Citizen Deb Saves the World Sat, 16 May 2026 00:22:39 -0400 https://wastemanagementtheblog.wordpress.com/ en-us © 2026 Citizen Deb Saves the World yes 2afceb45-029d-5b74-ac00-3386463f76e3 Debra Castellano episodic false For people who care about the environment, but are just too darn BUSY to figure out what to do.

I’m Deb, and I’m an environerd. This podcast (an audio version of my blog, CitizenDeb.com) is part of my attempt to save the planet...or at least get folks to use less plastic. Topics range from the myth of recycling to town hall solar shenanigans to making climate solutions CUTE. 

This thing called “the environment” is overwhelming. Definitely intimidating. And sometimes boring. Deb is the perfect person to explain it. So listen up. :-)

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) environment, humor, politics, climate, planet, congress, cop27, inflation reduction act, clean energy, greenhouse gases, breakup, heartbreak Debra Castellano https://storage.buzzsprout.com/kkium2cfcpci4a7hay7gzfjb8b11?.jpg Citizen Deb Saves the World https://wastemanagementtheblog.wordpress.com/ From War to Plastic Bottle Caps: I Am Annoyed AF From War to Plastic Bottle Caps: I Am Annoyed AF Here are the key takeaways:

I'm annoyed AF.

I torture myself over what to do with a crappy non-recyclable plastic bottle cap or used-up Brita filter while bombs are being dropped on innocent people on the other side of the world, our government has ix-nayed wind and solar power, and I can't do a goldarn thing about it.

My left breast turned 18.

Give it a read...


]]> Here are the key takeaways:

I'm annoyed AF.

I torture myself over what to do with a crappy non-recyclable plastic bottle cap or used-up Brita filter while bombs are being dropped on innocent people on the other side of the world, our government has ix-nayed wind and solar power, and I can't do a goldarn thing about it.

My left breast turned 18.

Give it a read...


]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-18927119 Sun, 29 Mar 2026 18:00:00 -0400 858 17 full true 2025 Sucked. But It Sucked Hardest for the Environment. 2025 Sucked. But It Sucked Hardest for the Environment. Yep, it's been a doozy of a year for the climate, thanks to the real meathead — the one in the White House. 

From his first day in office — when he withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement,  followed by all the other ways our cosplay President has decimated whatever limits we had on greenhouse gas emissions, supported by a party of soulless little bitches — the battle against climate change has been cancelled.

]]> Yep, it's been a doozy of a year for the climate, thanks to the real meathead — the one in the White House. 

From his first day in office — when he withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement,  followed by all the other ways our cosplay President has decimated whatever limits we had on greenhouse gas emissions, supported by a party of soulless little bitches — the battle against climate change has been cancelled.

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-18481599 Fri, 09 Jan 2026 13:00:00 -0500 918 16 full false Fascists come and go. The climate not so much. Fascists come and go. The climate not so much. I recently found an article from Trump's first term that my dad had saved before he passed away in 2019. "Trump Could Be a Danger to U.S. Democracy, Authors Say." So quaint now, right? If only it had helped. So how are we all coping?? Listen and find out.

]]> I recently found an article from Trump's first term that my dad had saved before he passed away in 2019. "Trump Could Be a Danger to U.S. Democracy, Authors Say." So quaint now, right? If only it had helped. So how are we all coping?? Listen and find out.

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-18112084 Fri, 31 Oct 2025 13:00:00 -0400 625 15 full false Make America Gilded Again Make America Gilded Again Ah, the good ol' days, when the Wealthy White sipped lemonade in their Italianate gardens . . . and everybody else died of typhoid, industrial poisoning, and political corruption. It's tricky writing a book about saving the planet when the world is falling apart. Come along for the ride.

]]> Ah, the good ol' days, when the Wealthy White sipped lemonade in their Italianate gardens . . . and everybody else died of typhoid, industrial poisoning, and political corruption. It's tricky writing a book about saving the planet when the world is falling apart. Come along for the ride.

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-17558583 Thu, 24 Jul 2025 13:00:00 -0400 597 14 full false I'm Going Off My Anti-Depressants? NOW?? I'm Going Off My Anti-Depressants? NOW?? It seems bonkers to me, too, given the sh!tstorm going on around us, on top of the coldest winter EVER (with a fossil-fuel heating bill that broke me). I probably don't need to recap the last 90 days' worth of news for ya, but for the last 90-ish days, I've been trying to figure out what to do about all this bad news, besides waiting for Jimmy Kimmel's monologues to drop on YouTube so I can least have a laugh about the mess we're in. This dilemma became an Arthurian quest . . . except I didn't know what I was looking for...

]]> It seems bonkers to me, too, given the sh!tstorm going on around us, on top of the coldest winter EVER (with a fossil-fuel heating bill that broke me). I probably don't need to recap the last 90 days' worth of news for ya, but for the last 90-ish days, I've been trying to figure out what to do about all this bad news, besides waiting for Jimmy Kimmel's monologues to drop on YouTube so I can least have a laugh about the mess we're in. This dilemma became an Arthurian quest . . . except I didn't know what I was looking for...

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-17021234 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 11:00:00 -0400 1241 13 full true Happy New Year! I'm So Done. Happy New Year! I'm So Done. Well, I officially have nothing more to say about the environment. How's everybody else feeling? L.A., my hometown, is a smoking rubble. Fellow environerd Jimmy Carter passed away over the holidays. Trump is taking office in a few days. And I'm doing Dry January. 

So, yeah.

Good things are happening; bad things are prob about to happen. Things that should've been taken care of years ago weren't. Let's learn from it. 

]]> Well, I officially have nothing more to say about the environment. How's everybody else feeling? L.A., my hometown, is a smoking rubble. Fellow environerd Jimmy Carter passed away over the holidays. Trump is taking office in a few days. And I'm doing Dry January. 

So, yeah.

Good things are happening; bad things are prob about to happen. Things that should've been taken care of years ago weren't. Let's learn from it. 

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-16461802 Sat, 18 Jan 2025 22:00:00 -0500 908 12 full true 10 Days to Go!!! 10 Days to Go!!! The Presidential election is in 10 days, and I think my candidate totally fumbled it last week. Can Kamala beat Trump, and save the planet? Or will we be saying goodbye to all that? 

]]> The Presidential election is in 10 days, and I think my candidate totally fumbled it last week. Can Kamala beat Trump, and save the planet? Or will we be saying goodbye to all that? 

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-15994987 Sun, 27 Oct 2024 07:00:00 -0400 749 11 full true My Amygdala Hurts My Amygdala Hurts In which I can't get out of the Freeze Response, given the political mayhem. Plus a definition of fascism! :-)

]]> In which I can't get out of the Freeze Response, given the political mayhem. Plus a definition of fascism! :-)

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-15487637 Sun, 28 Jul 2024 10:00:00 -0400 708 10 full true Happy Belated Earth Day! How we doing? Happy Belated Earth Day! How we doing? How did I celebrate Earth Day? With Mary Shelley and Ronald Reagan, natch. Didn't everyone?

]]> How did I celebrate Earth Day? With Mary Shelley and Ronald Reagan, natch. Didn't everyone?

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-14945778 Tue, 23 Apr 2024 23:00:00 -0400 254 9 full false "But I recycle!" No you don't. "But I recycle!" No you don't. If you’ve ever met me, you’ll know that waste is my pet issue. I love to hate waste. I can’t stand single-use plastic, from grocery bags to bottled water to those little green plastic harpoons with the Starbucks mermaid on ’em made for sticking into the hole of the (plastic) Starbucks lid to prevent the steam from coming out while you carry your coffee around like an Hermes bag. I’m also tired of talking about it.

Unless you get me started...

]]> If you’ve ever met me, you’ll know that waste is my pet issue. I love to hate waste. I can’t stand single-use plastic, from grocery bags to bottled water to those little green plastic harpoons with the Starbucks mermaid on ’em made for sticking into the hole of the (plastic) Starbucks lid to prevent the steam from coming out while you carry your coffee around like an Hermes bag. I’m also tired of talking about it.

Unless you get me started...

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-14237623 Tue, 02 Jan 2024 19:00:00 -0500 660 8 full false Konnichiwa! (In Which I Get to Another Part of the Planet for a Bit) Konnichiwa! (In Which I Get to Another Part of the Planet for a Bit) Well, I’m back. From riding bikes through hot, humid coastal areas, every route a little different from the day before . . . along the sea, over hills, through quiet little towns, the water in my water bottle fortified with salty, grapefruity electrolytes. I didn’t think (much) about the rest of the planet while I was away...

]]> Well, I’m back. From riding bikes through hot, humid coastal areas, every route a little different from the day before . . . along the sea, over hills, through quiet little towns, the water in my water bottle fortified with salty, grapefruity electrolytes. I didn’t think (much) about the rest of the planet while I was away...

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-13740613 Sun, 08 Oct 2023 23:00:00 -0400 854 7 full false A Really Good Cry (While Saving the World) A Really Good Cry (While Saving the World) In which Citizen Deb goes through half a box of Seventh Generation facial tissue . . .

]]> In which Citizen Deb goes through half a box of Seventh Generation facial tissue . . .

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-13412702 Tue, 15 Aug 2023 18:00:00 -0400 1169 6 full false I Went to Mass on Sunday. The Priest Quoted Tucker Carlson. I Went to Mass on Sunday. The Priest Quoted Tucker Carlson. It being a day on which I needed to hear a different take on things, on which the week prior had been somewhat challenging, and I was in want of something to break through my thinking that surely I'm doing something wrong in life . . . I ended up at a Catholic mass at a church in my village.

]]> It being a day on which I needed to hear a different take on things, on which the week prior had been somewhat challenging, and I was in want of something to break through my thinking that surely I'm doing something wrong in life . . . I ended up at a Catholic mass at a church in my village.

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-13079276 Tue, 20 Jun 2023 22:00:00 -0400 900 5 full false In Which I Go Incognito to Spy on the Other Side In Which I Go Incognito to Spy on the Other Side When we met here a few weeks ago, I was looking for hope in the latest climate report, sending the Silicon Valley tech bros to Mars, and trying to decide if I was going to an anti–solar farm town hall in my area . . . or to a movie. Which did I choose?

]]> When we met here a few weeks ago, I was looking for hope in the latest climate report, sending the Silicon Valley tech bros to Mars, and trying to decide if I was going to an anti–solar farm town hall in my area . . . or to a movie. Which did I choose?

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-12703813 Sat, 22 Apr 2023 22:00:00 -0400 1192 4 full false Let's Make Climate Solutions CUTE :-) Let's Make Climate Solutions CUTE :-) So, what wackadoodle stuff happened last week? Well, I accidentally voted for a climate denier, for one...

]]> So, what wackadoodle stuff happened last week? Well, I accidentally voted for a climate denier, for one...

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-12530739 Tue, 28 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0400 849 3 full false The Murder House: Part 1 of 1 The Murder House: Part 1 of 1 It starts with a murder. The rest will determine where I might be residing for a little while . . .

]]> It starts with a murder. The rest will determine where I might be residing for a little while . . .

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-12341697 Mon, 27 Feb 2023 20:00:00 -0500 535 2 full false Citizen Deb's Year-End Recap: The State of the Planet (and My Heart) Citizen Deb's Year-End Recap: The State of the Planet (and My Heart) An environerd's recap of 2022. I get us all up to speed on the progress, setbacks, and downright insanity of our society's planetary stewardship (and/or lack thereof), so you don't have to.

]]> An environerd's recap of 2022. I get us all up to speed on the progress, setbacks, and downright insanity of our society's planetary stewardship (and/or lack thereof), so you don't have to.

]]> Debra Castellano Buzzsprout-12126261 Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:00:00 -0500 1116 1 full false