Wild Virginia Virtual Coffee Talk

Learn More About PFAS and the Health Effects

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - “forever chemicals” - threatens our health and our environment. Initial studies conducted by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have confirmed PFAS contamination in surface waters, groundwater, and drinking water throughout the state. To address this pollution and public health problem, Virginia should use existing authority under the federal Clean Water Act to require disclosure and control of the discharge of these chemicals into our waters.

Top Environmental Nonprofits Working to Conserve Resources and Protect the Planet

Join Publicity & Outreach Director, Katie Keller, to hear about some of the top environmental nonprofits in Virginia, across the country and even those with a global impact. You'll also learn about some of the incredible conservation efforts they are working on and how those campaigns are helping to combat climate change.

This Business Has Kept Almost 30K pounds of Material Away from the Landfill

The Scrappy Elephant is an arts and crafts storefront and community that has helped to divert almost 30,000 pounds of unwanted materials away from the landfill. They are also a Wild Virginia business partner, offering our donors 10% art supplies when they show their Wild Virginia member card. 
UVA / Wild Virginia intern, Haley Freeborn, chats with The Scrappy Elephant owner, Sarah, about the importance diverting waste away from landfills has on methane levels and climate change.
 
* AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO DIVERT MATERIALS FROM THE LANDFILL? BECAUSE LANDFILLS ARE BAD FOR OUR HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT. IN 1988, THE EPA STATED ALL LANDFILLS WILL EVENTUALLY LEAK. THAT MEANS THAT RUNOFF CARRYING WITH IT TOXIC CHEMICALS FROM OUR WASTE, ENDS UP IN OUR WATER SUPPLIES. MANY COMMUNITIES SURROUNDING LANDFILLS HAVE HAD THEIR DRINKING WATER CONTAMINATED BY LEAKING LANDFILLS.
LANDFILLS ARE A MAJOR SOURCE OF METHANE. THE EPA ALSO FOUND LANDFILLS TO BE THE THIRD-LARGEST SOURCE OF HUMAN-RELATED METHANE EMISSIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. METHANE IS A GREENHOUSE GAS 86 TIMES MORE POTENT THAN CARBON DIOXIDE ACCORDING TO THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, MAKING IT A POWERFUL CONTRIBUTOR TO OUR CLIMATE CRISIS.

Meet the Face Behind Virginia Wildlife Corridors

For this episode of the Wild Virginia Coffee Talk Podcast we are joined by Courtney Hayes who is the new face behind preserving Virginia wildlife corridors. She is the Wild Virginia Habitat Connectivity Program Director and has worked as a zoologist and data scientist for the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, previously. Courtney is passionate about protecting wild animals, plants, and ecosystems through scientific research, good management practices, and getting people involved. She spearheads the Virginia Safe Wildlife Corridors Collaborative, a group that is connecting the corridors that support us all.
In this conversation, we highlight some exciting crossing projects in our state and others like California's newest crossing project that will be the largest in the world.

From Coal Ash to Pipelines: How an Activist Continues to Fight Against Climate Change

Jessica Sims from Appalachian Voices joins Wild Virginia to talk about her story in the coal ash fight, and how that led her to fighting both the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. She talks about organizing, how policy affects our environment, how public commenting is critical to stopping pipeline infrastructure, and actionable insights listeners can implement to get involved in combatting climate change. 

Outdoor Photographer Talks About Getting Closer to Nature

In her words, being in nature has helped Alison Thomas “look at the big picture”… An apt expression, since Thomas spends her days outside taking pictures of some of the most beautiful outdoor vistas and getting closer to nature through this work. Thomas is an outdoor photographer, and her photography, which includes black and white and color images and panoramas, is inspired by her deep appreciation of the natural world. 

Virginia Native Plants Expert Shares Insights on Local Genotype

Tune in to this episode of Wild Virginia Coffee Talk to learn more about native plants and why local genotype matters.
A plant is considered native if it has occurred naturally in a particular region, ecosystem, or habitat without human interference. Exotic plants that evolved in other parts of the world or were cultivated by humans into forms that don't exist in nature do not support wildlife as well as native plants do. 
Genotype means family.  That’s ‘family’ in the every-day sense, not the technical taxonomic definition. You share with your parents, aunts, grandparents, siblings, cousins, a constellation of similar genetic material that expresses itself physically as the family nose, or eyebrows, a predilection for cake, and more generally the way you see the world and choose to interact with it, unique to your particular band of people.  'Local genotype' means a group of families that live in the same place, and who likely intersect and interconnect through marriage, childcare, shared recipes, language, etc. when they're humans, and the botanical equivalents when they're plants.

Climate Investor Who Challenged Warren Buffet Shares Call to Action on Pipelines

Freeda Cathcart is a climate investor who challenged Warren Buffet, and for decades, was a passive owner of utility company stocks, content with dividend checks and confident that regulators had her and the environment's best interest. In 2017, Trump rolled back federal oversight of the industry and changed everything. Cathcart believes pipelines and gas won’t be economically sustainable due to competition from clean energy and pressure for organizations to cut emissions. She joined the Wild Virginia Coffee Talk Podcast to chat about concerns on energy companies’ relationships to pipelines like the Mountain Valley pipeline, and new rules proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission that would enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures for investors.
"If you pay a sales tax in Virginia...your money is funding climate change, and you have every right to say that you don't want that to happen anymore."

Toxic Chemicals You May Have in Your Home & Why You Should Quit Plastic

Alex, owner at Dogwood Refillery, joins the Wild Virginia Coffee Talk podcast to chat about the toxic chemicals associated with plastic, why you need to quit them, and simple (realistic) ways to weed plastic out of your life.
Tune in to this episode of Wild Virginia Virtual Coffee Talk to learn more about Alex’s passion behind starting the store, the benefits of bulk stores in terms of plastic waste, and what harmful chemicals you can find in everyday products in your home,

Pipelines, the Gas Crisis, and Oil Change International’s Rebuttal

Politicians continually side with fossil fuel companies and perpetuate false narratives about pipeline infrastructure. We saw this with Senator Joe Manchin’s recent statement on the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Wild Virginia hosted Lorne Stockman, Research Director at Oil Change International to bust some of these myths and misconceptions.