January 2020 Archives

On this episode of Solutions News, we address the secrets of success and self-mastery along with our guest Jack Canfield, the esteemed originator of The Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. First with a look at how Americans learned about personal empowerment by learning how to master communication, then with a story on one of the greatest inspirational projects of all time, and finally with some specific tips on how to build better habits. We will also have our fan favorite “didyaknow” segment! Listeners of the show are welcome to visit Jack's website and sign up for a free gift: "The Success Principles 10-Day Transformation." 

Story #1: The Key to Success - The key to success is effective communication. Dale Carnegie failed at many things in his life, but one thing he got right was communication. He became an author and lecturer and went on to study the link between confidence and success. We spoke about the importance of sharing ideas and convincing others, because without persuasion, great products will likely not succeed. 

Persuasion plays a big role in our lives, from getting hired to being voted into office to selling products. It is essential to know and relate to your audience, to understand their perspectives and what might cause them trouble. Persuasion might be the single skill that gives you the upper hand moving forward.

Story #2: Moonshot – It’s been 50 years since America first sent a man to the moon. Kennedy famously promised to do so, and he kept his promise. At the time, the goal seemed nearly impossible and the majority of citizens were against the idea. Nevertheless, Kennedy and the Johnson administration after him persisted. People started to tune in more closely once the program was underway. We can relate that to other American mobilizations, including World War II bringing the United States out of the Great Depression and perhaps one day, the Green New Deal. 

Through it all, Kennedy used persuasion to genuinely convince Americans that space was in fact possible and absolutely essential for our future as a sovereign nation. 

Story #3: New Habits – Do you have a list of New Year’s Resolutions? We all do. But how many of us actually follow through with those goals? It’s difficult! After years of school and work, we often fall into routines and habits that are seemingly cemented into permanence. It can be exhausting and time-consuming to change, or at least to try to change. We formulated what we believe are the top eight steps to truly changing those habits, and those can be found in the full podcast above!

On this episode of Solutions News, host Rinaldo Brutoco and producer Kristy Jansen talk agroforestry with expert Dave Sansone, an agroforestry and permaculture researcher and consultant on the Island of Hawaii. Sansone practices climate-friendly, “no-till, no work” farming strategies in Hawaii that allow for the best outcome with the least effort. The conversation focused on both Hawaii and California and local aplications of agroforestry and "bio-tilling". Specifically, the three discussed the use of regenerative agriculture techniques to grow food, feed, and fiber. Across the US and beyond, farmers are discovering that a systemic focus on soil health will award them better outcomes with less inputs. This is because regenerative agriculture aims to boost microbial activity, carbon retention, and water infiltration in the soil so plants can more efficiently obtain what they need. The best way to achieve this? Do less, not more. The soil is an integral part of the entire ecosystem, and it is a complex living system in itself.

Agroforestry is defined as sustainable agriculture which grows trees alongside other crops and animals to benefit all parties, including people and the greater environment. According to the U.S. Forest Service, strategic agroforestry can increase crop yields by 56 percent. It is also a type of regenerative agriculture, meaning a growing focus that increases the productivity of the land by restoring organic materials to the soil, thus resulting in benefits such as carbon storage, vibrant soils, water retention, and higher yields. This unique solution provides more than a quick fix to a complex and pressing issue. Agroforestry produces a diverse crop yield, a healthy ecosystem, and a resilient habitat that can more easily adapt to a changing planet. 

In addition, we end the show with a look at how the city of Detroit, Michigan has become a center for urban agriculture, with a special mention of two organizations in particular, Keep it Growing Detroit and Michigan Urban Farming Initiative. Both are working to create community resiliency and food security in the city, and are showing the rest of the country how it might be done.  

Additional resources and background information for this episode:

https://brownsranch.us/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/18/magazine/dirt-save-earth-carbon-farming-climate-change.html

https://bigislandnow.com/2019/05/21/is-food-sustainability-possible-in-hawaii/

https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/12/are-food-forests-the-future-of-agriculture/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/hunger/

It’s no question that fossil fuels are on the way out. Hydrogen holds great potential as a sustainable form of energy. Instead of cars spewing carbon dioxide and other noxious fumes through an internal combustion engine, the only emission from a hydrogen fuel cell powered car is water. On this episode of Solutions News, we visited the National Energy Laboratories in Hawaii with expert Mitch Ewan. Ewan is the Hydrogen Systems Program Manager at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at the University of Hawaii.

Hydrogen is extremely abundant and easily harvested, and key to an energy future that produces energy at a much lower environmental and financial cost than fossil fuels. If harvested using green electricity, Hydrogen also has zero environmental impact. 

Transportation is the top contributor of greenhouse gases in the United States because of the inefficient internal combustion engines. Fuel cell vehicles, however, are powered by electricity from a fuel cell (hydrogen) instead of fossil fuels and can solve some of challenges for commercial trucking and shipping that might prove difficult for battery electric cars. There is really no reason that fuel cell vehicles haven’t become more common other than the abundant and misleading information funded by oil companies. 

Fuel cells have gone down in price by 70 percent since 2006, and while moving to a  hydrogen economy will require significant changes to infrastructure, gas pipelines, slightly altered, can transport hydrogen particles affordably. Replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen is the change we need to invest in if we hope to end our addiction to fossil fuel. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are incredibly efficient, easy to refuel (takes only five minutes), and soon-to-be widely accessible.

To learn more about the hydrogen economy from this episode with Mitch Ewan, listen now!

Our day to day lives usually run pretty smoothly and we don't consciously acknowledge all that goes right. But when natural disaster or emergency hits, we quickly become aware of everything that has gone wrong, and thus recognize the ease of our regular days. What do we do when a tree falls in the road or the power goes out? That's when we turn to and recognize the people in the community that have dedicated their lives to keeping us safe through emergency management, planning, and response.

Firefighters, paramedics, police officers, and so many more groups at the city and county levels have worked hard to prepare us for disasters. Emergency management has set out four overarching steps to planning for disaster which are mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Mitigation must be well underway long before a disaster occurs. Preparedness-- as in how prepared we are as community members-- is key in limiting the negative effects of a disaster. Response puts planning into action to save lives and property. The final step is recovery which continues long after an event occurs as a community heals and regrows.

The role of first responders has changed drastically over the years. They respond to fires, medical calls, and so many more emergencies that require first responders to be trained in several fields. 

Make sure you're prepared for a disaster! Check out the Santa Barbara Independent's guide on disaster preparedness. 

To learn more about first responders and firefighter safety, listen now!

This week on Solutions News, we welcome Kristine Schwarz, Executive Director of New Beginnings Counseling Center, a mental health center that provides services to low-income families and individuals. When it comes to mental health, having a safe place to sleep is the first step to treatment.

But having an address is also essential to access other types of practical support - including the ability to open a checking account.  On the edge of stability, how does a person manage his or her finances? That’s a question we had too. Something as simple as cashing a check becomes increasingly difficult in an increasingly cashless society, so what is it like being unbanked in America, and what are some solutions?

According to the FDIC, cash represented only 26 percent of all payments in 2018. Likewise, unstable addresses make it even more difficult to manage finances, let alone reestablishing credit, applying for a loan, or opening an account.

In 2017, the FDIC reported that 25 percent of American households are either underbanked or fully unbanked, and there is a clear correlation between this number and homelessness.

So what are the solutions? One simple yet effective solution is a prepaid card that acts like a debit card that you can reload at common stores without the need for a bank account or a credit history. 

To beat the obstacle of not having a permanent address, an online company called iPostal1 provides a digital account to manage postal services - they help by providing a physical street address that can be used for credit card services.

To get people back under a roof, we talk about solutions including tiny houses, home for good programs, sanctuary centers, and multi-generational partnerships. We must do something now to help with homelessness, financial instability, and the oftentimes associated mental health issues.

Still, these innovative services and solutions have somewhat limited accessibility, such as internet access or membership fees. To learn about the strategies that New Beginnings has been developing for more than a decade to deal with such widespread issues, listen now!

As the beloved originator of the New York Times #1 bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, Jack Canfield fostered the emergence of inspirational anthologies as a genre.  As the driving force behind the development of over 200 titles and 600 million books sold through the Chicken Soup for the Soul® brand, Jack Canfield is uniquely qualified to talk about success.  His proven formula for success reached global acclaim with his most recent international bestseller The Success Principles™: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. He is also a featured teacher in The Secret and has appeared on more than 1000 radio and TV shows including Oprah, Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, Larry King Live, Montel, and the Today Show. He has conducted his Success Principles Seminars and trainings in more than 50 countries around the world. Listeners of the show are welcome to visit Jack's website and sign up for a free gift: "The Success Principles 10-Day Transformation" 

Mitch Ewan is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada where he earned a degree in Applied Science. After a successful naval career that included command of submarines and a destroyer, Mitch entered private industry where he has served in a variety of senior executive positions including senior management (Board Member, VP & GM) of publicly traded companies. 

His hydrogen and fuel cell career spans over 28 years. He led the team that designed and built the “Green Car”, the world’s first PEM fuel cell powered automobile. For the past 13 years Mitch has been on the staff of the University of Hawaii’s Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (“HNEI”) as the Hydrogen Systems Program Manager where he is helping to develop HNEI’s hydrogen and fuel cell programs. Current projects include the use of electrolyzer systems for grid management, and the installation and operation of hydrogen production and dispensing systems on Oahu and the Island of Hawaii.

Kristine J. Schwarz is a seasoned executive and psychotherapist who brings extensive experience building organizations and managing multi-faceted projects in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors, and considerable experience as an educator and clinician. Kristine is also a former entertainment industry executive with 13 years of experience developing film and television projects internationally. She received her MA from Antioch University Santa Barbara and has worked locally as a therapist at Domestic Violence Solutions, the COPE program at Cottage Hospital, Full Spectrum Recovery, Goleta Valley Union School District, and Working Alternatives. She maintains her psychotherapy private practice, Santa Barbara Psychotherapy.

Prior to joining New Beginnings, Kristine was Associate Director of Institutional Advancement at Antioch University Santa Barbara.  She also served as Core Faculty and Clinical Director of Antioch’s Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology Program where she founded the MFT Consortium of the Central Coast Region, and served as the Central Coast Chair of the MFT Leadership Collaborative and Chair of Antioch’s Alumni Association Steering Committee.

Kristine began her career as a media buyer in Washington, D.C., working with clients such as the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, before moving to Los Angeles in 1987, when she joined the Walt Disney Studios. She received her undergraduate degree in Marketing and Advertising from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.