Episode 165: Building Businesses That Put the Planet First | Kelly Murphy, Jillian Clark & Annie Rouse | Conscious Entrepreneurs
What does it really mean to run a business with the planet in mind? In this special live recording of A Powerful Conversation About America, Kara sits down with three women redefining what entrepreneurship looks like when environmental impact is part of the bottom line. Kelly Murphy of Refiller LA, Jillian Clark of Roboro, and Annie Rouse of Think Hempy Thoughts share their journeys into conscious entrepreneurship, why sustainability is non-negotiable for them, and how they balance mission with growth. You’ll hear practical advice on building an environmentally focused business, creative ways to inspire customers to take action, and the mindset shifts needed to make every day Earth Day.
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Kelly Murphy @refilleryla
Annie Rouse @thinkhempythoughts
Jillian Clark @roboro_official
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters
00:00 Welcome to A Powerful Conversation About America
01:15 What conscious entrepreneurship means to each guest
04:20 How sustainability shapes business decisions
07:05 Kelly Murphy’s journey with Refiller LA
09:30 Jillian Clark on building Roboro’s mission
12:00 Annie Rouse and the hemp revolution
15:20 Overcoming challenges in environmentally focused businesses
18:45 Balancing profit and purpose
21:30 Engaging customers in sustainability efforts
24:10 Advice for aspiring conscious entrepreneurs
27:15 The role of community in environmental action
30:00 Lessons learned from building sustainable brands
33:15 How to make every day Earth Day
36:00 Resources for conscious business owners
Hey guys. I'm Kara Duffy, a business coach and entrepreneur on a mission to help you live your most extraordinary life. By showing you anything is possible. People who have mastered freedom, ease, and success, who are living their best and most ridiculous lives are often people you've never heard of until now.
Today's episode is a special edition live recording of a powerful conversation about America conscious entrepreneurship. In celebration of Earth Day, we invited three women who are setting the example for building sustainable, environmentally focused and conscious businesses to discuss the why, the how, and share their sage advice.
My guests today are Kelly Murphy of Refill La Julian Clark of Rob Burro, a conscious fashion brand, and Annie Rus of Think Happy Thoughts. Enjoy this episode and remember, every day can be Earth Day.
Welcome everybody to a powerful conversation about sustainability and the environment. I'm really excited about the guests that we have today. I'm gonna let them introduce themselves and what makes them a environmentally conscious entrepreneur. Please tell us your name, where you are in the world, and what your business is named and all about.
And Jillian, let's start with you. Sure.
Hi everyone. So my name is Jillian Clark. My company is called Robbo. It's a Latin word that means to give physical and moral strength to, and my company Upcycles textile waste. So we thought the name was fitting, we're giving moral and physical
strength to textiles in the fashion industry as a whole.
And how long have you been doing that business?
This Sunday will be our fifth birthday.
Congratulations. Thank you very much.
Kelly, let's go on with you. Hi, I am Kelly Murphy. I'm in Los Angeles, California, and my business is refill la. We are a refill refiller and zero waste store. We started as a mobile refiller in January of 2019, and we just launched our first brick and mortar refill bar by Refiller la in March of 2022.
So of course, with today being Earth Day there are lots of things happening. The president just signed I think a few hours ago to protect old growth forests in the us. There's lots of people taking actions today, and part of the reason why we have both of you on the podcast today and part of this panel today is that today you guys know how important it is that Earth Day cannot be a one day event.
What is it about sustainability, our planet, the environment, what's happening? What was it that triggered you to create an entire business that focuses in this area and makes a difference every day because. Basically, what was the scary thing that you went, oh shit. Like we can't keep doing this.
Kelly, you can go ahead. I think I mentioned this when I talked to you last time, Kara, I was on a trip with my partner at the time and I was in some of these most remote, beautiful places in the world. And I felt so lucky and so privileged to be there. And you are looking at all this beauty and then you look a little deeper and you see a cook bottle or a piece of trash or a wrapper and you see a vacuum cleaner at the bottom of the ocean on the coral reef.
And it was. Devastating to see that when you're supposed to be in this very remote part of the world where it's just supposed to be so pristine. And here we are, we've come to every corner of the world and brought our trash and our problems along with us. And that was what inspired me to reduce my personal waste.
And along with that along I was having trouble reducing my waste because there were not any like facilities accessible to me in my neighborhood. So I started my business to bring access to community, my community for zero waste refills and plastic free living.
It's amazing how sometimes you have to go halfway around the world to realize what we have to do back at home, right?
Yeah. I think the thing is when you're thinking about waste, you throw it away. It's not something you put a lot of thought into and you're not thinking about where it's going to and where away is. And so by seeing, these very remote places where we've just. Our has ended up unintentionally.
You're like, okay, this is a problem. This is not going away. It is actually going somewhere. It's impacting the environment, it's impacting wildlife, it's impacting humans and the health of our planet.
And,
It's not something that you put a lot of thought into generally.
Sorry, I thought I was muting. I was unmuting. So I know for me, I did a a beach cleanup in San Clemente in California and was shocked that I spent an hour with tweezers picking up styrofoam. I thought we were gonna be picking up things I could like, had to put in a bag and carry around. And it was like these micro pieces of styrofoam.
And I don't think we realize how much even our local environments are being impacted by what we are producing and what we have going on. So I. It's crazy when we see the pictures on the media or on the news of the plastic trash, pile in the Pacific or just what it looks like when we're sending our recycling to other countries.
So it's it can be so crazy to be across the globe and in our backyard at the same time, and we just do a better job, I think here of hiding it or making it disappear.
We're disappearing and we're putting it on other countries other low income nations for them to deal with. We're basically sending our problem away again away.
It's gonna be someone's problem to deal with. And unfortunately, a lot of the places we're sending our trash don't have the infrastructure to deal with that waste. And so it's ending up really polluting these countries. They're incinerating it, which is causing more pollution and toxins into the environment which are affecting the people of those countries.
So again, we are just not putting a lot of thought into where these items are going and unfortunately those are the results. Here in the us you just put in your trashcan, you never see it again. You're never thinking about it again. You go to the beach, it looks clean, you dig down, you see the microplastics.
But how many people are really even recognizing what that is that they're seeing?
Yeah, absolutely. Jillian, before you answer that question, I wanna make sure we get to introduce Annie who's here. Part of my confusion, the name that showed up was not Annie's name, so I was like, where is she? So please introduce yourself, where you are in the world how you're making a difference in your business name.
Hi. Yeah, sorry about that. I realized that as I was sitting here, I was like, oh, whoops, that's not my name. So yeah, I'm Annie Rouse. I'm in Kentucky. And my business I've actually got a couple businesses, but one of them is Op Innovates. We're a manufacturing entity for hemp derived cannabinoids.
And obviously being in the consumer product goods space is an extremely challenging market to be in while still trying to be environmentally conscious which is where my background comes from. So always trying to find new packaging solutions that don't create a ma a microplastic problem on our beaches and in our bodies and in our soils.
So it's challenging to overcome.
I'm glad you're here today. Thank you. Gillian, back to you, what was it that made you realize I have to create a sustainable business?
It was when I, honestly, it was after I saw the documentary, the True Cost, and I realized I had. Unknowingly been contributing to the second most polluting industry in the world, not just as a consumer, but in my career at the time.
I until 2017, was full-time costume designer onset costumer. I worked in theater back in Boston. I worked for the Boston Ballet. I came to LA to work in film. And while costumes and fashion work alongside each other in that it's clothing, they're two entirely different industries. So while I had always been in costumes and theater, I considered myself like in the arts, it was a thespian.
I didn't realize that shopping from h and m from Zara, which were some of my go-tos, and there every, especially here in la, it is a costume designer's bread and butter. Bread and butter, excuse me, because they have huge inventories, quick turnaround, so there's always new styles coming in. You can make huge purchases and return.
And honestly, it was the shopping habits that first made me pause as as I started getting better and better design gigs as a designer and I had more control over where the money was spent. I started shopping from more locally owned shops in la I was like, if I have this huge Hollywood budget, like Forever 21 doesn't need that.
So I started, that was where my, like the itch started. I was like, oh, this is interesting. I'm, I had never thought to put my. Values in that way, like societal values on that career. I was just like so focused on costume design that, I started looking into the business practices. I came across this documentary, the True Cost, if you haven't seen it, it's on Netflix.
It's highly recommended. And it was, yeah, at the end of that, one of those moments was like this is what I'm doing now. Fully changed the way I approached my styling gigs. I recognized I had access to a lot of fabric and clothing that was often disposed of when TV shows and films wrapped.
When I worked on, it was several summers ago, but I worked, sorry, on the new Ghostbusters, the all female Ghostbusters film. And I shipped back to LA two suitcases full of fabric that they were just gonna throw away. Turned those into new products and was selling at popups and markets for two years, just doing research and development and kinda getting consumer feedback.
But yeah, so it was really, it was realizing that I was unknowingly a massive contributor to this. Really not just environmentally devastating, but human rights. Yeah, every aspect of it. I was just really shocked and surprised that I didn't know.
It's a great book that I've read, the conscious consumerism.
And it's shocking that how much we don't realize that. The choices that we aren't making are the bigger impact sometimes. Yeah. And even ones we're
unaware of.
Yeah. I, one of my clients is a kaari specialist, and she's now talking to people about digital detoxing, not just physical detoxing.
And I'm like, do you know they have to do, you know that there's a carbon footprint for all the digital stuff we're storing? And it's, we aren't thinking about what happens, especially when we're like, oh, it's digital. It's not we're not using paper. I'm like, yeah, but now you're using all these other things.
Yeah. Now it's sitting on a server somewhere that needs to be You are like, yeah. Attended to. Exactly.
So of course like the, I get overwhelmed when I look at all of the environmental challenges that we face. Like I, I keep being coming from a position of how do we fix it all? How do we, like, how can I spend every day, just how do we knock out the next thing?
Because it feels like it really is a 365 24 7 job. How are you guys approaching breaking down the challenges that we face into something that feels bite-sized to you, or does it not feel bite-sized at all and you're just swimming and overwhelmed every day? Annie.
It's a little bit of both. Some days you can swallow it a little bit more and other days it, it's like, how can we find a solution to this? And ultimately I think that the biggest solution is at the top level legislative, congressional changes that need to happen.
Changing the way that subsidies are allocated because that directly impact, giving it more to farmers that are doing regenerative agriculture and organic practices rather than giving it to soy and corn. Using conventional methods. Soils are a major solution in this crisis that we're in.
And by not providing incentive to protect those soils is. Just gonna make the problem worse and worse. On the, on the consumer end I'm fortunate to be able to have the opportunity to create the changes so that the consumers don't have to make the decision on what is right or wrong.
But it's really challenging. The price for compostable packaging or biodegradable packaging is a lot more than, your traditional plastics. And so then how do you bear that cost on the consumer versus on the manufacturing of the product? And, is something that's compostable, actually compostable in, your garden?
Or is it compostable in industrial scale compost? Facility that has there are very few of them. There's none in Kentucky and most states in the Southeast. Is that even, helpful then? So there, there's a lot of kind of cost benefits associated with that. And of course now we're dealing with a huge supply chain problem across the world.
And so being able to try and find more locally sourced items is very helpful for maintaining that those capacities. And, we try and incorporate hemp because we're a hemp company and into a lot of the things that we do. But that's not always available though.
It's becoming more and more readily available. So it's every day is a challenge, but some days are harder than others.
Is it a myth or is it true that hemp is a more naturally sustainable product?
It all goes down to I always say that hemp will only be as sustainable as we make it.
If we end up, it's is a brand new industry. It's starting from ground zero, and really hemp and cannabis together, the beaches in Santa Monica are filled with cannabis, plastic, single use containers. That's not sustainable. Now or in the future. Utilizing hemp as it can grow quickly.
It can be a huge carbon absorber for our soils if you use it in the right ways. So there are ways that we can. Use it to its fullest potential, but we need to start off in that right direction. Otherwise it's gonna turn out just like corn and soy and, then we're just spraying fields with Roundup ready and giving people cancer and destroying the soils in the process.
That's my big messaging Al always is hemp will only be as sustainable as we make it. Yeah. And Kelly, but it's a great, solution to start the conversations and move that, that this whole initiative forward.
Kelly, I know when you and I spoke, part of why you started your business, which you shared before as well, is because you were so overwhelmed and you were frustrated that you couldn't make easy, sustainable choices.
How are you, how did that ripple effect into your whole life or like changes you've made beyond your business since then?
I think starting with zero waste opened my eyes to everything else. It was really a ripple effect. So once you start to see, okay, the plastic as the problem, and then from there you're like, okay, the ingredients are the problem.
And then the marketing of these products is the problem. And then the transportation on labor. And it's, I think we talked about that snowball effect where it just all builds up and you can't unsee it anymore. And your eyes are very open to all the problems that come with all of these products, and it's very overwhelming.
I think we talked a lot about lot on our podcast together is, the ingredients, what's put into these products that we buy and the labor and, how sustainable and ethical that is. And, with my company, I really wanted to make sure that I was using natural products that were safer our bodies and safer the people producing them.
Also reducing the plastic. So I went around my business to do things that I wanted. It was like, this is what I want for my life and for my body and for me to feel good about. And I hope that other people also share those sentiments and like also care about what they're putting in their bodies and in their homes.
And I hope they care about where it comes from and for it being political and reducing transportation, not just the plastic that kind of goes along with zero waste. But it's tough because once you open that door, you just really go down the rabbit hole. Yeah.
It's once you see it, you can't unsee it, so you start seeing it everywhere.
Yeah. Jillian, how are you balancing running a sustainable company and living a sustainable life yourself?
Again, a
kind of similar to what. Kelly said, once I started digging more and more, I really went, I went deep. I was making my own toothpaste for a little while. I I tackled my apartment like room by room first. I started with the bathroom. It's like, all right, where's like, where's all the plastic?
And I tried to buy everything, anything that's available in aluminum, I'll buy again. I was making my own shampoo, toothpaste. We had there got to a point where like I was feeling very like, proud of myself, but also was exhausted. And I was like, just so I and I did, so I did the bathroom, I did my kitchen and was, going to refill, I was buying bulk food.
I realized there's a point where it wasn't sustainable for me and my for to try and be perfect across the board while also starting this company. So I had to really figure out what were the easy, sustainable swaps for me. The biggest thing for me obviously, is clothing. I don't think I very rarely buy anything new, which is usually my biggest piece of advice for people who are wanting to have a more sustainable wardrobe is to just thrift.
My company has been hosting a monthly clothing swap so that you don't even have to buy everyone has a closet full of clothing and you only wear a fraction of it. So the, that's my. My wardrobe has been a very easy thing to make sustainable. And one thing I did change is I stopped all the impulse purchases, not just in clothing, but across the board.
I've banned myself from going to Target. I just can't be trusted. And anytime I do wanna buy something new, I'll admit it's a whole ordeal. 'cause I go down the rabbit hole of what's the company, where is it coming from, what is it made of, which is mostly great unless I just like really want, need to buy.
If I really need this product, I feel really guilty if I don't do that research. So I think the biggest factor, the thing that I've been able to across the board or like in my lifestyle is just be a more conscious consumer. Regardless of what I'm buying. I think that has been the easiest switch and the most rewarding switch.
'cause it's educational. I appreciate the research, I love learning about new companies. Everyone's, sustainability and climate change is not just any one industry. My, my boyfriend jokes all the time that the end of the world is good for me. Anyone who is doing work to make the world a better place, the same way you two ladies are, we've got job security.
You definitely do. I just moved April 1st into a new place, so still figuring out what this office is supposed to be, but it was really great. There's the power of the start, like a fresh start to swap things out. And I was so excited to get to choose 'cause I had to get a new bed and I'm like, Ooh, I can get a sustainable bed.
Because those big purchases, it's it's better to just keep what you have until you really have to get rid of it or donate it and then move on. And so I was so excited to get to up level some of those bigger things and even small things like. I found a tablet toothpaste that I'm obsessed with, and you don't think it's a big deal, but I'm like, this is better.
I like it better. There's so many you can travel with, it doesn't fit, have to fit into a baggie. Like it, the list goes on when we start making some of these silly choices. And same thing, it's like going down the rabbit hole of okay, how can I look at every step I'm doing without being overwhelmed and being able to still do, run a business and be human and make choices.
But it makes me happy that women like you guys are creating businesses that, as you said, Annie, reduce the choices I have to make it. It's like I'm so thankful that I don't have to do the research you've already done because you're sharing it. Because otherwise my brain would melt down and this would be, it'd be a full-time job of doing research.
When you guys, there's so much happening right now. Tiktoks become a great place for the environmental sustainable movement. I learned when we had relo on the podcast, I learned about eco Talk that there's all these eco environmentalists who are on TikTok and there's a whole program for them and they're all talking to each other.
So if you guys aren't part of Eco Talk, you can, ask to join. Because they want to use it as a platform to do good, not just have dance, trends happen, but I think it's really interesting how social media has become a place where people can learn and can figure things out. How much has your, has social media impacted choices you made with your business and in educating
your consumers?
I can start.
I. Currently, I'm not nearly as active as I would like to be on social media, but it is one of those things that is always just like the, once that next round of funding comes through social media is I can really see the value there specifically for my brand. I do I have Facebook, I have Instagram, I do have a TikTok account.
I took a powerful ladies TikTok Masterclass. Thank you very much, Garra. But I am, I'm really exci, I'm like, I'm super overwhelmed by tackling TikTok, but I've been totally convinced on it. I'm sold on not just the format like I. I have some friends who are really knowledgeable. They kinda work in that space.
And how I was sold was one of our friends saying you can learn about the stock market. You can learn about how to buy a house. There are people on there that are taking these really complicated ideas and turning it into a really digestible quick soundbite. It's like what the film the Big Short tried to do with it was like trying to make this really complicated idea, really simple and like fun to understand.
And I love that for sustainability. I love that for, sustainable fashion. There's so much of specifically the work I do, taking clothes apart, taking fabric apart, putting it back together. There's a lot of really amazing opportunities to collect the cool, like behind the scenes seeing how the sausage is made and it.
And what I was saying earlier, being like a conscious consumer, people that are researching brands more, that's the sort of content that I love to see from a brand is it's not just oh, we're getting it made somewhere and we just get you this final product. No, you see the whole process because we purchase, we make purchases emotionally, right?
You're going to, you're gonna spend more on something that you're emotionally connected to. So as soon as you see the story behind something, it just reinforces someone's excitement to support that brand, that company, by that product. So yeah it's not something that has really helped my company grow too much up until this point, but it is for sure something I see the value in and plan to be growing and investing in more.
Side note for TikTok, one of my clients just did a post and generated from one post. $40,000. So it's insane how it can hit or miss and like completely shift a company from one piece of content. Like it, it's still blowing my mind how it happens. 'cause I theoretically understand it, but to do it myself, I'm still like, wait, hold on.
Where do I start? Like I'm still having to rewatch the workshop that we hosted.
Yeah. Super helpful.
Yeah. Kelly, how about you? 'cause you're such a local based business, how are you getting in front of your customers and letting 'em know that you exist and how you can help them? I have to say I'm terrible at social media.
I don't really use it much personally, and it feels like just so overwhelming and so much work for me to do. Worst at it. And especially being on something that's a global platform to try to, talk about something that's really hyper-local because we're not just Los Angeles, but we're West Los Angeles.
Trying to get down to that really itty-bitty niche area. It's tough, but I just really use it as a vehicle to post, where we're gonna be so our customers know how to find us. And I think one of the best things for me about using social media is being able to connect with other local businesses and to learn from them and to partner with them and to, like we've connected on social media as well some other local brands.
And it's just really nice to build that community for me personally to meet up outside of social media using it as a, in real.
It's so important. We need our community, right? As entrepreneurs in general, we can feel super isolated and borderline insane sometimes with what we're doing versus what everyone else is doing. And then I think in a sustainable entrepreneur space, that gets doubled down. Having a community of people committed to what you're doing and moving in the same thing and going through the same, like even having mo in your circle, right?
Like the fact that everyone here was referred by somebody else who is committed to moving powerful ladies and sustainable entrepreneurship forward. And thank goodness, because I don't, I've given up thinking I can do anything by myself. It's like the biggest weights been lifted off my shoulders.
I can't, so
who wants to come and hang out?
Annie, how about you?
How are you using social media or other tools to really connect with your dream clients and customers and building that bridge to let them know that you're an option?
So hemp, has a lot more challenging than a lot more challenges than any other industry because social media pushes down it, there's algorithms that I don't understand that, you get on the blacklist or whatever.
So we, we have a really hard time reaching anybody on social media. I prefer LinkedIn over any. Social choice. But we're, I'm more on the B2B side, the business side, so it makes more sense on that end. We do have two different brands overcome in Hemp Meow that are our in-house brands.
And with hemp Meow we just try to do more or we're working towards creating more entertaining engaging videos and just making fun of, making fun of the, everything. But really live events are our bread and butter. You get that interaction, you get to meet people face to face.
It's people have been so holed up in the last couple years. It's great kind of sign of relief. Be able to give out a free sample to somebody and just have that like community engagement feel. Otherwise, when I first got into everything, I started a blog Think and Be Thoughts, and used that as a way to really try and drive messaging forward.
I started a podcast that was really geared towards really cannabis prohibition and why it became a thing and found success with that. It's just podcasts. The way that I was doing it is extremely time consuming. And so I haven't been able to publish one in a while. But still working on getting messaging out in a lot of different ways because not everyone is on one, one channel.
And so being able to tackle it in a multitude of methods is I guess working
well. It's, it always cracks me up when a client comes on and they're like, I need a Twitter strategy. And I'm like, do you even know what you're selling yet? And I think that we overvalue sometimes what social media can do.
'cause yeah, it does create crazy results for some people, but it's after it's, I used this analogy in our Thrive Group call the other day of how businesses in iceberg, you only see the top, you don't see all the things people did before. They even got to peek their head open and be like, I'm still alive.
And so I think it's the same way with selling, right? Like when. You guys know firsthand how much it's been like a person to person referral connection process. And I think with how much people are selling the magical dream of digital marketing today, we forget that it's still rooted in relationships and individual conversations and ha and showing up.
It's really hard to have a successful business and hide behind a computer and not be out there personally. I think that's less fun. But I also know that I like being around people. When you look at how the world's changing, how politics are changing we're in, we're out of the Paris Agreement.
What's what is your position on what the US or the state that you're in could be doing more of? That's really making you crazy 'cause it occurs to you as such a simple initiative to
make happen. Anyone can start.
I had mentioned the thing about soils earlier. It really is so important for our entire world to really look at that.
It's a massive carbon sink. We're destroying soils by the second, and there, there're a solution. All we have to do is take care of them and they can start really reversing the impact that, that we've been creating and that alongside of just general waste management. In Kentucky they stopped accepting paper as recyclables, like what?
And like just being able to take government funding to create industrial scale compost facilities in every single state. That alone could create such a change in the way that we that we. Our, all of our waste streams and the impact that can then have again on our soils.
Creating healthy compost, healing the land that we have. It's, it can be a massive driver in being able to reduce our waste streams. Being able to reduce, methane emissions and nitrous emissions and so many things that are even more impactful than actually carbon or carbon dioxide.
And so doing, tho those kinds of things on a national statewide scale or national scale or international scale is those kinds of changes are needed in order for us to really turn the ship back around.
For anyone listening who hasn't nerded out on soil and what's happening? There are documentaries, there are books, there's a lot, because it's literally embedded into everything, from like the soil erosion to the chemicals to monocropping.
It just keeps going. Even just not having enough trees to keep the wind down from blowing it away. Is there a favorite book or movie that you've seen that, that you think is a great place for people to start to understand what's happening with soil and why? It's the number one thing on your to-do list.
So there's actually like a like a four minute YouTube video, I think it's called the. Story of soil, and it just breaks down like super simple why it is a solution for this crisis that we're in. And I think that is, that's a great way to start because then you can understand why it's so important and then start diving into ways to create that change.
And I just found that link. So I'm putting in the chat for everyone who's here, everyone who's listening to this episode. It'll be in the show notes@thepowerful.com. There's also,
A documentary called Kiss the Ground, sorry. And that is also an excellent documentary to watch, to see what people are really doing on their regenerative agriculture space.
And that video you recommended is Buy, kiss the Ground. It's one of theirs. Yeah. Kelly, how about you? What is number one on your list that you wish people were paying attention to and taking action on?
I think in my industry, extended producer responsibility is the number one thing is putting the onus back on the producer of the plastic and of the waste to have more responsibility over how it's produced, how it's made, and how it's ultimately dealt with as waste.
There is a piece of legislation that went up, I think last week or something actually for the whole state of California to make all packaging be either recyclable or compostable or, et cetera. Whether or not that will pass unsure, but that would be amazing. That would be a huge step forward for extended producer responsibility.
And once you can get that passed in one state, that really sets the stage for other states across the country too. To make that happen as well. So I do think there is a lot of power in local legislation. Obviously having some big overarching legislation, from the federal government would be amazing.
But, that doesn't look like it's happening anytime soon. And that's one thing I love about California and Los Angeles as well is, we really are, do a lot of grassroots legislation and there's a lot of great organizations working to bring these kind of bills to the table and help push our, push us forward.
And, what else can you do? I think the best thing to do is to vote in all of your local elections always, and to be aware of what's going on to join some of these nonprofit organizations. Sometimes it's easy as just signing a petition. I always post them on my Instagram page because that's the one thing I know how to do.
But I think that's really important, at least from the plastics, from the waste perspective, is to have. Some of that responsibility going back to their producer because it shouldn't be all on the end consumer to figure out where we should be putting this and how we should be putting it and having our tax dollars pay for recycling of these goods.
And even a lot of this packaging not actually being recyclable.
Now there's the whole drama about is recycling worth it? Is it happening? Is it any good? Is it the biggest scam we've been sold about environmentalism? Not that things aren't recyclable, but like it's become an industrial complex, which as all industrial complexes go, they get real shady and questionable at some point in the process.
So yeah. All right, love that. Jillian, what about you? What is your number one thing that we have got to take action on?
I'm actually. Pretty excited to be part of a pilot program that is addressing that very thing. Kelly, kinda like what you were saying in the responsibility should be with the producers and the manufacturers.
That same pressure is being applied to the fashion industry. The California Stewardship Product Council is doing a textile recovery pilot program to figure out specifically the fashion district in downtown la, which is the biggest fashion district in the US, produces an enormous amount of textile waste.
And currently there is no infrastructure for that to go anywhere. So most of it ends up in a landfill. A lot of it is incinerated. Factories and brands technically are supposed, they're supposed to dispose of it in specific ways. If they're caught not disposing it correctly, they're hit with fines. But, my company wouldn't exist if everybody was getting rid of their fabric the correct way.
So that's been part of like my figuring out where those pallets of fabric that are just waiting to get picked up, I go and collect. But the reason this pilot program exists is because the waste collectors in the state of California are no longer going to be collecting textile waste because Kelly, like you were saying, it's not fair for the tax dollars that pays for the waste collection to be cleaning up all of this waste coming from, world, huge world class brands.
And they're just dumping that waste and it's coming from the tax dollars. This program is collected, it's created a huge network of brands, manufacturers, recyclers, and different types of producers to figure out a system of what to do with this waste, what's possible right now, what would be possible with more funding and more infrastructure.
And it's just basically a whole collection of people with the same, within the same industry working towards a common goal, which has been really exciting to be part of
having a background in footwear and apparel and working for big companies like, Reebok and Puma. I have a lot of friends who were so excited when they got to be.
When they built the sustainability divisions, they got to run them and implement things and change things. And it's been really interesting to see what they've been doing. But I think it's also really interesting is, I shared a quote the other day that like, charity is never your USP, your unique selling position.
And the same goes for sustainability. It's so rare that someone buys something because it's sustainable as the primary reason they chose it. And there's this huge disconnect when we look at a global level of people say they want to save the environment, but then their buying habits don't reflect it.
They don't wanna pay more for it. It's really this breakdown of figuring out where does the, why do we even market it? Let's just do it. And then how do we do it and make it just part of how the structure exists. So I think it's really fascinating to see it from small to big scale and knowing that Walmart gets a lot of grief and I'm not saying that they shouldn't, but then there was a woman who was at Walmart who decided all their paper should come from recycled sources and instantly it was like a significant percentage shift.
And it's okay, like how can we get the bigger organizations to be making like a simple decision because it does have such a ripple effect. 'cause there are so many small organizations that are like, okay, this is just how we do it. We're starting from the beginning. We're sustainable, we're making these choices.
We'll figure out costing as we go. So I just wanna shake some people and be like, do the right thing, please. Better.
Annie, you're you're in Kentucky and the rest of us are in California. California is seen as an environmentally oriented friendly state from a voting perspective, does not mean that's how everyone is on the ground. Kentucky is seen as the opposite often. So what's the reality on the ground?
Are you facing additional challenges? Is there more hope than the media is portraying Kentucky from an environmental perspective, like what's real and on the good and the bad side?
In Kentucky you have two major cities, Lexington and Louisville, and then every, everywhere else is really rural.
There's a couple other smaller cities, but really Lexington and Louisville are the drivers of of most mostly everything the. Lexington, restaurants for instance is a great example. There is local kind of movement, but it's very small scale to try and get restaurants to shift away from styrofoam and banning that or creating incentives to allow for green green to go where it is.
Pre COVID. It was moving forward quickly. Straws were getting, were on the owl and things were really looking good. And then of course, once COVID hit everything just took a back, that all took a backseat. Louisville is a little bit more progressive, I would say, in a sense.
And so they I think offer a little bit more green opportunities than Lexington. But then everywhere outside of those two major cities is. It's cost driven and coal driven. And unfortunately coal is, one of the biggest economic drivers in the state.
And that's what, Kentucky is built on. There are some initiatives to bring more solar in and geothermal and tap into that. I don't think there's really any wind energy, but, just trying to find other options to pivot people away from coal. But, I used to live in California and night and day compared to Kentucky in terms of sustainability. It's easy to make sustainable choices in California. It's very hard to make sustainable choices here. I have to I, I'm the weirdo at a restaurant that'll be like what is your to-go wear? Can you wrap it in foil instead?
And they're like, what? It's I know I just, or no straw, please. And they'll put two in, oh, I thought you said you wanted a straw. I'm like, no, that's not what I said. It, it's, I wish that things were better and I think that they can get there. It's just a longer process to convince people that it's the way to go.
Do you see the divide more generationally than anything else?
Absolutely. Definitely. And then just at the at the legislative level that all of our senators and representatives are older. They don't care as much about it. Younger generation. They do. And I think you find that across the United States.
Yep.
I was, there's my favorite Indian place in town only uses styrofoam to go. And I'm like, you serve vegan food. There is a disconnect here. We have to make this work. Yeah. As we're moving forward, it's been really crazy. Two years. Jillian, when you and I first had you on the podcast, you were working your ass off, turning into making masks as fast as you could and change your production around, do you feel like, 'cause you brought up a great point, Annie do you feel like there's room again for people to talk about sustainable choices
versus survival choices?
Go ahead. I think so. I think there's,
we've had a, it's not even a like global collective breathe out, I think we're still in the throes of it. But I think people what COVID at least, one of the many things that we learned from it is, I mean that first, at least here in la the first week of lockdown, suddenly the smog was gone.
LA was a completely different city. It was something that was just undeniable across the board. Everyone acknowledged if people stopped driving, the smog goes away. We can't just, I think kinda like you were saying earlier, you can't unsee things. I think collectively, like flights were grounded, air quality went up.
Of course now we have masks and whatnot, washing up even more on the beaches. But I think globally, we all took, we all had to stop, right? The world literally stopped. People. We've embraced a better work life balance. People don't wanna go back to the office. For California, I was reading recently, might be the first state in the US to go to a four day work week work.
The importance of being with your family, like enjoying taking your paid time off. I think it really, it it literally stopped the world and shook us. It's like you cannot keep it going at this rate. And I think we're feeling that across industries. I think we're feeling that across culture. I've noticed just in my own industry like right now, this is Fashion Revolution Week, which is a weekly weekly, excuse me, an annual event, kinda in the way that we have Paris Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week. Fashion Revolution Week is meant to highlight the environmental impacts, the human impacts, and to really sh highlight the garment workers is the biggest thing.
But there's award shows there are it's cool to be sustainable. It's, that is the way I think every industry is going and there's no denying that at this point. So it is gonna just become part, a normal part of conversation. I think going forward.
What I think is so cool about sustainable fashion one of my clients is a stylist who works with celebrities and she has some celebrities who are.
She's pro sustainable fashion choices and she's so happy. I have clients who are like, I only want sustainable options. And to get it, show up at the Grammys or at the Met Gala, like to have people who know that they get to be a voice for the sustainable brands, I think is really cool.
And seeing that, again, it's often a younger generation, but to see it moving forward I think is, it's a sign of hope for me that people want those things and they're coming up. There's even a woman I follow on Instagram who will post reels where she's what am I wearing today? She's oh, look, the same thing I wore yesterday because I didn't get dirty or sweaty.
Imagine that. And it cracks me up to she'll literally do an entire look reveal and she's like taking it off of her chair where she clearly put in the day before. But just, resetting those norms. You mentioned how many. Like pieces we use in our closet. And I have a stat from a financial class I do talking about how much we waste on excess.
But from the 1950s it was like 20 pieces in our wardrobe, including footwear, coats and jewelry. And now we have 200 pieces, but we still wear the same 20 pieces. So it's really interesting to see how it's shifted so much for good and for bad.
Absolutely. Yeah.
And Kelly, you know what? With the refillable world and being so community micro-focused, do you see more and more people in West LA who are seeking you out looking for this?
Heard it from a friend, like it just seems to me like it's an easier option to just call Kelly and fix all the things I need and just have it handled.
I would say it's definitely from when I started until now, it's increased when I started in 2019. It was mostly confused. Looks like, what are you doing?
Like why would I bring my bottle here? This is so crazy. And now a few years down the line people are like, oh, I didn't even think about that as being a thing, but that makes complete sense. So I just think over time with awareness it's really changed perspective. When I first started, it was more people like myself and, those represented here who were just more aware, more like hippie vibe, if you will who are really thinking about sustainable choices all the time.
And now I'm seeing it be much more mainstream and normal. And I think social media has actually really helped with that to spread the word and just make it look cool. If you'll Jillian was saying kind of people at the fashion shows or at these award shows when it. Is looking more mainstream and more cool and more normal, more people are inclined to try it and do it.
So over time, I've definitely seen a shift in my demographic, which is really exciting.
I was totally caught off guard. I went to, there's a place in Costa MEA called the Camp in the lab, and they're called the anti malls. It's basically just outside shopping and they have a sneaker store and right next to it, there's now Aery store.
And I'm like, who would've thought that Aery store would be next to a sneaker boutique? Like things are definitely shifting if that, if people are coming to the mall to refill their so and to buy sneakers at the same time.
It's like my dream come true. Make it mainstream, make it normal.
Make it a habit.
And so many of the sustainable practices, no matter what industry, from farming to clothing to, home products, were really just going back to what we did. So I think that's the part that I, that people need to, all these things that we're recommending people do are usually not revolutionary.
It's just going back to probably what people did during the Depression or pre-World War II when everything became like plastic and convenient. So I think there's also a shift I saw for a lot of people during the lockdown that they moved into, like homesteading practices, like making their own toothpaste and shampoo or, trying to figure out how to make their own toilet paper because, but it's interesting to see who's kept some of those habits and who's just been like, oh, we're free, we're going back.
Which leads me to my next question for you guys. There is, like any area in society, there is a lot of what we should do. There's a lot of feeling like there's judgment, there's a lot of feeling like there's blame and it can be really hard to figure out how to live. With balance for us while still doing our best and not feeling guilty or feeling like we're gonna be accused of something, right?
We see it in food all the time. Like you said, you're vegan, you just ate honey, and you're like whoa. So what is it? Is there the same judgment in trying to be sustainable? How can we combat that? Where is, where do we basically combat the judgment and the fear and just be okay taking the steps that we can and be more supportive?
What's your opinions?
I think that we definitely see a lot of that judgment in the zero waste world when all of that person was caught using a straw or a bottle and oh my gosh, they said there were zero waste. And I think we really need to shift to focusing more on progress, not perfection, and. The zero and zero waste is never going to be completely zero in our society.
So really just focusing on the progress that we're making. Small steps, there's that quote, I can't remember who it's by, but we need millions of people doing zero waste perfectly. Not a handful of people doing it perfectly. And I think that's just really words to live by is less judgment, less pointing the finger, and more encouragement and celebration of people making small changes and small steps.
I did a workshop earlier today and a woman on the call said, oh, all I've done so far is use a reusable water bottle, use a reusable, strong go vegan. And I'm like, what do you mean? That's all you did? That's amazing. Celebrate that. Like you went vegan, you made all of these changes.
That's fantastic. She's oh, I just feel like I'm not doing anything because I'm not completely zero waste. I'm like, that is the wrong way to come at this. Like you let's go around applause. With this one I needed great. You're already making such big strides, and we really need to take a moment to celebrate what we are doing in those small changes and how they add up and inspire others.
Just because all you've done is all you've done is change your water bottle. Maybe someone else saw that and that inspired them to change something in their life. And it's a ripple effect again, just of inspiration. So I think we need to spend more time celebrating this time judging. Love that.
Yeah. I think that everything you just said, Kelly was spot on and I think it is really important that.
You can make one small change, like using a reusable water bottle and then tell your friend to do the same, and then they make that habit and then they tell someone. And that is how these things can happen. Not everyone's gonna be able to be zero waste. It's really hard to do.
And super time consuming, as Jillian was saying earlier, with making everything. So just making those small changes and having that progress and knowing that even though you're not, tackling climate change just with that one thing, you are doing what you can to push this needle forward.
Perfect. Yeah.
Fully agree with everything you've both just said and I like. What I run into a lot with my friends, specifically because I own sustainable fashion company. Of course, those, I'll compliment. I'm always looking at what people wear, just, product of my surroundings.
And if it's, if the garment I'm complimenting is a fast fashion brand, the joke has become like, oh, don't tell Jill. They're always like, I know it's not sustainable. I'm like, it's real. That's not the world we're living in. To be specifically in my world, sustainable fashion's expensive.
Like it can be prohibitively expensive. So I have no judgment. I wear fast fashion. Of course it's secondhand, I'm not going out and buying it. But we can't put that much pressure on ourselves and each other to be that perfect. That in itself is unsustainable. So if the small changes are what.
Are going to push us forward. Like baby steps are going to be far more impactful than shaming. People don't respond to shame, they respond to, Kelly, like you were saying, like reinforcement and celebration. So I think just leading by example, there's gotta be the people who are gonna try all the different things, figure out what works for them, what doesn't work for them, and hopefully the people around them, if they're not inspired to do the same, hopefully it maybe at least sparks some curiosity or some awareness that maybe wasn't previously there.
I think the biggest challenge, you mentioned costs, right? Costs for sustainable products can be higher. They can be, there's a whole conversation about you have to be privileged in order to be sustainable, right? There's just, that's a whole other podcast episode probably. As entrepreneurs for your business, like making the sustainable choices.
Is not always the profit choice. And we've been talking a lot in the Thrive membership about, being a triple bottom line, business people, profits in the planet, or people profits in, replace planet with whatever activism charitable element you want. But you guys really are a triple bottom line businesses in that way because it's just built into how you do business.
Do you ever find yourselves conflicted between making a sustainable choice and making a profit choice? And if you do, how do you manage?
That's that struggle.
Yeah, I come
into it every day because, we are dealing with packaging. I wanna use a compostable bag for, a capsule or gummies, but, it's hard to find them, and when you do, they're significantly more expensive. And so sadly, we, have to make the decision yes, we can put it in this, but then if nobody buys it because it's too expensive, what's the point?
So it, it's, yeah I run into it every day and I, sometimes I win and the environment wins, but most of the time I lose. And it is just a balancing act. Un until we can find solutions to get the cost down it, it makes it more and more challenging. Fortunately, there are, like aluminum is becoming more and more popular as a packaging solution.
And that will ideally open up some doorways. But then, we also have, the cost benefit of a transportation emission versus an end of life use emission. Because if we choose glass, then it's heavier in the transportation costs versus plastic, but it has a better end of end of life use.
How do you make that decision? And that is often the challenges that I have to cope with.
And do you feel supported by your other team members in those choices? Or are are you collectively okay, we'll let this one go, we're gonna win the next one.
Do you feel supported in that, I guess within your company?
Absolutely. OP Innovates the o and the P stands for our plant, our planet. It's embedded in the mission of the company. The challenge is that because we make products for. Other clients, the client doesn't necessarily have that same belief system.
We have all of our standard packaging in glass 'cause I am very anti plastic. And, but the customer doesn't always want that. And so it's trying to convince them that it's the better option. But you can't always, force them to go down that pathway. It's a lot of times is on that client end as opposed to within my own business partners.
Kelly, how about you? It seems like you are one of the simplest, cleanest, sustainable choices, but I'm guarantee that you weren't up to, against these things.
Oh, not a chance. Yeah it's really tough. I think especially in a new industry, a new space a lot of the decisions that we're making, it's almost there's no win.
Because we strive for most of our products be closed loop, meaning. We get it in a container, we pour it into our containers, we send it back, it gets clean, sanitized, refilled, and then sent back to us. It causes, extra carbon emissions to be shipped back, water usage to be cleaned. And then, again, carbon to be shipped to us.
And in my mind I'm always thinking, is this better or is it better to get that plastic and see if it's recycled? And I don't know if there is a right answer. And I strive for that closed loop system. And what I keep telling myself and, looking towards is this is such a new industry.
And again, going back to what we were talking about earlier. Nothing is perfect. And what we're trying to do is bring awareness to the issue. And at such a small scale, myself and the handful of other zero waste businesses out there, it's really hard for us to make a dent in the way that the industry operates.
But as this idea and this concept grows of this zero waste store and this refillable life, hopefully with those economies of scale, those processes will, get easier and get simpler and more streamlined. And we'll be able to reduce some of that waste as in water sanitation and, transportation.
And that will come over time. So I try to think about what I'm doing now, although it's not perfect, I'm moving the industry towards the right direction where I wanna go, so that hopefully. Some days, some bigger player with a lot of money comes in, Proctor and Gamble, hi and puts some processes into place and throws, some money at the manufacturing process to make this simpler, more streamlined and more beneficial for, the environment and everything along the line.
I realize that it's not perfect in a lot of these decisions that I'm making. They tear at me from both ends. But just trying to focus on what my goal is and I'm gonna stay towards that goal of reducing plastic waste and have, do as much as I can to keep that sustainable.
Yep. We really need some of the heavy lifters right. To just show up a little bit.
It also speaks to how much we need technology, right? Yes. Because I love seeing when they're like, this was made from a banana, and you're like, I have no idea how that happened, but okay. Cool. Julian, what about you?
Yeah, that's the sustainable choice versus the profit is probably one of the biggest lessons.
I took from those two years. I mentioned earlier I was doing markets and popups that at this point I just consider some really in-depth r and d. Upcycling is a brand new production process for the fashion industry. It's still like, when you think of it, you think of patchwork, you think homemade like doing that at scale.
Is not, you will get laughed out of most factories if you go and be like, so I have these scraps of fabric, or I only have five yards. If you go in as a fashion brand, you're expected to have depending on the size of your order, hundreds of yards of the exact same fabric. If you're wanting to switch it up, you're wanting do one of a kind.
You can't do that at scale. So I learned that very quickly, which means the cost you have to sell your products at is the one of a kind. It took me 10 hours to do this jacket, so this is how much it costs, and then no one buys it. So this is, I was continually playing with my prices. If it's too, if I price it for how long, how I should actually price it.
It's too expensive. If I price it too low, people don't buy it because then it's secondhand and it's weird and they've got that. There's that stigma. So that was like a really. Interesting challenge that I'm still facing, luckily now. 'Cause I was also, at the time my company was called me We Clothing brand and I had to go through a whole rebranding, which was really a blessing 'cause it allowed me to ch restructure the company where we weren't just solely reliant on the products we were making and selling.
'cause that was proving unprofitable. We're able to include, now we sell wholesale, dead stock fabric, just the raw materials. Now we've consulting, so we've found different ways for the company to turn a bit more of a profit. But part of that rebrand as well was kinda, we came up with the six tenets of the company, which is our pillars, our brand pillars, and our number one pillar is 90%, which means everything that we produce is 90% upcycled material or otherwise, discarded fabrics.
But I had to allow that 10% because I, for the, those first two years, I really held myself to a hundred percent upcycled. Even my booth for the markets, everything in my booth was upcycled. Nothing was new. And it was. Prohibitively expensive and just nearly impossible. If you're trying to do anything at scale, I'm not gonna find recycled zippers.
I'm probably not gonna be able to afford, upcycled hemp buttons. So I allowed that 10% because to have some breathing room and needed to add new channels to the company because just the cost was, it was something I was running into and I had to find workarounds.
I had a similar experience recently where I try to print as little as possible, but sometimes you have to print something out, a label or something else.
My printer broke. I called to get it repaired and they said it'd be $150 minimum. I go, I can buy a printer for $99. I'd rather give it to you. You fix it and resell it than spend the $150 for you to fix it. I'll just stop printing. I'll just, I'll cut out the, one thing I print a month and just be done with it.
That's why I love, in Sweden, they implemented the tax break for repair based businesses because they want people to repair things and keep using them. So if it's a bike shop or electronic shop, like they're giving them huge tax breaks so that they can be profitable. Otherwise they probably wouldn't be, and I don't even know if they are at that level.
I'm gonna open it up. We have some amazing guests and participants here today. So if anyone has a question for our panelists, you can come on camera, unmute and ask your questions. You can type it into the chat, but I'll open it up for anyone who has a question for the group. And
you don't need to be shy.
I appreciate that Anna called herself out for the Don't tell
Jill. She's like in, in the chat. She's I'm guilty. I don't tell Jill.
Or also, do any of the panels have questions for each other?
Kelly, I have one for
you. How has it, how long have you had the brick and mortar and how has it been in a like post COVID world, like people go, because I feel like brick and mortars had a really hard time staying open and I'm wondering now that the world's opening back up, how's that been?
We've only been open for five weeks, so still TBD but it's great to have the space for the community to have another place to come and refill.
Since we've only been mobile for so long, which was fantastic during the pandemic. But just really wanted to give more access more times. And now we're also a compost drop off facility for compostable la shout out to Mel. So it's just trying to bring more space and more community access for not just refilling, but just for sustainability and for our community to come and hopefully we'll host some workshops and some other things.
But I know Jillian I've got also doing still when. So I can come bring some stuff.
I, that is actually probably not going to be until July. I'm going back to the East Coast for a couple couple of months, which is very exciting. But there is talks of doing a large clothing swap at this new cider house in Chinatown.
You guys should look up Benny Boy Brewing. They have this great beer garden. We were taught, they had invited me to do one Memorial Day weekend, but we're gonna push it to when I'm back and we'll probably have some other sustainable vendors. So I'll send everyone an update on that.
Very cool. Hi Anna. Do you have some questions? Yeah. Hi.
A house with some roommates somewhat recently, and a few of them are just like so wasteful. So I was trying to convince them to recycle because what was happening is that there's a recycling bin, but then they would just throw food trash on top of it. And basically he is I don't see the point. I don't, why should I recycle?
And so I guess my question is how do I get other people, whether it's recycling or some whatever, like ordering less things from Amazon, what would be your suggestion for talking to other people to get them to shift their practices Just like a tiny bit. Great question.
I would say the best thing from my point of view is to find out what their motivation is.
So whether that's cost or whether that's, lack of caring, whatever it is, and see if you can, talk around that, whatever challenge or roadblock that they have. So if it's cost and they're saying, okay, I can actually save money if I buy a reusable option, and just go ahead and use that reusable.
So finding out what kind of that roadblock is and see if you can walk around that. And also because they're roommates, see if you can just. Dummy proof things for them, okay, so you're throwing food waste on the recycle bin. I'm gonna put, three backs now. One for food waste, one for recycle, one for trash.
I'm gonna label them really big and it's just stupid proof. And I'm gonna take on the brunt of taking them out to the right receptacle. So making it so that they don't have to do any work or extra thought but that it kinda works out for them. You're basically making the decisions for them, like their children.
Yeah, con convenience is so important in trying to convince somebody to switch their behavior. If you don't make it easy for 'em they're not gonna do it.
I think another pro tip, if I can share one, is how do you bring them, do a field trip together? Like how do you get to take them to a place where they can see what's happening or not happening? There's opportunity like when people see things, as we said earlier, you can't unsee them, so maybe they just need to see it because they've been avoiding it or not looking or distracted by other stuff.
It doesn't have to be, it can still be fun, right? I recently went to the flower fields in Carlsbad and it's beautiful. It was a really fun evening, and you can't go there and not see some of the things they have about, what it means to be sustainable in agriculture and topsoil. Like it just embedded into the experience.
So there might be a sneaky way to do that too, like sneaking vegetables into smoothies for kids.
I think also just like watching a documentary on it. Jillian had mentioned the movie or documentary, the True Cost earlier. And a friend of mine also worked in the fashion industry.
She watched that movie and then like right afterwards she was like, oh my God, my life has changed forever. I get it now. So finding those good documentaries or podcasts that can just make it click for somebody is a good way to
Drive change.
Any other questions for the group? All right, then I'm
gonna let each of our panelists today I'm gonna ask you to just, what do you wanna leave this group with? What is your Earth Day 2022 message? You can have a few seconds to think if you need one.
I think Martha might have her hand up. Martha, do you have a question?
Sorry, Martha, go ahead. Thank you, Kelly.
It's just going off what Annie was saying. One of my, I'm coming in from Massachusetts actually. I'm Jillian's mom and I just moved back to Western Mass, which is like my favorite place in the world. It's where all the old hippies live. And Jillian will tell you I'm an old hippie, but my issue is along the lines of the soil and everything and I think that was that You, Annie.
Anyways, I have a problem with Miracle Grow and I can't get people to stop using it. What do you do? Because I garden, even if I do have no yard, I garden in buckets and all kinds of stuff and I do my own mixes, but I cannot stand these insecticides. How do you convince people? You can tell them it causes cancer, you can show them, but they're just not stopping.
I hear a bit of Kelly's answer earlier, right? Of what's their motivation, right? Is it as easy as gifting people an alternative sample and they realize, oh, I just need to literally go from that purchase to that er next to each other at even Ace hardware sometimes.
So I'm not sure is it that they don't believe it.
They've never tried it. Is it just what they've always done? Is it cost? Is it just a protest against you?
No, I think probably it's like what they've always done. Now, the apartment I'm moving outta, the landlords are wonderful and they let me dig in their garden and everything, which is like my mindfulness practice.
And one of the things that they always did every year is they went to the city dump because, excuse me, they compost all the yard waste that they sweep off the city streets. Now that's everything that's, poisons and salts and everything else. And I actually got my landlord to stop putting that in her garden because she was complaining that her flowers wouldn't grow.
So I actually got her to switch over to mushroom compost and actually one that's really the best because she was using the poisons to keep the moles and stuff from eating her flower bulbs is mint compost, which. You can only get it by sending away to Oregon for it and you have to buy it in big boxes and it's amazing.
It keeps all that stuff away and it's all natural, I do think so. That was a success.
Good. No, I love that you're a stand for this being a change in your community and at your own house. Anna put in the chat earlier that we had a great episode with MOA Fi who? It's episode one, my niece Nine, my Go.
Perfect. Okay. That's right. We're all connected. We're all from Massachusetts. It's perfect. Listening to what she had to say, there was such great tips in there. But specifically about peppermint and cinnamon, a pro tip, I know this is so random that this is what are being shared right now.
If you get the essential oils for peppermint or cinnamon, you can also just use some of the essential oils on the perimeter of the garden. Yep. And just the essential oils will do it. So you don't need to go and find the super expensive compost from somewhere else.
No. And it within your house, rather than using poisons to get rid of mice and spiders and things like that, you just take some pure peppermint oil on cotton balls or something like that, and you put it in the areas they tend to come in, like in your cabinets and stuff.
Spray your window frames with the peppermint oil mixed with water for spiders. And this is good for you guys for snakes. If you don't wanna use the moth balls, which definitely works, is if you plant alternating onion and garlic around your property line. Snakes don't like it and they won't cross the line.
There is a solution in ancient wisdom for everything we need.
I love, I research everything. I think that's where Jill likes her research from.
Now I know who I'm gonna call next time I have a question. We're gonna send all questions to Martha. She'll do the research. She'll be perfect. It does not surprise me that Martha is mother and aunt to powerful ladies in sustainability.
But so we can get everyone back to their Earth Day celebrations. I'll, we'll wrap it up today with each panelist, please telling me your Earth Day final message for the group and everyone listening, and of course, if you need anything. And please give yourself a shout out. Where can they follow you,
support you, find you.
I would say just, I know
it seems overwhelming, but don't quit. Keep going. Take each day at a time. You don't have to solve the crisis we're in on by yourself. But if you keep on going we as a group can do it together. And you can learn more about me by visiting think kepi thoughts com.
Awesome. Thank you Jillian.
Yeah, sorry, I think you guys lost me for a minute there. My power went out. So it was a game of jumping between computer and phone to come back. My Earth Day message, I back what we were saying earlier. It's the overwhelmed feeling, the disaster fatigue. I think everyone between the pandemic.
Just coming out of, it's been a while now, but I'm still coming out of, four years of Trump. It's like everything that's come outta what's going on in Russia and Ukraine right now, there's the disaster fatigue is real and it makes it really easy to just, what I'm doing is not making a difference.
And Annie, just like you were saying, if you're feeling overwhelmed, that's understandable. And go easy on yourself. Take a step back. Don't just fully give up. Know that every little thing, just changing of habits and figuring out what the sustainable changes are for your lifestyle and, just do that.
Just do the best that we can. And you can find me on Instagram and TikTok at Robo Official. And then we will be launching our brand new website, which is like over a year in the making now@robosix.com.
Love it. Thank you for letting me have peace of mind. Kelly.
I would say let's just remember that Earth Day should be every day, not just one day a year.
And small changes really can make a big difference. Every little bit counts and you can find me on Instagram at refill la or our website is refill la com. And thank you so much for hosting.
Really thank you guys so much for spending your afternoon and evening with me and with everyone here and everyone who will listen to this as an episode.
I agree with you Kelly. Earth Day needs to be an every day celebration. Someone said about Women's Day, if we need a day, we have a problem. It means a lot to me that you guys are here, that the work that you're doing, your willingness to share and educate and inform people and, go back and forth between showing people how serious it is and giving people grace and space to catch up as fast as they can and whatever way that looks.
I have learned so much from you guys and I can't wait to continue to. To keep bragging about you all and hopefully get to meet up in person sometime soon. But thank you so much. Have an amazing Earth Day and weekend and just truly thank you for the work you do every day to make a difference. It is making an impact bigger than
thank you very much for having us.
Yes, thank you, Kara. Thank you.
Thank you for listening to this special episode. For additional resources and ways to take action, please follow us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, you can follow and connect with our panelists on Instagram here. Kelly Murphy at Refiller La Annie Rus at Think Hebe. Thoughts. Jillian Clark at Procore Official.
All the willing to connect with our panelists or in our show notes@thepowerfulladies.com. Please subscribe to this podcast wherever listening and leave us a rating and review. If you're looking to connect direct with me, please visit kara duffy.com or Kara Duffy on Instagram. I'll be back next week with a brand new episode.
Until then, I hope we're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
Related Episodes
Episode 164: Proof That One Person Can Change the World | Lauren Ferree Bash | Sustainability Creator & Storyteller
Episode 184: The Power Plant That Could Save the World | Annie Rouse | Hemp Entrepreneur & Environmental Economist
Episode 163: Why Local Businesses Might Just Save The Planet | Judy Wicks | Entrepreneur & Activist
Kelly Murphy @refilleryla
Annie Rouse @thinkhempythoughts
Jillian Clark @roboro_official
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
