Michael Perman
- Apr 22, 2020
- 2 min read

Future of Sustainability Podcast is LIVE🌱🌎

I am delighted to share our latest CRAVING THE FUTURE podcast, the Future of Sustainability, just in time for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, created in my home state, Wisconsin, when I was an environmental activist at Richards Elementary School in Whitefish Bay.

I was truly looking forward to being in Milwaukee this week, to celebrate Earth Day, to feel the soulful moment of a movement that has generated so much action in the battle against climate change, waste and apathy. To reflect on how Milwaukee has evolved since the days of spring DDT when I was a kid.

As it turns out, Rock the Green's 9th Annual Earth Day Celebration transformed into Rock the Green's Earth Year presented by Harley-Davidson, thanks in part to Lindsay Stevens, Founder & Executive Director of Rock the Green, with whom I collaborated on this podcast. According to Lindsay, Earth Year “created new initiatives to support Rock the Green's non-profit mission and showcase sustainability to other folks around the world”.

In this episode, we interview Rachel Schneider, Director, Sustainability & Business Planning, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Kim Marotta, Global Senior Director of Sustainability and Risk Management Molson Coors Beverage Company, and Lindsay Stevens...all based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - the birthplace of Earth Day.

We are all in the midst of a super-dynamic, global shift that could result greater ecological balance if we are able to intersect with emerging economic models. Isn’t it magical and curious that fossil fuel prices are plunging just as Earth Day approaches? For people who depend on fossil fuels for their basic needs, the lower prices are a welcome gift that will not necessarily result in greater consumption. Might this also be huge opportunity to dramatically scale renewable fuels such as solar, wind or hydrogen and systemically reduce CO2 emissions?

In our Future of Sustainability podcast, Rachel Schneider shares: “the future of sustainability is that it stops being a separate thing, it is truly embedded in all aspects of how our business is run”.

Rachel Schneider with her H-D LiveWire electric motorcycle

I also inquired about the relationship between our pandemic and climate change, to which Kim Marotta stated: "Absolutely...that this has been an unfortunate dry run for climate change. But hopefully it will wake the world to realize we need to take care of this earth, we need to take care of it together, and time cannot be wasted”.

Our global lock down is forcing us to re-evaluate what is important in our lives, how to live with a lighter footprint, how to release greater empathy as a way to communicate in our presently touch-less society.

My wish on this Earth Day is that more eyes open to the truly fragile moment we’re in. That more hearts and minds are inspired to drive innovation that will reverse the damage already done. 50 years ago, we could see the ecological dangers emerging on the horizon, and yet it was so difficult to stop the flow. The dangers are no longer on the horizon; they are here. My wish is that you will derive some insights from this podcast on the journey getting us all back in balance.