Carbon Footprint – Lean Six Sigma and the Environment

Hosted by Brion Hurley: Lean Six Sigma for Good

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Latest episode

May 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Applying Lean Six Sigma to the Environment

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10 recent

May 7, 202636 min

E135: Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures with Travis Keener

In this episode, I share an interview with Travis Keener (the “Spill Plan Man”) from November 2025. He is a licensed engineer specializing in spill prevention, control, and countermeasures (SPCC) for industrial facilities. He explains that federal EPA regulations require sites storing over 1,320 gallons of oil-based liquids to maintain rigorous spill plans and secondary containment systems, such as earthen berms or Continue Reading

December 16, 202540 min

E131: Agile and Sustainability in the UK with Mike Wrathall

In this episode, I share an interview with Mike Wrathall, where I explore his background in strategy, agile methods and sustainability. His early career involved building digital services, primarily for government and social housing organizations, such as streamlining the process for getting people who are homeless or victims of domestic violence into safe housing quicker. Continue Reading

October 30, 202535 min

E130: Agile Sustainability Manifesto with Ines Garcia

In this episode, I share an interview with Ines Garcia, who is one of the creators of the Agile Sustainability Manifesto. She emphasizes the importance of adapting sustainable behaviors to individual lifestyles and advocating for change through personal example rather than pressure. She stresses that meaningful change starts with individual willingness to be part of Continue Reading

April 22, 202538 min

E124: Applying Data to Food Quality and Safety with Eric Moore

In this episode, I share an interview with Eric Moore, Global Director of Food Safety & Industry Outreach at Testo Solutions, where we discuss Food Safety and Quality, Sustainability, and Innovative Data Monitoring. Eric delves into his extensive 25-year career in food safety, beginning with his education in hospitality at Penn State University and his Continue Reading

December 16, 202424 min

E120: Tackling Green with Lean – Lean Global Connection 2024

In this episode, I share a presentation that the Lean Sustainability Global Network (an unofficial team that I’m involved with) gave at the Lean Global Connection virtual conference in Nov 2024. We share how Lean principles can be applied to tackle pressing environmental challenges and improve processes. For example, Lean and Green expands the traditional Continue Reading

November 27, 202448 min

E119: Applying Lean within Municipal Electric and Water Utilities – Interview with Jennifer Peterson

In this episode, we interview Jennifer Peterson, the manager of Continuous Improvement at Muscatine Power and Water (MPW) in Muscatine, Iowa. She discusses how she got into continuous improvement (CI) and the impact it has had on MPW employees and customers. She highlights the importance of: Jennifer also shares several examples of successful CI projects Continue Reading

September 9, 202449 min

E116: Using Energy Treasure Hunts and Energy SWAPs to Engage Employees and Reduce Costs

In March of 2024, the Iowa Sustainable Business Forum (ISBF) and Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS) were still separate organizations, and they agreed to host a joint webinar to promote Energy Efficiency and Lean. I was fortunate to connect up with Paul Lemar, Jr. from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), who has Continue Reading

July 16, 20241 hr 8 min

E115: Using Lean to Minimize Waste Within ESG Initiatives

Continuing our discussion on Lean Six Sigma and ESG, I brought back last episode’s guest, Erin Bauer (Product Development Manager at ASQE) and added a new guest, Beth Cudney. She is a Professor of Data Analytics and the Program Coordinator for Data Analytics at Maryville University. She received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from North Continue Reading

April 8, 202448 min

E111: Apply Lean to Nonprofit Boards with Sally Toister

Sally worked many years in the hospitality industry applying Lean Six Sigma, and she shares her experiences to improve the guest experience. She also shares an example of a project that determined the optimal reward points to get customers to agree to reduced or no housekeeping, which was good for the environment, resulting in less Continue Reading

February 14, 202428 min

E109: Applying Lean Tools to Environmental and Social Challenges – Lean Global Connection 2023

In this podcast, I share the presentation I gave virtually at the Lean Global Connection on December 1, 2023. It is a free annual online event put on by the Lean Global Network (LGN). The event took place over a 24-hour period. All the presentations were recorded, and I encourage you to check out all Continue Reading