Within our airport boundaries are 75 hectares of woodlands, grasslands and wetlands inhabited by hundreds of species of mammals, birds, insects and bees. We actively manage these areas through our Biodiversity Action Plan, while working collaboratively with national and local organisations and experts. We are also fortunate to be assisted by a large number of volunteers and groups within the local community.
The Husky Green Awards recognize individuals and groups across all University of Washington campuses who lead the way for sustainability at the University of Washington. This is the 12th year the awards have been awarded by the UW Environmental Stewardship Committee as part of the UW’s Earth Day celebrations. The Husky Green Awards are given to students, faculty and staff from the Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses who show initiative, leadership and dedication. See all the 2021 Husky Green Award recipients below.
Plastic is probably in your food or drinking water, and now scientists fear it might be flowing through your veins. A small study published last month found that the blood of 17 out of 22 people contained microplastics — plastic fragments smaller than a sesame seed. It’s the first time those tiny bits of fossil-fuel product have been detected in human blood, but the discovery is no surprise to plastics researchers. “Plastics are everywhere,” Rolf Halden, the director of the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering at Arizona State University, told Insider. Previous studies have found microplastics in humans’ food, drinking water, poop, placentas, and lungs, and drifting through the air we breathe.
Fashion accounts for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions and is the second-most polluting industry in the world. But in an increasingly climate-conscious society, it is increasingly trying to present itself as sustainable to appeal to customers. One big target is reducing greenhouse gas emissions and for the past two decades many brands have signed up to a scheme called the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent body that awards grades for environmental performance. However, the Guardian can exclusively reveal how the fashion industry’s impact on the planet is being hidden. Thanks to the way the scores are calculated, household names such as H&M and Nike can claim an overall decrease in annual carbon dioxide emissions – and receive high scores from the CDP – despite their actual emissions increasing.
Bonnie’s father is an engineer for the Apollo 11 space mission. Bonnie is an engineer too, developing a model rocket that she plans to shoot high into the sky. While Baba works on the moon-landing module far away, Bonnie designs, builds, and tests her own project — with sometimes disastrous results! Throughout the process, Baba’s letters encourage her in her work, and after the astronauts return from the moon, Baba comes home in time to see Bonnie launch her amazing rocket. Inspired by the experiences of the author’s grandfather, who helped design the space suits and life-support systems on the Apollo 11 lunar module, Bonnie’s Rocket celebrates the diverse team that contributed to one of the United States’s greatest achievements. It’s also a heartwarming father-daughter story and a terrific gift for budding engineers and space fans of all ages.
Fashion and agriculture may seem like two industries that are miles apart, but BASF’s e3 Sustainable Cotton program has brought them closer by creating the first transparent and traceable cotton supply chain. Today the company announced a new collaboration between the e3 Sustainable Cotton program and the United Nations’(UN) hosted Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network for a series of convenings in New York City throughout 2022. The Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network is a United Nations (UN) hosted online platform for industry stakeholders, media, Governments, and UN system entities. The network showcases and enables collaborations that accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Considering the fashion and lifestyle sector’s significant impact on societies and the environment, the Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network fosters transparent, inclusive, and transformative engagement of global stakeholders to drive urgent action for sustainability. The network provides an impartial platform for the industry and the UN system. Its key objective is to mobilize expertise, innovation, technology, and resources towards a sustainable and inclusive COVID-19 recovery, with the Sustainable Development Goals as a guiding framework.
The UK should ban all exports of rubbish to stop plastic food wrappers and broken gadgets polluting the shores of poorer countries, the boss of the Environment Agency will declare on Tuesday. Exports of all rubbish should be stopped “as soon as possible” Environment Agency chief executive Sir James Bevan will say, arguing the move is necessary to crack down on waste crime and bolster the UK’s reputation as a green country. The intervention is the first time the Environment Agency has called for a complete ban on all waste exports and will be a major boost for campaigners who have for years demanded the UK to stop exports of plastic waste to poorer countries. “Sending certain kinds of waste abroad is legal, but is it right? Is it morally right to dump the waste we create on another country to deal with?” Sir James will say in a speech to waste professionals.
A discussion has been held between Sarawak and Singapore on the future direction of renewable energy-sharing in the region. The discussion took place during a courtesy call by Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg at his office in Petra Jaya here yesterday morning. “Fully-involved Malaysia’s largest renewable energy (RE) developer Sarawak Energy, which is also part of a consortium with Sembcorp Industries and SP Group conducting a feasibility study to explore the potential of power connectivity between Singapore and Sarawak, shared views, expertise, experience and opportunities to work together in boosting further economic development,” said Sarawak Information Department in a statement yesterday.
Presidio Graduate School’s Climate Education for All program has a mission of providing all teachers with the climate literacy skills and tools they need to educate the next generation on climate change science, causes, and solutions. Our current offerings include three free online, facilitated teacher professional development courses: Teaching Climate Change Essentials, Teaching Extreme Weather, and Teaching Climate Justice. Our hope is that, through this presentation, we can build partnerships within the CLEAN network to help spread the word about the program to educators. In this session, we’ll review the need and our approach to bringing climate change and climate justice professional development to teachers, share our current offerings, discuss ideas to help spread the word about the program, and collaborate on way to meet the current professional development needs of teachers.
Mattel, the poster kid of plastic toys, has been shaking off this less-friendly association over the past years and now hopes to use 100% recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastic materials across products by 2030. The toymaker’s latest launch is a significant step—it involves its first-ever carbon-neutral toys, as well as a Matchbox Tesla replica designed with 99% recycled materials. Starting kids young on protecting our planet, Mattel has released a toy collection about living sustainably for ages one and up. The MEGA BLOKS Green Town range, it says, is also “the first-ever toy line available at mass retail to be certified CarbonNeutral.” In a timely fashion, these have been made available in the spirit of Earth Month.
Recommended actions to protect “Our planet, our health” Reimagine your world #HealthierTomorrow – What can you do to protect our planet and our health? Governments: Prioritize long-term human wellbeing and ecological stability in all decision-making.Prioritize wellbeing in all businesses, organizations, social and ecological goals. Keep fossil fuels in the ground. Stop new fossil fuel exploration and projects and implement policies on clean energy production and use. Stop fossil fuel subsidies. Re-invest fossil fuel subsidies in public health. Tax the polluters. Incentivize carbon reduction. Implement the WHO air quality guidelines. Electrify health care facilities with renewable energies. Reduce air pollution levels to reduce the burden of disease from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma. Tax highly processed foods and beverages high in salt, sugars and unhealthy fats.
NatWest Group is targeting net zero by 2050, and to also halve its financed emissions by 2030 in the interim, marking out the financial firm as one of the leaders in the race to decarbonise the UK banking sector. Alison Rose, the firm’s chief executive, has been instrumental in driving its climate and sustainability agenda, and she was names ‘Leader of the Year’ at the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards 2021 for her efforts. The firm’s achievements under her leadership include tightening its fossil fuel lending rules and exceeding its £20bn sustainable funding and financing target for 2021 six months early, while this month it plans to seek approval for its climate strategy from its shareholders.
They may be considered an eco-friendly way to generate energy, but wind turbines pose a major threat to migrating birds, which are at high risk of colliding with the giant blades while in flight. Now a new study has identified the collision ‘hotspots’ where migrating birds such as owls, swans and eagles are most at risk of being killed by turbines or power lines. The researchers have produced a map, revealing that birds are more likely to get too close to turbines and power lines on key migration routes, on the coast and at key breeding grounds. Many such spots lie in Mediterranean regions including the South of France, Southern Spain and the Moroccan coastline – such as around the Strait of Gibraltar. They are also vulnerable in Eastern Romania, on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt and along Germany’s Baltic coast. Researchers say in light of their findings that power lines should not be built in places where birds risk colliding with turbines as they migrate.