Everyday Rockstar, Diets and the Environment, Ocean Loss, Fighting for Forests, Climate Change, Enjoying the Environment, Animal Shelters, Marital Finance, Home Before Dark

Everyday Rockstar (0:00:00) Lisa and Richie feature this week’s Everyday Rockstar. We want to feature you! You can nominate yourself or someone you love by emailing thelisashow@byu.edu with “Everyday Rockstar” in the subject line. How our Diets Affect the Environment (0:04:31) We Americans can sometimes be wasteful with our food. According to the USDA, it’s been estimated that we waste about 40% of our national food supply every year, which equals out to about 133 billion pounds of food. You may be thinking, so what if some of my food goes to waste? I eat most of it! But it can have some serious environmental impacts. Joining us today is Kathryn Kellogg, founder of lifestyle website Going Zero Waste, to discuss how we can be more eco-friendly in our food consumption. Turning the Tide on Ocean Loss (0:14:10) One place has recently become home to over five trillion pieces of plastic, but it’s not a recycling plant, or even a landfill. It’s the ocean. Our oceans hold some of our most valuable resources, and yet, each year they get a little closer to destruction due to pollution, overfishing, and the extinction of marine life. It’s hard to feel like you’re able to make a difference when you’re just one person and the ocean is thousands of miles wide and thousands of feet deep. So we invited Cristina Mittermeier, a conservation photographer, often featured on National Geographic, and one of the founders of SeaLegacy. She joins us to share her insights into how we can help save our oceans. Fighting for Forests (0:26:19) The rate of deforestation is shocking—we’re losing approximately 27 soccer fields of forest per minute, which adds up to 18.7 MILLION acres of forested land lost each year. I feel like the importance of our planet’s forests is something we all kinda get, but it’s a hard concept for me to fully wrap my brain around. This is an important discussion for us to have, because if we don’t truly understand a problem that’s this big, why would we feel motivated to help? To help, we’ve invited Kerry Cesareo onto the show to answer our questions today. Kerry is the Senior Vice President of the World Wildlife Fund’s Forest department . The Science of Climate Change (0:34:57) Whenever you hear someone talk about “Climate Change” you might wonder if it’s actually as dire as they say. You’ve heard people argue both sides on YouTube and the news. You’ve heard multiple opinions about how severe the problem is. And you’ve always heard people reference “scientific experts”, but who are these so-called climate experts and what do they really have to say about all of this? Well, allow us to introduce you to one. Dr. Michael Mann is a distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State and the author of several books on climate change. His work has been a vital part in proving the severity of the earth’s rising temperature to people and politicians since 2001. Enjoying the Environment (0:44:33) We all care about climate change in different degrees. Maybe you’re doing everything you can to help preserve our planet but are struggling to get your friends on board. Or maybe you love the earth but have never felt motivated to get off the sideline and actually make changes. So, if the science and facts we read about aren’t enough to change anyone’s behavior towards the environment, what will? Maybe the key is to spend more time in the nature we are trying to save. Joining us today is Michael Brune, the executive director for the Sierra Club . The Sierra Club is the most influential grassroots, environmental organization in the United States, and they motivate people to get outside and enjoy the benefits of nature. Helping Animal Shelters (0:50:38) While our pets are enjoying the extra attention from everyone being home so often right now, there are many pets that don’t have a home that are requiring some extra attention. Many animal shelters have had to close their doors right now, but that doesn’t mean that the animals they’re housing have stopped needing help. So, what can we do to help out our furry friends? Here to share some of her tips with us, is Holly Sizemore, Chief Mission Officer of the Best Friends Animal Society. Finances in Marriage (1:09:26) One of the top stressors that contributes to divorce today is finances. Dealing with debt and other financial difficulties puts a strain on marriages and leads to a lot of blaming rather than problem-solving. With this looming fact in the air, we wanted go get some expert advice on what couples can do better when handling money so they can eliminate stress and keep their marriages together. Our next guest, Rachel Cruze, is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and host of The Rachel Cruze Show where she helps people learn the proper ways to handle money and stay out of debt. She joins us today to talk about how we can improve our finances for the sake of our marriages. Home Before Dark (1:28:37) As we continue to be encouraged to social distance, it feels like we are in constant need of new shows to binge. Finding appropriate and uplifting programs that the whole family can sit down and enjoy together can be challenging. Luckily, Apple TV+ just released a family-friendly mystery thriller called “ Home Before Dark ” that we can stream now. Here to tell us all about this new show is Brooklyn Prince and Jim Sturgess. You can see 9-year-oldBrooklyn as Hilde and Jim as her father in the series.