Re-air: Happy B-Earth-day, Planet Earth! 🌎

Summary

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Podcast Summary

The Ten News: "Re-air: Happy B-Earth-day, Planet Earth! 🌎"

Date: April 23, 2026
Host: Small But Mighty Media
Main Hosts: Pamela Kirkland, Ryan Willard
Notable Guests: Ms. Lane (Nature Nerds), Ryan Hickman (13-year-old climate activist)

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Episode Overview

This special Earth Day-themed episode dives into the history and importance of Earth Day, explores creative solutions to fight climate change, and spotlights young climate activist Ryan Hickman. Designed for curious kids (and their adults), the episode mixes facts, trivia, and fun conversations—all with a lighthearted, encouraging tone focused on making a positive environmental impact.

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Key Topics & Insights

1. The Origins and Global Reach of Earth Day

• Earth Day Beginnings

  • Earth Day first took place in the US in 1970, inspired by Senator Gaylord Nelson after witnessing the 1968 California oil spill.
  • Intended to promote environmental protection and awareness ([00:53], Pamela).

• Growth and Impact

  • "Around 1 billion people celebrate Earth Day each year." ([00:33], Ryan Willard)
  • Schools and universities have been a driving force since the start, with the first Earth Day involving 10% of the US population ([01:10], Ryan Willard).
  • "Earth Day led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency...and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency." ([01:26], Pamela)

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2. Fighting Climate Change – Potty Training Cows?!

• Why Potty Train Cows?

  • Guest Ms. Lane explains that cows produce large amounts of urine and feces, which when combined form ammonia. Ammonia in the soil breaks down into nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas ([03:40]).

    "A single cow can produce eight gallons of pee a day. Round up five cows and you can fill a bathtub." ([03:10], Ms. Lane)

• The MooLoo Experiment

  • Scientists in New Zealand and Germany trained young cows to use a special stall (the MooLoo) to collect and manage their waste ([04:39]).
  • Positive reinforcement with molasses milkshakes encouraged cows to pee in the stall, while mistakes got a cold water squirt ([05:04], Ms. Lane).
  • "After about two weeks, 11 of the 16 cows were entering the mulu to pee without prompting." ([05:04], Ms. Lane)
  • If implemented on a large scale, potty training cows could reduce ammonia emissions by over half ([05:43], Ms. Lane).

• Memorable Moments/Quotes

  "Training a handful of cows to pee in a cool box doesn't do our planet much good. But training a lot of cows to pee in special boxes could." ([05:44], Ms. Lane)
  "Maybe there'll be a way to train the cows to be a little less farty in the future." ([06:19], Pamela – lighthearted banter)

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3. Meet Ryan Hickman: 13-Year-Old Climate Activist

• Starting Young

  • Ryan began recycling at age 3.5 after a visit to the local recycling center ([07:07]).

    "I loved it so much so I want to keep doing it. This is fun. And I saw it was helping the planet." ([07:07], Ryan Hickman)

• Ryan’s Recycling

  • He founded "Ryan's Recycling" in Orange County, CA, collecting from customers, sorting, and taking materials to recycling centers ([07:23]–[07:41]).
  • Donations from customers go into his college fund.

• Spreading the Word

  • Encourages friends and classmates to recycle by showing it's "fun" and beneficial:

    "It's fun, honestly, just tell them it's fun, it helps the planet, it doesn't kill animals. And most kids are excited about it too." ([08:13], Ryan Hickman)

  • Organizes beach cleanups and includes classmates ([08:13]).

• Expert Tips for Kids

  • Most recyclable items: cans or glass bottles because they "can be recycled infinitely indefinitely" ([08:34]).
  • Top tip:

    "Just start small. You don't have to do it all big like me. Just try your best. Every little bit makes a big difference." ([08:51], Ryan Hickman)

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4. Environmental Trivia and Global Earth Day

• Trivia Segment
  • Question: What is Earth Day called around the world?
  • Answer: "International Mother Earth Day," officially named by the UN in 2009 ([09:44]–[10:35]).
  • Message:

    "No matter what it's called, the goal is the same. Appreciate the earth and protect the environment for future generations." ([10:35], Trivia Host)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Earth Day’s Impact:

  "Earth Day led to so much good." ([01:26], Pamela Kirkland)

• On Cow Potty Training:

  "The not-so-glamorous process of teaching people where to put their pee and poop. It's not the most pleasant thing to think about, but we've all gone through it, and our world is a better place because of it." ([02:32], Ms. Lane)

• On Making a Difference:

  "Just start small. You don't have to do it all big like me. Just try your best. Every little bit makes a big difference." ([08:51], Ryan Hickman)

• Listener Review Highlight:

  "Tenner Fishbyte wrote this review of the 10 News. Good pod, but not enough poop." ([12:30], Pamela Kirkland)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:33–01:26 — History and growth of Earth Day
• 02:07–06:10 — Segment on potty training cows to reduce greenhouse gases
• 07:01–08:59 — Interview with Ryan Hickman, young recycler
• 09:17–10:35 — Earth Day trivia: International Mother Earth Day
• 12:24–12:37 — Listener review and episode wrap-up

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Tone & Style

• Playful, conversational, and informative—perfect for young listeners and families.
• Encouraging ("Way to go!" "[That's] fun, honestly") and accessible language.
• Frequent friendly banter and inclusion of sound effects, keeping the atmosphere upbeat and community-focused.

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Summary Takeaway

This Earth Day episode is packed with fascinating facts, innovative solutions, and real kid-powered inspiration. Highlighting how small actions—from recycling to out-of-the-box ideas like moo-loos—can have a big impact, the show demonstrates that taking care of our planet truly can be fun, achievable, and full of teamwork.

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Transcript

[Karine Katabayan]

Foreign.

[Ryan Willard]

This is my jam.

[Pamela Kirkland]

Glad to hear it, Ryan. It's the official theme song of Earth Day.

[Ryan Willard]

Whoa. Earth Day has a theme song?

[Ryan Hickman]

Of course.

[Pamela Kirkland]

It's one of the biggest worldwide celebrations.

[Ryan Willard]

I love starting the show with a song.

[Pamela Kirkland]

Me too. I'm Pamela Kirkland.

[Ryan Willard]

And I'm Ryan Willard. It's Wednesday, April 26th.

[Pamela Kirkland]

This is the 10 News.

[Ryan Willard]

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. This past Saturday, April 23rd, was Earth Day. Earth Day began in the US in 1970, but is now spread around the world. Around 1 billion people celebrate Earth Day each year.

[Pamela Kirkland]

It all started when Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson saw the terrible effects of an oil spill off the coast of California in 1968. He campaigned for a day to protect the environment. That day became Earth Day.

[Ryan Willard]

From the beginning, schools and universities have been the driving force behind Earth Day. It's always held around the time students have spring break so that they can participate in this important day. On the First Earth Day, 10% of the US population got involved.

[Ryan Hickman]

Way to go.

[Pamela Kirkland]

Earth Day led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the epa, and the national oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, or noaa, the scientific body that monitors the weather, oceans and atmosphere. Earth Day led to so much good.

[Ryan Willard]

Absolutely. We had so much to celebrate this Earth Day.

[Pamela Kirkland]

One of the big things on everyone's mind around Earth Day and every day is climate change and what exactly we can do to slow the effects.

[Ryan Willard]

Hey, Pamela, we have a guest in the studio.

[Pamela Kirkland]

Ryan, is that a whole cow?

[Ryan Willard]

Yep. This is Ernestina. Ms. Lane from Nature Nerds told me about a new way to slow climate change, and it involves potty training cows.

[Pamela Kirkland]

Uh, let's go to Lane, and let's hope Ernestina is an already potty trained cow.

[Ms. Lane]

Potty training? The not so glamorous process of teaching people where to put their pee and poop. It's not the most pleasant thing to think about, but we've all gone through it, and our world is a better place because of it. No joke. It takes toddlers anywhere from three to six months to master the porcelain throne. But cows learn where to place their bovine behinds much faster.

[Trivia Host]

What?

[Ms. Lane]

Yes, you heard me correctly. Today we're talking about potty trained cattle. According to a recent study, it only takes 15 days for cattle to become bathroom loving bulls and commode using cows.

[Ryan Willard]

You're kidding me.

[Ms. Lane]

Now, you might be thinking, why in the world are scientists teaching cows to use the toilet? Well, to save the planet, of course. Okay, you see, cows are big animals. They eat a lot and Drink a lot to sustain their large frames. But when you eat a lot and drink a lot, you poop and pee a lot. Just how much pee are we talking about? Well, a single cow can produce eight gallons of pee a day. Round up five cows and you can fill a bathtub.

[Ryan Hickman]

That's gross.

[Ms. Lane]

Cow pee and poo are not inherently bad. However, things get complicated when the scat and the urine unify. You see, the resulting mixture contains a chemical known as ammonia. And when ammonia soaks into the soil, it breaks down and becomes the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Though it only makes up 7% of the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, nitrous oxide is not to be taken lightly. With this in mind, scientists at the University of Auckland came up with a wacky theory for reducing nitrous oxide. Manage the waste proactively by potty training the cattle. First proposed as a joke, the idea eventually became a full blown study involving specially constructed cow toilets called Moo Lo. Now, don't get too excited. The cows were not trained to sit on toilets.

[Ryan Hickman]

Aw, man.

[Ms. Lane]

The mulu bears no resemblance to your bathroom at home. Rather, it's a special metal stall with a grated floor covered in fake grass. Scientists conducted the experiment with 16 young cows at an indoor lab in Germany. To begin the study, they brought the calves into the mulu and waited for nature to take its course. Once the cows peed, they were rewarded with their favorite special treat, a molasses milkshake.

[Narrator]

Delicious.

[Ms. Lane]

And any cows that released themselves outside of the designated potty training area got a little squirt of cold water. The process was repeated, and after about two weeks, 11 of the 16 cows were entering the mulu to pee without prompting. So the initial study was a smashing success. But what does it all mean? Well, training a handful of cows to pee in a cool box doesn't do our planet much good. But training a lot of cows to pee in special boxes could. Initial estimates from the Auckland study suggest that collecting 80% of cow urine produced on a farm could reduce ammonia emissions by more than half.

[Ryan Hickman]

Excellent.

[Ms. Lane]

Those are some pretty sizable numbers. And if scaled globally and implemented correctly, it's possible that potty training cattle could have a considerable positive impact on lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

[Narrator]

A.

[Ryan Hickman]

Awesome.

[Ms. Lane]

But only time will tell if the idea of commode loving cattle and bathroom using bulls makes it into common agricultural practices. Until then, enjoy the fact that you get to use a real toilet instead of the mulu.

[Ryan Willard]

Thanks, Ms. Lane. Did you hear that, Ernestina? You could help mitigate climate change.

[Ms. Lane]

Ugh.

[Pamela Kirkland]

Maybe There'll be a way to train the cows to be a little less farty in the future.

[Trivia Host]

Woo.

[Ryan Willard]

That's a stinky one. Did you get into the cheese puffs, Ernestina?

[Pamela Kirkland]

Ryan, what's the number one easiest way to protect the earth for future generations?

[Ryan Willard]

Oh, I got this one, Pamela. It's recycling. And we recycled a couple of our segments. Today, 13 year old climate activist Ryan Hickman is making a difference with his company, Ryan's Recycling. SO ten news correspondent Karine Katabayan sat down with him to get the lowdown.

[Karine Katabayan]

Hey Ryan, thanks so much for joining us. Can you tell us who you are, what you do and why you do it?

[Ryan Hickman]

My name is ryan Hickman. I'm 13 years old. I like to recycle and I started just when I was three and a half. My dad took me to the local recycling center for the first time. I loved it so much so I want to keep doing it. This is fun. And I saw it was helping the planet.

[Karine Katabayan]

What is Ryan's Recycling and what does it do?

[Ryan Hickman]

Yes, I have a recycling company, Ryan's Recycling, based in Southern California, Orange county. And we go to all my customers, we pick up the recycling and we take it to the recycle center and recycle it.

[Karine Katabayan]

So wait, you basically have customers that you pick up the recycling and then you take it to the center for

[Ryan Hickman]

them, but they donate to me, so I get all the money from it too and I put that in my college fund.

[Karine Katabayan]

Very cool. So what does the job entail? Can you walk me through as if I were one of your customers?

[Ryan Hickman]

So you go on my website, you email my dad. So first I get a donut because they're really good and I can't recycle without them. Go to my customer's house at a call for a pickup, I recycle or I pick up from them, take it to the recycle center, I sort it there and I give the recycling to them to recycle properly.

[Karine Katabayan]

How do you encourage your friends to recycle?

[Ryan Hickman]

I just told them it's easy and it helps save the planet. Most of the time they do it too. Like I have beach clubs all the time and I have lots of people that go to them too. Bunch of kids from my school and help me clean up the beach. It's fun, honestly, just tell them it's fun, it helps the planet, it doesn't kill animals. And most kids are excited about it too.

[Karine Katabayan]

What do you think is the most recyclable item?

[Ryan Hickman]

Probably either bottle can or glass Because. Or probably. No probably. Can or glass bottle. Cause those could be recycled infinitely indefinitely. Is that the right term? I don't know. A lot of times.

[Karine Katabayan]

What's the easiest tip that you can give to someone who wants to recycle?

[Ryan Hickman]

Just start small. You don't have to do it all big like me. Just try your best. Every little bit makes a big difference.

[Pamela Kirkland]

Thank you, Ryan. Recycling is a great way to help the earth. And don't forget to reduce and reuse as well.

[Ryan Willard]

Right. There's always a little more we can do.

[Trivia Host]

Welcome to the Trivia Room. Ernestina. Hop or clop on up on the Trivia Throne for today's trivia question. You ready?

[Ms. Lane]

What is going on here?

[Ryan Hickman]

Trivia on the 10

[Trivia Host]

Earth Day is what we call it in the U.S. but do you know what people in the rest of the world call Earth Day? Is it A Green Planet Day, B International Mother Earth Day, or C World Day for the Earth? Tenors, did you guess it? Ernestina, what's your answer? The answer is B International Mother earth day. The UN officially named April 22nd international mother earth day in 2009. But no matter what it's called, the goal is the same. Appreciate the earth and protect the environment for future generations. Yes, tenors, do you want to sit on the Trivia Throne and share your Trivia knowledge? Visit thetennews.comcontact to get in touch and we might have you on the show.

[Ryan Willard]

And now we've got to give special 10 news snaps to one of our listeners.

[Pamela Kirkland]

But before we do, here's a quick note for the grownups.

[IXL Advertiser]

Hey 10 News listeners. As the school year starts wrapping up, a lot of families, especially homeschool families, are thinking about how to finish strong and maybe even keep learning going into the summer. And that's where IXL comes in. IXCEL is an award winning learning platform with interactive practice in math, language arts, science and social studies from pre K all the way through 12th grade. It's designed to fit right into your routine whether you're wrapping up end of year projects or just trying to keep your brain sharp over the summer break. And it's super flexible. You can practice a little each day, review tricky topics, or even get ahead for next year. No pressure. So whether you're finishing strong or trying to beat the summer slide, IXL makes it easy to keep learning going. So make an impact on your child's learning and get IXL now. And TenU's listeners can get an exclusive 20% off Iexcel membership when they sign up today at iexcel.com 10 Visit iexcel.com 10 to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

[Narrator]

For over 100 years, the world has been captivated by Hollywood.

[Trivia Host]

The stuff that dreams are made of,

[Narrator]

where stars are born, Maiden bond double the world. But just beneath the stardust lie a million more fascinating stories that, when sewn together, form an incredible history. The Secret History of Hollywood. Available now wherever you get podcasts

[Ryan Hickman]

Time

[Ryan Willard]

for 10 News snaps

[Pamela Kirkland]

Tenner Fishbyte wrote this review of the 10 News. Good pod, but not enough poop.

[Ryan Willard]

We hope today's episode made you happy. Fish bites. And thanks for listening to the 10 news. 10 Things yous Need to Know drops every Tuesday and our in Depth reports drop every Wednesday. But if you want some bonus content, you can join the Tenors Club on our website or on Apple Podcasts.

[Pamela Kirkland]

The 10 News is a co production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter podcasts.

[Ryan Willard]

The 10News creative team is Recycling and includes Tracy Crooks, Pete Musto and Tessa Flannery.

[Pamela Kirkland]

Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan.

[Ryan Willard]

I'm Ryan Willard.

[Pamela Kirkland]

And I'm Pamela Kirkland. Thanks for listening to the 10 news. Let's make Earth Day every day.