Today we welcome Steve Taylor of Taylor Made Chocolate based in Chesterfield, VA. Steve used to work at a the company I am at, Alfa Laval, and one day he told them that he was retiring.... to start a chocolate company with a mission to fight human trafficking. When I heard about this recently, I knew right away that I wanted to interview him for ReDOable Resources. Sustainability is also about creating conditions for human beings to thrive and survive, and this sounded like it was spot on.The chocolate industry has... a lot of issues. Just watch the episode of the Netflix series Rotten about chocolate and you'll see what I mean. Steve knew this and he made it a mission with his wife to create chocolate that was only used using sustainable sources. All profits from his company are used to fund human freedom projects.

His story is one that starts from a sad place of learning about the horrors of human trafficking, to one of hope where his company has made it their mission to do something about it.

The emotion I felt during this episode was deep and you won't want to miss it. Make sure to support his mission: www.tmchocolate.com

We wrap up the episode with a little story about scientists that have discovered bacteria that will make recycling some plastics a much more sustainable endeavor.

Today we meet with Matthew Markee, President of Aegis Environmental. They are a team of environmental specialists that work with organizations of all types to develop and execute on environmental strategies of all types. Their team consists of engineers, scientists, geologists, inspectors and auditors that have decades of experience in developing environmental solutions.

Matthew has a long history of not only leading, but also launching sustainability focused businesses. I first met him in 2006 when he came to my business school hiring talent to help him with a new renewable energy model that he was bringing to the market. His career since has been one of positive impact, and we talk about how it helps shape his vision and path.

Learn more at aegisenv.com

Lee ellis of Midnight Sun Brewing in Anchorage, Alaska is our guest today. We learn about how Lee started his brewing career and fell in love with the state that he now calls home. Sustainability in Alaska isn't just a good idea, it's critical to survival and success. Access to ingredients for the brewing process is challenging and when you can get them, they are expensive. This means that operators of breweries need to think about how they can optimize their processes, reduce waste, and maximize yield using what they have. They analyze every part of the process from the utilization of grains, to shipping losses for the CO2 required to carbonate their beer, to the accuracy of the filling of cans. Lee discusses his extensive experience in addressing these challenges and how they tackled some of these difficult challenges. By using a brewery centrifuge (purchased from Alfa Laval, full disclosure - this is the employer of the podcast host) he was able to significantly able to improve yield, saving waste and providing more beer to sell for profit.

We talk about the challenges of a difficult economy and how they deal with it. Diversifying of products and distribution will be how the breweries will survive these challenges and sustainable practices are going to be a critical part of this as well.

Learn more about Lee and Alaska beer at:  midnightbrewingcompany.com  or Brewersguildofalaska.org

We close the show with recognition of the importance of gender equality - one of the UN's sustainability pillars -  as March is women's history month and March 8th is International Women's day.