despite having differing opinions on the answer to that question, we often agree on the solutions for what comes next.

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Listen to hear how our community answers the title question, economist and sociologist Juliet Schor helps us plan for what comes next, and Commons founder and CEO Sanchali Seth Pal explains how modern and historical boycotts can be tools for collective action.

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➡️ If you want to vote with your dollar, join our April challenge in the Commons app (available in U.S. and Canada) This Earth Month, we're avoiding the brands spending millions to block climate progress.

🌎 See photos of our contributors and find further reading in the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Season 3 submissions coming soon!

📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.

Episode Credits

• Listener contributions: Shai, Nicole Wiegman, Tessa Maurer, Paulina Acosta, Haley Kline Murphy, Marina Savarese, Bhaskar, Haley, Maya Roman, Marta De Prisco
• Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild‍
• Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (04:58) - Community montage: "Can we have ethical consumption under capitalism?"
• (08:36) - Earth Overshoot Day
• (10:11) - Interview with Juliet Schor, economist and sociologist
• (24:13) - Interview with Sanchali Seth Pal on the power of collective action and boycotts
• (32:19) - Outro

Feeling bummed out by climate setbacks? Or maybe you're outright angry? We're here for you.

With 40% of Americans starting to align their money with their views, it's clear that we're ready to push back on recent climate challenges.

In season 3 of Second Nature, we're balancing hope and action — from company boycotts to community gardens. With the help of community voices from around the world, top-tier experts, and a dose of history and data, we'll give you all the motivation and inspiration you need to take climate action that matters.

Subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

• (00:00) - Trailer