from Sky news.

This is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Well, our connection this hour was made in childhood bedrooms across the country in Westlake, Ohio.

And the bedroom that I shared with my twin brother.

You might find G.I.

Joes, certainly Transformers, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, the plastic toys that defined a generation's childhood.

And here in New York, my childhood bedroom had an entire corner of pink hued rubber and plastic scented toys from waist high houses and convertible cars to Velcro fastening outfits and tiny shoes that my little brother tried to eat.

You could find the fruits of my allowance dollars in the Barbie world, but all this plastic didn't seem like a problem.

We were kids, right?

I guess the younger generation, you know, and.

And now it's like plastic is everywhere.

And younger generations are living in a different world.

So this was kind of part of our thinking.

And there you go.

The average brain contains about seven grams of microplastics equivalent to the weight of a plastic teaspoon, according to a study published in February of the February edition of Nature Medicine.

And this month, city Magazine has its first ever Earth issue e-waste, recycled restaurant buildings, Bitcoin mining and the cost of it, community gardening, and more.

This April edition explores what practical, local ways we can maybe take better care of ourselves.

Hopefully the planet and Leah Stacey, the editor of City Magazine, is co-hosting with me this hour.

You know, steer the ship here.

Yeah.

We're going to talk about this issue and the ways our region is working toward a more sustainable future.

which we export, I think, in a lot of interesting ways in this issue.

And I'm going to welcome our guests to people who work very hard on this issue.

Roberto Philippe La Guerra, multimedia reporter for Citi magazine.

Hello.

Hey, Berto.

Hello.

This is a favorite day of the month.

Why is that?

Because coming on the show.

Yeah.

Love it.

Right.

Love it.

It's great.

When I said you're going from 30 minutes to an hour, he was like, any time.

And I like it.

He loves being two hours.

Yeah.

Let's do it.

Somebody tell Pat he's going to be on the next hour.

I need you to research gateways now.

and, Alyssa Cole, this is your first time on connections.

Yeah.

It is.

Alyssa is our intern this semester, and, she is doing incredible work on every issue.

This is the third issue that you've fully worked on, right?

I believe so, yeah.

Yeah.

It's going by fast.

I mean, I know I three minutes ago that Alyssa is a beatbox.

Yeah.

That's a real thing.

It is?

Yeah.

Well, so, I guess it kind of like, is obvious that, like, since I'm an intern here, I'm still in college.

throughout my entire college career, when I wasn't, like, stuck in the basement of the student center working for our campus paper, the campus Times over at the University of Rochester.

I actually ran an acapella group there called Focal Point, and through them I learned how to beatbox, and I actually just taught some people how to do so this morning.

Leah, do you mind if we just do the first half hour and beatboxing?

Oh, please.

Yeah.

No, I how do you.

I'll pick the mic.

How do you first find out that you can even do that?

the answer is people tell you, hey, can you do this?

And you go, how do I do that?

And then they say, figure it out.

And I feel like a very, like there's a very accurate throughline of what it's like to be thrown in, to be boxing as it is being thrown into every new beat that I do here at city and journalism in general.

Oh, that was a nice little guy.

And we didn't even prompt her on that one.

I was like, watching that happen.

And I was like, damn, the gears are turning the gears of training.

And I look at each other like, she's got it.

It's very, very good.

Well, on a future edition, maybe a little beat boxing could be an order, but yeah.

Yeah, okay.

I mean, I, I find that very, very fun.

Okay.

And I love that.

Hey, there's all kinds of, artistic endeavors that city is going to cover.

I love the idea, by the way, that you're starting this issue with a couple of things that I want to ask you about before we talk to our colleagues.

First of all, in your editor letter here, you are pretty clear that this is an issue that while is obviously concerned and targeted, is not intended to be preachy or kind of talking down and that distinction matters.

I think you want to talk a little bit about that.

Yeah.

I'm I mean there's always that line, right.

That when you're going to tackle something and you know city where we're so arts and culture focus.

We have been for a few years now, but we've been wanting to bring in more long form, more newsy leaning arts and culture content.

And so, the past 2nd April issues have been cannabis themed.

And this year we said, okay, nothing has changed in such a great amount in that industry that we feel it's warranting a whole issue.

And so we were like, let's pivot.

And I said, let's, let's try a climate issue.

It it started as a climate issue, I should say.

And then at one point, I think it was the planet issue.

And I was like, but which planet?

And I mean, it just.

Yeah.

And so it became the Earth issue through, various factors.

You know, it's always based on pitches from both the staff and the freelance team and also kind of what we see emerging in the region at the time when we start working on the magazine.

And so it is the Earth issue.

Kind of nice.

Earth day is coming up.

Right.

So this month and, I think a lot of the stuff in these pages is on our minds.

You know, some of this factors into the economy and how things are going there.

We have a piece that Alyssa worked on, and she'll talk about that in a little bit.

and then just general lifestyle things, Berto had a really interesting photo essay, which he will talk about.

And then, we're a big second hand city.

And by that I mean we have a lot of second hand stores, whether it's the house where you can find parts to fix your actual house and furnishings that have come from other places, or whether you're going thrifting, whether that's the bins at goodwill or the lucky flea market or staple on University of.

And so one of our newer freelancers, ton, is going to chat with us, a bit later in the show, and they worked on a piece about second hand shops and some of the newer ones that are open.

So there are so many practical ways to take better care of the only Earth that we know.

and so we try to really focus on those things and again, stay away from being like, here's what you're doing wrong.

I need you to change your whole life because that messaging lands a little different.

Yeah.

People don't love that.

I mean, I don't love that, right?

Do you?

you know, I'm human, but that can land a little clunky, for sure.

Yeah.

I also like this idea of asking what the plastic was in our lives and just thinking about that this morning.

It's like, well, like Transformers for me, for sure.

Yeah.

The death of Optimus Prime is like a terrible thing in that first Transformers movie.

Dating myself a little, as a late Gen Xer and, and, you know, G.I.

Joe, I mean, I guess there was some.

I think my brother had more of that than I did, but plastic is everywhere.

That little study that city references, it's like, oh, a teaspoon of plastic.

And it inspired so many other articles, too.

I remember reading it.

I don't know who did the first article I read.

And then, you know, I always go, I'm sure you do this too.

You go back to the source and you're like, oh, well.

And then some people were like, were promoting it and they were like, oh, it's a teaspoonful of plastic.

No, it's like the weight of a plastic teaspoon, which is equally as scary but a different fact.

Right.

It's not like the Mary Poppins like teaspoon of plastic.

and when I was writing my editor's letter, I was thinking about not only Barbies, but also like the bag of bags that everyone's family has or had.

Like the bag of plastic bags.

Like, we all grew up with this, right?

And now my mom, a couple of weeks ago, like, handed me a plastic bag to, like, put something in after I was leaving her house.

And I was like, where'd you get this?

Like, it looked like a relic, or it was like a plastic bag black market that I don't know about.

She's like, she's like, I ordered something and they.

Yeah, well, and I am a cat owner.

And I was like, I need to know where these are coming from.

Like, where is the stash?

But, you know, that's like, I think a really great indication of how our, like, outlook toward plastic and how we have come together as communities and like, tried to take these better steps and easier steps.

And we joke about it, but I have my reusable grocery bags in my car all the time.

I don't always remember to bring them in the store with me.

And then I'm, you know, the person with the paper, the paper bag.

That's like ripping on the way out because I'm like, I'm only going to get one.

I'm going to put everything in it.

And then, yeah.

Do you also try to take the the full trip with all the stuff from your car to your front door and you're like, I'm not going back to the car.

No.

I'm usually smart enough to know that that's going to create more work.

Oh yeah.

No, I, I every time I'm like, there's a reason we build muscle and this is hard.

So this is what I really appreciate about the issue though.

It takes parts of our lives and puts us, puts our attention in a lot of different directions.

And we're going to talk this hour about how city has done that with this issue.

Are you saying, by the way, I, let's see here a spoonful of plastic makes the climate meltdown?

Is that what the song was?

I, I think that's the song now.

Thank you so much for singing.

Alyssa, could you beatbox?

No.

There we go.

Now we're talking.

Yeah.

I mean, hey, I'm just the intern.

Whatever you how I well, I mean, so should we let's talk a little bit about some of the specifics here.

So, we're going to work throughout the the issue this hour.

But I certainly encourage, as I always do, listeners, to and viewers, if you're watching on YouTube on the Sky news YouTube channel, pick up the city issue, the Earth issue.

Here it is.

There it is.

it's feels very environmental splendor.

Cover design by Jacob Walsh.

Yeah.

Beautiful as always.

Yeah.

And, you want to talk a little bit about what Alyssa was writing about here?

Yeah.

Well, I want her to talk about.

Oh, that's why she's, So your, your big piece was Taproot Collective, and this was something you completely pitched, so take it away.

Yeah.

I guess it's helpful to have, like, a little bit of an understanding as to kind of like how the pitch process works.

As someone who just started here a couple months ago, it was something that was completely foreign to me as a college student.

The university I go to doesn't have a journalism department, so I was super flying blind.

what's really nice about the pitch process is so Leah sends out a form for anyone who's interested in contributing to the edition, to fill out with their ideas on what would fit really nicely into the overarching theme that they have going on.

And I was actually really lucky.

This issue was perfectly attuned to my interests in the way that I grew up.

When I was growing up, my parents got divorced and my mom lived with some family friends who actually, like the matriarch of the household, ran the recycling division of the local school system that I was a part of.

And so I grew up with, like, recycling bins and recycling bins and the compost, and we almost never threw anything away.

And everything was recycled and so when I came to college, one of the first things that I did was join, like our environmental sustainability group that we have for first year, through that, I learned about the program Urban Fellows, which is something that the University of Rochester does to give students access to basically like programs in the Rochester area that are working towards doing support in a sustainable way.

and the Taproot Collective was one of the programs that I knew interfaced with the Urban Fellows.

And so that's how I found out about them was through there.

I had a friend who interned with them, I believe a summer prior.

I had some friends who were at, like, West Side Farmer's Market on Genesee Street.

And so getting to know the university from a sustainable front helped me to learn about the Rochester community.

as one of the first things that I got to do when I first stepped on campus.

I'm originally from Albany, and so I think there's something to like the community building that comes from people who are really sustainably oriented that, for lack of a better word, or maybe this is a good word, like roots our community so much more deeply in each other.

So when it comes to taproot, the first person that I turned to was Madison Zang, who's a current student at the university and interned with taproot, this past summer, helped, basically, like, conduct a survey of all of the, community gardens that are in the city of Rochester, which there are, like way, way more than you would have thought.

So she went out like every morning.

And would they have like a community garden themselves?

Taproot does, right near the public market.

So she would help out at that garden in the morning and then go out and survey like actually like measuring plots of land, taking a look at like the composition of what it was that they were growing, how they were doing.

So doing surveys and talking to people who are, garden owners, and they're working on an aggregate survey that's going to get pushed out, sometime this summer, which is really exciting.

the main part about taproot, though, which is like the focus of the article, as you'll know when you read it and pick it up at all of the locations that we've delivered to, I did some of those deliveries.

Please go pick them up.

is they have this really big focus on giving youth in the Rochester area leadership opportunities, which is so, so crucial, especially when we're thinking about, like, this is the climate in the world that these kids are going to inherit, like giving them the tools to be able to understand how food is produced, especially in like the food desert ish area that we live in is so incredibly important to understanding the importance of what it is that you consume, how you consume it, where it's coming from, and also, just like the leadership skills that come with learning how to run a garden and oversee and manage projects is like a really big thing that they instill in these high school students.

It's part of like the summer Youth Employment program through the city of Rochester is what taproot works with.

And it gives all of these students like not only like financial incentive to be doing stuff that's really good for our surrounding community, but a place to be learning and growing and learning how to not hate tomatoes, for example, and appreciating, you know, understanding how food is grown and where it comes from.

We're pretty far away from that as as a collective, as a society.

But, I mean, some of us grew up closer to food than others.

I mean, I think, oh yeah, yeah, I know, I grew up surrounded by fields on every side except for where the road was.

Yeah.

What about you, Berta?

I grew up downtown, but now I live by the fields.

So you kind of live in my own town?

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, like I said, I swapped places.

I grew up in a very suburban setting, and at this point, it feels cliché to say what I'm about to say, but, like, at what point does a seminal piece of literature go from, like a hot new thing to, like, kind of played or even cliche or like now it's like it's like a legacy piece.

So years ago, when I read Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, sorry, I told you now, I would be surprised if either of them have read it.

Okay.

Because I think it's more our generation.

Okay.

No idea what you're talking about.

I've only heard of it.

Okay, there you go.

So, I mean, everything all this new again, there's very few books that have come out in my lifetime that have moved the culture that much.

Yeah, this is one of them.

Yeah.

And one of the insights that Michael Pollan has spending all these time on this, on these farms and seeing how pigs are raised and cows are raised and then having to participate in slaughter, is at one point he asked himself, If I'm willing to eat this animal, should I be willing to have to slaughter it?

Like if I'm so repelled by the idea?

Does that say something to me or does that am I to insulate it from what food is about.

Now that's the meat side of it obviously.

But just in general we're pretty separated from food and we're growing up without that connection.

But I think what I think is really lovely about a piece like this and an effort like this is it's about connecting.

I think people, kids, students to food is grown and that has a lot of different benefits.

You appreciate it more when you eat.

You appreciate it more when you're connected to nature.

You appreciate what climate is doing.

I mean, like it's I think it's a lot of things.

And so, yeah, for me, I went back to Omnivore's Dilemma, which is amazing, that like, yeah, like people like what?

What book?

It's like the beginning, part of the beginning of the whole farm to table movement.

Yeah.

I just think reading these pieces also, I just, you know, when you can, like you're feeling something so strongly, you can almost like and are just like the, the sense of putting your hands in dirt.

Yeah.

Nothing compares to that, especially when you're doing it in a way that you're going to produce something.

I just, I remember like gardening with my mom, even if it was just flowers.

Like there's something so like almost primal in us that like is we want to do that.

We want to be in the dirt.

We want to create things from the earth.

I think we were meant to do that.

Yeah.

And the cool thing about taproot is I think it dispels the idea that depending on where you are, that maybe you can't or maybe you can't.

I mean, I think, I mean, you agree with that.

Yeah, actually, I was learning a lot.

so I went and talked to like some of the, like, executives at taproot.

So Nathaniel Mish is like the executive director there.

And then a semi Coleman like, helps run their youth programing.

And the two of them I went to their actual space like, at the garden that they work at.

And I was talking to the two of them and I was like, oh, you know, you guys are probably in your off season right now, like probably just mainly doing administrative work and leadership training.

And they were very clear with me in establishing know the production process for food and also for gardening in particular.

Like not only is it an all your thing, but doing the support on the back end to be educating students on how to properly do so, like is what fills up all of the winter.

And so in fact almost there's like more work that goes into like that side of things and the actual like cultivation and management that happens in what we think of as like our growing season.

So even here in Rochester, where it's pretty cold most of the time, people always have to be like vigilant and conscientious, especially with the weather that we have.

Yeah, yeah.

Great work on this.

I can see why you're so popular in the city office already.

Oh, I'm just learning that now.

So?

So it's really great.

You know, part of the funny thing about Pollan's book is he ends up writing, I think it was kind of a sequel.

Although Megan Maxwell will correct me on this, the book that Michael Pollan wrote after Omnivore's Dilemma.

I don't remember what it was called, but he's doing this media tour and he goes, I'm going to, like, really blow my chances of selling a lot of books here.

But I think I can sum up the book in three sentences in seven words, which is eat food, period.

Not too much.

Period.

Mostly plants.

Period.

It's like, that's oh no, that's the whole book.

But all these years later, mostly plants is it feels far away.

And then you start to do you start getting your hands in the dirt and you start to feel like, oh, we do have a shorter growing season, but we can do it.

It takes a lot of knowledge and skill, but, and climate is making it more difficult because it's more volatile.

We're getting bud break earlier in the Finger Lakes with vines.

We're getting you know, apple orchards are it's a real struggle because of hail and other issues that come.

But I mean, I just really love this piece.

It made my brain go in a lot of different directions.

So thank you.

Yeah.

So that's that's one of the pieces.

And city and Leah, before we jump into, bring in our next guest, ten is going to be with us.

And we're going to talk about the karmic cycle of clothing coming up here.

you know, clothing and climate, I would say ten years ago there was less talk about that.

I think there's a lot more here.

I think there's a lot more now.

Yeah.

And it's interesting because there's this dichotomy of people who really like to spend a lot on clothing and shoes, but then they're like these climate conscious folks, and it does not line up, because if you really dig into and I love this stat that ten put in their lead, saying it takes 2000 gallons of water to produce a single pair of jeans.

Oh, and you think about some of the jeans.

Yeah.

No, I feel like I'm sitting on 2000 gallons of water.

It's terrible.

Thank you for that.

The mental image is a lot for me.

I just, I like glitched, but but I think, again, like, we're such a great second hand city.

and then that is also just a great phrase.

I wish I had thought of that sooner.

but we we have just every opportunity for you to go to shop at thrift stores, second hand stores.

And also a lot of these stores are doing consignment, which is where you can take your clothes in.

They will give you a percentage of the sales.

So it's sustainable in more than one way, right.

Like you can make a little side business from this.

I've talked about this before.

I'm an avid Poshmark user.

and, and I, you know, when you take clothes and just donate them, that's one thing.

But when you can also give back to the second hand, like you become almost like a tiny business owner.

I love that part of it.

I think it's great.

And we have a lot of that going on the op shop, same thing.

Like you walk through the op shop, which is over near Ugly Duck, and the different rooms have different like booths, quote unquote.

And they're different sellers.

So, yeah, I went ten pitch this story.

I was like, this is great.

We've had this one on trader.

And actually Berto and I had gone to with Katie after we had gone to where?

To where?

Yeah.

Like the week before.

Yeah.

Got my favorite sweatshirt from there.

It was like, I completely forgot.

Was it like a Friday?

It was like, we were.

It was like a snowstorm.

Yeah.

We like, drove there in a snowstorm and we're like, yeah, let's let's go check out this store.

And we just, like, really the only three people in there.

Yep.

Tried out a bunch of clothes.

It was super fun.

Yeah.

So let's bring in ten.

They're here.

Ten.

Gardner.

Well, on the line.

Ten Gardner.

Contributor to city magazine.

Hey.

Ten.

Hi.

Thanks for being with us.

And you want to say hello?

Leah.

Stacy to July 10th.

Hi.

Jen's.

Yeah.

Hi.

Thank you for being here.

Jensen Ruggiero is the owner of I'm going to say kayaks.

That's a secondhand clothing store in Rochester.

I don't know how to say it.

I was going to ask.

Yeah, kayaks is right and stands for.

Yeah.

It stands for kid in a Kitschy shop.

Oh, that's the kitschy shop I love I love that, yeah.

That's great.

And, Berta, you know your photography here, everything just pops off the page and everywhere you went with this, I try.

I'm not.

I'm not crediting you.

I'm crediting the material like these places.

Right.

This is why he likes coming on here.

Yeah.

No, there's a lot of.

There's a lot of great stuff here.

Berta should have worn that sweatshirt, but I want to start by asking.

Well, I'll ask you ten if you want to just describe the piece a little bit, and then, I'm really curious to talk about some of the themes that you wrote about with Jensen, but tell us about the piece ten.

Yeah.

So I mean, like Leah said, we are a big secondhand city and I'm an avid thrift store.

and I've been wanting to write for city for a while, and this is something that I have interest in as a person who lives on the planet, I'm interested in continuing to live on the planet.

And so I just, yeah, I went around to a couple local thrift shops, smaller shops, newer shops that people might not already know about.

You know, like Little Shop of Horrors and Topshop.

They're huge.

so I wanted to highlight small businesses, and I actually went to high school with Jensen.

And so I wanted to plug her.

And yeah, there's been an incredible experience.

Jensen, tell us about how you do what you do at kayaks.

Yeah.

So at kayaks, I kind of sourced everything by hand, from various estate sales, side of the road, garage sales, thrift stores, and I display it kind of in a way that's less overwhelming than a general thrift store.

so it's more of a boutique setting, if you will.

and I do a mix of homewares and clothing and I also offer a rotating monthly vendor spot to other smaller sellers in the city who don't yet have their own space or don't have the capacity to run their own, you know, full brick and mortar shop, but want to get their name out there a little more.

so I offer a corner in the shop that changes every month, where they can sell their pieces, and my shop.

And if I could ask both of you about something that ten writes, I'm going to quote ten piece where ten says with consistent action, individual consumers can push the market toward more sustainable practices.

The reason I want to Keenan, this is, again, so many of these pieces have my brain going in all these different directions.

And years ago, I was watching the 60 minutes piece on plastic, and they were talking about the advertising that the big cola companies do.

And so a lot of the times plastic containers are used because they're cheaper and they're easy for companies.

And so they started this campaign, the big companies, the big corporations years ago.

And they would tell you, you know, recycle, you can make the world better.

And putting it on the individual like, hey, we're going to make something really kind of crappy, but you can take it to a recycler and that at least helps a little.

So it's on you.

And and part of the pushback over years was like, wait a second, don't put this on the individuals.

This is a problem at the top.

You don't have to do it this way.

And so I was thinking about that.

I was thinking about what Enid Cardinal said on this program years ago.

Enid was talking about what individuals can do with consumption and waste.

And I asked the same kind of question.

And Enid said, absolutely, this is a top down problem, but don't underestimate the power of people through individual action.

That becomes a cultural change to put pressure upward.

So, you know, I mean, I I've always had that push pull question on who do you blame when things kind of get out of control or if there's harm?

And I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I start with ten because, you know, when you think about individual action versus the responsibility of kind of the big economic powers, I mean, how do you kind of square all that up?

And how do you think about that in regards to clothing?

Yeah, I actually was kind of grappling with that while I was writing the piece.

you know, 800 words isn't enough space to really tackle the whole issue.

but I think it is really important as just a person existing in this economy and on this planet, to have hope and have belief that you can make a difference.

You know, I'm not the CEO of Coca Cola, I'm not the CEO of Amazon, but I can do the little things that I can do.

You know, instead of taking the nihilistic view of the world on fire.

So why would I recycle?

Yeah, it's the world's on fire.

So what can I do to help?

And let me ask Jensen about that, that very idea.

Go ahead.

Jensen.

Yeah.

I love what Tom said there too.

And bouncing off of what you said oven.

It does start here.

It starts with us, you know, like also like Tom said, we're not the CEOs of Coca-Cola, Amazon or any of these big corporation names.

but what we can do is we can start purchasing from them and we can start purchasing from our smaller local businesses and supporting within our communities.

and something I really focus on in my shop is I also accept donations to try and be like a middleman before, you know, Goodwill or Salvation Army, because they are just so overwhelmed with product, that we can keep, you know, those special pieces of clothing that you've had for years in our communities, and they can be passed to your neighbors?

Well, I don't I think I'm probably the oldest person on this program today.

I don't I don't always feel like my actions are reflecting what I want my values to be, but I'm more conscious of it than ever.

When I was Alyssa's age, I was never thinking about this.

I mean, so, Alyssa, when you're thinking about clothing, are you thinking more about, you know, where it came from and what the process was like?

I mean, like, is that on your mind?

Yeah, I actually, my mom was a big, like, Salvation Army goodwill person.

I grew up, like, not super financially stable.

And so I think in a way it's much easier to be, like, conscious of your consumption because you have to be.

And so that was instilled in me in that way from a financial standpoint.

But I do have this like, kind of like mantra that I think about all the time, which is like cost per use.

And so going back to what Leah was talking about, about people getting really expensive articles of clothing in some ways there are pros to like if you have a couple of staples, as long as they're like really good quality spending the money because the cost per use goes down the more you wear it.

And if you're getting something that's higher quality, that cost inevitably like pays off in the fact that you don't have to be trashing it at the end of the season in the way that a lot of our fast fashion ends up going.

I also grew up, going to like clothing swaps a lot, which is are so fun, such a blast.

Yeah, it's like a big community builder as well.

So like once or twice a year, my mom and all of her friends would meet up and swap clothes.

And, you know, a lot of people are different sizes, but people would like, try stuff on and like give each other style advice.

And it was a way for me to connect with people that honestly, I had like, you know, decades of life experience difference from.

But we could all come together in this way to support each other, support our communities, keep clothing cycling within our communities, and also be more sustainably minded.

Oh yeah, I love that.

Yeah, that's good stuff.

Yeah.

how much are you now thinking about sourcing and and all of those questions, Leah, clothing wise.

Yeah.

so my sister and I have been thrifting since we were in high school.

we also grew up.

I mean, I have four siblings, so hand-me-downs, secondhand clothing like that was just part of it, man.

I think I was like, in high school before I bought my first, like, designer jeans.

And back then it was probably like American Eagle or something.

You know?

I was just, like, trying to impress that something.

I don't think it is.

Is it?

Oh, is there still an American hero in the mall?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And they also are trying forever 21.

So they're trying to retarget the millennials too.

They're trying to bring us back.

That's like a different that's a whole show.

Oh yeah American Eagle.

We're not going to get into all the old school brands.

Yeah.

What's really what's going on.

What's going on with them?

Berto, tell me about the sweatshirt.

I mean, clearly that your brain was turned off this morning.

That's what you should be wearing.

Yeah, well, I should have been, it's just, you know, I feel like another piece that, like, people sometimes touch on is, like, the quality piece, too.

Like, I mean, fast fashion, like you said, just then it falls apart, and then you look at and like, almost all my favorite pieces, in my closet, are all, like, thrifted, like my favorite pair of jeans.

Goodwill.

my favorite sweatshirt was wear to wear, like, have a, like this Abercrombie like flannel.

That is a quality that I would not like.

The label is kind of misleading.

Or like, was Abercrombie really doing this back in the day?

Like it's an old company?

Yeah.

So I mean, it's it's nice and but yeah, like all my favorite pieces, none of them are from, like, when I'm cashing out in the mall.

So I just stop shopping there and I stop shopping online if I can help it.

Like, I like to go through thrift shopping and find my pieces.

And yeah, I mean, it's the quality just holds up better and it just looks better.

I don't know, to to point there.

Ten I'm reading your piece.

You talked to Nick Schroeder.

From where to where?

Who said if you treat something well, whether it is silk, wool or cotton, it'll last forever.

If you buy quality to begin with, you won't need to continue to buy.

I mean, it sounds so obvious, but it is the opposite of fast fashion.

Ten SEO yeah, I mean, like even if you have like an old dress that doesn't fit you anymore, you can make a pillowcase or like curtains if it's good fabric, you know, instead of having to toss it because there's a million holes in it.

Jensen, do you find people who come in to kayaks?

you know, the first timers, do they buy into this idea that I might be spending more than fast fashion, but I'm starting to think about cost per use.

I'm starting think about the life of the garment.

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

That's something I hear from a lot of consumers and something we focus on too, with sourcing at the shop is along with, you know, secondhand vintage material.

I'm mainly focusing on sourcing linens, cottons, silks, those materials that are going to last people for years.

And yeah, most of the time people are coming in, you know, wearing their favorite piece, like Roberto was saying.

and so it's it's nice to connect with people in that way and hear about other places that they've sourced to these pieces from, whether it be in our city or across the States or even across the world.

There's there's vintage sellers and, secondhand sellers all over.

And if you find something that's made of that quality material, you're still wearing it like ten, 15, 20 plus years later.

And Jensen, before we let you go, we're going late here.

We probably should have just done both ours with Leah today.

Oh, well, I mean, live and learn how people are going to have to pick up city magazines.

We just have a lot to talk about.

You do have a lot to talk about.

I want to get a question from a listener who says, I'm frustrated that there are places like Lucky Flea that buy up clothes from goodwill, and then sell them at higher prices.

So it locks out people on a budget from buying good items at goodwill.

What are your guests think when you think about that.

So yeah, this is this is a, this is something I've heard since The Lucky Flea started.

Here's what I have to say from a business standpoint.

Go do it first.

And from a secondhand standpoint, they're not buying everything.

So you know, this has opened up.

And I'm sure Jensen can agree with this.

This has opened up a career for people.

And those people who are motivated enough to get to the bins at goodwill and to do that and, you know, I'm not saying I agree with all the markups, but it is business.

And so there are there are still things at goodwill you can get there just like those business owners who are at the Lucky Flea are doing.

And so I don't have a lot of patience for that complaint.

You could do it.

You can do anything.

Jensen's doing it.

She has a store front.

And then you want to add there before we let you go.

Jensen.

Yes, I was going to say I would love to chime in on this because I am someone who has frequent the goodwill bins, especially more recently in this economy.

because even our, our goodwill's and savers, you know, they're racking up the prices now too.

And you have to remind yourself that all of that is donated.

so first starts with them, the bigger corporations, they're marking up the prices.

Then that's a great people are buying them and we have to make something off of it.

You know, we have to pay for the gas it took us to get there.

We're washing these items.

If they're not unwashed, dirty, dingy items, we're repairing these items, sewing up holes that may have been on a piece.

But, you know, we fix that little hole and it's going to still last used for years to come.

But another thing I want is to know about the goodwill bins.

As someone who does frequent it, if you're not familiar, the goodwill bins is a spot where it is just, I mean, probably nine foot long bins in rows of 12.

And I want to say there's probably at least 15 of those rows of 12 nine foot long bins full of stuff.

There's wares, and then there's also clothing.

The clothing section is larger, and everything at the goodwill bins that you buy is weighed by the pound.

But they're rotating out these bins about every hour.

And once those bins are rolled to the back and gone, those are going straight to the landfill.

So also what I have to say to people is go get to the goodwill bins, dig around for a bit.

It does take some time.

So I mean, in terms of my shop, I would upcharge for my time jars and what it took me to wash the items.

I'm not trying to, you know, break anyone's bank.

but yeah, just just get out there.

Go do it.

Go find your your specific piece.

If you would rather do that than support the small businesses and save a little bit of time.

It's it's really up to your preference, I guess.

Jensen, where are we going to find you at kayaks.

we are at kayaks today.

Tomorrow?

My sister told me down at the shop today.

She'll be there 12 to 4, and we'll be there all weekend long.

Monroe Avenue, as ten says, tucked inconspicuously along a busy area.

806 Monroe Avenue.

Yeah.

Jensen, thanks for taking time for us today.

Thank you so much for having me.

I really appreciate this.

And ten thanks for for sharing more on the story.

Great work there.

Yeah, I appreciate you guys reaching out.

Keep pitching.

1010 Gardner.

The karmic cycle of clothing.

before we take our only break of the hour, let me read an email from David, who writes to us from Vancouver, Canada.

He says regarding water producing our clothes.

He says it matters a great deal whether that water is coming from the normal water cycle or from slowly replaceable groundwater.

Most cotton, fortunately, is grown from rainwater in quite wet places.

That said, there's still soil depletion, pesticide contamination and biodiversity loss to consider, so complaints complexity of clothing.

so look what city has this doing talking about all kinds of things.

Liz Stacey is here co-hosting with me as we talk about the new City magazine.

Yeah, we're going to take our only break of the hour, and we're going to come right back and talk about more of these themes and share some of your feedback on the other side of this break.

Coming up in our second hour, my co-host is my colleague Patrick Hosking, and we're talking about the upcoming gateways music Festival.

Gateways was created to counteract the isolation and underestimation faced by many black classical artists, and it has evolved and grown over the years, still growing despite the national climate that we are seeing.

And we're going to talk about gateways next.

Our.

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This is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson, before my co-host Leah is going to talk with Berto about another great photo essay, I just want to read a little bit more email here.

And this comes from Ken in East Rochester.

he says, number one, being an animal lover with defining non plastic and it's, a finding of plastic in the presence in our brains.

I've been wondering about its health effects on our pets.

Two toys bowls.

Yeah.

I'm sure it's very similar.

Yeah.

Plastic encountered by animals.

That's not our professional expertise.

I think I would just endorse the idea that that's a concern.

We should be thinking about animals, too.

Yeah.

My cats have glass bowls.

Oh, for that reason.

Yeah.

And I don't, they don't have one of those, like, weird plastic water fountains that, like, runs all the time.

for two reasons.

One, because they flip it over and, second leaning because I'm like, it's probably healthier to just, like, let them, like, have a couple drips from the sink, you know, like, I. Yeah.

So you're a sink dripper.

I do person I love that.

Yeah.

Well they're also just annoying and they'll follow me around until they get to do that for a little while.

But then it's a cat.

So like, they're bored after you know, 0.2 seconds and they're done.

They're like one drip.

I'm good.

And then they're just going to go off and brood some more.

Yeah, just like brooding for sure is pretty.

dogs flip water bowls on accident because they're clumsy and very nice cats flip them just to annoy you.

Cats always have an agenda, and that's why.

It's why I love them.

I know cats are great.

I'm a huge fan.

And don't don't take this the wrong way.

I love cats, I just they have an agenda.

That's right.

Yeah.

so Ken, good point.

Ken also says how can we deal with the sometimes overwhelming and futile thought that most of the plastic we've ever created is still out there somewhere, surrounding us, just in smaller pieces?

Oh, yeah.

My.

Well, we were talking about my hometown.

My hometown has a giant landfill in it now.

And when I, when I drive through my hometown to get to the Thruway, because I grew up between Buffalo and Rochester, you drive by, we call it Mount Virgin.

And I think about, like, just everything that's in there.

And I'm like, this can't be good for even the people who live in the towns.

Like it's it's it gets in everything.

Like we're putting it in the earth.

That's not a tomato.

That's not whatever it's doing.

Right.

Like it's it's scary stuff.

Ken, thank you for that email.

So tell me about this photo essay, guys.

Yeah, I'm going to I'm going to let Berto take it away.

But you know every photo essay we have a lively discussion.

Yes.

About what Berto is going to shadow essentially for this for the issue.

And, we wanted something a little more like visual, food focused.

there were a lot of ideas.

There was.

But ultimately, yeah, we went this route just because, like, the story behind it is undeniable.

I think that it's very interesting and stuff.

Yeah.

So I got to, shadow chef Ryan Jennings, co-founder of, sweet pea plant based kitchen.

first and foremost, very talented chef.

I know this firsthand because the very last photo is, I, I ate that.

I definitely ate that bowl.

Yes.

he accepts gifts.

We don't condone that.

Yeah, I said I want to.

He's like, I'm going to either have to eat that later or you can have it now.

And I was like, I'll take it.

but anyway, yeah.

So it was interesting because, the conversation, you know, was around, the plant based.

I always go in with a general idea of what I want to do, but then I let the story kind of unfold and take me.

So, I originally was like, we're talking about how, like, plant based eating is, like, good for you in the environment.

And then we kind of touched on that, but then we talked about kind of more like the industry side of it, and we kind of dove into, you know, how his position and the position of Sweet Pea was able to, utilize their success in the industry to help kind of influence and help other businesses and kind of fill this gap from like a basic start up to, you know, the high end industry people who can create at mass scale.

And he's kind of found his place where he can utilize and still successfully run this, plant based meal delivery, but also help other companies get their business off the ground and still implement, like, environmentally friendly practices, which is, like, really cool.

And that that includes industries that are not plant based, like, you know, dairy, you know, that's those don't even seem to mix.

But, we talk about how he's, they're going to be working with, believe it's Spotted Duck Creamery.

you know, and those are two industries.

Like, you'd be like, oh, well, if you're plant based, why are you working with the dairy industry?

That's kind of messed up, but it's really more about like he talks about like an 8020 approach.

Right.

And it's exactly eating where you're at.

You're not going to get everybody to to fully say, hey, I'm not in me anymore.

But if you could get someone to embrace it just a little bit and they like it and they say, hey, it's not all just leafs and you know, and grass, right?

Like that kale with a side of kale.

Yeah.

Like it's actually delicious I, I couldn't believe the meal I had.

I was like, this is, this is amazing.

Where's like I'm surprised there's not beef in this.

Like, it just tastes that good.

Yeah.

And when he was on the show recently, he talked about that kind of 8020 because he was like, I'm not even vegan.

Yeah.

He's like that's like that's my favorite part.

Yeah.

This is off the record.

On the record.

What do we yeah yeah yeah.

Because I think a lot of people assume based on what Sweet Pea is doing, that he is and he's not.

Yeah.

but he says there's something really valuable that incrementalism does matter.

Yes.

And sometimes in any movement, a lot of activist circles, a lot of social change efforts, it becomes an argument about maximalism or incrementalism.

And I understand why maximalists are where they are in almost any debate.

Because you see, the world that you want to be better and you're frustrated that it's not there.

And you you almost want to demand, like, I know we can do this, like get there now.

But then if you shut out the incrementalist, then then I think there's probably some harm there too.

So strength in numbers.

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

And that's I mean, I thought that whole approach was so interesting because, I was, I originally I was like kind of worried.

I'm like, oh, wait a minute, is this not what I thought it was?

But then I realize it's like creating good from, like, the inside and allowing, like, now you've got, a dairy, company that is going to be able to piggyback off of, you know, an all electric fleet, compostable packaging, compostable practices, who they already have the things in place.

So it's, there's like no friction, which is, like, super ideal in any business.

Like, you tell me you've already got this figured out.

I don't have to worry about it.

That's great.

So, you know, you're creating change.

through, like, your position.

And I thought that was super interesting.

And I was able to shadow Ryan, as he was making this meal, which is a meal that you can order.

So also, seeing how finely crafted these recipes are, you know, he, he credits their size, that they're not too big so he can do things like he has a traditional, Japanese kimchi fermentation.

I can't remember what he called it, but it, like, he's like, I can do things like this.

Where at that size that it it works.

Right.

And so, it was just so interesting to see the, the quality that goes into it, the investments that they've made.

And yeah, great great visuals, by the way.

Great photos.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Beautiful.

Well done.

Awesome piece.

Great contribution to Citi's Earth issue that we've been talking about.

We are almost at the end here.

My goodness.

I want to mention a listener named Richard emailed us about an event that's happening in Geneva, mission zero for creating new pathways for living in harmony with the Earth is happening on Saturday, April 26th, from 10 to 2.

It's at the Geneva Recreation Complex.

That's the ice rink on Exchange Street.

They'll have vendors and organizations represented.

You can learn about what they're doing.

Solar energy, heat pumps, yard care practices.

a fix it and sewing clinic, I guess, planting for kids going on.

So like, a lot of cool stuff happening, it's called mission zero four, and it's happening in Geneva, one of the coolest places in the world.

Saturday, April 26th, 10 to 2 at the ice rink there on Exchange Street.

So really fun stuff there.

We've got a story from Geneva on the issue too.

Yeah, yeah, we we got like a third of the issue covered this hour.

Yeah.

So do you want to talk a little bit more about what we didn't get to I think at this point pick up the issue, pick up the air.

And of course, just a reminder all of our stories do go online.

we release one per weekday during the month that it's on stands.

you can follow us on social media at Rock City Mag.

we are pretty good about posting teasers for all the stories there as well.

And you can see all the good work in this.

I'm really just so happy with this issue.

And we had a good number of new freelancers, which is always very fun.

I love to bring in new voices.

Great crew.

later this month.

By the way, here on connections, we're going to be sitting down with Mike Garland and Tina Stevens from Monroe County.

That's going to happen on April 16th.

We're going to talk about all things recycling.

And one of the topics will be e-waste.

that's featured in this month's issue.

And a piece, by, Suhasini Patni.

so there you go.

They've got connections there every time we talk recycling.

By the way, every time I container in phones blow up, email blows up.

People have all kinds of questions about what you can and can't recycle.

Yeah, that's like really a new topic right?

Within recycling is like us especially like tech I mean yeah, yeah, that that's why the eco park, we never thought about that when we were kids.

No I didn't, I did not actually usually when I was like thinking about recycling as a kid, I just thought, well, that's what power plastic goes.

And now you can't even recycle some plastic.

Yeah.

There's a lot of plastic you can't recycle.

Yeah.

What are we doing?

I don't think we're really sure.

You got, like, three bins to choose from.

It's a mess.

Confused?

It's a mess here.

okay.

I think we've we've just about covered it.

Yeah.

Where do you find city magazine?

you can find it in just enough time.

Every location lists every location.

Okay, here we go.

No, we distribute about 40,000 magazines, a month.

You may notice that we are not in Wegmans.

We will be back in Wegmans.

We're getting a lot of questions about that.

we're in one Wegmans.

At least we're in.

Okay.

On Culkin's road.

Yeah, I went out in Henrietta.

Yeah.

Lovely.

So, yes, but we are having a distribution.

We're having a distribution interruption with that.

so we will be back within Wegmans and we are working on tops, if that's where you been getting them.

We'll tight.

We'll have more updates soon.

you can get it mailed to you, which is the way to guarantee that you get it.

You can do that by sponsoring, as a WXXI sponsor or as a member brother.

Or you can become a city champion on our website.

Give us any amount per month.

We will mail it to you.

What's the website?

Leah, Rock city Mediacom and we would love for you to become a city champion.

And let's keep print media alive.

That's so much fun.

When you guys come in here, I really do.

It's a city is such a treasure for this community.

Thank you Leah Stacey for co-hosting with me this hour.

Thank you.

Great having you Berto.

Awesome man.

Always great to see you Roberto Lagares, multimedia reporter for City Magazine.

Thank you sir.

Always a pleasure and our thanks to Alyssa.

Co intern for City Magazine.

Thanks for talking about your work and you are welcome back any time.

Great stuff.

Oh thank you.

It's been such a blast.

More connections coming up in.

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