The Solar Spill by SunCommon
What do you call a huge Solar Spill? Just another beautiful day! And why are we always talking about solar energy? Because it’s such a "hot" topic! --- But seriously, lots of people are trying to use renewables to power their homes and their lives... and a lot of them have questions. So, in this podcast, we'll be talking about all things solar and renewable energy. Welcome to The Solar Spill, a podcast by your clean energy partner, SunCommon!
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Episodes
Friday Jan 14, 2022
Friday Jan 14, 2022
Introducing, The Solutions Season!
Susannah and Tavit are back for a themed season that puts proposed solutions to the climate crisis under the microscope. In each episode, we'll be examining a solution to an element of climate change for its impact, timing, cost, and any other unique factors, then assigning the solution a letter grade. Tune in to this episode to understand how each solution will be measured.
Friday Dec 17, 2021
Friday Dec 17, 2021
Coming Soon: Solar Spill Solutions
As 2021 draws to a close, we're winding down Season 3 of The Solar Spill. However, today's episode will give you a sneak peek at Season 4, which is shaping up to include some of our most exciting content yet...Beginning in January, we'll be analyzing proposed solutions to climate change to see if they're viable and scalable. We'll also discuss whether the solution should become a priority in the fight against climate change. Lastly, dear listeners, we've created an email address for the show: solarspill@suncommon.com Please feel free to suggest any solutions YOU think we should include in the coming season — We'd love to hear from you!
Friday Dec 10, 2021
Friday Dec 10, 2021
Eco-Friendly Holiday Shopping Guide
WAIT! Don't touch that "Add To Cart" button, there's still plenty of time to find awesome holiday gifts for your friends and family, WITHOUT the terrible impact of fast shipping. In today's episode, we'll share sustainable gift ideas that will brighten up the holidays without a smidge of guilt.
Source Articles:
https://www.wbur.org/npr/1060989079/looking-for-holiday-shopping-sales-theres-a-low-impact-option
Amazon commits to zero-carbon shipping by 2040
https://www.etsy.com/impact
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/climate-emergency-calgary-city-gondek-1.6250308https://www.popsci.com/story/diy/quit-wrapping-paper/
https://www.therealreal.com/
https://www.thredup.com/
Friday Dec 03, 2021
Friday Dec 03, 2021
Gratitude Is Our Attitude!
Ever since we started the Solar Spill we've covered a seemingly endless news cycle of alarming news about the climate crisis. This week, we want to center on gratitude and talk about some of the recent things - big, and small - that make us feel gratitude when it comes to the fight against climate change.
Source Articles:
https://grist.org/article/google-maps-now-shows-the-lowest-carbon-route-for-car-journeys/
https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/politics-global-warming-september-2021/toc/2/
https://www.climatechangecommunication.org/all/climate-change-american-mind-september-2021/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/climate-emergency-calgary-city-gondek-1.6250308
https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/when-movements-work
Friday Nov 19, 2021
Friday Nov 19, 2021
What Happened At COP26?
A few episodes ago, we provided a quick primer to COP26, where we laid out key themes that would act as a bellwether of the overall success of the conference. In today’s episode, we’re checking in on those areas of focus to determine if COP26 was a big step forward for the fight against climate change, or if it was all just one big "COP" out.
Source Articles:
https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/un-climate-negotiators-go-into-overtime-save-15-celsius-goal-2021-11-13/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/12/the-good-bad-irn-bru-how-cop26-played-out
https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/13/22778646/glasgow-global-climate-summit-cop26-adaptation-finance-loss-damage
Friday Nov 12, 2021
Friday Nov 12, 2021
Solar Panel Recycling
All recycling faces the same problem - how do we recover usable material, and what do we do with it once it has been recovered? Is there a market for it? Who wants it? And once we’ve figured that out, are there enough facilities around to scale these processes and make them financially viable?
As we look ahead to a decade of repowering America with renewable energy, its critical that we get ahead of the challenge of recycling solar panels before they hit a landfill. In this week's episode, we talk to SunCommon's Warehouse Lead Neil Henderson, about the emerging space of recycling solar panels, and how he and his colleagues on our B-Team are trying to keep us ahead of the curve.
Source Article: How the recycling industry is preparing to tackle solar panels
Friday Nov 05, 2021
Friday Nov 05, 2021
The Purpose-Driven Business
As the world awakens to the reality of the climate crisis, we're seeing that there are so many interlocking systems that empower and incentivize extractive, polluting, and profit-motivated behaviors.
In our first-ever interview on the show, we talk to Jason Nachamie and Colin Healey, from the Sustainable MBA program at the University of Vermont Grossman School of Business to help us unpack how the B-Corp movement is a crucial component to addressing the climate crisis.
Source Article #1: https://climate-xchange.org/2021/10/14/mastering-an-impactful-esg-program-in-the-new-normal-of-business/
Source Article #2: https://www.multicapitalscorecard.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Reinvigorating-PBC-Statute-in-Vermont.pdf
B Local NYC: https://www.blocalnyc.com/
B Lab: https://bcorporation.net/about-b-lab
VBSR: https://vbsr.org/
Thursday Oct 28, 2021
Thursday Oct 28, 2021
A Quick Primer For COP26
In just a few days, thousands of people will convene in Glasgow, Scotland for COP26, a conference centered on the goals set out by the Paris Climate Agreement. In this quick episode, Tavit gives you a primer on everything you need to know about COP26, and what developments you should look for in the weeks to come.
Source Article #1: https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/10/13/what-to-look-out-for-at-cop26
Source Article #2: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/united-nations-cop26-climate-change-summit/
Solar Spill Episode on the latest UN Climate Report: https://thesolarspill.podbean.com/e/s3e5-the-ipcc-report-and-societal-collapse/
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
...A Brighter Future
"SunCommon believes that everyone has the right to a healthy environment and brighter future – and renewable energy is where it starts." As a company, we rally around that statement of purpose every day, and in today's quick episode, we explore how that statement is actually 100% verified by science!
Source Articles:
https://www.space.com/climate-change-dimming-earth
Thursday Oct 14, 2021
Thursday Oct 14, 2021
Budget Reconciliation & Biden's Climate Agenda
Much of President Biden’s agenda to fight climate change is riding on an ambitious 3.5 trillion dollar budget reconciliation to fund some truly transformative programs. On this episode of The Solar Spill, we're covering what’s in the proposal and why Biden’s own party is trying to have some parts of the proposal removed.
Source Articles:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/climate/arizona-senator-sinema.html