For a Sustainable Food System, Look to Seeds

Furloughed from her hospitality job during the first lockdown, Hannah Russo was trying to sell her child’s baby clothes when she found many other mothers trying to do the same. From there has come Babybundle, a website where parents can buy and sell bundles of often unused clothes to each other. “Many mums are gifted baby clothes, or have seen how quickly their babies outgrow clothes, with some not even worn due to size and seasonality. The mums share the interest to pass on these clothes. Secondhand is no longer second best – it comes with many benefits: economically, sustainability, and also mums supporting one another,” she says.

COVID-19 has exacerbated food insecurity and health disparities and laid bare systemic inequalities in our society. The pandemic has also highlighted how the charitable food system of food banks and pantries can respond and innovate. In this session, we will discuss some lessons learned from the pandemic and strategies for food pantries to emerge stronger to promote health, stability and financial wellbeing. We will discuss a paradigm shift from emergency to empowerment.

Cumulative photovoltaic (PV) power installed in 2016 was equal to 305 GW. Five countries (China, Japan, Germany, the USA, and Italy) shared about 70% of the global power. End-of-life (EoL) management of waste PV modules requires alternative strategies than landfill, and recycling is a valid option. Technological solutions are already available in the market and environmental benefits are highlighted by the literature, while economic advantages are not well defined. The aim of this paper is investigating the financial feasibility of crystalline silicon (Si) PV module-recycling processes. Two well-known indicators are proposed for a reference 2000 tons plant: net present value (NPV) and discounted payback period (DPBT). NPV/size is equal to −0.84 €/kg in a baseline scenario. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is conducted, in order to improve the solidity of the obtained results. NPV/size varies from −1.19 €/kg to −0.50 €/kg. The absence of valuable materials plays a key role, and process costs are the main critical variables.

Here’s a recent news headline: “Bear attacks couple, dog on Blue Ridge Parkway, officials say.”  Here’s a second headline covering the same incident: “Spots along Blue Ridge Parkway closed after bear attacks 2 during picnic in NC mountains.”
But if you take a quick glance at either story, it’s clear that the headlines and the coverage are a fair bit misleading.  The couple was picnicking with their large German Shepard, when the unleashed dog charged the bear and started barking.  As one news report notes, “The bear acted defensively toward the dog and the couple, likely aggravated by the dog, officials said.”  It’s also worth noting that the couple and the dog are perfectly safe.

The Harbour City’s quest to become more green is being thwarted by a blue bin.  Data collected by Recycle BC over the last two years in Nanaimo showed levels of improperly recycled materials and unrecyclable materials finding their way into the curbside blue recycling bins is increasing.  Taaj Daliran, city manager of sanitation and recycling, told Council on Monday, July 6 there is still a great deal of confusion about recycling.  “Some of this contamination is not actually contamination, it’s just mis-recycling. For example, some materials that are supposed to be taken to depots are put in our blue carts.”