-> 🚨 Tell your U.S. reps not to cut federal funding for public libraries.-> Short Survey: Tell us what you think of Second NatureLibraries are icons of the sharing economy. When we borrow books, media, and tools from the library, we save ourselves from needing to buy new stuff. But did you know that libraries are also community hubs for climate resilience? From heatwaves to hurricanes, thousands of people have used libraries as free spaces to escape the elements and find respite. In this community episode, we're everything that our listeners get from their local libraries. 🌎 See photos of our contributors and find further reading in the full show notes and citations. 📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.Episode CreditsListener contributions: Kelly Kandra Hughes, PhD, Alexa Rivera, Sare, Shaila, Taylor Barkley, Evan GoodchildEditing and engineering: Evan GoodchildHosting and production: Katelan Cunningham
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20:18
Microplastics: How Do They Get Into Our Bodies? And What We Can Do About It?
Microplastics seem to be everywhere, inside and outside our bodies. These micro and nano particles are shedding from our clothes, our tires, food packaging — basically anywhere there's plastic. People, animals, and plants are consuming these microplastics, thereby complicating the issue and contributing to health problems. But what health issues? And how do we avoid them? The science is still a work in progress, but today, we're finding out what we know so far. We’re going to find out from an actual scientist what we know and don’t know about the health implications of microplastics and what we can do about it. And we’re going to try our best to find our way to a place of understanding without complete overwhelm. 🌎 See photos of our contributors and find further reading in the full show notes and citations. Here's the MPI paper Barbro shared!📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.Episode CreditsListener contributions: Kylie Kovatch, Artie Sadahiro, Nicole Collins, Parisa Golchoubian, Brian StancheskiEpisode expert: Prof. Dr. Barbro MelgertEditing and engineer: Evan GoodchildHosting and production: Katelan Cunningham
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41:01
Community Voices: How We’re Coping With Climate Anxiety
NOTE: An early version of this audio has an error around 4:50. If you hear that error, it's likely because your podcast player downloaded the first version. Please re-download the episode to hear the correct version! And forgive us, as we're merely human beans 🫘 . Is climate news stressing you out? Same. We're experiencing funding cuts to environmental agencies, while climate disasters like heatwaves and storms persist, and wildlife and environmental protections are at risk. It's a tough time to be an environmentalist, and all this stress and sadness can lead to climate anxiety (aka eco-anxiety).If you've felt anxious about the state of our climate, you're not alone. We thought it was a perfect time to bring back this episode from last season, where we hear from you our listeners, to hear various ways to cope with climate anxiety through nature, community, and gratitude.If you're looking for more resources to help with climate anxiety, we highly recommend this list from the team at All We Can Save.🌎 For photos of our contributors 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.Episode CreditsListener contributions: Adyasha, Artie Sadahiro, Camille, Liv, Natalie Pullen, Nick Blocha, Savannah VizeEditing and engineering: Evan GoodchildHosting and production: Katelan Cunningham
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14:37
We Need to Talk About AI
-> Stop State AI Regulation Ban in the "One Big Beautiful Bill" ActWhen you ask ChatGPT to write a cover letter, make your grocery list, or edit an image, what's actually happening in the real world? As AI gets bigger by the day, it's requiring more and more energy, water, and land in communities around the world. Tech companies are investing billions of dollars in data centers and technologies to power AI, but are they also investing in sustainable and equitable resources to keep it going?Today, we’re going to take a step back from the chatbots to understand the true impact of AI, how we’re tracking and regulating that impact, and we’ll find out what it will take to build a sustainable future for AI. 🌎 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 CreditsListener contributions: Kylie Kovatch, Artie Sadahiro, Nicole Collins, Parisa Golchoubian, Brian StancheskiEditing and engineer: Evan GoodchildHosting and production: Katelan Cunningham
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36:04
Connection and Resilience Through Local Food
Farmers market season is upon us! As we've started seeing spring crops here at markets in the Northern Hemisphere, we're thinking about the power of locally grown food. As our food supply chains have gone global — we’ve gained more access to nutritious foods in areas where they may be hard to grow — but we’ve lost touch with seasonality and the source of our food. And we’ve lost touch with plenty of foods altogether. Locally grown food not only gives us more nutrients, but done right, it can bring biodiversity to local land, build climate resilience, and even offer diversity and economic resilience in our communities.Today we're reconnecting to local food through our global community, connecting the dots between food justice and equity, and learning more about how our food system favors big agriculture. 🌎 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 CreditsListener contributions: Elizabeth, Stella, Joao Vilca Soto, Lin Diaz Maceo, Airlea Rasul, JessikaEditing and engineer: Evan GoodchildHosting and production: Katelan Cunningham
How can we live sustainably in an unsustainable world? Second Nature is a podcast by Commons exploring how our sustainable choices impact our lives and the planet.
Every week hear how listeners are taking public transit, composting food waste, eating more plant-based meals and practicing deconsumption to create the kind of world they want to live in. We'll calculate the carbon impact of collective action and get expert answers to your burning climate questions.
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