Day: April 19, 2022

The National Gas Company (NGC) has become the first organisation in Trinidad and Tobago to be registered as a member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) community.  Joining the GRI network represents the latest of ‘first milestones’ in NGC’s strategy to build sustainability. The company is the first and remains the only state-owned enterprise to produce an annual sustainability report. From its first report, the NGC adopted GRI standards indicating its willingness to measure itself and perform against international standards.  The GRI network comprises over 500 large, small, private and public organisations from more than 70 countries. They work to jointly advance sustainability reporting across all regions of the world. The GRI community provides members with access to learning and knowledge-sharing opportunities that help improve the quality of sustainability reporting with the GRI Standards.

A few years ago, Isaac Larsen attended a wedding at a pioneer church in Minnesota. After the ceremony, he wandered around a cemetery by the church.  He noticed the cemetery, which had never been tilled, was at least a foot higher than a corn field just on the other side of a fence.  “That was one of those ‘lightbulb’ moments that told me that a lot of soil had been eroded from that field since the founding of the church,” Larsen said.  The University of Massachusetts Amherst geosciences professor and his co-researchers have released a new study that found topsoil in the Midwest is eroding at an average rate of 1.9 millimeters per year. They measured elevation differences between native prairie and farm fields at about 20 sites, the majority in central Iowa, with some in Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska.

Did you know that tomatoes were once thought to be poisonous? That misconception is called the ‘tomato effect.’  It’s a term that’s also used when it comes to methods of treatment for certain illnesses. Health professionals sometimes overlook proven therapies because the results contradict their previous training.  An environmental specialist is shining light on the subject and how it applies to treating cardiovascular-related disease.  “it appears as though we haven’t learned much from the tomato effect,” said Douglas Mulhall, Environmental specialist, author.  Case in point according to environmental specialist and author douglas mulhall is what often became accepted treatment for severe peripheral artery disease, or critical limb ischemia.

According to a recent report from Business Insider, a refurbisher that works with major retailers has been forced to “stockpile more than 30,000 affected AirPods over the course of just a few weeks” because users are failing unlink AirPods from their Apple ID upon return.  This means that when the refurbisher tests the AirPods, or even when the next buyer of the AirPods receives them, they see a message about an “AirPods Mismatch” from the Find My app.  The earbuds of your AirPods are linked to a different Apple ID, possibly because one of the earbuds is mixed up with someone else’s AirPods. Learn how to solve this issue by going to the article online.  goTRG, the aforementioned company that handles returns for Walmart and other retailers, says that this issue affects “about eight in 10 AirPods that come through the company’s six facilities.” Another company that sells refurbished AirPods on sites like Amazon, R2Cell, was forced to stop selling refurbished AirPods altogether because of the problem.

Ruminant production systems have been facing the sustainability challenge, namely, how to maintain or even increase production while reducing their environmental footprint, and improving social acceptability. One currently discussed option is to encourage farmers to follow agroecological principles, that is, to take advantage of ecological processes to reduce inputs and farm wastes, while preserving natural resources, and using this diversity to increase system resilience. However, these principles need to be made more practical. Here, we present the procedure undertaken for the collaborative construction of an agroecological diagnostic grid for dairy systems with a focus on the mountain farming relying on the use of semi-natural grasslands.

Overnight, Shopify, Stripe, Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook) and McKinsey launched Frontier, an Advance Market Commitment (AMC) to accelerate the development of carbon removal technologies.  The founding companies are committing an initial $925M USD (~$1.25B AUD) to purchase permanent carbon removal from companies building promising new solutions over the next nine years, starting in 2022.  This is a global initiative and covers APAC. Essentially, the investment will go towards buying carbon removal solutions from companies developing emerging technology and scaled solutions to address climate change around the world.

A new study of 2,040 Australians, titled Who Do You Believe?, has found there’s a big opportunity for brands to become leaders in the sustainability space by taking greater tangible action on social and environmental issues.  Almost three out of four Australians could not name a single brand or business they believe is helping improve social or environmental issues.  In March, Mumbrella uncovered Australia’s top ten most prolific businesses on sustainability.  The data showed actions from brands and businesses are failing to ladder up to expectations and even when they do act, 86% of Australians are sceptical about the social or environmental claims they make.  But according to Australians, some brands are leading the charge. Of the one in four who could name a brand; one in five named Woolworths, one in ten named Coles and one in 20 named Cotton On.

The sale of green bonds — a form of debt that funds renewable-energy projects like wind or solar farms, for example — entered another stratosphere in 2021.  Globally, green bonds raised a record $479 billion in proceeds last year, well ahead of the $245 billion sold in 2020, according to Refinitiv data. And bankers expect the asset class to continue smashing records as companies seek to lower their emissions.  “They are here to stay,” said Anne van Riel, BNP Paribas’ head of sustainable finance capital markets for the Americas. “In the last two years we’ve seen a lot of interest in the S in ESG, but now the E is the focus of discussion.”  Countries such as India and Qatar are weighing their first-ever green bonds, while big companies like Apple have made them a part of annual capital-raising plans.  Investors, too, are demanding more green, as they want exposure to companies charting a path toward a zero-carbon economy.

Indiana is an agricultural state, but we import 90% of what we eat even though we can grow everything we need. This talk combines the ingredients of images, stories, and taste that make a sustainable food system. Food puns a-plenty are part of an experiential story and lesson about social, environmental, and economic seeds needed to grow a sustainable food system.  Krista Bailey is the Director of the Center for a Sustainable Future at Indiana University South Bend, and develops and teaches courses in Sustainable Food Systems and Leadership Strategies in the Sustainability Studies program. Bailey has co-hosted local PBS shows “Outdoor Elements” and “Experience Michiana,” serves as co-chair of the city’s Green Ribbon Commission, and serves on the Bike South Bend committee and county Food Access Council. Bailey also teaches fitness classes, is in the South Bend Masters Rowing Club, coordinates a community garden, bicycles, kayaks, explores and does projects with their partner, and spends time with their two children.

Reston Community Center will welcome actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. to the CenterStage as part of a special evening of events to raise awareness about environmental sustainability.  As part of RCC’s Professional Touring Artists Series, Begley will bring his program Living Simply So Others Might Simply Live to the CenterStage on Wednesday, May 4 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $15 (Reston)/$20 (Non-Reston) and are available at the RCC Box Office or online.  Begley says that as environmental issues become more pressing, there are two possible responses: forget them and hope that government and corporations will figure it out, or his approach – to take action and make a difference. He will share his insights about environmental sustainability in this thought-provoking and inspiring program.
Read the full article at: www.restoncommunitycenter.com

Electronic waste, known as e-waste, is an ever-increasing problem worldwide. Levels of electronics consumption are high in both developed and developing countries, and many consumer electronics are designed with short life spans. Once an electronic item has reached its end of use, what happens? While some electronics are recycled, many are discarded in landfills. Even those that are recycled face a dubious fate. Who is ultimately responsible for fixing our e-waste problem?  Electronics are filled with chemicals and substances that are harmful to human health and the environment, including toxic metals, flame retardants, and persistent organic pollutants. If not recycled, these chemicals can contaminate landfills and enter the water supply through leachate. Even the recycling of e-waste is problematic.

Unlocking the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come. That is our purpose.  We are the Good food, Good life company. We believe in the power of food to enhance lives. Good food nourishes and delights the senses. It helps children grow healthy, pets thrive, parents age gracefully and everyone live life to the fullest. Good food brings us together. Good food also respects our planet and protects resources for future generations.  At Nestlé, we constantly explore and push the boundaries of what is possible with foods, beverages, and nutritional health solutions to enhance quality of life and contribute to a healthier future. We focus our energy and resources where unlocking the power of food can make the greatest difference to the lives of people and pets, protect and enhance the environment, and generate significant value for our shareholders and stakeholders alike.

Could wood become the material of choice to build the cities of tomorrow? The further we move into the 2020s, the more pressing this question becomes. The answer could never be as simple as a yes or a no – steel is here to stay and thankfully so with its insurmountable benefits, and neither is concrete going anywhere.  Yet side-by-side, the environmental and sustainability agenda continues to chug along, with governments actively pursuing their goals of net-zero emissions and efficient resource usage, potentially making wood a government mandated material.  The question also develops into how well timber products and steel framing (light gauge or structural) could complement each other at a mass scale, or, can they do so at all?