Takin’ Care of Business the Green Way with Michelle Thatcher-- CEO, U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce

Welcome to Pulp Nonfiction: The Paper and Packaging Podcast!

Our guest this month is Michelle Thatcher, CEO and Co-Founder of The U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce, the fastest growing sustainability-focused Chamber in the United States. Michelle has experience and passion for disruptive innovation, regenerative economy, purpose-driven enterprises, and social justice. Utilizing her 25 years of non-profit conservation leadership experience, she is building a comprehensive national advocacy, networking, and education platform for green businesses around the nation.

Expanding upon the success of leading the largest National Green Chamber, Michelle and her team have created the Chambers for Sustainability Coalition. With existing chambers of commerce representing millions and millions of businesses nationally, The Coalition‘s goal is to help transition ALL chambers to lead on sustainability and help their businesses become greener.

To help businesses that are leading on sustainability reach a broader audience, Michelle has launched the Global Climate Pledge which includes consumers, NGO leaders, Universities, clubs, governments, and more. The Global Climate Pledge is one of the most ambitious climate initiatives-- with the goal of engaging 2 billion people taking climate action. This program takes an inclusive, inspiring, timely, and action-oriented approach to ignite a quarter of the world’s population in building a healthier, safer, and brighter future TOGETHER.

Michelle served as National Director for three years before being selected to lead the USGCC in 2013. Prior to her role as National Director, she worked with numerous environmental organizations in advocacy, served as Executive Director of the Seminole Soil and Water conservation district for four years and then moved to serve as Executive director of the Association of Florida Conservation Districts, a non-profit organization for the state’s 63 Soil and Water Districts, representing over 350 elected officials.

Michelle is currently serving as President for Climate Counts/U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce Institute. In addition to her current positions, she also serves on the Advisory board of the Recycle Across America/ Recycle Across the World, and Ideas for Us, a United Nations accredited NGO.

This podcast is brought to you by Sustana Fiber, a leading producer of FSC®-certified sustainable recycled fibers. At our facilities in De Pere, Wisconsin in the United States and Lévis, Quebec in Canada, we use automated proprietary processes to transform recovered paper into high-quality recycled fiber for use in printing papers, tissue grades and formed molded fiber packaging. We also produce EnviroLife®, a sustainable recycled fiber compliant with FDA standards for food service packaging. Learn more about how our products and manufacturing practices support the circular economy at www.sustanafiber.com.

Interested in learning more about sustainability from a variety of professionals committed to helping develop the circular economy to improve our environment? Then be sure to subscribe to our channel to catch Sustana Fiber’s latest episode of Pulp Nonfiction: The Paper and Packaging Podcast. Hosted by Sustana Fiber’s Greg Johnson, Director of New Business Development, and Dr. Marta Pazos, a leading sustainable packaging materials scientist, this monthly video podcast series features fascinating discussions on several trending topics involving sustainability.