The ChicoBag Podcast – Redefining Sustainability, One Step at a Time

Great Stories Need Enemies | Kevin Willard | ChicoBag Podcast Ep 31

Most brands point the camera in the wrong place. Their best stories are buried on page 47 of an impact report no one reads. Andy Keller sits down with Kevin Willard, owner of brand storytelling studio Assembly and a copywriter who has spent two decades helping organizations like American Forest Foundation, Ocean Conservancy, Hyatt, and Jack Daniels find stories that actually move people. They get into why brands are losing ground in the attention economy, what Huckberry and North Face are doing differently, and what to do when virgin material is cheaper than recycled content and you still want to make the right product. What you'll hear: * Why most brand video gets ignored, and what the top 10% does differently * How Huckberry built a YouTube channel reportedly worth around $450,000 by reallocating ad spend * The story arc every piece of content needs (want, obstacle, overcome) * "Great stories need enemies." For ChicoBag, it's plastic waste. What's yours? * Why decision by committee turns Rocky Road into vanilla * Andy gets vulnerable about the virgin-versus-recycled material problem * AI is sterilizing content. The brands that stay human are the ones that win. If your brand is rethinking what your promotional products actually say about you, our custom program is built for the brands who care about the answer. Start here: https://www.chicobag.com/custom-eco-friendly-promotional-products [https://www.chicobag.com/custom-eco-friendly-promotional-products] Connect with Kevin Willard Website: https://www.asmblyco.com [https://www.asmblyco.com] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinwillardcreativedirector/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinwillardcreativedirector/] Connect with ChicoBag Website: https://www.chicobag.com [https://www.chicobag.com] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChicoBag [https://www.facebook.com/ChicoBag] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chicobag [https://www.instagram.com/chicobag] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chicobag [https://www.linkedin.com/company/chicobag]

Turn Your Posts Into Real Donations | Becca Ruiz | ChicoBag Podcast Ep 30

What if posting your morning coffee could fund a mental health organization? Andy Keller sits down with Becca Ruiz, founder of Post on Purpose (POP), to talk about the gap between brand marketing and real-world impact — and the platform she built to close it. Every post, every tag, every verified action unlocks a real donation from a sponsoring brand. No new apps. No extra steps. Just Instagram doing something that actually matters. What you'll hear: - Why Becca left corporate sustainability to build something new - The disconnect between impact teams and marketing teams — and why it costs real results - How Post on Purpose turns an Instagram post into a verified donation - The MiMOS Coffee campaign funding mental health resources for Black women - Why participation-based content is outperforming passive scrolling - The move beyond vanity metrics — likes vs. real outcomes - How brands can prove their CSR investments actually worked - Becca's advice: small actions add up more than you think Connect with Becca Ruiz Website: postonpurpose.co Instagram: @postonpurpose.co Connect with ChicoBag Website: chicobag.com Instagram: @chicobag LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/chicobag Facebook: facebook.com/chicobag

The Whole Village Approach: How Generational Change Happens With Guest Garrison Harward | ChicoBag Podcast Ep 29

In Episode 29 of the ChicoBag Podcast, Andy Keller sits down with Garrison Harward, Executive Director of Andando, to talk about what makes real change last in rural Senegal. Andando’s “whole village” approach is built around long-term partnership and local ownership, spanning water, health, education, agriculture, literacy, and small business. Andy opens the episode with what that looks like in the real world: 41 market gardens producing over 2 million pounds of food, 16 health clinics serving more than 50,000 people, 21 schools reaching over 8,000 students, 2,700+ microloans, and 100,000+ trees planted. This conversation gets honest about the difference between short-term aid and long-term ownership, and why the hardest part is not building the project, it’s maintaining it over time. Garrison also shares a powerful story about a community that spent decades trying to access clean water, and what it takes to make solutions stick after the first investment. Learn more about Andando at https://www.andando.org [https://www.andando.org/] More episodes and the mission behind ChicoBag: https://www.chicobag.com [https://www.chicobag.com/]

Plastic-Free Oyster Farming and the Truth About Microfibers | Abby Barrows Ep 28

Microplastics are showing up everywhere, including in the food we eat. In this episode, Andy Keller talks with Abby Barrows, marine debris researcher and co founder of Deer Isle Oyster Co, about what she has learned from years of global microplastics sampling with Adventure Scientists and why plastic is such a complicated part of aquaculture and wild fisheries. Abby gets real about what the data actually shows, why “just recycle” is not a plan, and how we can reduce plastic without falling into perfectionism.   What you’ll hear: • What microplastics are, why microfibers show up in most samples, and how they move through air and water • Why the open ocean and polar regions can act like sinks for microplastics • The hidden plastic problem in oyster farming gear, and what “plastic free aquaculture” could look like • Practical ways to cut plastic that actually add up, from reusables to speaking up for policy change • Why oysters matter for clean water, coastal communities, and the future of food Connect with ChicoBag Website: https://www.chicobag.com [https://www.chicobag.com] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChicoBag [https://www.facebook.com/ChicoBag] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chicobag [https://www.instagram.com/chicobag] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chicobag [https://www.linkedin.com/company/chicobag]   Connect with Abby Barrows and Deer Isle Oyster Company Website: https://abbybarrows.com/ [https://abbybarrows.com/] Website: https://www.deerisleoysterco.com/ [https://www.deerisleoysterco.com/]

Rebuilding After Wildfire: Resilient, Non-Toxic Homes with Marialyce Pedersen | Ep 28

Marialyce Pedersen has spent decades in recycling and zero waste work, but wildfire changed her life in a personal way. After the Eaton Fire burned down her nearly 100-year-old home in Altadena, she began planning a rebuild focused on resiliency, health, and common sense. In this episode, Andy Keller and Marialyce dig into what “build back better” can actually look like, from straw bale buildings that survived the Thomas Fire, to the real-world friction of permitting and code adoption, to the uncomfortable truth that many rebuilds still rely on what her colleague Art Ludwig calls “kindling and toxic waste.” It’s a practical conversation about fire resilience, natural building materials, preparedness, and how communities can rebuild smarter instead of repeating the same cycle.