Month: April 2022

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? 

Unilever is seeking novel methods to recover  and improve the recyclability of the plastic actuator.  This is the device at the top of a aerosol packaging that when depressed, allows the product to be sprayed.  It’s also commonly called a sprayer or button.  Actuators are designed to make them difficult to remove for safety reasons, but when actuators aren’t removed prior to recycling, they end up in the metal recycling process and may not be recovered.   They are also small and often made from multiple materials which further complicates recyclability.  At Unilever, we’re completely rethinking our approach to packaging and we’re working hard to use less, better or no plastic.  We’ve set ambitious goals to tackle plastic waste and halve the amount of virgin plastic we use in our packaging; collect and process more plastic packaging than we sell; ensure that 100% of our plastic packaging is designed to be fully reusable, recyclable or compostable; use 25% recycled plastic in our packaging.

“I get excited when someone says to me: ‘I have 17 trailer loads of excess product,’” says Claudia Freed.  Excess inventory may not be your everyday conversation starter, and it’s not every day that you find an individual who gets excited by the topic. But then Freed is the CEO and president of EALgreen, which is not your everyday philanthropic organization.  The EAL stands for Education Assistance Limited. The organization was founded some 40 years ago to provide a means for manufacturers and distributors to earn a tax credit by donating excess inventory to fund college scholarships. Freed, who joined EALgreen as executive director in 1995, was the recipient of the first scholarship in 1982. Back then, she was an immigrant student who had come to the states from Argentina as an 18-year-old with $36 in her pocket. “When I received the scholarship, I was a student at North Park University studying economics, and someone deemed that I had potential,” she recalls. Funding students with potential remains the social impact part of the mission today.

Last summer’s heat dome exacted a huge toll in the northeast Pacific. Hundreds of people died because of the extreme heat and its lingering effects. A perfect storm of high temperatures, low tides, and a noonday sun that scorched exposed tidal flats meant marine life suffered as well. The heatwave killed, by some accounts, one billion sea creatures. The marine toll was felt especially acutely by the US $107-million shellfish aquaculture industry in Washington State.  One of the people paying close attention was Tim Smith. An aquatic ecologist and aquaculture sustainability consultant turned science teacher, Smith recognized the scale of the problem. But just a few months later, when he began working at Pioneer Middle School in Shelton, Washington, a hotbed town for shellfish farming, he recognized an opportunity.

The year 2021 marks 10 years since the publication of the article “Collective Impact” in Stanford Social Innovation Review. Over the last decade, organizations working around the globe have applied the practice of collective impact to solving a broad range of social and environmental challenges, and the approach has been incorporated into the structure of national and local public programs in the United States and abroad.  We can attribute much of the growth, success, and sustained interest in collective impact to the learning and sharing of practitioners, funders, and many partners who have cultivated and worked to adapt the practice over time. Their experiences and feedback, as well as decades of collaborative work predating 2011, have contributed to the evolution of the approach, particularly around themes of equity, community ownership, power, data, and sustainability.

To mark Earth Day, Republic Services, Inc. is sharing myth-busting plastics recycling tips to help consumers be better recyclers. Demand is growing for recycled plastic to use in consumer packaging, so it’s especially important that plastic bottles, jugs and containers make their way into the recycling bin. “Republic Services is committed to helping our customers put sustainability in action. We know people want to recycle, but there are a lot of misconceptions around recycling plastics. This Earth Day we want to clear those up,” said Pete Keller, vice president of recycling and sustainability. “By recycling, you can help turn your plastic water bottle into another water bottle. Recycling helps preserve natural resources, reduces emissions and contributes to a more sustainable world.”

‘Art Making for Earthly Survival’ is a series of workshops and a resulting exhibition curated by Rachy McEwan and supported by GSA Sustainability, GSA Exhibitions and Box Hub.  The workshops aim to help participants question their own practice and ideas by offering future solutions and inspiration to create art in a more ethical, environmental and sustainable way. The workshops on offer range from book-making; to discussions of art practices in community settings; group drawing whilst travelling on the ‘Clockwork Orange’; to gaining inspiration from a guided walk in The Botanics, identifying trees and lichen.  The workshops are led by Vita Lerche, Emma Lawrance, Robert McCormack, and Rachy McEwan & Raya Gray. There will be an opportunity to see work made from the workshops in an exhibition in Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art on 28 & 29 April.

Artist Konstantin Dimopoulos’ The Blue Trees is an outdoor art installation that uses the process of transformation to raise awareness about global deforestation and climate change. This week, on-site artist Wes Bruce and volunteers applied blue pigment to select trees on PEM’s campus using an environmentally safe colorant. This temporary, performative art piece in Salem marks the 27th installation of this internationally acclaimed project.

California’s “wet season” officially ended with a whimper on April 1st, the last snow survey of the season showed our snowpack was only 38% of average for this time of year. That means we are heading into what is likely to be another hot, dry summer with near record low water storage in California’s largest reservoirs and not much help in snow reserves to carry us through until it rains or snows again.  Thanks to efforts to improve water efficiency in urban communities, we’re in a better place than we would have been without actions to use water more wisely in our homes, landscapes, and some businesses. Pacific Institute’s recently released report, Untapped Potential, shows that our urban communities were using 32 percent less water in 2017-2019 than in 2007, even with a nine percent increase in population.

Sustainability is more than a buzzword — it’s taken center stage as companies commit to protect natural resources, reduce CO2 emissions and make a positive impact with eco-friendly measures. Managing a business travel program that supports sustainable travel is no exception.  If traveling sustainably is a priority, Egencia can help. You’ll have access to resources to help you build a sustainable travel program powered by business travel technology that gives your travelers the ability to lessen their carbon footprint.

Some businesses like a pay-as-you-go approach — a rotating solution that keeps businesses using the latest technology at a lower cost while contributing to a sustainable circular economy. Watch this video to see how solutions from Dell Financial Services turn consumption into a strategy that enables you to right-size your technology investment and break down barriers to digital transformation.

At least 99 low- and middle-income countries had used $104 billion of their emergency reserves since August, but $400 billion of the total went to advanced economies that did not need them, given the current IMF quota system, the groups said. To address continuing fiscal needs, the groups urged issuance of another $2.5 trillion in SDRs, as well as steps to decouple the allocation from existing quotas and ensure that developing countries received a bigger share of the reserves.  Sixteen civil society groups on Tuesday urged the International Monetary Fund to issue $2.5 trillion in additional emergency reserves to help developing countries still struggling to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact.