Unbottled: A Startup Podcast by Kadeya
Building the Future of Beverage — one sip, one story at a time.
Hosted by Manuela Zoninsein, founder & CEO of Kadeya, Unbottled takes you behind the scenes of building the world’s first closed-loop beverage system—a reusable, refillable, zero-waste alternative to single-use bottles.
In this limited first season, you’ll hear raw, unfiltered conversations with the people rethinking everything we know about water, plastic, and sustainability:
• Founders rewriting the rules of reuse
• Experts exposing myths about recycling and microplastics
• Investors betting on climate hardware
• Workers and operators fueling change from the ground up
From fighting plastic pollution to re-engineering the beverage supply chain, each episode dives into the problems, people, and possibilities behind the bottle.
Because the future of beverage isn’t bottled —
It’s built.
New episodes every Monday.
Unbottled: A Startup Podcast by Kadeya
Why Our Drinking Water Isn’t As Safe As We Think: Joel Brammeier on Great Lakes, Plastic & Policy
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What if the water that sustains 40 million people is quietly becoming unsafe?
In this episode of Unbottled, Manuela sits down with Joel Brammeier, President & CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, to explore what’s really happening beneath the surface of the most important freshwater ecosystem in North America.
Joel breaks down:
• How the Great Lakes became a global freshwater powerhouse — and why they’re at risk
• What long-term Adopt-a-Beach data shows: plastic is the dominant source of shoreline pollution
• Where microplastics actually come from (not just bottles—and not boats)
• Why individual recycling isn’t enough without systems-level change
• The truth about water quality, microplastics, and what ends up in our bodies
• How Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) could shift accountability back to companies
You’ll also hear how consumer behavior, public policy, and real community participation all intersect — and why protecting these waters means rethinking how everyday products are made, sold, and disposed of.
If you live in the Midwest, drink drinking water, have kids, or care about environmental justice, this episode will make you see your tap differently — and give you clear ways to own your impact.
💧 Unbottled is brought to you by Kadeya, building closed-loop beverage systems for a world beyond single-use.
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🔗 Resources mentioned:
- Alliance for the Great Lakes & Adopt-a-Beach volunteer program – get involved locally: https://greatlakes.org/get-involved/adopt-a-beach/
- Alliance Ambassadors – deeper training on Great Lakes issues & plastics advocacy: https://greatlakes.org/get-involved/alliance-ambassadors/
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Follow & Support Alliance for the Great Lakes:
Website: https://greatlakes.org/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/alliance4greatlakes/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alliance-for-the-great-lakes/
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Follow Joel Brammeier:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-brammeier-80b3466/
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Follow Kadeya:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kdy/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kadeya.club/
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kadeya.club
Website: https://www.kadeya.com/
Invest in Kadeya on Wefunder: https://wefunder.com/kadeya
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Follow Manuela:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuelasweb/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manuelasweb/
Substack: https://manuelazoninsein.substack.com/
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💌 Go deeper with The Drip newsletter — Kadeya’s inside look at how we’re re-engineering the $2 trillion beverage industry. Get founder insights, progress updates, and ideas shaping the circular economy.
Newsletter Sign Up: http://bit.ly/4opCVW2
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Building the future of beverage—one sip, one story at a time.
Unbottled sha