Stories Sustain Us #28 – A Journey from Social Justice to Metal Recycling

Summary
In this conversation, Jordan Vexler discusses her journey from an upbringing in San Antonio to becoming a leader in the family business, Monterrey Metal Recycling. She explores themes of sustainability, social justice, and community development, highlighting her educational experiences in Latin America and her insights into the importance of addressing community needs. The conversation emphasizes the interconnectedness of various social issues and the role of legacy in shaping one's path. Jordan shares insights into the world of metal recycling, discussing the importance of sustainability. She emphasizes the need for community engagement, the complexities of recycling processes, and the role of consumers in promoting environmentally friendly practices. The discussion also touches on the circular economy, the significant energy savings from recycling metals, and the hope for a future where understanding and communication lead to better environmental outcomes.

About the Guest
Jordan Vexler, Chief Executive Officer of Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions in San Antonio, Texas, brings a steadfast commitment to environmental advocacy and innovation within the metal recycling industry. As an active member both regionally and nationally in the recycling industry’s trade organizationReMA, she champions industry modernization and advances to promote safe, economically sustainable, and environmentally responsible practices. Since joining Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions, a fourth-generation family-owned business founded by her great-grandfather in 1916, Jordan has implemented significant changes to further enhance the company’s commitment to operating an environmentally responsible state-of-the-art metal recycling facility.   

Show Notes
Jordan Vexler LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-vexler-0665623/
Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions: https://www.monterreymetalrecycling.com

Takeaways
•Jordan's upbringing in San Antonio shaped her perspective on community.
•Education at Rice University led to a unique self-designed major.
•Experiences in Latin America fueled her passion for social justice.
•Sustainability encompasses economic, social, and environmental factors.
•Cultural sensitivity is crucial in understanding global issues.
•The family business continues a legacy of sustainability and community service. Metal recycling is often overlooked but crucial for sustainability.
•The recycling process for metals is complex and requires advanced technology.
•The circular economy reduces carbon emissions and energy consumption significantly.
•Consumers play a vital role in demanding recyclable products.
•Education and awareness about recycling can lead to better practices.
•Metal recycling can save energy equivalent to powering millions of homes.
•The design of consumer goods should consider their end-of-life recycling.
•Safety is a top priority in the metal recycling industry.
•A collaborative approach is necessary to tackle env

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Transcript

Steven 
Hello and welcome to Stories Sustain Us, the podcast where we explore inspiring stories of individuals who are making a meaningful impact on our world. I'm your host, Steven Schauer, and today we have an extraordinary guest whose journey will truly captivate and inspire you. Joining us is Jordan Vexler, whose story begins in San Antonio shaped by a deep sense of community.

From her unique self-designed major at Rice University to her transformative experiences in Latin America, Jordan has cultivated a passion for social justice and sustainability that drives her work today. In this inspiring episode, we'll explore how Jordan's innovative approaches to community development, consumer financial education at Texas Appleseed, and the complexities of the rose industry in Ecuador

highlight the importance of cultural sensitivity and simple solutions in fostering sustainable communities. We'll also delve into her family's legacy in metal recycling, a critical yet often overlooked component of sustainability. Jordan will share how community engagement, advanced technology, and the circular economy play crucial roles in reducing carbon emissions, saving energy,

and shaping a more sustainable future. Let me tell you a little bit more about Jordan and then we'll jump into this interview. Jordan Vexler is the Chief Operating Officer of Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions in San Antonio, Texas. She is an active member both regionally and nationally in the recycling industries trade organization, ReMA. And she champions industry modernization and advances to promote safe.

economically sustainable and environmentally responsible practices. Fluent in Spanish, Jordan holds a bachelor's degree of the development of modern Latin America from Rice University and a master of social policy degree from the London School of Economics. Jordan is passionate about educating the public on the critical role metal recycling plays in protecting the earth's atmosphere and preserving its finite resources.

She advocates for greater awareness of how metal recycling contributes to the circular economy, where metals are reused and repurposed to minimize waste and environmental impact. Her efforts aim to inspire individuals and businesses alike to see recycling as a vital component of global sustainability. Since joining Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions,

a fourth generation family-owned business founded by her great-grandfather in 1916, Jordan has implemented significant changes to further enhance the company's commitment to operating an environmentally responsible, state-of-the-art metal recycling facility. Now, get ready to be inspired by Jordan's unwavering commitment to making a positive impact and her insights into how we can

all contribute to a more sustainable world. Here on Stories Sustain Us, where we are inspiring action through the power of storytelling.

Steven 
All right, well, welcome, Jordan. Welcome to Stories Sustain Us. How are you today?

Jordan Vexler 
Hi, good morning, Steven. How are you? Thank you for having me.

Steven 
I,

yeah, I'm doing well. You're kind of back in my old stomping ground, San Antonio. So it's good, good to connect with you there. So I appreciate you taking time to speak with me this morning.

Jordan Vexler 
Well, likewise, I have the Riverwalk right behind me, which you had a huge impact on in your career. So I thank you for that and everything that you've done for San Antonio. I enjoy it every day and so many of us do.

Steven 
You do?

Well, thank you. That's very kind of you. It was a privilege and an honor to be a part of such a great team working on such important projects there in San Antonio. I'm glad you and others are enjoying it. So it was an honor of a lifetime to be part of all that.

Jordan Vexler 
It's

a transformation of our city and a true legacy project that is, you know, it's transformative to our city and the connectivity of our city and our understanding of our waterways. And the foundation that you and the team surrounding you at the time laid is still

is still developing out into the West side. And, you know, it's, it's just a truly impressive legacy that you and the team around you laid.

Steven 
Yeah, yeah.

Thank you so much Jordan, it warms my heart to hear that. Thank you for that kind compliment and goodness, let's talk about you though. That's why we're here. So you're making me get all red and blushy. So let's make you get red and blushy. So you know the format, we're gonna eventually jump into your work, which I'm very excited to talk about the work of Monterrey Metal Recycling and this

long time family legacy of a great business in San Antonio, but you yourself have an amazing story that I want to know more about too. So tell me about your upbringing and how did you get from the very beginnings to now being a generational leader of this business in San Antonio? What's your story?

Jordan Vexler 
Mm-mm.

Well, my story as, as, you know, as of the, as is the case with so many people, I didn't know I was going to land here. I, I grew up in San Antonio, born and raised and, know, like many teenagers and 20 year olds, I thought I'm never coming back to San Antonio. Of course, at the time, we didn't have the

the transformation yet in place. that really, I think the river walk, and river north, all of that project did to change our city. And honestly, it's a part of, of, of why it's attractive to come back as a, as an adult. So sorry, I'm coming back to you again, but,

Steven 
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. No, no, no. You're not, you're coming back

to the river and all the amazing connectivity that that brings to the community. that's, it's important. And I think that's an important message that people can take from that, that, you know, rivers that were once forgotten parts of our urban communities can be revitalized and become this great reason to be in a city. So thank you for that, that connection to that.

Jordan Vexler 
Truly.

Yeah,

it really is. I can tell you that my children and I spend a good percentage of our weekends interacting with the river in some way. So yes, so here I am back in San Antonio, but in the metal recycling business, not where I thought I was going to go. I was focused in attending

Steven 
Nice, nice.

Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
I attended Rice University and studied, I actually found my way to the end of my sophomore year and realized that I couldn't create a major out of what I had studied. I was so excited while I was studying everything that I was interested in. Yes, I took some civil engineering courses and some mathematics and...

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah, what were you studying?

Just everything, yeah, nice, yeah, hey.

Jordan Vexler 
political science and history and language courses. And it was so fun. And then I realized, yeah, there was no way to create a single major out of everything that I'd picked from. In which case I realized I really needed to go through and figure out a way to graduate in four years. And you don't often read the handbook, the entire handbook of your university, and I resorted to that.

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah.

Why, yeah, I didn't know there was one.

Jordan Vexler 
Yeah,

exactly. I didn't know you had to pick a major and obviously I hadn't read the handbook. But in reading the handbook, I found this clause that you could make your own major. And so it had not been done, I think in 20 years, so there was no institutional knowledge of how to do it. But I succeeded and I actually graduated with a degree in

Steven 
Yeah.

All right on.

Jordan Vexler 
development of modern Latin America.

Steven 
Right on. So tell me what was the impetus of that? Like how did you piece all these together to come up with that as a focal point? That sounds fascinating.

Jordan Vexler 
So.

so when I was 15, you know, growing up in San Antonio, being bilingual is, is so important. And while I, spoke a bit of Spanish, I knew I wasn't fluent enough. And so when I was 15, I decided to, to really throw myself into that. And, I actually went to, Guatemala, for.

Steven 
Mm-hmm. Sure.

Jordan Vexler 
the part of a part of the summer. And it was during social upheaval. And, and I became really passionate about the plight of Latin American countries and, you know, the interaction of the United States, particularly, particularly with Central America at the time. And

Steven 
Yeah.

sure.

Jordan Vexler 
And so I just, you know, the aspects of poverty reduction and the sensitivities around development and aid work, all of those things became very compelling to me. so, you know, tying, that's why I thought that, you know, civil engineering was so interesting. And of course, political has

Steven 
Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
political history, political science, and of course language all came together to form that major. And I spent a lot of time studying in Latin America, traveling Latin America. Yes, I...

Steven 
Central and South

America or did you stay mostly in the know central Guatemala El Salvador area or did you really kind of go wide far and wide?

Jordan Vexler 
I did, I went far and wide. Central America was certainly my first soiree and really developed my passion for indigenous culture and colonization. And yes, it is. But it's a thing as well into South America. And so...

Steven 
Nice.

Yeah.

Nice.

Yeah, that's a thing.

Of course, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
You know, while I did a lot of traveling, I guess, you know, for, for exploration and adventure, um, I did academic traveling to, um, let's see, to Cuba. did a whole month in Cuba, um, where, let's see, that was in 2001. So.

Steven 
Sure.

Pre or

post 9-11? Earlier? Just before, okay. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
It was just, it was pre, just before.

So I probably would not have been able to go. Yep. But that was, that was, I thought your question was it pre or post Castro? Rowell.

Steven 
Right, that's why I was wondering like, wow, when did that happen? Yeah, yeah.

also, good question. Yeah, yeah. That's

probably a more valid question, which I'm forgetting when Castro passed. When... Yeah, okay, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
It was, it was role.

And, you know, that was just an incredible experience, especially through a lens of poverty reduction and community development. You know, you see access to education. There's, at that time, there was some level of access to nutrition. But really, at the end of the day,

Steven 
Sure. Sure.

Jordan Vexler 
The main thing that I found was lacking was freedom, freedom of choice. And when you don't have freedom of choice, there's a real lack of quality in life. So I found that a very interesting perspective that was very powerful because as an American, that was a very new concept to me.

Steven 
Sure, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

powerful.

Yeah,

yeah. So this is all in your college years while you were at Rice or yeah, that's a lot of growth in those years, it sounds like. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
Yes.

Yes, it was

so, so wonderful from, from Cuba. I then went to Bolivia and spent a semester in Bolivia. And, and actually that's when, nine 11 occurred. I was in Bolivia. I remember that moment. Of course, distinctly, we all remember exactly where we were that way. in Bolivia was such,

Steven 
Okay, yeah.

Sure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
a beautiful country and it is still, or at the time it was still so tied to indigenous culture and indigenous centric politics. And, you know, we had an impressive experience there and learned a bit of Kichwa. Certainly not enough.

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
only enough to embarrass myself, but yeah.

Steven 
Yeah,

I'm sure appreciated by the indigenous cultures nevertheless that you were were learning the language not just you know as is often the case with folks from the The states we go around the world and think everybody should just speak English, but it's you know whenever I travel to foreign countries It's it's you know trying at least

Learn the pleasantries so I can be appropriate and understand the culture and the language that I'm visiting as opposed to being the quote unquote ugly American. So I get it. I get it. That's great. So from Rice, if I understand your background, then you in all of these amazing trips, it sounds like in Latin America, you found yourself, I think in

London? Is that the next step of your trip or am I jumping ahead?

Jordan Vexler 
You're

jumping a little bit ahead. So I went from Houston to Austin where I started working for Texas Appleseed.

Steven 
so please fill in the gap.

OK.

Okay, yeah, tell me more about that.

Jordan Vexler 
So Texas Appleseed is part of a social justice network of, at the time, I believe 15 states, state-based centers. And it's focused on, it's a social justice not-for-profit that advocates for poverty reduction and consumer transparency and immigrant rights. So.

Steven 
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Okay.

Jordan Vexler 
Amongst, amongst others, other, other topics. so yes, at the time, I really focused on access to, to consumer beneficial financial products. so, you know, while there could be some low income products in the marketplace.

Steven 
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
they oftentimes occurred huge fees that were quite hidden. And unless you were a very educated consumer of financial goods or user, you were probably in a less beneficial situation by using those accounts than you would be by maybe having your cash in your pocket or under your bed. And so we

Steven 
Sure. Sure.

Sure, about like payday loan

things and different kind of high interest loan cash advance programs and things like that or yeah, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
Absolutely. But even,

even if you had a savings account, you know, that you had an ATM card on, you know, even using your own bank ATMs, could incur, yes, $5 per transaction or, and, and all of this was, I mean, I think this was probably at the cusp of, of, of these accounts.

Steven 
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, the banking fees. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
being required. And so what we offered was a voice to advocate for transparent and beneficial products. And so we worked with a lot of credit unions and a lot of actually big, you know, national financial institutions, banks. And it was wonderful.

Steven 
Yeah, nice.

Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
we, we, we got, we had some great success and it was really well received. and of course then, then came the financial education piece that community partners, worked really hard to roll out. That's actually still, I mean, it's still a huge passion for me. And, and, and I've been able to carry that into, into my current job at Monterrey iron and in.

Steven 
Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
making sure that everybody has access to a financial institution. But we can go into that later.

Steven 
Nice.

Yeah, yeah. So what's the next step then from Appleseed? yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
So I was having, I was just so fulfilled by the work and most of my colleagues at Texas Appleseed and throughout the Appleseed network were, you know, had a policy master's, which I believe you do from LBJ. My boss, my first boss at Texas Appleseed also graduated from LBJ. And

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah, I do. do. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
you know, with the continuing the itch to travel, I, I, and I have to be honest and also a one year program that didn't require GRE or D the GRE, right. Or yes. Yes. It didn't require the GRE.

Steven 
Yeah, the GRE, yeah, yeah, yeah. Graduate

something, I don't even know what it stands for, but it was, you needed to take it. You need to take the test.

Jordan Vexler 
Yes.

And I found that the London School of Economics had a program that I was super interested in, social policy and planning in developing countries. they've since shortened, yes, they've since shortened the name, but yeah, so I did the hardest year probably of my life and

Steven 
Nice.

Sounds very aligned. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jordan Vexler
the reason for maybe still academic nightmares, but it was a wonderful experience. And I was surrounded by peers from all over the world. And again, that perspective really empowered me to, I guess,

Steven 
Hahaha

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm sure.

Jordan Vexler 
feel more exposed to more perspective and more perspectives from different cultural perspectives and different socioeconomic and historic backgrounds.

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah, that's so

important, that exposure to other cultures and other backgrounds. And that's such an important thing that I think many people miss out on. And so yeah, kudos to you for jumping on that opportunity. I what a great way to expand your mind and your life.

Jordan Vexler 
Well, it was, it's a real, I think from an American perspective, it's very hard to understand the complexity of the layers of civil strife or poverty or, you the developmental state of different countries and communities.

Steven 
Sure.

Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
And so I really approached it with a lot of sensitivity to try to understand as opposed to what the American style had been and perhaps has been, continues to be, is sort of superimposing a model and a judgment.

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah,

let us tell you how to do it right. As opposed to learning what might work best for you and your culture and in your community. Yeah, that is still sadly probably a predominant American model of how we conduct not only probably foreign relations, but how we probably still run things in a lot of our.

Jordan Vexler 
Mm-hmm.

Exactly.

Steven 
federal, state, and local governments of let us tell you how to do it as opposed to getting in with the communities and listening and trying to be of service as opposed to just let's tell you how to do it right, know, right, whatever, you know, whoever's in charge thinks that means. So, yeah, I appreciate your perspective on that. think that's another really significant way of looking at the world of listening and

Jordan Vexler 
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Steven 
learning from others and working with as opposed to trying to dictate to. That's a great perspective, I think.

Jordan Vexler 
Well, again, I I think the Cuban experience of the freedom to choose, if you don't have voice, the trajectory from there is, it's a downward trajectory.

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's so true. So a hard year in London, but an enjoyable year, I think is what I heard you say and took away from that experience. From there, did you come back to St. Antonio or were there other steps along the way before you got back into the family business?

Jordan Vexler 
You

there's still some jumps around. So I decided to go to London School of Economics. And then once I was accepted, I realized I needed to go live and work in this setting of community development before I went to the LSE.

Steven 
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Okay.

Jordan Vexler 
At that point, I moved to Ecuador and I started working for an organization called CMUS. And it was a dual program organization, I should say, that on one hand, it supported, it funded the community development work that they did by bringing in students from Washington State University, I believe.

Steven 
Okay?

Jordan Vexler 
to become familiar with health practices, so non-Western health practices and ideas of community development. So really a true extension of my belief system and my education. So, yeah, so they...

That was my first exposure to CMS. And in that exposure, I was working more on the community development side and assisting them on some of their projects. I found it really interesting that one of the best...

the inputs to health outcome in the rural districts was to establish addresses.

Steven 
Yeah, some.

Jordan Vexler 
Now you

think about it, you can, you know, everybody had thought we, we fund, need to find an ambulance. This, you know, rural district needs an ambulance. So they all had ambulances. They had, you know, emergency services, but the emergency services were only as good as they could get to the location they needed to be. And, you know, we'll turn at the house.

Steven 
Yeah. Where do you go? Wow. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
that has the red door and not that red door, the one that has two pigs out front. Yes.

Steven 
Right, right, yeah. Something

so simple, but so important. Wow, that, yeah, that's a great insight. That's a great insight, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
Yes.

So that was, that was a project that I, assisted them with. And again, you know, what a, what a reality check that, that having an address can save a life. you can have an ambulance, you can have the professionals, but if you don't have an address, the likelihood that they're going to be able to help you is, is. Yeah.

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, to go? now that,

and that is, again, probably coming from your upbringing, San Antonio, just, guess my imagination is, who doesn't grow up with an address? Who, know, those, again, those maybe Western benefits that we have experienced at other parts of the world may not have, you know, to kind of come to that.

Conclusion is was I imagine a bit eye-opening is at least the story that's happening in my head about that is like a wow moment of this is a you know such a Fundamental thing for someone to have a home a place that can be identified so that that Emergency services can go help you when needed. I mean that seems Something we may take for granted At least in my upbringing. Yeah

Jordan Vexler 
Mm-hmm.

It definitely, definitely is. And so my experience with CMOS and working in these rural areas with them actually led to my master's degree dissertation. And so I wrote on the rose industry, the cut flower industry, primarily roses in Ecuador. So

Steven 
Yeah.

Okay. Okay. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
The rose industry was thought of as a great rural economic development project. And, you know, it was invested quite heavily in to be transformative for the rural areas. And interestingly, because there's not much of a cash economy in these rural areas.

And certainly women were domestic producers. Again, non-cash driven, but well, so as the rose industry developed and was very successful in Ecuador, they primarily, think it's 90, over 90%.

Steven 
Sure.

Mm-hmm.

Jordan Vexler 
women employed and we saw the transformation of these rural areas.

And it's, you know, again, an impact that you maybe wouldn't expect coming from our perspective. Women were earning money for their first time. And you would think, one might think that that would be a straight trajectory to success for all of these families. Well, in fact, it was a much more mixed outcome than that.

there, you you had 18 wheelers hauling across the country and, and spreading the AIDS epidemic through the country. you had women working with chemicals and coming home, where, you know, the practice is not to shower every day, coming home with such chemicals and breastfeeding, for example. And, and the

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah, spreading, yeah, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
And so there was some infant mortality impacts and there was nutritional impacts overall because women were so important to the production of their self-sustainability and food and everything.

Steven 
Wow. Yeah.

Yeah.

their food. Sure. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
bringing water back to the house. All of these things just all of a sudden crumbled and the older generations weren't able to keep up. and great-grandfather, grandmother and great-grandmother weren't able to provide what these young women who were now employed outside the household for 12 hours a day could do.

Steven 
Yeah. Yeah. Wow.

Jordan Vexler 
You know, just again, a really interesting perspective. Yes,

Steven 
Yeah. All these unintended consequences. Yeah. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
yes. So that's what I majored in. And then I returned to Ecuador, worked for CMOS again. And then after having received my masters, I was teaching the students from Washington State. And that was just an incredible experience to...

share my passion and travel all over Ecuador, know, visiting with shamans, visiting with completely different models of healthcare delivery and seeing just how effective these non-Western models could really be.

Steven 
Yeah, that's incredible. just your journey is, I could keep talking and diving deeper into all of these facets of sustainability, because that's everything you've been talking about, are these economic and social and environmental justice aspects that all come together in the concept of sustainability. It's not just, you know, climate change and clean air. It's all of these other

human factors that if we can't come together and figure out how we can have more sustainable economics and how we can have more social justice in the world and equity and all of these other things that aren't off and top of mind when the word sustainability comes into the topic. Your whole life journey has been about sustainability.

And then you then eventually come back to the family business, which is also about sustainability, just a different aspect of that. So tell me, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
I, yeah,

exactly. mean, I think that just as you said, sustainability is a cross-section of so many qualities because without all of them, which then also makes reaching this ideal place maybe terribly complex to get to.

Steven 
Yeah,

it is. But it takes people like you doing the hard work. That's why I love this show, is I get to talk to amazing people like yourself that have rolled up your sleeves and said, let's tackle these hard problems to make the world a better place. So thank you for all of the experiences that led you to eventually come back to the family business.

I'm impressed by every step of your journey has been a way of trying to make the world a better place and I'm grateful for that and I appreciate you for those efforts. So thank you for that.

Jordan Vexler 
Well, and you know, I thank you for what you've done with River Authority here in San Antonio.

Steven 
Well, thank you as well. Now let's jump into the family business. Wanna make sure we're given some adequate time to that as well, because that's an important story. you are now the fourth generation leading a family-owned business that was started by, was it your grandfather, I believe? Grand grandfather, yeah, well, that'd be the fourth generation. Yeah, missed the math there in my head.

Jordan Vexler (
My great grandfather.

Steven 
So tell me about the founding of the business and what it is and then let's transition in after that into what it is you're doing there to keep this business modernized and making the city of San Antonio a better place.

Jordan Vexler 
Um, well, thank you for that transition. Um, you know, the story is, remarkable. Um, my great grandfather immigrated from Eastern Europe, um, and thought he boarded a ship thinking that he was coming to America and he ended up in Canada. So, uh, he, he ended up having a Canadian passport and, and it's that fact becomes very.

very important in his life. So he eventually moved on to Texas and then started going between San Antonio, Texas and Monterrey, Mexico, picking up discards along the way and trading them in each city. If you can imagine, with a horse and buggy. And he was gathering, you know, metal.

at the time, bones, rags, know, all of these things had value in 1895, 96. So this was also during civil war, I guess, war in Mexico, and Pancho Villa stopped the train.

Steven 
Everything had a reuse value, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
that my great grandfather was on. as the story goes, everybody was loaded off the train and all of the Americans were shot. But because my great grandfather had a Canadian passport, he lived. And so here I am. Yes. And so.

Steven 
So here you are, yeah, wow, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
so he ended up, settling down in, in San Antonio, founding our company here in San Antonio on the near west side of downtown initially. and I had been, my father, worked, my grandfather, my father, now me and my brothers all worked together there. I had been working,

Between Ecuador and coming to Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions, I had been working in Appleseed again at the national policy level. And I just came to realize that, I came to realize when a policy was enacted or adopted that we had pushed for this legislation so hard and it was the best success.

of my life, of my policy life. And I looked around and all my colleagues were so happy and they were thrilled. And I felt like, man, there should have been more. We should have gotten more. And I realized that the policy world was not going to be happiness generating for me.

Steven 
Yeah.

Mm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, there would

always be a kind of the missing puzzle piece of never enough. Yeah, yeah, policy, I get that. Even in the biggest wins, I can relate to that feeling you've described and some of the policy victories I've been a part of in my life. There's always the celebration tempered by the, oh, well, we didn't solve it all. there's, right, right, right.

Jordan Vexler 
Yes.

a feeling that you've...

Yes, exactly.

And I'm a, I want to solve it all. It's sort of a person. and so I've, I found, I found, and I was very thankful to recognize that, that, that, you know, you can't be, that's not a, that's not a sustainable way to, to live a professional career. Yes. So it was a wonderful moment.

Steven 
Sure.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, on a personal level, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
when my grandfather and my father were working together. My grandfather would have been in his 90s at the time. And I felt like it was a time to take advantage of.

of exposing myself at least to the family business. My dad had asked me pretty much every single day of my life to please come work with him. And yes, absolutely. When are you coming home and when are you going to work with me? We would work so well together. And, you know, I still had the eye roll through my 20s. And then I said, you know what?

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah.

When you coming home, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

You

Jordan Vexler 
I'm going to try this for a year. I had not grown up with much exposure to the metal recycling facility. And so it was a whole new thing. But as you've pointed out, and what I found in that first year is that I could really satisfy so many of those interests and passions through being an employer.

and particularly an employer in the recycling sphere. So, yeah.

Steven 
Yeah, nice.

So tell me a bit about the work that your business does. I imagine most folks listening to this or watching this have some, you know, probably good degree of understanding of recycling of plastics. mean, that's, you know, something that's talked about. The good and the bad of that is probably well known in paper and in...

you know that that's certainly you know we see the recycling symbol on the you know plastic bottle that we bought at the store on the paper package that you know tells us the paper's been you know reused to make this cardboard or whatnot but you know metal recycling may not be as top of mind for for for people so explain what your your business does and and you know maybe shoot through some of the

know, mythologies about it, the pro and con about, you know, the work that you do these days now.

Jordan Vexler 
Yeah, well, it's a really great way to introduce the topic because interestingly enough, metal recycling does not have that little symbol. The metal that we interact with every day is, you know, probably 60 % of the metal we interact with is recycled. Your aluminum can

Steven 
Right.

Jordan Vexler 
that you pick up today, 60 days ago, was somebody else's aluminum can. And 99 % of it transferred over. But you know, I like to first point out to people what is metal around them. So, you know, I'm in a conference room right now and I see the lighting.

in here is all metal. The window frames are all metal. The chair I'm sitting in is metal. The table has a metal frame and there is metal inside of the flooring and the walls all around me. So really it's the primary volume and mass of this space. And when you drive on the highway

I challenge people to just go through their commute one day and recognize how much metal they're interacting with. And I think that it really surprises people. So from that departure point, metal reaches its end of life, just like any product.

Steven 
Yeah, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
And similarly to a plastic bottle being consumed, metal needs to be gathered and processed. Now, most of the metal products that are obsolete or have met their end of life are way too large to be collected in our metal bins and our recycling bins and our alleyways or by our municipal solid waste.

And so, we are the original recyclers. this, this, this concept of metal recycling, like I said, came about in, in the 1800s. And, and so we created a value stream back over a hundred years ago to, making sure that metal is driven back into the circular, circular cycle of

Steven 
Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
of consumer goods.

Steven 
Yeah. Well, I, that's, I love the, what you just said, you were the original recyclers. mean, that's like, a, like a tag brand tag. You should just hold onto it. that, that's, that's true. And again, I think it's eye opening to most folks who, because it isn't talked about as much and as, um, you know, as, as top of mind for everybody, because it isn't, like you said, something that I've got a bin in my house that I put

plastic and paper and glass in and then I got a bin, a very large bin outside of our place that will accept that and once a week somebody will come and do something with it. But the metal you're talking about is end of life through demolition of a building maybe or a vehicle or these larger items that someone isn't necessarily coming to pick up from my home or apartment. am I telling that story correctly?

Jordan Vexler 
Absolutely.

Absolutely. And in fact, the metal recycling, or the metal that ends up in, in residential recycling bins does end up at a metal recycling entity like ours throughout, throughout the country. So, so while it just takes another step to get to, to us and, and, and back into the metal stream.

Steven 
Mm-hmm.

get separated and sent there, right?

Great.

Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
So from us, and I guess the other way that metal is generated is through the manufacturing process. So the waste pieces that are cut perhaps, or the off spec pieces, that's also a large generator of metal for recycling. So metal comes into our facility from all of these sources.

And, and we, what we do is we demanufacture. So our process, yeah. So our process, we have, we, we definitely are a manufacturer. Every single piece of material as it enters our facility, it has a predetermined process and a way for it to be demanufactured. so that at the end of its process.

Steven 
Tell me about that, explain that, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
It is now a raw commodity and we can ship from our facility directly to like a steel mill or an aluminum foundry that's making a brand new product of what has just flowed into our facility.

Steven 
Yeah.

So that, you what you're, you mentioned it earlier, the term, but what you're describing really is this, you know, sustainable circular economy idea that you're part of that, you know, process of making sure that these items.

that have value for other products yet to be created, you're making sure that doesn't end up in a landfill. And that it re-enters the stream of use that, you know, and imagine many times that metal has the ability to go through, you know, different iterations and be recycled and de-manufactured and brought back to its initial component and then...

resold to a steel mill or an aluminum, you know, producing company and this keeps that circle going. So again, correct me if I'm off base, but that that's what I'm hearing you describe. And that's such an important, thing that, that our world needs more of not just in metal, but in, in as many products as we can do that in.

Jordan Vexler 
It does.

Absolutely. you know, metal, so 40 % of new steel in America is made from recycled steel. 99 % of an aluminum can goes into the next aluminum can. The recyclability of metal is is the conversion rate is huge. Now when you look at other at other materials, those conversion rates are much lower. So

Steven 
Sure,

Jordan Vexler 
You know, I love,

Steven 
That's value.

Jordan Vexler 
I really take pride in being, you know, interacting with and a material that is so easily circular. And in recycling, we then reduce tons of carbon emissions that would have to do with the mining. Yes.

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. there's a... Yeah, that's where it comes from. I was

like, there's got to be a carbon footprint reduction in this process. So yeah, tell me more about that.

Jordan Vexler 
Well, let's see, producing new steel from recycled metals is 60 % less energy and it reduces carbon emissions 58%. I have to read that fact. I that's incredible. Now, this one also just blows my mind. The recycling of steel from automobiles alone saves the equivalent energy necessary to

18 million homes every year.

Steven 
No kidding. That's amazing. That's eye opening. Wow. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
Yes.

It is. And

also, you know, when we talk about rehoming of manufacturing and, you know, bringing those, that economy or economic production back to our cities, back to the United States, you know, the production of new steel, new metals in the United States is certainly, you know, a part of that, a part of that process.

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sure, well, and just the employment process as well that you, you your company is bringing to the San Antonio community. So you're part of that process and everything as well. that's, this is all good news story that I'm so grateful that our mutual friend Leslie, you know, put us in touch so you could come on and tell this story. So a question I wanted to ask you about,

as we're into the work that you're doing is I understand from Leslie tipped me off on a little bit of a few things which I appreciate. But how have you adapted to meet environmental and community needs? I can imagine over the century plus that your family business has been operating, there's been changes in, you know,

how do we look at the environment, how do we take care of our community that we're in to make sure that the demanufacturing that you're doing is contained and healthy for the community that you're living in as well. So how have you adapted and grown over the years to not only provide this amazing service, but do it in a really positive way for the community?

Jordan Vexler 
Yes. well, my family is now four generations in San Antonio. So, you know, our community has always been at the forefront of, of.

of our ethic, I suppose. So reinvesting in our community and supporting organizations all around us, like I said, has been a huge focus of our company, but also our personal time. That said, to...

Steven 
Sure.

Jordan Vexler 
to process metal has a whole lot to do with the metal that you receive and the way that it is received, I suppose. And that, backing up another step, has to do with the way that our consumer goods are designed. And, you know,

Unfortunately, our consumer goods are not designed for recycling or for their end of life, having the end of life in mind. So that's something that I advocate for and wish that there was more advocacy for that. So that said, a lot of metal is not

Steven 
Yeah. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
easily demanufactured or deconstructed. If you think of appliances in our household or our vehicles, they all have

They have multiple kinds of metal and other non-metallic materials. And so, you you can't melt different metals together and come out with product.

Steven 
Yeah, makes sense.

Jordan Vexler 
And

yes, and so you come out with a sludge. And so the most important thing about recycling properly is the separation of all of those different metals. So we have been able to invest in the development of a lot of technology to be able to sort

all of that metal into its own category. And again, be able to return all of those metals to a raw material that can go direct to a consumer. And, you know, it's a very impressive process to people. And interestingly, fun fact is that the metal or the

Steven 
Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
the technology used in our industry is similarly used in the foods manufacturing industries. Because, most of the equipment used to produce food is metal. And so all of their QC-ing processes look and try to find any

Steven 
Tell me more about that, yeah.

Yeah.

Quality control

for somebody who doesn't know what QC means, right? Yep, just... Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
yes, any of their quality control methods,

are looking for any trace metal goods, or metal in their, their food product. Yes.

Steven 
in the food, right. They were there looking

for it to make sure it doesn't get in the final product that's shipped out, because you don't want to bite into whatever you're eating and find a little piece of metal. That same technology then is what you can use to look for it to separate it and put it back into the recycling stream. That's wonderful. Yeah, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
Exactly. They're recovering it. We're recovering it. Yes.

And of course the scale is very different. Their equipment is like this and ours is like this, but it is similar or it's the exact same. Yes.

Steven 
Sure.

Sure.

That makes a lot of sense. Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. Wow. Yeah, another tie I

wouldn't have known about or seen, but that makes a lot of sense. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
Yes, that's why you don't bite into the paddle of their industrial blender every now and then. Yes. So yeah, and another thing is we use a lot of magnets and a lot of different kinds of magnets. We use permanent magnets and we use electromagnetic magnets and we use a thing called an eddy current.

Steven 
Yeah, thankfully, yeah.

Mm-hmm. Makes sense.

Jordan Vexler 
Now, I think most of us are really familiar with magnets that attract steel. And, you know, that's why it will stick to our magnetic refrigerator. But you know what? Some stainless steel is non-magnetic. That's the higher quality. And you cannot stick a... You cannot stick a magnet to some higher quality stainless steel.

Steven 
Yeah.

Yep. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
refrigerators. anyhow, I digress.

Steven 
Yes.

Jordan Vexler 
We know about those kind of magnets. And then there is an eddy current, magnet that produces a certain current called an eddy current that actually throws aluminum.

Steven 
Mm-hmm.

pushes it away. Yeah, it repels it. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
Yes, yes, it repels it.

And so this is a way that we then can recover the aluminum from your vehicle or your appliance, for example. And then we have induction sensor sorters that look for any metal residuals. so when we start with a car, know, the scale of a car very easily, within

Steven 
helps with the sorting. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
less than a minute, we're able to shred the car to fist size and down. And, and then within another few minutes, we're recovering down to, yes, yep. Yep. It's a, it's so we're recovering. mean, that's really our focus is always trying to recover more in order to get better efficiency.

Steven
Jeez.

All those pieces. Wow. Wow.

Jordan Vexler 
into the circular economy.

Steven 
Yeah, and

I'm imagining now hearing the speed at which you can shrink a car. My goodness, I imagine the people that work for you and with you, safety has to be top of mind every day of every moment because of

The equipment that's shredding a car that fast is not something that a human wants to interact with in any way. So I imagine safety is a paramount of everything that you have to do. I it makes obvious sense, but just imagine the scale of the machinery you're working with. Is that something that you and your...

Jordan Vexler 
No.

absolutely.

Steven 
your team around you has just got to make sure that everybody is always, always safety, safety, safety. So that sounds, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
I mean, it has to be, it has

to be front of mind. I mean, there's no reason to do what we're doing if we're not going home to our families. And so, you know, we have a very strong, strong safety culture and, and, taking care of one another in a broader sense. and, know, from a financial perspective, from a health perspective. Yeah.

Steven 
Yeah, 100%, right.

Yeah, you mentioned the financial education and literacy and everything. Yeah, so that's

holistically looking at your employees, not just as generating revenue for your business, but looking at them as humans and how can you take care of them and make sure that their life is improved by working for you. So that's wonderful, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
Yes.

Well, again, mean, being empowered, being content are really valuable things in life. And, you know, if you don't have financial stability, you can't be a good employee. You know, you're distracted. You're probably missing work a lot because you're hopping from apartment to apartment. You know,

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
There needs to be stability and to the degree that we are able to help those who haven't been able to find stability, access it. We do our best, best to try to do that. know, so safety is front of mind. And, you know, I think a whole lot of people think that what we're doing is over is primarily

hands-on. Now there are very few people that come into a physical interaction with metal at our facility. I like to say most of our, most of our, most of my colleagues are sitting behind a computer and that's not just my colleagues in the office. It's my colleagues that are in the crane.

or operating the shredder or operating the shears, the pieces of equipment that are actually de-manufacturing and processing. They're looking at very technologically advanced controls systems and monitoring how conveyors are running and everything is working together properly. You know, we work with engineers, we have electrical engineers on staff.

Steven 
Sure.

Jordan Vexler 
You know,

it's not what was the show, a metal recycler way back in the day. can't, sorry, I can't think of it. I shouldn't have brought it up, but.

Steven 
it's

okay. Now give me something to research later.

Jordan Vexler 
Yeah, right.

So it's just, it's, is a very technologically advanced. It is not, you know, haphazard. Like I said, everything comes in, it has its predetermined way of being de-manufactured into a raw commodity. And then we're directly out to consumers on a constant basis. So we ship by rail and by truck.

Steven 
Yeah.

Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
and, you know, the vast majority of our product, is consumed in Mexico and the United States.

Steven 
Yeah, nice. Well, Jordan, I I want to do a little time check because we're at we're at about an hour and I could just keep diving into more and more of this because it's so fascinating and and I really appreciate how clearly you.

explain what is obviously complicated work that's happening in this demanufacturing process. I appreciate how you really made it easy to understand. So thank you for that.

Before we get into your call to action and your thoughts about hope though, there anything about the business that we haven't touched on yet that I want to make sure give you time to educate us and educate me? So I don't want to cut the conversation off, but I also do want to be respectful of your time today as well. So is there something that we missed that is worth?

making sure we understand.

Jordan Vexler 
Well, you know, I guess I think something that I would point out is while it's not an attractive, an attractive process, perhaps, beauty's in the eye of the beholder. That's right. You know, it is an incredibly beneficial process to have.

Steven 
Beauty's in the eye of the beholder.

air.

Jordan Vexler 
in our communities. We can only be as carbon efficient as we are close to the source of the the product of the byproduct. so being metal recyclers throughout the country are located in urban areas. Part of that is also derived from the fact that

Steven 
Absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
most of these companies were established so very long ago. And so they have a long history in our communities. The other benefit and tying to rivers, I like to point out that when we do river cleanups and picking up trash, you're not picking up metal.

Steven 
Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
Metals, of the value stream that they have, they are not ending up in our creeks. You know, it's not like mattresses on the side of the road, because we have a predetermined place for these items to end up and people to actually be paid for them. So it's just, a really, it does so much more.

to for our communities than one can really imagine. And we have to think like everything that we are recycling has been in daily interaction with you, me, you know, and that's why I like to point out just how much metal we consume in a day, interact with, and we're not throwing it in the trash.

Steven 
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I appreciate how you started the conversation about just describing the room you're in and how much metal there is. And as you were talking, I was like, yeah, there's a whole lot of metal in my room too. mean, again, those out of sight, out of mind things that I think this episode is going to help people open their eyes to and see that, you know, metal and the ability to have it part of the circular economy and be recycled and reused continuously is such a critical.

component of sustainability and you know something else as you were talking about locations and urban areas that you know part of what breaks down circular economies as I understand it is transportation costs and you know can you get the materials you know to be reused and recycled and can you export them to somebody else to use so your location there you know by highway and a rail line in an urban area

is where you need to be. It's where you get the source material and then you have access to, at a relatively low cost, export the raw materials back into the system. To put a metal recycling place out in the middle of nowhere, so to speak, might diminish its circular economy benefits because it adds then to transportation costs and all those things.

all these different pieces come together and you guys by all accounts are an amazing example of how to do it and how to do it well and how to do it right. So thank you so much for coming on and educating me and sharing your tremendous personal story but your family's business story. I mean I'm really grateful for your time today.

Jordan Vexler 
No, thank you. Thank you. It's a, I don't, I don't often talk about myself. So, and, and, and so it is, I mean, I, I am reminded on a daily basis that I get to do really my, my life's goal, my life's work every day. And, you know, me and my colleagues go home knowing that we've made a difference in the world every day.

Steven 
You

Yeah, yeah,

Jordan Vexler 
And, you know,

Steven 
that's so important.

Jordan Vexler 
like we say, it's for a better San Antonio, for a better world. And it's a wonderful pleasure and it's a pleasure to work with my family and it's a pleasure to work in this sphere.

Steven 
Well, that rings true with everything, how you've described it all. mean, you just exude that, that you enjoy what you do and that you know fundamentally it's making a difference to your community and to the planet. So thank you for that, Jordan. so now is the time of the show where you get to ask people or encourage people to do something.

Jordan Vexler 
Thank you.

Steven 
someone's listened to this or watched this and hopefully are as inspired by it as I am, what do want them to do? What's your call to action? Can they support your business or support whatever it is that you wish for them to go do now?

Jordan Vexler 
I'm certainly not on today to promote our company, but I definitely promote recycling. And I mentioned design for recycling. And I think that that has a real tie to our behavior as consumers. And I think, you know, my hope would be that consumers really are intentional about

what they consume and how they consume it. And really as consumers, we need to be the ones to demand safe products and products that can be reused and really try to focus on more recyclable products that really in the long run.

will benefit our economy and our environment and our society. That would be my hope.

Steven 
Yeah, use our power as a consumer wisely to pick the products that can be best for our use, obviously, but for then reuse afterwards. So that's a great call to action. I appreciate it. And I try to be conscious about my consuming, but it's a great reminder to be conscious about how you're participating in this process.

We are, you it's not just the manufacturers and not just folks like you who are recycling, you know, doing the deconstruction work, but it's all of us as consumers have a role to play. So that's a great message.

Jordan Vexler 
I

absolutely. So when you, when you purchase something, everything has an end of its life. And so I think challenging people to think what does that end of life look like for this product? Could I make a better choice? you know, I think just taking a second split second to think of that is helpful.

Steven 
Yeah.

Wonderful. Well, thank you for that call to action, Jordan. I will put your business contact, you know, information on the show notes, you know, since since you weren't, you know, necessarily promoting your business. want to promote it. So I'll make sure that people have access to it on the show notes and have a way to learn more about you as well and the great work that you're doing there in San Antonio. So.

And now on to the hope questions. So I ask everybody the same three questions about hope. And this is this idea that hope is a vision for a better future and steps that can be taken to get there and that we feel we have a sense of agency to accomplish it. Won't be without.

difficulty or challenges and we might fail, right? But we have this vision and an idea of how to get there and a sense of agency that we can do something about it. So Jordan, I'll ask you three questions and just give your first reaction to it. You don't have to think too hard or long about it. Just what do you think? So.

The first question is, what is your vision for a better future? It can be for you personally or professionally or for the world. Just what's your vision for a better future?

Jordan Vexler 
Well, my vision for a better future.

I would have to be based on...

the complex understanding of outcomes. And I think we've talked about that a whole lot today is you can't just do one thing and expect a huge difference. And you certainly can't do anything in a vacuum. so I think it...

Hope for the future would mean a whole lot more communication and a whole lot more understanding of the complexities of every community and of every problem, really.

Steven 
Yeah. So tell me a bit more about why that is your hope for a better future.

Jordan Vexler 
Well, I don't think that we can solve some of the problems that we are facing.

without really trying to break down, like I said, the complexities. And there have to be multifaceted approaches. It can't just be education, it can't just be jobs, it can't just be our clean water. Because really at the end of the day, if you look at any of those,

any of those one issues in a community, they all are ultimately tied together.

Steven 
Absolutely, yeah, yeah. So final question, Jordan, then I'll imagine for a moment we're living in that future where people have a better understanding of the interconnectedness of our place and everything around us and communication is flowing freer and smoother and clearer and understanding of these complexities.

is more widely known amongst the populace. So how does that make you feel that we're living in that future now?

Jordan Vexler 
Utopia? know, we know it's not achievable, whenever there's a level of improvement, you create a beneficial spiral and a beneficial pattern. And so I think that whenever at the smallest level,

Steven 
Hahaha.

Yeah.

Jordan Vexler 
there can you can produce some change that then affects change. And so, yeah, you know, whether we're gonna get to utopia, not in my lifetime. But but I think it's it's an it's an ethic that we can all just live in a tiny way every day. And that that can ultimately make a difference for future generations.

Steven 
Yeah.

Right on. Well, Jordan, thank you so much for taking time to join me today. I'm certainly going to do my part to take those daily steps to do my part to walk us together towards that utopia that I don't know that we'll get to it.

either but it's it is absolutely the worthy goal of walking towards it together so I'm gonna keep doing my part as best I can and and I have no doubt you'll keep doing your part as well so thank you so much for your time today I really appreciate you coming on the show and and I've learned a lot from you today and I'm very very grateful for what you do for the San Antonio community and really the world to make the world a better place so thank you

Jordan Vexler 
Thank you so much. And, and right back at you, I think, you know, your, your, your work in proselytizing, sustainability through this podcast, and the, the, diversity and breadth of your approach to sustainability and those who you interview is, is, is so, is so interesting. And, and I think it does broaden the perspective on, on, on the issues at hand. And,

So thank you for that. And of course, thank you for your work with our rivers.

Steven 
Yeah, well, I'll get back to San Antonio later this year. I'm hoping to visit some folks. So I will hopefully see the river and probably at some point drive by your place of work as well. So I'll make sure and thank you. I'll let you know when I'm coming. I'd love to see what you do there. So thank you so much. All right. Take care.

Jordan Vexler 
You are welcome.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

You too.

Steven
And that brings us to the end of another inspiring episode of Stories Sustain Us. A heartfelt thank you to Jordan Vexler for sharing her incredible journey with us today. From her roots in San Antonio to leading the family business, Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions, Jordan's story is a testament to the power of legacy, sustainability, and social justice. We've explored the vital role of community development

the complexities of the recycling process, and the critical need for consumer engagement in fostering a more sustainable future. Jordan's insights into the circular economy and the immense energy savings from metal recycling remind us just how interconnected our actions are with the health of our planet. I want to thank Jordan for her passion and dedication to making a positive impact, which clearly shines through in everything she does.

So thank you, Jordan, for inspiring us to think deeper about sustainability and the steps we can all take to contribute to a better future, including being more conscious of our own consumerism and demanding more thoughtful and meaningful sustainability from the producers of the products we buy. To you, the audience, thank you for joining me on this journey. If you've enjoyed this episode, as I always ask, please share it with your friends and family.

leave me a review and subscribe to Stories Sustain Us wherever you get your podcasts. On the next episode of Stories Sustain Us, join me for an insightful conversation about how nature-based solutions can be used to help mitigate stormwater pollution. You'll learn what nature-based solutions are and how they help improve water quality and habitats while also bringing a multitude of other community benefits.

It's fascinating conversation about the evolution of engineering practices away from outdated infrastructure concepts that are destructive to nature, towards a new way of developing engineering solutions that work with and often can help restore nature while still providing us the infrastructure we need in our communities. You can catch the next episode of Stories Sustain Us on February 11th at StoriesSustainUs.com.

wherever you listen to podcasts and on YouTube. Until next time, I'm Steven Schauer. Please take care of yourself and each other. Take care.