What a Waste

On this ep, Lucia and Tyler go all memento mori on your a**. It's time to think about the inevitability of death (in a fun, healthy, positive way)! Lucia explains the history of cemeteries and why our current post-life land-use plans aren't sustainable. The first 20 minutes of this episode feel a lot like sitting on the floor of your dorm room after smoking weed for the first time. Lucia and Tyler talk about the big things, like, what happens after we die? Is there an afterlife? Do we puff out into blackness? Did Lucia's grandpa's ghost really appear to her in an iPhone video? They also talk about the sustainable alternatives to burial, which include things like aqua cremation and boiling your bones into a delicious broth to share with your friends and family.

In the name of recycling, we're reposting our famous fireworks episode from 2022!

Ahhhh it's that time of year again when we ignore the absolutely devastating ongoing political disappointments in the United States and gather to eat watermelon and watch toxic metallic compounds explode over our heads (this one was written by Lucia). On this episode of What a Waste, Lucia and Tyler get into the science behind fireworks and why it's actually sort of insane that we keep using them every year. You'll learn things like how many pollutants fireworks release into the air, how fireworks increase pollution more in environmental justice communities that are already overburdened by air quality issues, and how some places in Canada have chosen the most Canadian alternative to toxic fireworks. 

In honor of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour coming through Chicago and Lucia not getting tickets in time, this week's episode focuses on how the celebrity lifestyle is BAD for the environment (is often wasteful and carbon intensive). Lucia and Tyler discuss the Kardashians (now streaming on Hulu), Kevin Hart's addiction to water, influencer culture on social media, and the psychology that explains why celebrity endorsements make us want to buy more products and how advertising takes advantage of that science to manipulate us into buying things we don't really need (hint: we are cavemen terrified of being slain by our enemies). Capitalism!

Did you know that some people believe that the switch to petroleum saved the whales? On this week's episode, Lucia and Tyler discuss the Whale Oil myth, the history of whaling, and how understanding the shift away from using whale oil can give us hope a renewable energy future. Lucia also does a live reading of an XXX rated passage about whalers from Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

You've seen photos of the smoke plume, but do you really know the whole story of the Ohio train derailment? On this episode, Lucia and Tyler talk about what EXACTLY happened in Ohio (and in states along the way) that led to 38 giant train cars carrying extremely toxic chemicals to derail and set fire in East Palestine, Ohio (50 cars were damaged in total). We cover ALL of it - how it happened, why it happened, who we should blame at the top (hint, it's mostly men making millions of dollars), how nearby towns are being affected, and who is going to pay. There's a lot of overwhelming information about this topic out there, so let Lucia and Tyler take you on this shamanic journey through railroad infrastructure and the failures of capitalism. 

Lucia and Tyler discuss the dark overlord of modern agriculture: Monsanto. They gab about how Monsanto sold Roundup with the knowledge that it was carcinogenic, creating a new brand of "farmer's cancer." They also chit-chat about the history of how Monsanto manufactured the agricultural equivalent of Frankenstein aka GMO seeds and created a monopoly on agriculture. They end the episode with a plea for anti-monopoly laws. Having a hard time staying unbiased with this one, folks!

The big dookie episode is finally here! Lucia and Tyler discuss the history of diapers, the waste footprint of disposable diapers (infants go through 12 a day!!!), and how Pampers and other diaper companies started encouraging parents to potty train their kids later in the name of "not rushing children to potty train" aka capitalism. They also talk about the cloth diaper alternatives out there. This is a fun (and stinky) one!

In honor of Thanksgiving, we’re talking MEAT. This episode starts out with Turkey facts aka an explanation of the gruesome process required to eradicate turkeys when avian flu hits a farm. Then Lucia and Tyler talk about meat and how the history of bringing meat into the US - starting with the colonists - helps explain why Americans are more obsessed with meat than in most other countries. They talk about the Union Stockyards in Chicago, conditions in the modern meatpacking industry, and the environmental footprint of eating meat vs. eating vegan, vegetarian or pescatarian. Tyler even introduces his new character, Mr. Meat. Listen on an empty stomach, or don’t! Depending on how much of a sicko you are!

Thus begins the topic of MEAT! In this first of a two-part episode, Lucia and Tyler introduce the topic of meat consumption and discuss why Americans love meat so much and love to hate vegans. Tyler also introduces his new character, Agrarian Comic.

This episode is specifically targeted at Victoria Beckham - honey you need to stop eating salmon everyday. On this week's episode of What a Waste, Lucia and Tyler talk about why salmon populations are so severely depleted in the Pacific Northwest, and what one Indigenous Nation, the Quinault, are doing to fix it. This one has hope, folks! 

Excuse the clickbait - trees are not racist but PEOPLE are. In this week's episode of What a Waste, Lucia and Tyler discuss how the history of the racist housing practice of redlining has led to decades of low tree canopy cover in low-income and minority neighborhoods around the country, and why those neighborhoods now have higher temperatures, increased flooding, and poorer air quality than wealthier white neighborhoods. Lucia also reveals the disturbing link between her early 20's incel period and becoming an environmentalist. 

On this week's episode of What a Waste, Lucia and Tyler use a lot of sort of accurate metaphors to explain why relying on carbon capture without getting off of fossil fuels to clean up the grid won't help the climate crisis. Lucia also exemplifies how carbon offsetting doesn't work when she shows her plastic coffee cup on camera but says it's balanced out by her wearing a second-hand shirt she found in a box on her street. It'll make sense if you listen!

Welcome to another edition of presenting Tyler with devastating information that will ruin an activity he dearly loves! On this episode of What a Waste, Lucia explains to Tyler why golf courses are environmental wastelands. This is a fun one that finishes up with an alternative to golf courses: turning them into public sex forests. Enjoy! 

Finally! Some good news for you! On this episode, Lucia and Tyler discuss congress passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which is a climate, tax, and healthcare bill that is expected to reduce carbon emissions roughly 40% by 2030 through an unprecedented $369 billion investment in climate, clean energy, and environmental justice. It is estimated that these investments will create more than 9 million good-paying jobs over the next decade. Since this episode was recorded, President Biden signed it into law (it's possible!). Yes, Inflation Reduction Act is a horrible name that doesn't actually make it sound like a climate bill! Welcome to the United States government!

Woooof - this one is a doozy. On this episode of What a Waste, Lucia and Tyler talk microplastics. Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimeters long that break down in large bodies of water and can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life. And guess what - they've made it into the food chain and we are now filled with them! Lucia forgot to include any positive news with this one, but if you listen to the whole thing you will be entered into a drawing to listen to future episodes. Enjoy!

Ahhhh it's that time of year again when we ignore the absolutely devastating ongoing political disappointments in the United States and gather to eat watermelon and watch toxic metallic compounds explode over our heads (this one was written by Lucia). On this episode of What a Waste, Lucia and Tyler get into the science behind fireworks and why it's actually sort of insane that we keep using them every year. You'll learn things like how many pollutants fireworks release into the air, how fireworks increase pollution more in environmental justice communities that are already overburdened by air quality issues, and how some places in Canada have chosen the most Canadian alternative to toxic fireworks. 

Not sure if you could have guessed this yourself, but landfills are BAD. On this episode of What a Waste, Lucia and Tyler discuss why a sustainable, circular economy isn't possible under capitalism, the history of landfills, landfill juice (leachate), externalities, and the father of trash, George Landfill. Make sure to rate and review!

Hating plastic straws is all the rage, but how did we get here? In this episode Lucia and Tyler explain the history of plastic straws and the sea turtle that started a revolution, and why we need fo focus on the bigger issue of plastic waste (plastic straws only make up a measly amount of the plastic polluting oceans). You also get to meet some of the unhinged characters from the straw world that led to the demise of our oceans!

Lucia teaches Tyler what compost is and how food waste in the landfill worsens greenhouse gas emissions, and Tyler teaches Lucia how to build her pantry so that she wastes less food at home. In this episode you'll also learn how to connect with a compost pick-up program near you so that you can start composting food waste without having to get your hands dirty or be reminded that food isn't always beautiful and is sometimes stinky and slimy! For this episode, Lucia had to google the correct spelling of teensy weensy, which felt like a new low. 

For this episode, Lucia was forced to understand how cryptocurrency works, which is an impossible task, and she does a surprisingly good job of explaining the basics to Tyler. She explains concepts like mining and why it is taking a serious toll on the environment, the dark side of unregulated currency, how to get onto the dark web through Mozilla Firefox, and what Reddit users FattyMcButtface, HennyNWaffles, and BongWater69 have to say about the environmental ethics of crypto. 

On this episode of What a Waste, Lucia explains to Tyler how the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is roughly twice the size of Texas, is filling the ocean with harmful microplastics (bad) and creating a new habitat for marine species like barnacles, who are apparently loving it (good? no bad). Lucia also introduces Tyler to a video of her future husband, a man named Richard, who built his own plastic island where he now lives after seeing it in a vision. 

Do you go around pretending like you actually know how climate change works? On this episode of What a Waste, Lucia explains to Tyler the basics of global warming, and Tyler explains to Lucia why it isn't actually basic.